A Long Time Ago My Brother And I Used To Make Tops Out Of Legos And Battle To See Whose Top Could Keep

A long time ago my brother and I used to make tops out of Legos and battle to see whose top could keep spinning the longest while battering the other top. It was really fun - I remember making size classes, battle arenas, entire tournaments, and, most importantly, dozens upon dozens of tops. My brother was the strength player, building tops that could withstand multiple hits while dishing out some of their own; of course, being the smart guy, I made intricate stuff (that didn't always hold its own).

Today I stumbled on one of my favorites.

Please excuse the poor photography.

This is Jet. It's rather large and has a defensive feel to it, but other than that, it kinda looks like a boring old top, doesn't it?

Well why don't we open it up for a sec.

Jet's not-so-boring insides.

On the inside lies a giant machine! Jet actually takes in the wind rushing by it to propel it longer than it would normally go and to help keep it stable.

I would have zoomed in, but my camera got fuzzier when I got closer, so I recreated it in Lego Digital Designer instead:

Now with an actual color scheme!

And here's a better view of the insides.

The central shaft on each wing is the intake. The wind is split into two streams, one of which helps with stability, while the other keeps it spinning longer.

One more picture (last one, I promise!).

A diagram of the wind direction.

Air comes in through the pink and green lines. The green intake spirals within each chamber until it is let out on the bottom. Having one of these on each wing helps push back if any one of them leans toward the ground.

The pink streams are all directed toward the center. As a result of the way they're let in, they spiral around in the center (yellow circle) until being let out through the orange outputs. However, the outputs are small, so it takes a little pressure to get through.

I bet none of the physics actually works like this, but I did test what happens if I just block off the intakes entirely. Not only did it output less air (you can feel the whirlwind it creates normally), it also consistently spun for less time. This wasn't because I spun it with less power, mind you - I tried this multiple times, and every time I tried to be consistent.

I wonder if something like this could be applied to actually important things, or if it would be practical at all. Probably not; in our competitions, my brother broke this one a couple of times.

Here's the file I made, if you want to have a look.

I'm having a hard time choosing whether this song or Launch Hearts is my favorite of the album. They're both really good.

oh my gosh it's not a sanic song

Tomorrow I leave for college.

...

Am I that old already?

How many Final Fantasy fans do we have in the audience today? I found something you guys MIGHT like. Maybe. 

I made a really long post a week ago, but it got lost in the system somewhere and I had to contact support. Apparently it's a system-wide issue and they've been working on it... for a week. I'd been afraid of posting up to now because I was afraid the post would be lost permanently or something, but I've gotten tired of waiting so I don't care anymore. Expect my post count to increase - I've been thinking of ideas.

Also, there's a chance that my post may surface out of the blue. It's REALLY long. This is your warning, for those of you who check your dashboard every day.

After fourteen months of working on this mappack, New Super Mario World, I'm finally getting to the end of it.

I have plenty to do, but I feel August 1st is when I can get it done by. And then you can play it!

(This release date announcement is less for your information and more for my motivation.)