Monthly Archives: March 2020

Maple Sap is Sweet This Year

I am being a good citizen and am socially distancing at my cabin in northern Minnesota – avoiding people is easy in the dense forests that surround my residence. When I went out for my daily walk and I saw the maple sap bags that my neighbor put out (Figure 1). Most folks around here collect their sap in these blue bags. Continue reading

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WW2 Fighter Aircraft Fuel Fraction

I recently read a book called Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War that documents the life of John Boyd, a fighter pilot who was critical to putting fighter aircraft design on a firm mathematical footing now called Energy-Maneuvering Theory. He was a key member of the Fighter Mafia, a group of military and industry experts in the 1970s that advocated for a lightweight fighter alternative to the large, heavy fighters like the F-111 and MiG-25. Their concepts played a significant role in the final designs of the F-16 and F-18. Continue reading

Posted in Excel, History Through Spreadsheets, Military History | 2 Comments

Combined Excel Timeline/Column Chart using WW2 Naval Air Data

I recently needed to generate a graph in Excel that combined a column chart with a timeline. The graph turned out well and I decided to share my work here. As my original work is proprietary, I will share the technique here using some US Navy (USN) air operations data from WW2. Continue reading

Posted in Excel, History Through Spreadsheets, Military History | Comments Off on Combined Excel Timeline/Column Chart using WW2 Naval Air Data