After extensive tests on land, the 62-foot-span X-47B UAV arrived onboard an aircraft carrier for over-water flights. Check out the details and videos from from the U.S. Navy: The Navy hoisted an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator on board USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Nov. 26, in preparation for an unmanned aircraft’s [...]
The crew of a research submarine studying artificial reefs off Miami-Dade County has discovered the mostly intact wreck of a U.S. Navy World War II fighter plane lying upside down 240 feet deep off Miami Beach.Researchers aboard the Antipodes were using three-dimensional sonar gear to investigate a blip on the sea floor last June when [...]
Bob Walker’s 15-foot-span giant-scale flying boat has taken to the air! This RC model was built to celebrate the 10oth anniversary of the first passenger carrying aircraft in the world (on January 1, 1914 the full-size Benoist flew a passenger from St. Petersburg to Tampa). Here’s a note from Bob: HEY GUYS WE FLEW the [...]
Looking for the perfect holiday gift? Whether it’s for the flightline caller who always has your back or your club’s engine expert who fixed your finicky 2-stroke, WW II Scale Aircraft Drawings is an ideal present. With 37 aircraft 3-views, accurate color and markings and cross-sections, airfoils and engine and landing gear details, this book [...]
How do drone pilots stay alert during 12-hour missions, especially considering that they’re in a control room while the UAV they’re piloting can be hundreds of miles away? This Gizmag article by David Szondy shares how MIT researchers are looking into ways to combat pilot boredom during long drone flights: The saying that “war is [...]
News from Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi, famous for their aerobats and jets: Sukhoi, which has historically designed fighter and ground attack aircraft but now also builds some civil aircraft, is part of UAC, a holding covering most of Russia’s aircraft industry. “UAVs are a strategic avenue for development for UAC, and Sukhoi is focused on [...]
If you’ve enjoyed the short clips I’ve shared on the University of Maryland students and their Gamera II human-powered helicopter, you’ll appreciate this news story and interview that gives more details on the heli’s construction as well as how they recruited their “meat motor” pilots (their term!).
This micro UAV can fly and hover using its four-wing design. The brainchild of engineers at Georgia Tech, the TechJect Dragonfly is 6 inches long, weighs around 25 g (0.88 oz) and is powered by a 250mAh lithium polymer battery that provides hover times of 8-10 minutes and a hybrid (hover/flight) time of 25 to [...]
