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posted by
martyb
on Thursday July 26 2018, @08:01AM
from the if-it-walks-like-a-duck,-sinks-like-a-duck,-oh,-wait... dept.
from the if-it-walks-like-a-duck,-sinks-like-a-duck,-oh,-wait... dept.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
The duck boat that sank in a Missouri lake last week, killing 17 people, was built based on a design by a self-taught entrepreneur who had no engineering training, according to court records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.
The designer, entrepreneur Robert McDowell, completed only two years of college and had no background, training or certification in mechanics when he came up with the design for "stretch" duck boats more than two decades ago, according to a lawsuit filed over a roadway disaster in Seattle involving a similar duck boat in 2015.
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Duck Boat in Missouri Disaster was Designed by Entrepreneur With no Engineering Training
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Be security conscious -- National defense is at stake.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @09:26AM (8 children)
Is a duck boat like a working-class version of the swan boats you used to get in the Tunnel of Love?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Thursday July 26 2018, @10:52AM (1 child)
DUKW [wikipedia.org] is an name for an amphibious vehicle.
DUCK is not a good name, as they tend [thisisinsider.com] to sink [wikipedia.org], unlike real ducks, that don't always sink when shot.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Thursday July 26 2018, @06:48PM
That's because they're made out of wood.
(Score: 5, Informative) by deadstick on Thursday July 26 2018, @12:05PM (2 children)
Originally, they were WW2 DUKW's, hence the name. It's basically a 6x6 Army truck with a boat hull around it, so it can be driven down a beach and into the water. The duck tours operated for years with war-surplus DUKW's, but those eventually wore out and new ones were built to a cheapened design that has not been through a military-grade procurement process.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @02:44PM (1 child)
Military standards are kind of hit or miss. On the one hand they tend to be great against things like small arms fire compared with civilian models, on the other hand though since the federal government is immune to lawsuits from military casualties in most cases, they tend to tolerate a higher risk of death than you would tolerate in something that's designed for civilian use.
There's a right and a wrong way to adapt military gear for civilian use and this isn't the right way. Doing it like Hummer did was more or less right. You engineer something from scratch that has similar handling capabilities as the original and make sure to test that it's actually safe. But, sometimes, the design is just not safe for civilian use. And this is probably one of those times. Between them being so high off the ground and them being a design that's not particularly stable, it's more or less inevitable that problems will occur.
When I road on one of these decades ago, it was one of those original surplus vehicles and I don't recall having ridden through crowded areas on it.
(Score: 2) by deadstick on Friday July 27 2018, @01:32AM
We rode the ones at Wisconsin Dells years ago, when they had the original surplus equipment. The business was in a commercial district, and we drove through normal traffic to the water -- not exactly "crowded areas", but mixing with ordinary vehicle traffic.
(Score: 2) by leftover on Thursday July 26 2018, @04:17PM (2 children)
(Ex "Gator Navy" here) As others have said, it is now the common nickname for a hybrid truck/boat. Due to the very different requirements for the two, it typically does neither one well. Even the more specifically purpose designed amphibious landing craft have performance limitations because the transition from deep water to shallow surf to land is difficult. The Marines have an amphibious armored vehicle. Every time we launched a batch of them, all eyes were on counting the number that resurfaced. Even the most boat-like landing craft had flat bottoms and very shallow draft. Navy crew and the Marines themselves had very specific loading plans designed to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. Each plan had its own sea and surf condition limits. A bunch of tourists hanging out high on the sides have no such analysis and discipline.
Short answer: Military landing craft should not be used for tour boats any more than an M1A1 Main Battle Tank would serve to deliver groceries.
Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Thursday July 26 2018, @05:48PM (1 child)
> an M1A1 Main Battle Tank would serve to deliver groceries.
People like you are why I am disappointed every single time I go grocery shopping, or commute on 4 wheels, or go to the airport, or anywhere on the highway for that matter.
When I see how many assholes operate wannabe-tanks worse than my neighbor's kid operates her Barbie Jeep, I really wish my grocery run had more crunching power.
(Score: 2) by leftover on Thursday July 26 2018, @11:30PM
I know what you mean. Every variant of asshole driver is out there. Recently had a ride in a tow truck, talking to the driver about his experiences. Big F-ing Truck, flashing lights, towed vehicle and people routinely cut him off so they can be 16 feet ahead. Supernaturally calm guy, he said he can't even count the number of times he has gone to the next exit for a turnaround when people block him from the exit he signaled for.
A couple of decades ago I actually looked into putting ferociously defensive external features on my commuter vehicle. It turns out there are actually laws against this on the books, indicating that someone beat me to it. Crap.
Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.