The Steamboating Forum

I have found a PDF file of the Steam Yacht ARROW article in the Scientific American. 6.6 Megs, so how do I get it to youall who want it?

Go to the online source of the document and copy and paste inot your post, everything in the top line of the screen, starting http . . . .

Get a free drop box account. That's what I did, and then I got dropbox to give me a link I could post.

-CB

From Mike "Go to the online source of the document......... " I have had the file on old floppies for it seems like decades, from an actual Scientific publication, no online source that I know of.

Dropbox, they wanted to complicate my life, but fortunately I was able to put up this file on "Boat Design Forums" at the following address:

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/

Fred,

Great article! thanks for uploading.

Very impressive craft. Running 40 knots and lifting the safeties at 420 psi .

One of the things I've noticed on any high output steam plant is the business of heating the cylinders and ideally keeping them near superheat temps. The father of high power steam, Richard Trevethick understood this way back in 1804. He typically situated steam cylinders in the upper steam portion of the boiler and his horizontal boilers only had one large firetube. Somewhere along the way with Atwood or Stephenson, plus others and their Locomotives, they opted to mount cylinders out in the breeze for convenience of mechanical arrangement, of course they used firetubes to increase steam production, then worked to insulate everything. I see people today designing modern steam plants doing the same thing. I think thermal loss is the most important consideration and cylinder heating/reheating is something that should be implemented when designing a new modern engine for highest efficiency.

I've been pondering a modern steam car with light aluminum tube chassis, carbon graphite body, not sure if I'll pursue that. Strangely the cylinders and heads of the proposed sleeved aluminum compound engine would have fins. Not to radiate heat, but collect it. The heads and cylinders would be in the exhaust plenum of the boiler in which the gases after efficient heat transfer to the generator are still in the 400 degree range.

The first time I ever noticed this was at the Henry Ford Museum and the Ofeldt built Naptha launch they had there on display. I was looking for the cylinder and couldn't find it, then realized it was up inside the little vertical brass boiler at the stern - there was a square tooth gear on the propshaft directly under the boiler, but some of the engine appeared to be missing. It had (from what I could see and can remember) a circular burner that went around the base of the cylinder. I didn't understand it then, they were efficiently expanding all the way to the exhaust stroke and it didn't cost any extra.

-Ron

I read in that wonderful book on pg. 162 that oil at the well heads in Baku was available for only 1 copeck per pood. What will the world come to with such cheap oil!!!!

To avoid invidious comparisons with speedboats I've been answering questions about the top speed of Folly in Furlongs per Fortnight. Stops the conversation dead.

And in case you are wondering, the conversion is that 48.3327348 Furlongs/Fortnight equals one Knot.

I round up to 50 for casual conversations. Telling some shore bird that were are moving out at around 250 impresses them no end.

I sure wish there was more technical data available for the Arrow, including drawings, etc.

I did have another Scientific American with more technical data about ARROW, but I could not find it. If and when I do find it, I will publish a scan of the original publication.

That would be great. Thank you Fred.