Acoustic Defense: Photo Series Reflects on Derelict British “Sound Mirrors”

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vintage & Retro. ]

In the wake of World War I, the United Kingdom developed a powerful yet relatively low-tech architectural system for detecting incoming enemy airplanes, the remnants of which can still be found across the countryside.

Starting in the 1920s, these concrete sound mirrors were built to passively gather, reflect and concentrate acoustic waves, directing the sound to listening posts on the ground — key infrastructure in an extensive early warning alert system.

Incoming sounds were amplified by microphones and listened to by operators wearing headphones. Today, the remains of these mirrors are largely abandoned and in various states of disrepair, though some are protected with walls or fences and accompanied by historical plaques.

Based in Basel, photographer Piercarlo Quecchia discovered the existence of sound mirrors thanks to an album cover featuring one such structure. From there, he began the search out, find and photograph them — 13 in total (all that remain), most of which are located along the southern edge of England.

They may look monolithic and simple, but the curves of these structures were carefully calibrated. The designs were specifically calculated (and sound mirrors accordingly engineered) to pick up aircraft engine noises in particular.

“They represent an incredible demonstration of how sound can generate a physical form,” explains the photographer, in which “both the curvature radius and the dimensions of the dishes are studied and designed according to the sound frequency that they must reflect,”  He hopes the series will continue to raise awareness of these artifacts and bolster preservation efforts.

Like the airmail arrows that once guided planes from coast to coast across the United States, it can be easy to overlook such geometrically simple leftovers, at least until an understanding of their historical origins leads people to spot and appreciate them.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vintage & Retro. ]

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Backyard Aeronautics: Chinese Farmers Who Also Make Flying Machines

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

According to photographer Xiaoxiao Xu, the Chinese farmers and other rural hobbyists building flying machines from scratch are not in it for fame or fortune. Mostly working out of their own backyards, these creators are simply trying to find ways to lift themselves up into the air. Some build choppers, others build planes, and others hybrids and experimental aircraft that are tricky to classify.

Xu moved to The Netherlands as a teenager, graduated with a degree in photography, but traveled back to her home country to work on Aeronautics in the Backyards, a book of drawings, photos and stories of these self-taught hobbyists, mainly working on remarkably small budgets and scrounging for scraps and parts.

For the project, Xu traveled across China to speak with and photograph eight different farmer-aeronauts working on different projects. “Some of these aeronauts have worked for decades but never achieved to get airborne,” says Xu. “Although that might sound like a waste of time, they see it differently. For them, the game is not about how far or high they can fly, it’s about pushing their boundaries in order to achieve the impossible. They call it real-life science-fiction.”

One man she interviewed recalled how he got started: “My first aircraft cost me less than 10,000 CNY and all the materials and parts I made to build it were just one-offs, because I knew the first aircraft wouldn’t be perfect and would end up as firewood like the model airplanes I made before. I used the money I earned from the first aircraft to make my second aircraft, Wang Qiang No.2.” Others tell stories of midair stalls and watery crash-landings — the stakes are high when flying.

As for why they do it, the answers vary — one sums the mystery of motivation up well: “I cannot give a reason for why I want to fly. Maybe this is just how human beings evolve: we ride horses, ride bicycles, drive cars, and then fly an airplane. I fly as best I can. It’s my dream, my joy. It’s pretty much my life.”

The post Backyard Aeronautics: Chinese Farmers Who Also Make Flying Machines first appeared on WebUrbanist.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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