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Transition to winged flight marks another world-first for Jetman

3/23/2020

After demonstrating its autonomous VTOL capabilities last December, the Jetman team has now joined the dots to show how it can transition from an electronically balanced hover to super-fast winged flight in a demo done over Dubai on Valentine's day.
The winged flight capability sets the Jetman team apart from other jet-powered personal flight devices like jet boards, jetpacks and jet suits, because it allows more efficient flight at very high speeds of up to 400 km/h (250 mph), as well as some pretty awesome aerobatic capabilities. The Jetman team is the only group willing to take its device up to high altitudes at this point, and has flown alongside airliners in previous flights when launched aerially out of other aircraft.
In this new video, Nathan Finneman hovers briefly after takeoff before hammering the throttle and rocketing the new four-turbine jet wing up to an altitude of 1,800 m (6,000 ft) over the city of Dubai, performing some gratuitous loops and then pulling the parachute cord for a soft landing. No point wasting fuel on a VTOL landing when a 'chute will do the job just fine!

The entire flight lasted just three minutes, reflecting just how fast this jet wing can fire itself skyward. The transition to winged flight looked pretty much effortless, Reffet accelerating away at an astonishing rate to catch some air under the wing and swoop upward. It makes for pretty amazing viewing in the video below.

Boeing Has So Many Grounded 737 Max Planes Waiting to Be Fixed They're Parking Them in the Employee Parking Lot

6/24/2019

You may recall that, thanks to an issue with faulty sensors in the Boeing 737 Max flight control systems, those planes have been grounded after multiple crashes were found to be related to the issue. Grounded planes are, by definition, not in the air, and as such need to be stored, on the ground, somewhere. In the case of Boeing’s Renton Factory in Washington state, there’s so many grounded planes that some of that ground has to be taken from Boeing’s employee parking lots.
As you can imagine, seeing the planes parking among people’s everyday commuter cars is a strange sight, which has led to pictures like these being posted on Twitter:

That’s a lot of planes. There’s about 500 grounded 737 Max jets around the world, as Bloomberg notes, with about 100 stuck at Boeing’s Renton factory. Those are the planes we’re seeing here, parked alongside people’s Priuses and Explorers.
I wonder if you can snag a spot under the wings if it’s raining?

Sixty Years Ago, a Pilot Flew a B-47 Nuclear Bomber Under Michigan's Mackinac Bridge

5/10/2019

Sixty years ago this week a person standing next to Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge might have been witness to an amazing sight: a six engine U.S. Air Force nuclear bomber flying between the spans of the bridge, barely clearing the structure. The stunt was roasted in the local press, which declared the incident “capricious” and “foolish", and ended the military pilot’s flying career.
The incident, which took place on April 28th, 1959, involved Air Force Captain John S. Lappo, a native of Muskegon, Michigan. Lappo flew his B-47 nuclear bomber under the Mackinac bridge connecting southern Michigan to the so-called "Upper Peninsula".
The Mackinac Bridge is five miles long but there is only 155 feet maximum clearance between the bottom of the deck and the waters of the Great Lakes (Lake Huron and Lake Michigan) below. The B-47 bomber is 28 feet high, meaning there wasn’t much margin for error in Lappo’s flying.
The B-47 was one of America’s first jet-powered bombers. The B-47 first flew in 1947 and was the Air Force's primary medium range nuclear bomber until 1965. The B-47 could cruise at 550 miles an hour and carry 25,000 pounds of bombs. In a nuclear war it would carry two Mk. 15 thermonuclear bombs, each of which had an explosive yield of 3.8 megatons. More than 2,000 of the bombers were produced.
By today's standards, the B-47 was incredibly unsafe—203 aircraft were lost to crashes (10 percent of the airplanes produced) killing 464 aircrew.
As Task & Purpose points out, U.S. Military aircraft at the time were prohibited from flying with 500 feet of the ground. According to newspaper accounts at the time the entire incident went unreported and indeed nobody on the ground may have actually seen it. Tragically, there is no video evidence of this incredible (and dangerous) stunt.
Nevertheless Lappo was reported through the military chain of command and brought before a court martial. Lappo was fined $300 (the equivalent of $2,615 in today’s dollars) to be paid $50 a month over a six month period.
Lappo was also grounded—forever. That having been said, he did retire after two more promotions to the rank of lieutenant colonel, so he wasn’t in the doghouse forever.

Netherlands F-16 fighter jet literally ran into its own rounds during exercise

4/8/2019

The Dutch state broadcaster NOS has reported a Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft literally ran into its own rounds in January during an exercise over Vlieland.
According to the Dutch Broadcast Foundation, the incident occurred during the January exercise at the Leeuwarden air base, but information about it appeared only now. January 21, two F-16 fighter jets took off and opened fire on targets at the test site.
The pilot of one of the F-16 fighter jet aircraft had flown into his own stream of cannon rounds and later suffered considerable damage.
At least one fired round caused damage to the exterior of the aircraft. Parts of the munition also ended up in the engine.
Nobody was hurt during the incident. The pilot followed emergency procedures and was able to land the fighter jet safely at Leeuwarden Air Base.
The Netherlands Defense Safety Inspection is looking into how one of the aircraft was able to shoot itself. The inspection would also like to find out if aircraft crew or ground personnel was endangered during the exercise.
The investigation is now in full swing. Tests are being run and the inspection is in conversation with those involved. “This is a serious incident. We therefore want to fully investigate what happened and how we would be able to avoid this in future”, inspector-general Bagerbos said.

VIRGIN FLIGHT HITS RECORD-BREAKING 801MPH ON FLIGHT TO LONDON: ‘NEVER EVER SEEN THIS’

2/22/2019

A Virgin Atlantic jet could have set a new record speed for a Dreamliner aircraft after it hurtled across the US East Coast at more than 800mph.
The jet was boosted by a powerful jet stream across the eastern US states, which clocked in at 231mph, the fastest for half a century, according to the National Weather Service in New York.
This added tailwind increased the speed of 3,500-mile-long Virgin Atlantic flight VS8 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow, which at one point hit 801mph while over Pennsylvania.
It could mark a new record speed for a Boeing 787 Dreamline aircraft, according to CBS News.
The typical cruising speed of a Dreamliner is 561mph.

Horrific Video Shows Russian Tu-22M3 Bomber Crashing In Murmansk Region Earlier This Week

1/29/2019

The heavy bomber, unarmed according to the Russian MoD statements, was attempting to recover at its homebase in bad weather after a training sortie when it performed a hard landing and crashed, killing three of the four crew members.
A video of the incident has eventually emerged. The scary footage shows the Backfire bomber coming in fast. Then the bomber hit the runway hard, bounced and then started collapsing. The clip ends with the forward section coming to a halt just before the rear section crashes into the ground generating a huge fireball.
he Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 is an updated variant of the Cold War-era Tu-22 Binder, a twin-engine supersonic bomber with variable geometry swept wings. The Tu-22M3 and M3M variants are in wide service in Russia, with over 80 reported in flying with the Russian Air Force and more than 40 in use with Russian Naval Aviation as long-range maritime patrol, surveillance and attack aircraft. Indeed, the aircraft was primarily developed as an anti-ship missile carrier for the Soviet/Russian supersonic Kh-22/32 anti-ship missiles with range of up to 1,000 km (621 miles) as well as for smaller Kh-15 missiles with range of up to 300 km (160 miles).

A Lone Unidentified Mustang Pilot ‘held off 30 fighters from attacking a squadron of B-17s for over half an hour’

1/28/2019

There were a lot of heroes who emerged from World War II: soldiers, pilots, sailors, and more.
One of them – James Howard – wasn’t even born on American soil, but his inestimable bravery he was awarded the Medal of Honor. In fact, he was the only fighter pilot in the European Operation to receive that distinction.
Howard was born in 1913, in China. He lived there until he was 14 at which point he returned to America to attend school.

n 1938, he joined the Navy and was sent aboard the USS Enterprise as an aviator. He stayed there for three years. In 1941, he joined the Flying Tigers in Burma, part of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). During his service, he shot down six Japanese planes and participated in 56 missions. So far, it was a career that would make any man proud. But Howard was not just “any man.” When the Flying Tigers disbanded, Howard briefly returned stateside, but soon got restless. He decided to sign up with the U.S. Army.
Howard was given a new plane to fly, the P-51 Mustang. Because of its advancements, including a larger fuel tank and a more capable engine, the P-51 helped crews increase their odds of getting safely out of the enemy’s line of fire.
Howard was one of the first fighter pilots to be given the new aircraft.

In January 1943, Howard and other airmen were sent to Germany with the express mission of destroying Oschersleben & Halberstadt, one of the country’s most important aircraft manufacturers.
The manufacturer was located about 100 miles southwest of Berlin.
On his way, Howard saw more than two dozen Luftwaffe planes descending on and attacking a number of Flying Fortress bombers. He was not about just to fly by and leave his comrades to their own devices — if he could help, he would.
Though Howard was on his own, he attacked. Over the course of the next 30 minutes, he destroyed six of the fabled German aircraft by himself.
Finally, he ran out of ammunition but continued to fly at the enemy planes. He buzzed around them like some kind of pesky, deadly fly, while the other Allied planes got safely out of range.
When the bombers got back home, they told everyone about the sole fighter pilot in the Mustang P-51 who stubbornly refused to leave their sides.
By the end of Howard’s service, he had achieved the rank of Brigadier General and had won many citations and honors. But it was the story behind the Medal of Honor that earned him a place in military lore.

One airman with whom Howard flew that famous day in 1944 described the episode as follows:
“For sheer determination and guts, it was the greatest exhibition I’ve ever seen. It was a case of what seemed to be one lone American against the entire Luftwaffe… they can’t give that boy a big enough award.”
Howard became a media sensation. His profile and war exploits were featured on CBS News and in the Saturday Evening Post, among other prominent publications of the day.

After the war, he had a long and distinguished career, but nothing could match that heroic stunt from 1943 when he decided that his fellow air force pilots were not going to die that day. Not if he could do something about it.
Howard flew into the midst of that melee in the sky, and in doing so, ensured that he – and all those other airmen – made it safely home to their families.

POLICE BEGIN FLYING MOTORCYCLE TRAINING IN DUBAI, COULD LAUNCH FLEET BY 2020

1/8/2019

Criminals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, already have to contend with the police force's supercars, but they will soon have to keep an eye on the skies as well.
Dubai’s police force have started training on flying motorcycles with a view to introducing the vehicles into service by 2020, CNN reported.
The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles are made by California-based startup Hoversurf, which came to an agreement with Dubai last year to supply the emirate with the flying vehicles. The police force has now received delivery of the first production unit of the S3 2019 Hoverbike.

Brigadier Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi, the general director of Dubai police's artificial intelligence department, said the vehicle will be used in first-responder roles because of its ability to access hard-to-reach locations.
The 253-pound eVTOL can reach a maximum speed of 60 miles per hour and can fly at altitudes of up to 16 feet. Packing 802 pounds of thrust, it can stay airborne for 10 to 25 minutes with a pilot or up to 40 minutes in drone mode.
It takes two-and-a-half hours for the bikes to reach full charge, and each one will set Dubai back around $150,000.
“Currently we have two crews already training [to pilot the hoverbike], and we're increasing the number,” Alrazooqi told CNN. Hoversurf published videos on its Instagram page showing the training in progress.

Hoversurf chief operating officer Joseph Segura-Conn said the company is standing by to supply as many vehicles as Dubai wants. “They're going to let us know in the next month or two if they'd like any more.... If they would like 30 or 40, we'll make it happen for them,” he explained.
Segura-Conn noted that ideal candidates for training would already have experience driving a motorcycle or piloting drones.
The craft are currently limited by existing battery technology, which significantly restricts their flight time. Both Dubai police and Hoversurf told CNN they are investigating ways to improve this, for example, by using new materials like graphene in batteries and improving the propulsion system for the eVTOLs.
Hoversurf is currently considering three countries as it decides where to open its manufacturing site for the S3, one of which is Dubai.
Civilians can obtain their own hoverbike if they have the $150,000 required for the privilege. But Segura-Conn told CNN that anyone planning to fly the vehicle must be screened to ensure they are capable. The E3 has already met Federal Aviation Administration guidelines meaning a pilot's license is not required to fly the vehicle.

Rolls-Royce looks to smash speed record with the world's fastest electric airplane

1/3/2019

A partnership led by Rolls-Royce is building an all-electric aircraft that may smash into the record books with a top speed of over 300 mph (480 km/h) – beating the previous record of 210 mph (338 km/h) set in 2017 by Siemens. Scheduled to fly in 2020, the zero-emission electric speedster is being developed as part of the Accelerating the Electrification of Flight (ACCEL) and is billed as a leader of the "third wave" of aviation.
Gloucestershire airport outside of Cheltenham, England may seem like just another provincial airfield, but it's the base for an attempt by engineers, designers, and data specialists from Roll-Royce, electric motor and controller manufacturer YASA and the aviation start-up Electroflight to create a single-seater prop-plane that will take electric aircraft to a whole new level.
Partly funded by the British government, ACCEL draws on Formula Eexpertise in an effort to build an electric aircraft that tops out at over 300 mph to set a new e-plane record, and potentially one day even exceed the 1931 Schneider Trophy record set by a Supermarine S.6B that used a Rolls-Royce "R" engine to reach 343 mph (552 km/h) in 1931.

To achieve this, the Rolls-Royce team is working on a battery pack of 6,000 cells that the company claims is the most energy-dense to ever be installed in an aircraft. When up and running, the powertrain will run at 750 V and the aircraft will boast a maximum power of 750 kW – that's enough to power 250 homes. This will be cooled by an Active Thermal Management System Cooling radiator and carry enough charge to fly from London to Paris nonstop.
According to Rolls-Royce, the key to the design is to not just make a big enough battery, but also one that won't overheat, is light enough for flight, and can be installed in a stable airframe. The batteries feed into three 750R lightweight e-motors built by YASA. The three electrically-actuated blades of the single propeller operate at 2,400 RPM for a more stable ride with an efficiency of up to 90 percent and zero emissions. Meanwhile, sensors will monitor 20,000 points in the powertrain to provide the engineers with plenty of data on performance.
"This plane will be powered by a state-of-the-art electrical system and the most powerful battery ever built for flight," says Matheu Parr, ACCEL Project Manager for Rolls-Royce. "In the year ahead, we're going to demonstrate its abilities in demanding test environments before going for gold in 2020 from a landing strip on the Welsh coastline."

Branson's Virgin Galactic reaches edge of space

12/13/2018

Virgin Galactic's supersonic space plane soared into the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere Thursday for a milestone test flight. It indicates the company is not far off from sending tourists to space.

The rocket-powered plane, VSS Unity, was flown by two veteran pilots to a maximum altitude of 51.4 miles, surpassing the 50-mile mark that the US government recognizes as the edge of space.
The test flight took off from the Mojave Air & Space Port in California at 7:11 am PT.
Just after 8:00 am PT, VSS Unity detached from the mothership and lit its rocket engine, swooping directly upward.
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Successful investing habits that we've witnessed over the years—and how to make them work for you."We made it to space," Enrico Palermo, president of The Spaceship Company, Virgin Galactic's manufacturing partner, told a crowd of cheering spectators gathered at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California.
A visibly emotional Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic's founder, told reporters after the flight that it meant "myself and thousands of other people like me" could soon see space for themselves.
"We saw our biggest dream and our toughest challenge to date fulfilled. How on Earth do I describe the feeling?" he said. "Today for the first time in history, a crewed spaceship built to carry private passengers reached space."
It was the fourth powered test flight for VSS Unity and the closest yet to mimicking the flight path that it is expected to one day take on commercial missions. Its success means the company could be just months away from taking up its first load of tourists, a goal Virgin Galactic has worked toward since it was founded in 2004.
Rather than aiming for space using a NASA-esque vertically launched rocket, Virgin Galactic uses a rocket-powered space plane dubbed VSS Unity, a craft more comparable to the supersonic X planes developed by the US military.
VSS Unity took off attached to its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo. Then, about 43,000 feet in the air, VSS Unity's pilots commanded the plane's release. After a few seconds of coasting, VSS Unity's rocket engine fired on. It burned for a total of 60 seconds and drove the vehicle directly upward at nearly three times the speed of sound.

VSS Unity's peak altitude of 51.4 miles is similar to what Virgin Galactic has planned for commercial flights. It's high enough to reach the US government's recognized definition of space, but not the 62-mile "Karman line" that is internationally recognized as the boundary.
But last month, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, which maintains world records for spaceflight, said it was considering adopting a 50-mile definition based on "compelling" scientific research that was recently published.
The two pilots aboard VSS Unity on Thursday will be awarded commercial astronaut wings from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial space travel.
One VSS Unity pilot, Rick "CJ" Sturckow, already has his wings: A former Marine, Sturckow was a NASA astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions. It will be the first pair of wings awarded to VSS Unity's pilot in command, Mark "Forger" Stucky, a former Marine and test pilot for NASA and the US Air Force.
Stucky, beaming from an outdoor stage near the runway after returning from the test flight, said he'd been waiting for the moment "for decades."First revenue-earning flight
In addition to the test pilots, a flight test dummy and four research payloads from NASA's Flight Opportunities Program were on board to help simulate the weight distribution of having passengers on board.
Bringing NASA on as a customer made Thursday's flight the first revenue-earning mission for Virgin Galactic.
Virgin Galactic has been hungry for cash since Richard Branson announced he would no longer accept a $1 billion investment from Saudi Arabia. Branson shunned the money after learning about the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in October.
Branson told reporters Thursday that "by being successful today, we hope to bring in one or two other investors."

Richard Branson: I'll be in space within six months 03:05
"Space is not cheap," he said. "I've personally invested about a billion dollars in this project, so having our first money coming back is a good feeling...We've got to make this a profitable venture, and I think we can make it a profitable venture."
Virgin Galactic has not said exactly when it plans to begin commercial flights. More tests are planned before the company will move operations down to New Mexico's Spaceport America and take up its first load of tourists. Branson plans to be the first passenger aboard VSS Unity.
He told CNN Business' Rachel Crane in a post-launch interview Thursday that he looks "forward to go up in maybe five, six months time."
Recovering from tragedy
Branson's space venture suffered a major setback in 2014 when its first supersonic plane, VSS Enterprise, broke apart during a test flight, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury and injuring pilot Peter Siebold.
The tragedy spurred critics of space tourism who have deemed such projects irresponsibly risky. But Virgin Galactic bounced back.
The company is squared up to compete directly with Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos in 2000 to offer suborbital tourism flights.

Branson: I'd love to prove our critics wrong 04:05
Both companies are still in the testing phase. And Blue Origin — which plans to fly tourists on an automated, vertically launched rocket — has yet to conduct a crewed flight or begin selling tickets.
Virgin Galactic says about 600 people have reserved tickets, priced between $200,000 and $250,000, to ride aboard its supersonic plane. Some have waited over a decade for their shot.When asked about Virgin Galactic's competitors in Branson said it was not a "race."
"Safety's all that matters if you're putting people into space," he said.

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