Doug Self wrote an excellent series of audio amplifier design articles for the now-defunct Wireless World magazine in the late 80's and early 90's. Anyone who is an analogue circuit designer might enjoy a trawl through this part of his website:
You can't keep a good idea down... I browsed the 2 wheel car section (and I'm pretty sure there are modern variants) and then got to the monowheels.
Some of those early designs look pretty impracticable, and some downright dangerous. Of course, if we look at the Wright brothers first aircraft we'd think the same and look where we are now... if some of those monowheels carried on.... and they do.
There is one guy who has put a V8 engine in a monowheel (and you thought motorcyclists crazy) and I thought wow! just think of the gerbilling potential with a V8.
The videos show the rider has obviously had this pleasant experience in the past and apparently didn't enjoy it or enjoys living more.
Great term, "Gerbilling", worth the visit to the site just for the great visualisation that it conjures up.
The real joy is to know that no matter what their wives and neighbours may think there are still plenty of people out there ready to spend their whole lives doing crazy things or following crazy ideas.
Progress is where one in a thousand crazies hits the right loony note.
The report I saw, said that guy was hurt, cracked ribs or something like that. He has added a horizontal wing at the back to try and keep it from throwing his body up & forward.
That is fun to watch and think it would be viable form of transportation. I have seen photos of similar working units from the 40's or 50's, neat stuff.
As for the logic involved in creating "Combat Cutlery":
As the second of four boys at mealtime, with manners that would have made wolves look like a British High Tea, I would have paid good money to have had a double barreled knife and fork when Mom served her fresh yeast rolls. It would have saved me from stab wounds and bites.
With that experience as a starting point, I'm willing to offer the idea that such flatware might have been useful for a traveler stopping off for a bite at the medievel version of Micky Dee's. I've seen movies, I know how wayside inns were.
