Category:

Nathan Finneman : Watch this amazing 18-rotor super-drone lift a guy into the sky

4/8/2016

German copter company E-Volo still has its CEO. Not that engineers had any doubts about the safety of the Volocopter’s recent first-ever manned flight, which the company’s boss bravely piloted.

The extraordinary drone-helicopter hybrid is essentially a two-seat flying machine that gets off the ground with the help of what looks like a large number of drones that’ve been welded together.

The “super drone” is powered by an electric engine, with precision control offered by little more than a joystick with a few buttons it.

Following a number of successful remotely controlled test flights, the company decided it was high time someone actually climbed inside the thing to see how it handled humans. Or, perhaps more accurately, how humans handled it.

The responsibility fell to E-Volo boss Alexander Zosel, who presumably was as eager as his minions to find out if the Volocopter really did represent the “dawn of a revolution in urban mobility,” as the company so boldly claims. Although no one took the spare seat.

Fortunately, the test flight appeared to go as smoothly as a gentle kite flight on a breezy day, with Zosel confident enough to momentarily take both hands off the controls to offer his ground-based team a cheerful thumbs up.

Safely back on terra firma, Zosel was ecstatic: “The flight was totally awesome. The machine was absolutely reliable, there were no vibrations, it was tremendous….the first flight was simply unbelievable.”

The CEO said the flight pre-checks only took about “20 seconds,” after which he “pushed the lever upward and the Volocopter simply sprung upward in a single bound….[it] immediately converted every movement I made with the joystick….it’s definitely unbelievable what we’ve achieved here.”

While its maiden manned flight saw the unique copter keep to slow speeds and a fairly low altitude, future tests are likely to see the machine lift much higher and fly at its top speed of 62 mph (100 kmh).

The idea for the Volocopter was born back in 2010, with the first demonstration model taking to the skies a year later. E-Volo has clearly come a long way in that time, and the company has ambitions to produce the Volocopter in “large quantities” for the air sports market. It’s also looking at the possibility of air taxi services initially for “predetermined routes as airport shuttles or at sensible traffic nodes such as bridges.”

It may be a while before we see drone-helicopter hybrids like the Volocopter buzzing overhead, but if it does happen, E-Volo is keen to lead the way. Although this bonkers hobbyist may have something to say about that.

tags : nathan finneman human drone helicopter flying machine finneman nathan breed of speed breedofspeed

Nathan Finneman : Watch this amazing 18-rotor super-drone lift a guy into the sky

4/8/2016

Nathan Finneman : Jaw-dropping footage of a US fighter pilot dodging missiles

4/7/2016

Ever wondered what modern air combat is like? The above real-life footage, from the cockpit of a US F-16 during the Gulf War — which was picked up on Thursday by James Clark at the news site Task & Purpose — gives a dramatic look.

The video begins with the pilot, call sign Stroke 3, taking off in a mission launched on January 19, 1991, about two days into the war. According to The Gulf War Chronicles, a book by military historian Richard Lowry, Stroke 3 was part of a 16-fighter group targeting the Iraqi Air Force headquarters, a Republican Guard installation, and an oil refinery. These were all near Baghdad, and hence well defended.

At first, the mission was smooth sailing — until about three minutes in. You can hear urgent beeping as the plane radio warns of incoming surface-to-air missiles, called SA-2s, and watch the plane's gyrations as the pilot attempts (successfully) to dodge the missiles. It's hair-raising stuff.

The pilot makes it out intact. Some of the other Stroke pilots weren't so lucky: Both Stroke 4, Capt. Harry M. Roberts, and the leader, Stroke 1, Maj. Jeffrey Tice, were hit by missiles and forced to eject.

You hear audio of this happening in the tape. "Wait, somebody got hit," someone — it's not clear who — yells over the radio at around 4:30. "Stroke 4 is hit!" another voice replies.

Both Roberts and Tice were captured by the Iraqi military and tortured, but were eventually released.

This footage isn't all that new, obviously, but it's been making the rounds online after being recirculated by redditor lanson15. It helps show that, contrary to how it is portrayed in popular culture, being a fighter pilot in combat isn't glamorous. It's confusing, frantic, and — above all — dangerous.

This Spitfire Veteran Flies His Favorite Warbird Again

4/5/2016

World War 2 Spitfire Pilot Jim Robinson looks like a kid in a candy store. Did you see his smile? Yep, that made us smile too! They are both legends — the bird and the veteran and we’re so glad we witnessed this moment. He waited for years to fly this bad boy again and well, we can sense his growing excitement. As of today, around 55 Spitfires all over the world are airworthy, the rest are either in static display in museums, currently being actively restored or kept in storage.

Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s.

Jim summed up his entire experience in three words: “Times have changed.” We couldn’t agree more and with that happy look on his face at the end, we’re sure it was nothing short of memorable.

Has the secret of the Bermuda Triangle finally been discovered?

4/5/2016

The Bermuda Triangle is a well documented section of sea that has mysteriously claimed many planes and ships. These disappearances are often unexplained, and have led many to believe something supernatural must be going on in the area. Scientists now think the cause of these anomalies might be large craters in the sea floor. These craters release tons of methane gas which poses a threat to ships in the area.

While the Bermuda Triangle is the biggest hotspot for this activity, the craters actually stretch to the north of the British Isles. Monitoring a greater area might provide scientists more insight on how these craters change sea temperatures. The rapidly increasing heat combined with the gas could be the cause of many sunken ships.
Video is below for more info.

You’ve heard of ski slalom, but you might not have heard of an aeroplane slalom through a wind farm.

4/5/2016

Was that a bird or a plane? Wait… no, that was former Red Bull Air Race World Champion Hannes Arch who just rocketed through a wind farm at 300kph!

It started with a dream and ended with pure stoke. High up in the Styrian Alps inAustria, 1900m above sea level, Arch zoomed through a wind park at dizzying speeds and achieved what most would have believed to be impossible.

“When you have a such a wind farm at your front door and fly past it often, it’s no wonder you want to fly through it at some point,” the native Austrian said about his dream.

As a world champion pilot, Arch is used to zooming through massive gates at dangerously fast speeds, however the gates at Red Bull Air Races are inflatable pylons and explode when they’re hit. The worst thing that will happen is the pilot will have a time penalty.

However, as we all know, a solid wind turbine is not going to be what explodes if the pilot accidentally hits one of the 70m-high turbines – nearly three times the size of the Red Bull Air Race gates – at the Tauern Wind Park in Oberzeiring, which is just a few kilometres from where the next Red Bull Air Race is taking place at Spielberg later this month. To successfully manoeuvre through the wind farm Arch needed to turn on a dime and give plenty of room to the wind turbines, but even then, careening along at ridiculous top speeds, the distance is still quite narrow.

“Every second, you have to be perfectly clear in your mind that you have wind turbines in front of you and need to know precisely what you’re going to do next.”

Another factor to think about when slaloming through the world’s highest wind farm: nature. Red Bull Air Race courses are generally flat; and a course in the mountains is, as you can imagine, anything but flat.

“The challenge of this wind park, compared to air races, is it’s in nature. It’s not flat, so you’re going up and down – it’s in the middle of the mountains,” Arch said.

Up and down, twisting and turning – all at 300kph! With so many dangerous factors coming into play, it’s understandable why Hannes Arch is the first pilot to achieve such a crazy aerobatic stunt. It's incredible that this all happened – and you can tell from Arch’s smiling face at the end of the video that he was beyond stoked to finally check this dream off the list.

Abandoned Dog Learns To Fly A Plane, Becomes World’s Cutest Co-Pilot

4/4/2016

When rescuers met Shadow, the abandoned pup was just 22 hours away from being put down.

And now, he’s flying an airplane. For real.

Shadow is a finalist on “Dogs Might Fly,” a U.K. reality show that rescues stray dogs and teaches them new tricks, with the goal of eventually training one to successfully pilot a plane.

(Dogs have proven they can drive cars, so why not?)

The show looked for dogs “willing to go the extra mile, to problem-solve and to investigate how to work something out for themselves. That’s the kind of dog you want flying a plane,” trainer Victoria Stilwell told The Guardian.

Shadow and two other dogs made it to the show’s final stage, airing April 3, in which they’ll be tested on how successfully they learned to fly — or at least follow the instructions to do so through a system of treat-based commands. Watch Shadow work in the preview clip above.

Human pilots have always taken bold action to help their canines passengers when they can, but this takes things to a whole new altitude. With thousands of stray dogs in need of homes, we hope Shadow’s flight will inspire travelers to adopt furry “co-pilots” of their own. Clearly, there are a lot of shelter pups with unlimited potential.

Happy travels!

Skydiving From A B-17 Not Something You See Every Day (Watch)

4/3/2016

A group of ten skydivers had the experience of their lifetime when they were given an opportunity to jump from the bomb bay doors of a WW2 bomber.

Skydivers from the Chicagoland Skydiving Center took part in this amazing event to raise money for the Collings Foundation. The Collings Foundation is a non-profit organization that operates these bombers.

They were dropped from one of the most famous bombers of WW2, the B-17, also known as the Flying Fortress. The skydivers paid $500 each to the charity and enjoyed this unique event.

Nathan Finneman : This Man Chased A Nazi Fighter Plane Under The Eiffel Tower

3/30/2016

92-year-old William Overstreet Jr was a resident of Roanoke, Virginia, a retired accountant, and like many men from his generation, a veteran of World War II. And in the spring of 1944, Overstreet did something people in France and the U.S. still talk about.

Overstreet, is remembered for being the U.S. Army Air Corps pilot who flew underneath the Eiffel Tower's arches in his P-51 Mustang during an aerial battle while in hot pursuit of a German fighter plane, which he ultimately shot down.

Even back in war-torn, Nazi-occupied Paris, that wasn't something you saw every day. Or ever. And it was an act that is said to have reignited the spirits of the French resistance fighters who witnessed it from the ground. The Richmond Times-Dispatch quoted the son of one fighter, who had this to say:

One of those French Resistance fighters was the father of Bernard Marie. A French dignitary who has hosted D-Day events every year since 1984, Marie said he met Overstreet in 1994.

He knew Overstreet was well-known for his flight underneath the Eiffel Tower but didn't understand its true importance until he spoke with his father.

"My father began shouting at me — 'I have to meet this man,' " Marie said. Members of the French Resistance had seen his flight and it inspired them, including Marie's father, he said.

"This guy has done even more than what people are thinking," Marie said. "He lifted the spirit of the French."

The website Warbirds Express has a pretty comprehensive summary of Capt. Overstreet's life and military career. Born in Clifton Forge, Virginia in 1921, Overstreet was a student at what is now the University of Charleston when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He enlisted in the Army with the goal of becoming a pilot, which landed him in the 357th Fighter Group, 363rd Fighter Squadron.

Overstreet was flying P-51s in the Atlantic Theater by early 1944; he named all of his planes the "Berlin Express." He had at least one close call where a burst of flak cut off the oxygen line in his plane, causing him to black out and disappear from his formation over enemy territory. But news reports at the time said he flew for 90 whole minutes "on reflex action alone" and only regained consciousness after slipping into a spin and nearly crashing.

His most famous mission came not long after that. According toBarnstormers, Overstreet was in hot pursuit of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 over Paris. The German pilot figured the anti-aircraft artillery on the ground would take care of the American, but that was not to be.

What happened next is kind of nuts.

The German's engine was hit, and Overstreet persisted through the intense enemy flak. As a last resort, the ME109 pilot aimed his aircraft at the Eiffel Tower and in a breathtaking maneuver, flew beneath it. The unshakeable Overstreet followed, and scored several more hits in the process.

The German plane crashed and Bill escaped the heavy flak around Paris by flying low and full throttle over the river.

Overstreet describes the heroic event in his own words:

"I had followed this 109 from the bombers when most of the German fighters left. We had a running dogfight and I got some hits about 1500 feet. He then led me over Paris where many guns were aimed at me. As soon as he was disabled, I ducked down just over the river and followed the river until I was away from Paris."

The audacious move stunned onlookers on the ground, and most likely, Overstreet himself.

After that, Overstreet and his group flew eight missions on D-Day, and he flew secret escort missions after that. Sent home in October 1944, he taught at the gunnery school in Pinellas, Florida. Following the war he became an accountant, and also worked with various charities and veterans groups.

And in 2009, Overstreet returned to France to receive that nation's highest award: the Legion of Honor. The Roanoke Star reported at the time that the award was given to him by Pierre Vimont, the Ambassador of France to the U.S.

Ambassador Vimont was lavish with his praise of Captain Overstreet, stating that his valorous deeds helped liberate France from the Nazi Occupation. He also alluded to Eddie Simpson and all of the many brave Americans who never made it home from Europe after WWII.

Once Vimont had pinned the beautiful Legion of Honor medal to Overstreet's coat and given him the traditional two-cheek embrace, Captain Overstreet, standing straight, sans walker, made his way to the podium and issued a strong "Thank You" several times.

Overstreet had said that if he was awarded the Legion of Honor before he died — it cannot be given posthumously — he would have accepted it on behalf of his comrades who didn't make it home during the war.

After shyly accepting the Legion of Honor at the age of 88, Overstreet said, "If I said, 'Thank you,' it wouldn't be enough," but then added, "What more than 'thank you' do you need?"

Hopefully, people thanked him as well.

Nathan Finneman: You’d Never Want To Eject After Seeing This Slow Motion Video

3/30/2016

Just Looking At This Made Me Want To Pass Out.The development of ejection seats in aircraft could be traced back to World War II, as Germany started experimenting with them with the advent of their jet powered planes. They didn’t become fully operational however, and for the most part a World War II fighters ejection seat was climbing out of the chair and literally jumping out.

Over the years as technology got better and planes got faster, ejection seats were crucial to increase the survivability of pilots. Sir James Martin used his company called Martin-Baker to start experimenting with such systems right after World War II. Today, it’s the biggest manufacturer of ejection seats around the world and they’re getting more and more advanced.

Martin-Baker’s ejection seat systems have officially accounted for 7,402 pilot lives saved.

What you’ll see here is the newest type of ejection seat called a zero-zero ejection seat. Before those, the pilot still had to have speed and altitude in order to safely eject from a plane. The zero-zero seats allow you to eject with neither of those which means you can eject right before you hit the ground.

Although that’s amazing, after looking at this video, it still doesn’t seem like a pleasant experience.The slow motion ejections are fun to watch, but when they show you the ejection at regular speed at the end, well, judge for yourself.

<<Previous

Forward>>

Nathan Finneman : Watch this amazing 18-rotor super-drone lift a guy into the sky

Nathan Finneman : Watch this amazing 18-rotor super-drone lift a guy into the sky

Nathan Finneman : Jaw-dropping footage of a US fighter pilot dodging missiles

This Spitfire Veteran Flies His Favorite Warbird Again

Has the secret of the Bermuda Triangle finally been discovered?

You’ve heard of ski slalom, but you might not have heard of an aeroplane slalom through a wind farm.

Abandoned Dog Learns To Fly A Plane, Becomes World’s Cutest Co-Pilot

Skydiving From A B-17 Not Something You See Every Day (Watch)

Nathan Finneman : This Man Chased A Nazi Fighter Plane Under The Eiffel Tower

Nathan Finneman: You’d Never Want To Eject After Seeing This Slow Motion Video

///

Categories

Archives