I have no objections to short papers or articles being posted here when written by participants (within limits--no thirty pagers please). Of course, proper form is to link to a copy of the paper elsewhere, but some of us have no access to either a website or being able to publish elsewhere.

I think where the real problem lies is gbaikie's inability to format clearly, which probably makes the material more irritating than it otherwise might be.

"Thinking online" is just the sort of thing you might do if you are looking for input or correction, and unlike some others, I don't recall gbaikie refusing to take correction or advice on his work.

The tube launcher is an interesting concept, but I think at some point it hits the same wall as Verne's Columbiad. Literally. Hitting the atmosphere at any kind of high speed will be like smacking into a wall, although gbaikie's concept seems to be more of a "first stage," not an orbital system.

I don't think construction of such a system is going to be that much easier than simply building a first stage, or air-launching, but I haven't done any numbers myself.