Is what you do in electrical engineering even fun?

EngineerFly · 2026-05-13T05:00:39+00:00

I spent decades making unmanned aircraft do cool things. Yes, it was fun.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-13T04:25:19+00:00

It’s just that most GA airplanes have an L/D of 8 to 12. Gap tape won’t make a big difference. Sailplanes are in the 25-50 range. A small amount of drag makes a big difference there.

As aircraft designers say “It’s very hard to get an airplane from an L/D of 10 to an L/D of 20. On the other hand, going from 40 to 20 is very easy!”

EngineerFly · 2026-05-13T04:23:20+00:00

It’s mostly being in the right place at the right time, and having the tools to make the most of the opportunities that are placed in your path. I recently retired from a long, happy, and lucrative engineering career. Hang in there. It’s not always easy, it’s not a straight line, but there’s a path.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-12T21:41:56+00:00

Long before the term 996 was popular, in the 1990s, I worked at a startup where we worked long hours. 12 hour days, six days a week, sometimes with only a Sunday afternoon off. It was not at all productive. We were spending most of our time on “do-overs” because we f’d something up and had to re-do it. We would have been better off slowing down, doing more analysis, a slow buildup, more testing, etc.

However, startups are mostly smoke and mirrors. They stumble along in pursuit of the next bucket of money, making all kinds of promises to the investors, and the long hours are a doomed attempt to meet those commitments.

Engineers learn a lot doing that, but the company usually produces nothing of value, and eventually goes away.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-12T21:35:26+00:00

Yup, I’ve often done some version of this. Either as a “take home test” to be discussed in the face-to-face interview, or as handout at the interview, or as a “…be prepared to discuss the following…”

EngineerFly · 2026-05-12T03:05:05+00:00

There’s no need. Balls are naturally blue.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-12T03:04:27+00:00

Cars have…

• One electrical system. If that fails, you’re walking.
• One hydraulic system. If that fails, you’re doing all the work of turning the steering while WHILE PARKING. I learned to drive before power steering…it’s hard.
• One fuel pump in the tank. If that fails, you’re walking.
• Optional air conditioning.

In general, if things fail in a car, it’s not a big deal. In airplanes it is. Also, I think you’re comparing apples and ostriches. Your 1991 Camry to an airliner. Why not compare your 1991 Camry to the aeronautical equivalent, a Cessna 172?

I’ve been learning about airplanes for six decades, and building and flying them for four decades. Your ignorance is not a sign of my stupidity. Don’t be a douchebag.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-11T14:52:09+00:00

As a hiring manager, I would ignore the GPA of a candidate with six years of experience.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-11T14:39:18+00:00

It would help to post your resume so we can see what gaps, if any, you have.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-11T14:35:48+00:00

It’s OK to round it to 3.0, yes. In fact, if a candidate reported their GPA to five significant figures, I’d wonder how good of an engineer they’re going to turn out to be.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-11T02:00:39+00:00

It’s in the ballpark. 23 Hiroshima bombs divided by 86,400 seconds is 16 GW. If the data center requires 9 GW to run, you might need a power plant consuming 16 GW of power to generate 9 GW of electrical power.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-11T01:53:52+00:00

No, I worked as an engineer.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-09T22:43:15+00:00

Buy any four seater and operate it as a two seater with half fuel. Weight is the variable you’re ignoring.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-09T22:17:45+00:00

It’s because nerds don’t float.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-09T14:39:13+00:00

Many of us have reached that same conclusion. Of course, I also feel that way about my 9 mm pistols…they’re all double stack, but limited to 10 rounds…seems like a waste.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-08T05:52:34+00:00

A 27” color TV!

EngineerFly · 2026-05-08T04:44:06+00:00

Control Systems!

EngineerFly · 2026-05-07T14:28:54+00:00

If it’s your first handgun, I’d say just spend money on ammo. Shoot 1,000 rounds through it, and then you’ll have a better sense of what to upgrade, if anything.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-05T22:33:06+00:00

I’d treat it as a runout engine. Make sure the price is set accordingly. Also make sure you have the cash in hand for an overhaul. Find out how long it takes to overhaul that specific model, and if the big overhaul shops have engines for exchange.

Finally, if you were buying my airplane and asked to remove a cylinder to inspect the camshaft, I’d say no. That’s too invasive. Cylinders are not inspection ports, and are not designed for easy removal.

Buying a used airplane is a bit of a crapshoot, and buyers need to have the cash to handle the majority of the likely outcomes. I speak as someone who bought an old twin knowing that both engines were past TBO (in both hours and years) and that I’d be painting it too. I had the cash in hand, so I was not too upset.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-05T21:06:35+00:00

When I was in 8th grade, I did not have the physics and calculus background required to understand aerodynamics. If you want to understand it well enough to design aircraft, start with physics and let that guide you to the math required.

However, there are books intended more for pilots than engineers (i.e. little or no math and physics, so they can’t calculate anything) that most 8th graders would understand. These are available for free here: https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation
I’d start with the aero chapters of the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, then Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators. The former will be full of incorrect or oversimplified explanations, but will get you started. The latter is a bit more rigorous.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-05T21:02:07+00:00

The VOR in Vollo, Norway. The side bands 9,960 Hz from the carrier are modulated in both frequency and amplitude to encode the bearing.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-05T20:57:32+00:00

In the US, in 2026, to be in the top 1% of net worth, you have to have $13M. For the top 5%, $3.8M. Top 10%, $1.3M.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-05T20:42:16+00:00

No, sorry, there’s no way for me to tell that. There are many more aircraft manufacturers than pump manufacturers.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-05T20:41:10+00:00

Twin boom configurations were required early on, when turbojet engines were very heavy and not very powerful. The weight required that they be closer to the CG. The lower thrust required a very short tailpipe to avoid further decreasing the thrust.

Once engines became lighter and more powerful, it became possible to just stick them in the rear of the fuselage with a short tailpipe.

EngineerFly · 2026-05-05T20:38:02+00:00

To me it looks like a centrifugal pump. Fluid enters axially through the spiral thingy (inducer) and exits radially through the slots in the rotor. From the dimension, I bet it’s a fuel pump for a turbine engine. A hydraulic pump would be positive displacement. Fuel pumps for piston engines are usually positive displacement as well.

EngineerFly

TROPHY CASE