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Kerbfleet: A Jool Odyssey-CHAPTER 21 pg 18--He's a docking wizard! (there had to be a twist?)

Mister Dilsby

By Mister Dilsby
in KSP1 Mission Reports

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12 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

I hope Nimzo took his Firearms Safety exam... :)

Obviously no such thing, seeing as Nimzo is one of only three Kerbals who have ever even seen a firearm close up, and the first to have actually touched one...but I know you knew that, and you've got me thinking: what part of Kenlie's actual Kerbfleet training would conceivably prepare him for this? Maybe they have some kind of really energetic space stapler. Or pneumatic nail drivers like construction kerbs use...hm, Air Service probably has hand-held flare shooters for use after a "good" landing.

So yeah, if Nimzo has an idea of what the "thingie" actually does, he's likely handling it with all the care any Kerbfleet engineer would use when holding an unfamiliar device designed to spit out chunks of metal at high velocity. In other words--DUCK!

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Angelo Kerman

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20 minutes ago, Kuzzter said:

Obviously no such thing, seeing as Nimzo is one of only three Kerbals who have ever even seen a firearm close up, and the first to have actually touched one...but I know you knew that, and you've got me thinking: what part of Kenlie's actual Kerbfleet training would conceivably prepare him for this? Maybe they have some kind of really energetic space stapler. Or pneumatic nail drivers like construction kerbs use...hm, Air Service probably has hand-held flare shooters for use after a "good" landing.

So yeah, if Nimzo has an idea of what the "thingie" actually does, he's likely handling it with all the care any Kerbfleet engineer would use when holding an unfamiliar device designed to spit out chunks of metal at high velocity. In other words--DUCK!

A flare gun would make sense as a rescue device, so they might think of it like that. Makes the most sense. :)

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Alchemist

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33 minutes ago, Kuzzter said:

Maybe they have some kind of really energetic space stapler. Or pneumatic nail drivers like construction kerbs use...hm, Air Service probably has hand-held flare shooters for use after a "good" landing.

So basically the primary difference of this thingy is that its indented use goes completely against safety rules (or what's the Kerbal equivalent? trying not to make too much mess?) for all the other equipment listed

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7 minutes ago, obney kerman said:

oh god... HE FOUND THE THINGIE! HE FOUND THE THINGIE!! RRRUUUUUUUNNN!!!!!!!!

Yes, yes he did. And if you were one of the very few who remembers where that thingie came from...and if you knew it had to appear again or I'd be guilty of violating a very important rule ...then give yourself a No-Prize :) 

5 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

A flare gun would make sense as a rescue device, so they might think of it like that. Makes the most sense. :)

Yes, it does...especially when you consider Kerbfleet's idea of a "range safety device".

2 minutes ago, Alchemist said:

So basically the primary difference of this thingy is that its indented use goes completely against safety rules (or what's the Kerbal equivalent? trying not to make too much mess?) for all the other equipment listed

Got it in one :) 

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Deddly

Deddly

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Wow, getting tense now, isn't it? They're almost through the door. Val presumably has a plan, otherwise she would have ordered in the fire extinguishers by now. I'm interested as to why Kenlie would not want Nimzo to use the thingie. Insider knowledge? Fear of becoming like their evil counterparts?

Intrigue!

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Geschosskopf

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2 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Yes, it does...especially when you consider Kerbfleet's idea of a "range safety device".

If you recall your All Quiet on the Western Front, one of the protagonist's buddies got killed by taking a flare in the belly during a desperate battle.

 

2 hours ago, KSK said:

Kerbfleet engineers are familiar with pop-rivet guns right?

Those don't project things, they pull things.  They're called "guns" due to their shape but they function like claw hammers.  Teeth inside the "barrel" pull a nail-like object through a hollow rivet from back to front, toward the user.  The head of the "nail" first mashes the tail of the rivet (the part of the rivet protruding through the far side of the workpiece), thus locking the rivet in the hole and blocking further motion of the "nail" back toward the "gun".  Then continued pulling by "gun" causes the "nail's" shaft to fail in tension at an engineered weak spot about flush with the rivet's head on the near side of the workpiece.  This failure makes a "pop" sound, hence the name "pop rivet".

Pop rivets weren't used very often in the aerospace industry when I worked there.  There are the concerns that the broken-off part of the "nail" in the hollow rivet will work loose and become FOD in the plane's guts, and meanwhile the hollow rivet left in the hole without the "nail" still in it loses most of its shear strength.  The only reason to use a blind fastener on an aircraft is in totally blind situations, where you can't get a tool on the far side of the workpiece, whether to buck the tail of a normal rivet or put the nut on a 2-piece fastener.  This is extremely rare because aircraft are designed NOT to create such situations during assembly, because of the reluctance to use blind fasteners.

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Posted (edited)

Right you are Shellhead...hmm, I'm not saying that one of these is in the Kerbfleet Corps of Engineers toolbox, but I have in mine a "powder-actuated" nail driver. It's for driving nails into concrete--the nail has a plastic sabot and breach-loads into a smoothbore barrel. You load a .22 half- or quarter-load blank behind it, close the breach, put the muzzle up to the wall and BANG! Very useful for hanging junction boxes in the basement. But again, Nimzo may or may not have used one of these. Let's just say he's figured out the basics of operating the thingie and has some expectation of what will happen if he pulls the trigger.

Careful readers will note that Newdun Kermulan left the pistol cocked when Sarge blasted him into space with the fire extinguisher. No doubt there was a round chambered at that time and the safety was off, if Kerbulan weapons even have safeties. Nimzo has had the pistol since then and we have not heard it discharge. We did just hear it cock again. Maybe Nimzo had managed to de-cock it before, or maybe this is a case of Gratuitous Cocking...the Forum may never know. But in any case, the weapon is ready to fire...the question is, is Nimzo?

Edited by Kuzzter
Added link to Tropes page. You're welcome.
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Just Jim

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1 hour ago, Kuzzter said:

I'm not saying that one of these is in the Kerbfleet Corps of Engineers toolbox, but I have in mine a "powder-actuated" nail driver. It's for driving nails into concrete--the nail has a plastic sabot and breach-loads into a smoothbore barrel. You load a .22 half- or quarter-load blank behind it, close the breach, put the muzzle up to the wall and BANG! Very useful for hanging junction boxes in the basement.

You hear these a lot down here. Most all the houses are concrete and cinder-block, to make them (hopefully) hurricane proof. Like you said, it's about the only way to really drive a nail into one. It's a little off-topic, but if you own one, then you can answer a question I think you're already implying... do they have any kind of recoil?

 

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17 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

... do they have any kind of recoil?

I've never felt any significant recoil, no. Recoil, remember, is a function of momentum (mass* velocity), and in this case we don't want the nail to be moving too fast or it will shatter the concrete. In addition--oh wait we're talking about THAT again aren't we...

Troll. :D 

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Just Jim

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Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, Kuzzter said:

I've never felt any significant recoil, no. Recoil, remember, is a function of momentum (mass* velocity), and in this case we don't want the nail to be moving too fast or it will shatter the concrete. In addition--oh wait we're talking about THAT again aren't we...

Troll. :D 

No, seriously... I wasn't trying to bring up the recoil can of worms... I really wondered because you're basically firing a nail like a bullet... and I've never had a chance to use one.

Edited by Just Jim
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19 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

No, seriously... I wasn't trying to bring up the recoil can of worms... I really wondered because you're basically firing a nail like a bullet... and I've never had a chance to use one.

Suuuuuuure you weren't :wink: So yeah, it's negligible. Short barrel, small caliber, reduced charge=low velocity, and nails are light. Also you're leaning into the wall when you shoot it--really the only indication anything's happened is you hear the blank snap off, and when you take the tool away there's a nail in the wall.

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KSK

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Posted
Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

Those don't project things, they pull things.  They're called "guns" due to their shape but they function like claw hammers.  Teeth inside the "barrel" pull a nail-like object through a hollow rivet from back to front, toward the user.  The head of the "nail" first mashes the tail of the rivet (the part of the rivet protruding through the far side of the workpiece), thus locking the rivet in the hole and blocking further motion of the "nail" back toward the "gun".  Then continued pulling by "gun" causes the "nail's" shaft to fail in tension at an engineered weak spot about flush with the rivet's head on the near side of the workpiece.  This failure makes a "pop" sound, hence the name "pop rivet".

Pop rivets weren't used very often in the aerospace industry when I worked there.  There are the concerns that the broken-off part of the "nail" in the hollow rivet will work loose and become FOD in the plane's guts, and meanwhile the hollow rivet left in the hole without the "nail" still in it loses most of its shear strength.  The only reason to use a blind fastener on an aircraft is in totally blind situations, where you can't get a tool on the far side of the workpiece, whether to buck the tail of a normal rivet or put the nut on a 2-piece fastener.  This is extremely rare because aircraft are designed NOT to create such situations during assembly, because of the reluctance to use blind fasteners.

You live and learn. Thanks @Geschosskopf!

Edit - and a quick shout-out for the first panel in that last strip. In space, the floor is where you want it to be! #SometimesItsTheLittleThings.

 

Edited by KSK
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7 hours ago, KSK said:

Edit - and a quick shout-out for the first panel in that last strip. In space, the floor is where you want it to be! #SometimesItsTheLittleThings.

Thanks, I'm glad that came through! I had thought to put Melbe fully upside-down but decided that there wasn't enough room between the top of the passageway frame and the ceiling in the bunk space beyond to plausibly fit the rest of her body. So I compromised by putting her behind the sliding door. #yesitisthelittlethings!

This reminds me of one of my personal favorite bits ever, during the long burn to intercept Jool. Kenlie looks up from his writing to see Jeb perpendicular to the floor and asks him, "Why are you standing on that bulkhead?" Jeb replies, "Because for the next hour, I can!" :)

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