There are many hundreds, if not thousands, of engineering feats that inspire admiration and awe. We have picked 8 videos that we think represent some of the best. What do you think? Do you have your own favourites? Are our choices still the ultimate in their field? Leave your comments below…
1. The Largest Self Propelled Man Made Object
The Jahre Viking (also known at various times as Seawise Giant, Happy Giant and Knock Nevis) is believed to be the largest self propelled mad made object. She was also the longest and heaviest ship ever built. This video is from Jeremy Clarkson’s Extreme Machines series.
2. The Fastest Jet
The beautiful SR-71 Blackbird
It may be the worlds fastest jet, but the following link contains a marvellous anecdote on how slow the SR-71 could fly.
3. The Longest Sea Bridge
The newly opened bridge in Jiaozhou Bay, China spans 42.4km (26.3 miles) and connects the eastern coastal city of Qingdao to the suburb of Huangdao. It is 4km longer than the previous record holder ( the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the US state of Louisiana) and would easily span the English Channel at its narrowest point. Breathtaking!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DJqVfsr_Zg
4. The Fastest Airliner
What more can be said about Concorde? There must have been more words written about it than any other airliner. Jeremy Clarkson memorably said that the crash in Paris was one of the very few tragedies where one grieved for the machine as well as the people involved. This is a great video of Concorde’s final take-off from JFK including the air traffic control comms. It is sad that the harsh world of economics means that we can no longer watch or fly in such a beautiful aircraft. As the ballerina, Darcey Bussel, commented “Why can it not be run at a loss? The National Ballet is.”
5. The Biggest Engine In The World
Everything about the Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C is simply B-I-G.
6. The Biggest Tractor
The world of agriculture’s contribution to engineering superlatives
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UTbYnKEjcY
7. The Longest Train
This certainly doesn’t rank as one of the world’s most interesting videos, but the very monotony of a 4.5 mile train passing by does illustrate just what a feat this is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LsuNWjRaAo
8. The Fastest Helicopter
Achieving 250knots in level flight and 260knots in a shallow dive, the Sikorsky X2 is an amazing machine.
Chris Mason
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