Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

1954 SUNBEAM ALPINE—DESTINED FOR STARDOM

IN MARCH 1954, R&T MADE quite the prediction: “For comfort-loving Americans who want a certain amount of snob-appeal in their automobile… the Alpine will probably outsell all of its competitors … Continue reading

May 16, 2023 · 1 Comment

FORMULA 1 PROPULSION EXPERTISE

MODERN FORMULA 1 is anything but traditional Formula Libre. In 1934–1937, for instance, regulations did little more than limit car weight to a maximum 750 kg (roughly 1650 lb). By … Continue reading

May 15, 2023 · 1 Comment

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM—BUT WHAT ABOUT LAGAN, RES NULLIUS, WRECCUM MARIS, AND SURVIVING DOGS?

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE to learn new stuff, even about shipwrecks. Like, for instance, I knew that things floating were flotsam; things deliberately thrown overboard were jetsam. However, Tom Johnson … Continue reading

May 14, 2023 · 1 Comment

RENDERING A CURTISS CONDOR T-32

AS I NOTED BACK IN OCTOBER 2015, “I admired the pugnacious lines of the Curtiss-Wright T-32… an aircraft that some judged already obsolete when it was designed.”  Well, years later … Continue reading

May 13, 2023 · 3 Comments

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS TIDBITS   PART 2

YESTERDAY, I GLEANED TIDBITS FROM Automotive News concerning BEV repairability and FCEV Class 8 trucking. Today, this authoritative journal changes pace to discuss Formula 1 research, Britain’s aging car parks, … Continue reading

May 12, 2023 · Leave a comment

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS TIDBITS PART 1

THESE DAYS, MORE THAN A DECADE INTO MY blissful retirement fun of SimanaitisSays and GMax time gobbling, I look to the authoritative Automotive News for tidbits, not for incremental details … Continue reading

May 11, 2023 · 1 Comment

DÉDICACES GOURMANDES

A COUPLE MONTHS AFTER inaugurating SimanaitisSays, I wrote about La Pyramide, the restaurant established by Fernand Point, who mentored many chefs renowned for Nouvelle Cuisine. About 20 miles south of … Continue reading

May 10, 2023 · 2 Comments

ON PURE SCIENCE

WE USTA JOKE, SORTA, that applied mathematics was done only behind a locked office door. Pure mathematics reigned. Two recent findings suggest that pure science is still alive and well. … Continue reading

May 9, 2023 · Leave a comment

BALTO AND KENWOOD—HERO OF NOME, GODDOG OF INNES IRELAND, RESPECTIVELY

“IN 1925,” ELIZABETH PENNISI RECOUNTS IN AAAS Science, April 27, 2023, “a sled dog named Balto made headlines around the world when he braved fierce winds, a raging blizzard, and … Continue reading

May 8, 2023 · Leave a comment

WOMEN IN THE CRUSADES

A TYPICAL IMAGE OF CRUSADING WOMEN has them as suffragettes or wielding hatchets against Demon Rum. But Barbara Newman writes of “Cauldrons for Helmets” in London Review of Books, April … Continue reading

May 7, 2023 · Leave a comment