pic: Schreiber Take on West Coast Drive

[EricH]

You'd be surprised at how many things can be done on paper quickly, including "complex" mechanisms like kicker pull-backs.

Let's go back in time a few years, to the airplane and tank designs of WWII. Did they have computers? No. At least, not that were capable of running CAD programs other than number-crunching to do analysis and things of that nature. So, how do you think they designed all their engines, landing gear, treads, guns, turret-turning devices, and all that sort of thing to create the given airplane or tank?

Yep, on paper, with enough accuracy to use them to make and assemble parts that worked, a few thousand times over per part.

How about the interrupter gear in WWI, which allowed a plane to shoot through its own propeller without damaging itself? Paper, and relatively complex. And I'd be willing to bet that Mr. Fokker, if placed in the modern world and told to sketch the interrupter gear, or even create a production drawing of it, could do it faster and just as accurately as a good CADder.

The point is, while CAD is nice because it can quickly turn a part model into a machining drawing (or, with assistance from other programs, into code for a CNC to make the part), pencil and paper is just as effective in the hands of someone who knows how to use it well.

"Don't underestimate the ability of a highly skilled technician with simple tools..." --Dave Lavery, in response to someone saying something about not having good enough tools in http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...661#post119661