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."

A Vietnamese fisherman caught a bit more than he bargained for earlier this week, when he hooked what appears to be a Chinese torpedo about four miles off the Vietnamese coast. Although the fisherman, Tran Minh Thanh, snagged the torpedo only about four miles from shore, it remains likely that if it is indeed a Chinese torpedo, it was still likely fired in international waters, which begin 12 nautical miles off shore. Because China has laid claim over the vast majority of the South China Sea, it’s likely that the torpedo was launched during training exercises — particularly because it appears to be armed with a dummy warhead.
​To be fair, it also doesn’t look too dissimilar to America’s Mark 48 torpedo that remains in service — this is in large part because it’s believed China stole elements of that torpedo design during their development of the Yu-6.

The orange band near the nose of the torpedo indicates that it isn’t armed with a live warhead, though the wire extending from the tail, just past the propellers, suggests that is indeed a functional torpedo. It’s size, at approximately 22 feet long and a telling 21 or so inches in diameter, indicates further that it’s a submarine launched weapon. Torpedoes launched from surface ships and aircraft traditionally have a smaller diameter.
One defense journalist took to Twitter to offer a translation for the visible characters on the torpedo, which say “connect” and “disconnect,” in characters indicative of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy.


Based on the evidence available, it seems likely that the torpedo was launched from a PLA-N submarine elsewhere in the South China Sea, and likely within the confines of what other nations would consider international waters (despite China’s refusal to acknowledge that any water in the South China Sea falls under the international classification). The dummy torpedo then drifted at sea until it was stumbled upon by Tran Minh Thanh and dragged back to shore.
You can see more of the torpedo in the local news report below:

The hilarious moment a US woman tries to fill up her Tesla with fuel, forgetting it is an electric vehicle, has been caught on camera. 
The footage captured and shared on social media shows the woman becoming increasingly confused when she can't find the fuel nozzle on the outside of her car. 
People can be heard laughing uncontrollably in the video. 
At one point the woman finds the electric charging port and tries to insert the fuel pump into it.
​After a few minutes, a man approaches her and reminds her that the vehicle is electric.
Sharing a laugh, the two part ways. 
The video has garnered tens of thousands of views online since it was uploaded on Monday (local time).
A number of people have left comments, with one writing: "How did she determine that she needed gas?"
Another said if she had actually poured petrol on the electric cords, it could be "disastrous". 

A Vietnamese fisherman caught a bit more than he bargained for earlier this week, when he hooked what appears to be a Chinese torpedo about four miles off the Vietnamese coast. Although the fisherman, Tran Minh Thanh, snagged the torpedo only about four miles from shore, it remains likely that if it is indeed a Chinese torpedo, it was still likely fired in international waters, which begin 12 nautical miles off shore. Because China has laid claim over the vast majority of the South China Sea, it’s likely that the torpedo was launched during training exercises — particularly because it appears to be armed with a dummy warhead.

Based on the images available, it seems likely that the torpedo is a Chinese made Yu-6.  To be fair, it also doesn’t look too dissimilar to America’s Mark 48 torpedo that remains in service — this is in large part because it’s believed China stole elements of that torpedo design during their development of the Yu-6. The orange band near the nose of the torpedo indicates that it isn’t armed with a live warhead, though the wire extending from the tail, just past the propellers, suggests that is indeed a functional torpedo. It’s size, at approximately 22 feet long and a telling 21 or so inches in diameter, indicates further that it’s a submarine launched weapon. Torpedoes launched from surface ships and aircraft traditionally have a smaller diameter.
One defense journalist took to Twitter to offer a translation for the visible characters on the torpedo, which say “connect” and “disconnect,” in characters indicative of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy.
Based on the evidence available, it seems likely that the torpedo was launched from a PLA-N submarine elsewhere in the South China Sea, and likely within the confines of what other nations would consider international waters (despite China’s refusal to acknowledge that any water in the South China Sea falls under the international classification). The dummy torpedo then drifted at sea until it was stumbled upon by Tran Minh Thanh and dragged back to shore.

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.
Content by Fidelity Investments
6 habits of successful investors
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.

Or, How to Get Your Press Credentials Revoked in One Easy Lesson…Every aviation journalist gets excited about a big story, especially when they get to bring us hot news from live and on location. But aviation reporting can be dangerous, and common sense dictates you give large bombers a wide berth when landing on a foreign runway for the first time. Unless you’re the reporter in this video.
We’re not sure who she is, but she might be in the market for a new job after this “girl on the runway” report where the reporter, obviously excited about the arrival of two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers earlier this week in Venezuela, nearly backs onto the runway as one of the bombers touches down.
The video surfaced today after more sedate news of the Tu-160s visiting Venezuela has been circulating across social and news media.
Given this reporter’s level of enthusiasm, hopefully we see more of her during the week when Russia and Venezuela are conducting joint training exercises with the Tu-160s and Venezuelan Air Force. And hopefully she doesn’t wander onto any active runways. Maybe it is a good thing they didn’t take her on any midair refueling missions yet…
Here’s the video (if the embedded version below does not work, just click here).

Oh boy. A video released by the US Forest Service shows the moment when a gender reveal party in Arizona went horribly wrong, sparking a wildfire that burned nearly 47,000 acres and caused more than $8 million in damage.

Shot on April 23, 2017, the clip shows a makeshift target with the words "Boy" and "Girl" written on it, placed in the middle of the desert near Green Valley, Arizona, south of Tucson.
Seconds later we hear a gunshot, and the target explodes, revealing a blue cloud and immediately igniting the surrounding brush. Someone shouts, "Start packing up!"

The flames spread to the nearby Coronado National Forest, where they became the Sawmill Fire and burned 46,991 acres owned by the state of Arizona, federal agencies and private landowners. Firefighters from at least 20 agencies fought the fire for about a week,

The man who shot the target, off-duty US Border Patrol agent Dennis Dickey, pleaded guilty in September of this year to a misdemeanor violation of US Forest Service regulations and was sentenced to five years' probation. He also was ordered to pay $8,188,069 in restitution, starting with an initial payment of $100,000 and monthly payments thereafter.
The expectant dad, 37, had packed the target with a highly explosive substance called Tannerite and shot it with a high-powered rifle, according to the US Attorney's Office. The target was supposed to burst pink or blue to reveal to attendees whether Dickey and his wife were expecting a boy or a girl.

According to KGUN, Dickey immediately reported the fire to law enforcement, cooperated with the investigation and admitted that he started the blaze. He also repeatedly told the judge that the fire was "a complete accident."
CNN has reached out to Sean Chapman, Dickey's attorney, but has not heard back.As part of his plea agreement Dickey will make a public service announcement with the Forest Service about the cause of the wildfire.
According to KGUN, the Dickeys haven't said if the child was a boy or a girl. But the blue puffs as the target exploded might be a clue.

A critically ill patient’s life was saved when an F-16 fighter jet was used to rush specialized medical equipment more than 280 miles in less than half an hour.
After falling ill, the man had been taken to a hospital in Bodø, Norway, but the hospital did not have an ECMO machine – a device that supports the heart and lungs – without which he would die.
Doctors at the hospital knew the nearest available unit was at a hospital in Tondheim, 280 miles to the south. With the machine more than 10 hours away by car due to terrain, they believed the man would die before the machine could arrive.
Before resigning themselves to fate, the medical team contacted the air force base near Trondheim to ask if there was any way they could help save the patient, who was in critical condition.

“Chance would have it that we had two flights bound for [nearby] Moss on an exercise,” Lieutenant Colonel Børge ‘Gaff’ Kleppe, leader of 338th Squadron, told local media outlet.

​“One of them had even a cargo tank where there might be room. I called and asked them to keep [back] one plane, while we checked on it [for] all the possible places which could accommodate the machine.”
Militaries around the world have often helped with civilian medical emergencies, yet this is believed to be the first time a fighter jet has been used in such circumstances.
“Usually we spend about 35 minutes in flight,” said Lt Col Kleppe. “But because of the special cargo, the pilot gave a little extra, so he was there in less than 25 minutes.”

tags: breed of speed , f16 used to save mans life , f16 falcon , nathan finneman , nathan finneman colorado , fighter pilot , medical emergency , norway , military medical

Florida man’s hang gliding ride in Switzerland turned into a “near-death experience” when the pilot forgot to strap him in for the trip — leaving him dangling from the craft hundreds of feet in the air.
Chris Gursky, who lives in North Port in the Tampa Bay area, posted a GoPro video of his wild ride on his YouTube account.

“My first time Hang Gliding turned into a near death experience as my safety harness was never hooked to the Glider,” Gursky wrote on the YouTube account. “For 2 Min. 14 seconds I had to hang on for my life! The landing was a rough one, but I lived to tell the story.”
The video shows there was trouble immediately after takeoff when Gursky realized he was not attached to the craft. With his left hand trying to hold onto to a control bar, his right hand kept seeking something to hold onto — including the pilot.

After takeoff, the pilot tried to quickly land the craft but instead he ended up going hundreds of feet higher into the air before navigating the hang glider over a forest of trees and down the side of a mountain to a grassy field — where Gursky dropped off the glider before it landed.
“I remember looking down and thinking, this is it. I was losing grip with my right hand, that was holding onto a strap on the pilot's right shoulder. He was trying to make a bee line to the landing field as he knew what the situation could bring,” Gursky told London’s Daily Mail newspaper.
“I ended up holding on bar with the left hand and the lower part of his leg with the right when we were nearing the ground. I looked down to see my feet hit first, which ripped me off at about 45 mph as it was a hot landing and I was under the landing gear.”
But Gursky said in his YouTube video that he’s not too traumatized by the experience.
“I will go hang gliding again as I did not get to enjoy my first flight.”

tags: hang gliding , hanggliding accident , pilot hang glide passenger , passenger holds on for dear life , nathan finneman , breed of speed , nathan finneman colorado , hang , glide , switzerland , flying , aviation , viral hang glider

There was a terrifying crash at the Macau Grand Prix on Sunday. 17-year-old Formula 3 driver Sophia Floersch crashed, went airborne, and slammed directly into a photographers’ box. And it was all caught on camera.

The video above and the two below show the 168mph (270km/h) wreck from different angles.

Floersch survived the crash and later underwent surgery after being diagnosed with a spinal fracture. Another driver, a marshal, and two photographers were also hospitalized.

Hong Kong-based Australian photographer Christiaan Hart was one of the five photographers inside the box when the crash occurred.
“Everything happened so fast, the sound was horrific,” Hart tells PetaPixel. “One minute you are shooting the next thing we were all picking ourselves up off the floor, the impact threw us down, camera gear and bags were all over the place.”
Here’s a photo sequence Hart captured showing what happened before impact: