Weekend Beyond Cars Roundup December 14, 2024

NASA’s iconic Space Shuttle is arguably one of the best things America has made thanks to its sleek looks, its use in the launch of the International Space Station and its contribution to our understanding of the cosmos through the countless satellites it launched into orbit. Russia’s attempt at building a space plane of its own, however, was far less successful and now one of the few reminders of its existence sits rusting in a hanger in the desert. - Owen Bellwood Read More

“Agricultural, weird, old, stinky. Yeah, but it’s really cool.” They just don’t build them like they used to, and that’s probably with good reason. If you’re looking for a bike with a certain hard edged feel, a unique flavor, and difficult-to-ride-factor there’s probably not much cooler, unique, or difficult to ride out there than a 100-year-old Harley. Unlike many cars from the 1920s, a motorcycle from that era is actually still pretty useable a hundred years later. So what does a bike from 100 years ago have that a modern bike doesn’t? - Bradley Brownell Read More

The cliché response when any small plane runs into mechanical trouble in the sky is to land on a public road. A pilot in Texas found out the hard way on Wednesday why this isn’t always the best idea. The pilot put his Piper Navajo down on a highway frontage road in Victoria and rolled straight into a busy intersection, colliding with three ground vehicles. Four people were injured in the multi-modal wreck, with one person airlifted to the hospital. - Ryan Erik King Read More

We’ve all been there. You’re sitting around your fab shop shooting the shit with your pals and start thinking you should do something with your pile of vintage military surplus aircooled four-cylinder generator engines, a tiny supercharger, and an old disused wheelbarrow. What if you put them all together with a custom frame and air suspension and ripped it up to 45 miles per hour? Have another beer or two and it goes from a good idea to a tremendous idea. - Bradley Brownell Read More

I love motorcycle comms systems. I’ve had a Cardo PackTalk Edge for a while now, and a PackTalk Black before that — for as long as I’ve seriously ridden bikes, I’ve had a comm unit. I love having music in my helmet, I love the ability to make phone calls, I love being able to hear my turn-by-turn directions when I’m going somewhere I’ve never been before. - Amber DaSilva Read More

With the Space Launch System facing potential cancellation, the Artemis program will already a rough time paving a path to the Moon and it’s only getting worse. NASA announced last week that the next two Artemis missions will be delayed again following the discovery of Orion’s capsule heat shield cracked and chipped away in places during the Artemis I mission in 2022. NASA’s return to the Moon is now slated for mid-2027 at the soonest. - Ryan Erik King Read More

Here in America, we love two things: Guns and clowns. Those seem to us to be pretty universal points of adoration, yet it seems other countries aren’t quite so fond of them. When an enterprising American woman tried to combine the two at an Australian clown school, she was arrested for “illegally importing” her 24-karat gold-plated 1911, the Guardian reports. - Amber DaSilva Read More

When Donald Trump was elected to a second term as President in November, he called Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg to check on the progress of the new Air Force One planes he ordered during his first term. Unfortunately for the failed steak salesman, the two new Boeing 747 planes won’t be ready until at least 2029, after Trump’s second term ends. - Ryan Erik King Read More