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You don't need a pilot's license to fly this plane jet-ski hybrid

1/18/2021

This aircraft is half jet ski and half plane. The FlyNano combines marine and aviation technology, creating the lightweight plane that only weighs 70kg.
A pilot's license is not required to fly the aircraft however, it is not for beginners as some flying experience is recommended before attempting to fly the seaplane.
FlyNano is powered by an electric motor that can reach speeds of up to 75 mph.
The aircraft is still in development and the price has yet to be confirmed, but it could cost around $40,000.

Watch a 75,000-Pound Dump Truck Drift at a Worksite Like No One’s Business

1/11/2021

hanks to Ken Block, we know an 8,000-pound Ford F-450 Super Duty can indeed drift. But how about 40-ton dump truck? Surely something as heavy and cumbersome as that has no right partaking in maneuvers usually reserved for lightweight rear-drive sports cars, right? Wrong, as one dump truck driver will demonstrate below.
The big yellow dirt transporter can be seen coming down a wet clay ramp then going into a righteous six-wheel drift before seamlessly backing into position to receive its payload from an excavator. Something tells us this isn't the first time the operator has flamboyantly slid dump trucks into place. I mean, if you can do this in a Cat 740 without putting a tire out of place, you have to be pretty well-practiced, right?

On top of the obvious style points, we gotta hand major props to this guy for efficiency, using the wet, slippery surface to his advantage. Turning lemons into lemonade and all that jazz. Not only would carefully making a U-turn and slowly backing the dump truck in have been a lot less video-worthy but would've also taken way more time. Time is money, people. Although, we suspect this worksite's local occupational health and safety agency won't be nearly as impressed as we are.

Supposedly retired, F-117 stealth fighter seen flying in San Diego

1/10/2021

Those who were driving on the highways near the Miramar Naval Base in San Diego on Tuesday may have witnessed a strange scene: two planes of unusual shapes and painted in black landing on the runway, famous for being the setting for the film Top Gun.
The mysterious planes were F-117 Nighthawk fighters, the first jet invisible to radar in history. But what did the two US Air Force aircraft at the Marines base do anyway? What’s more, why do they keep flying despite being retired in 2008?
The official answer does not exist since the US government does not admit that Lockheed Martin planes are in fact active, but it has become increasingly evident that the Pentagon has used some units to conduct military tests and exercises.
Miramar, for example, hosts the training of Navy fighter pilots and has aggressor aircraft, used to simulate enemy fighters. And nothing better than evaluating tactics and maneuvers with a jet that is difficult to detect.

In service since 1983, the F-117 was the precursor to stealth technology. Developed by the Skunk Works team, also responsible for the SR-71 spy plane, the Nighthawk used a fuselage concept with faceted surfaces and radar-absorbing material to remain undetected.
In addition, both engines had covered air intakes and exhaust fans with cooling systems. The V-tail, like that of the single-engine Bonanza, was chosen to be hidden behind the wings.
The unusual design means that the F-117 is only able to fly because it has a fly-by-wire control system, being unstable in various flight conditions. The USAF only operated 59 units of the attack aircraft (although designated as a fighter, its role has always been different).

When it decided to retire them in the past decade, the Air Force stored them in a pattern known as “Type 1000”, which it plans to keep them able to fly again. Almost all of the remaining units were eventually preserved at Tonopah air base.
It looked like the end of the F-117’s career, but as of 2017 some fighters began to be seen in desert regions and near Edwards Air Force Base in California. Last year, rumors emerged that the USAF would have used some Nighthawks in attacks in Syria in 2017, information that has never been confirmed.
In May 2020, two of these planes were seen next to a KC-135, denoting an unusual activity. Until then, these sightings occurred in sparsely populated areas, so the landing of the two F-117s in San Diego may be an indication that the Pentagon no longer plans to hide from the public that the “Wobblin ‘Goblin” is back.

DAKAR RALLY LEGEND HUBERT AURIOL DIES

1/10/2021

Hubert Auriol, who won the Dakar Rally on three occasions between 1981 and 1992, has died following a lengthy illness at the age of 68.
Born in Addis Abeba in Ethiopa in 1952, Auriol plied his early Dakar days in the motorbike category, competing nine times and winning the event for BMW in 1981 and 1983.
Nicknamed “the African”, Auriol was a natural on the fast desert tracks of the Dakar and gained universal admiration in the 1987 edition following an epic rally-long duel with great rival Cyril Neveu.
The pair battled tooth-and-nail all rally, with Auriol crashing agonizingly close to the end on the final stage, breaking both ankles.
Despite this, he made it to the finish broken and in tears as Neveu claimed victory.
Auriol then moved into the car category the following year, contesting the 1988 edition in a factory Mitsubishi Pajero T3.
He won the 1992 Dakar, which finished in Cape Town, South Africa with Mitsubishi before joining Citroën for 1993.

His final Dakar as a competitor came in 1994, marred by controversy when both Auriol and team-mate Pierre Lartigue by-passed a waypoint while the Mitsubishi duo of Bruno Saby and Jean-Luc Fontenay got stuck in the sand dunes.
Auriol still holds the record for the highest number of stage wins in one Dakar in the bike category (9) and has a total of 37 stage wins across the bike and car classes.
After retiring, Auriol joined Dakar organizer, the ASO, and was race director of the event between 1995 and 2004 before handing over to Patrick Zaniroli.
Auriol, who was also crowned cross-country rallies champion five times, was awarded the National Order of Merit and the Légion d’honneur in 1995.

You don't need a pilot's license to fly this plane jet-ski hybrid

Watch a 75,000-Pound Dump Truck Drift at a Worksite Like No One’s Business

Supposedly retired, F-117 stealth fighter seen flying in San Diego

DAKAR RALLY LEGEND HUBERT AURIOL DIES

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