Subject: RE: baidarka high aspect ratio paddle blades; lanceolate shapes; drag, inerti...
From: Peter A. Chopelas (pac@premier1.net)
Date: Mon Mar 20 2000 - 20:50:15 EST
James,
Do not get me wrong, I did not mean to imply that there is not a lot to
learn from observing nature. It is just that we have to be careful when
drawing parallels, because animals have very different environmental
constraints than machines do.
In fact it occurred to me after all this discussion on blade shape that
there may be other considerations besides efficiency that the natives had
to accommodate. For example the lanceolate shape with its pointed tip may
have be done to fend off an a surprise attack by a wild animal (since when
holding a paddle they would not have time to ready a weapon), or perhaps to
assist in digging through kelp beds, or perhaps it has some kind of
spiritual or religious significance, or who knows what else that may have
been very important to the ancient's but we may only speculate on today.
It is interesting to note that it appears the doubled ended paddle use was
not that wide spread compared to the single according to the early
explorers' descriptions. Why would most of the kayak builders use single
paddles when the double was apparently known to them? The farther North,
the more the doubled ended paddles were in use, with many places using
both. The single appears to always be more common. Yet modern day
recreational kayakers always use double paddles, what do the native
kayakers know that we do not? Why would they appear to prefer the single
in places where the double was available? Could there be considerations
that the natives had to accommodate that recreational kayakers do not?
The problem we face when considering either nature or the native paddlers
is do we really know enough about why things are the way they are.
Especially realizing we are using our limited, modern, rationalistic,
scientific, pleasure seeking contemporary mind to try and understand the
motivations of the ancient paddlers? Do we dare think geese are
intentionally design a certain way to serve the geese's purpose, or perhaps
certain elements on the goose's body occur simply by random chance?
Despite our scientific advancements most natural phenominon we still do not
understand that well.
Peter
Arlington, WA
-----Original Message-----
From: James Mitchell [SMTP:mariner@seanet.com]
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2000 10:33 PM
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: baidarka high aspect ratio paddle blades; lanceolate shapes;
drag, inerti...
Ya know, I work at Boeing building wings for the 747, 767, and 777. In the
morning this time of year, the Canadian geese are all over the lawns and
parking lots, hacked as they were from wetlands about thirty years ago.
Sometimes I will just watch those huge birds land and take off, rolling out
leading edge slats and 40 degree flaps and spoilers, using wing tip
extensions, using feathers to teach us the next level.
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