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Aero Gizmo
First glimpse of Boeing 787 Dreamliner interior
By Gizmag Team
23:26 February 4, 2010 PST
The 787 Dreamliner successfully completed its maiden test flight in December and now the interior design of Boeing's next-gen aircraft has been revealed. The officially released photo shows the partially decked-out interior featured on the third of six flight test airplanes. While certainly sleek, at first glance there's nothing overly radical about the layout, though Boeing says it will give passengers greater comfort with its "dynamic lighting, larger lavatories, more spacious luggage bins and electronic window shades whose transparency they can change during flight." Read More
Unfair advantage? Team BMW Oracle Racing takes 'wind mapping' technology to the America's Cup
By Loz Blain
20:31 February 4, 2010 PST
Imagine you're a competitive sailboat racer, about to go into the richest and most storied of all sailing races with a squillion-dollar boat and a razor-sharp crew. Now imagine somebody hands you a device that can quite literally map out the wind activity up to a kilometre out in front of you, showing wind speed, direction and turbulence - and giving you the almost superatural ability to adjust your sails and take maximal advantage of a wind pattern before you even reach it. It's almost an unfair advantage, isn't it? Well, this is the situation that BMW Oracle Racing's Russell Coutts finds himself in as the team gears up to take on defending champions Alinghi in the 2010 America's Cup. The device is called a Racer's Edge laser wind sensor, and it's built around a technology base that's being used to optimise wind power generators. We caught up with Phil Rogers, CEO of Catch the Wind, Inc, to find out more. Read More
Russia announces test-flight of fifth generation fighter aircraft
By Mick Webb
16:11 February 3, 2010 PST
Russia has reportedly successfully test-flown its first fifth generation fighter jet prototype. Formally known as the Prospective Aircraft Complex of Frontline Aviation (PAK-FA), the craft made its 47 minute maiden voyage on 29th January. Manufactured by the Russian state owned Sukhoi Aircraft Corporation, the development of this tactical frontline stealth fighter jet is being seen as a significant milestone in the efforts of the country to modernize its post Soviet–era military technology. Read More
Air New Zealand upgrades and innovates in cattle class
By Darren Quick
21:59 January 26, 2010 PST
Trying to sleep in an upright position on long haul flights can prove to be a difficult proposition for most of us, and a sleepless flight only compounds the jet lag that results from traversing time zones. With just about any International flight to or from New Zealand being a long haul affair it’s not surprising that the country’s international airline, Air New Zealand, is looking to make such trips a little more comfortable for passengers through a redesign of seating in economy class. The result is the holy grail of economy travel – a flat surface for adults to lie down and sleep! Read More
VTOL Flying-Wing: a new take on UAV design
By Gizmag Team
20:26 January 24, 2010 PST
The age of unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs has well and truly dawned but designers aren't resting on their laurels when it comes to improving the capabilities of these multi-talented aircraft. One innovation that's come to the fore recently is the use of an enclosed four rotor platform (see our recent look at the CyberQuad) which offers a number of advantages including greater stability, agility, hovering ability and a smaller footprint. This unique new design from Britain's VTOL Technologies takes this idea a step further, adding four movable rotors to a single "flying-wing" to create an aircraft that claims to deliver a higher payload capacity for its size and up to four times the endurance of current vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV designs. Read More
CyberQuad: best of both worlds UAV designed for urban reconnaissance
By Alan Brandon
23:12 December 22, 2009 PST
If one rotor is good, four must be better. That’s the general idea behind the CyberQuad, a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Cyber Technology. The CyberQuad is an electric, remote-controlled reconnaissance platform that features four ducted rotors to provide lift and maneuverability, allowing the remote-control UAV to be used in urban and enclosed environments. The four rotors give the CyberQuad the payload capacity and stability of a helicopter-type UAV, while the ducted design avoids the dangers associated with exposed propellers. Read More
Airbus A400M makes maiden flight
By Darren Quick
23:52 December 15, 2009 PST
Airbus Military's all-new A400M four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft has taken to the air for the first time. The aircraft’s first test flight in the skies above Seville, Spain, comes after many delays – it was originally scheduled for Q1 2008 – but was successfully completed when the plane landed safely at 14.02, December 11, after a flight lasting three hours and forty-seven minutes. The A400M will increase the airlift capacity and range of the aircraft it was designed to replace - the C-130 Hercules and Transall C-160. Read More
Best D.I.Y. effort of 2009: the guy who built his own helicopter
By Loz Blain
20:55 December 14, 2009 PST
And to think I crack a self-satisfied beer after fixing the lawnmower... Wu Zhongyuan, a 20-year-old farmer from China, cobbled this working helicopter together out of a pile of steel pipe, some Elm wood and a 150cc scooter engine using his high-school physics knowledge and researching the rest on the Web via his mobile phone. I don't know whether to line this kid up for a Nobel Prize or a Darwin Award. This article comes with two Christmas bonuses: Bonus 1: a quick lesson on how to fly a helicopter. Bonus 2: five short videos demonstrating exactly what happens when helicopter dynamics go just a tiny bit wrong. Read More
NASA crash tests 'airbag' helicopter
By Jeff Salton
21:24 December 10, 2009 PST
According to NASA, the way to make a helicopter safer is to crash it – under strict guidance, of course. In order to test the effectiveness of a new "airbag" system - which is actually an expandable honeycomb cushion called a deployable energy absorber - NASA aeronautics researchers at Langley loaded four crash test dummies into a small chopper and, well, dropped it. Read More
Next-gen Global Hawk HALE UAS completes its first flight
By Darren Quick
18:37 December 10, 2009 PST
The first of the next generation of Northrop Grumman’s Block 40 configuration RQ-4 Global Hawk has successfully completed its first flight. The two hour flight took the aircraft from Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in Palmdale, California to Edwards Air Force Base, California. Designated AF-18, the Block 40 configuration of the high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) will carry the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) active electronically scanned array radar that will help warfighters detect, track and identify stationary and moving targets. Read More
The Flex-Seat offers even Economy Class fliers the chance of a good night's sleep
By Jeff Salton
23:30 December 7, 2009 PST
Apart from adding tiny LCD screens to the headrests in airplanes, not much has changed in seating comfort in the airline industry for many years, though a couple of ideas have appeared but are yet to bear fruit. Now, with the advent of A380s and the retention of bulk people carriers like 747s, long haul flight prices might have dropped but they’re still tortuous for ‘cattle class’ fliers subjected to endless hours of boredom and contortionist-like sleeping conditions. But Jacob Innovations has developed the conceptual Flex-Seat, which can be configured in a number of ways to make the most of the vertical space often wasted inside airline cabins and putting the possibility of a good night’s sleep (or rest) within reach of most fliers. Read More
Virgin Galactic reveals SpaceshipTwo
By Darren Quick
22:25 December 7, 2009 PST
We’ve seen the mothership from which the world’s first manned commercial spaceship will be air launched and we’ve even seen design images of the craft itself. Now Virgin Galactic has unveiled the actual spaceship that will take private astronauts into space - SpaceshipTwo (SS2). The unveiling at Mojave Air and Spaceport today marks the first time the craft has been revealed to the public since construction began in 2007 and brings Virgin Galactic another step closer to realizing its goal of becoming the world’s first commercial space line providing private sector access to space. Read More
DraganFlyer X8 takes you places (visually) you only dreamed of before
By Jeff Salton
22:22 December 3, 2009 PST
Set to fly in 2010 is the latest UAV helicopter from Draganfly - the Draganflyer X8 - that can take video and still shots from places previously impossible or too dangerous to reach by other methods. The X8 is a miniature aircraft for commercial/industrial aerial video and photography and uses eight main horizontal rotor blades that allow it to hover efficiently and maneuver rapidly using differential thrust. Utilizing its eight efficient, brushless electric motors, the Draganflyer X8 can carry heavier and more advanced payloads while providing more safety features than ever before. Read More
Ion Tiger sets endurance record for a hydrogen fuel cell powered UAV
By Darren Quick
23:42 November 30, 2009 PST
The benefits of using hydrogen fuel cells to power UAVs have been shown by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) with its Ion Tiger UAV setting an unofficial flight endurance record of 26 hours and 1 minute while carrying a 5-pound payload. While taking advantage of hydrogen as a high-energy fuel, the electric fuel cell propulsion system onboard the Ion Tiger also boasts the low noise and signature of a battery-powered UAV. Read More
KLM conducts Europe's first biofuel-powered passenger flight
By Darren Quick
19:30 November 29, 2009 PST
Commercial aircraft are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, but manufacturers and operators are taking steps to tackle the problem. Operators such as Virgin Atlantic have conducted demonstration flights using biofuel, and now KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has completed its first ever passenger flight powered by sustainable kerosene. Using a 50 percent biokerosene/50 percent normal jet fuel mix to power one of its four engines, a Boeing 747 carrying 40 select passengers last week circled the Netherlands for an hour in what KLM claims is the first flight of its kind in Europe. Read More
Gulfstream's new flagship G650 completes maiden flight
By Darren Quick
20:28 November 26, 2009 PST
Gulfstream Aerospace’s new flagship (flagplane?) business jet, the ultra-large-cabin, ultra-long-range Gulfstream G650, has successfully completed its maiden flight. With its Rolls-Royce BR725 engines, the G650 is capable of traveling 7,000 nautical miles at 0.85 Mach with a maximum operating speed of 0.925 Mach. Gulfstream says no other traditional business jet will take you closer to the speed of sound. Read More
Jetman Yves Rossy’s ambitious intercontinental flight falls short
By Darren Quick
23:02 November 25, 2009 PST
Today at just after 2pm GMT Swiss adventurer - and very brave soul - Yves Rossy jumped out of a plane over Tangier in Morocco and headed across the Atlantic Ocean towards Tarifa, Spain, some 23 miles away. The jet-powered flight was to be the first intercontinental Jetpack flight and would have been a mile further than his historic crossing of the English Channel last year. Unfortunately the attempt was thwarted by heavy clouds and ended with a - thankfully uninjured - Rossy ditching into the sea. Read More
Solar Impulse takes to the runway
By Jeff Salton
22:42 November 22, 2009 PST
Gizmag has followed closely the progress of Solar Impulse from back when it was just a dream through to it latest developments, which now include it’s recent runway test. For the first time, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA has ventured out under its own steam (solar power) and taxied down the runway. Entirely powered by the sun, the aircraft has a giant wingspan of 61m and is covered in almost 12,000 solar cells. Read More
Mantis takes flight - the UK’s largest ever fully-autonomous UAV
By Darren Quick
21:42 November 17, 2009 PST
The largest fully-autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) ever to be built in the UK has completed initial flight trials in Woomera, South Australia. Built by BAE Systems for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) the Mantis is the company’s first genuine fly-by-wire, all-electric aircraft and is designed to execute its mission with a much-reduced need for human intervention by understanding and reacting to its environment. BAE said Mantis successfully completed a series of trials demonstrating its capabilities and the potential for large unmanned systems to carry out intelligence-gathering at long distances. Read More
Lockheed Martin F-35B prepares for vertical takeoff and landings
By Darren Quick
15:38 November 17, 2009 PST
The first aircraft in history to combine stealth with short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) capability and supersonic speed has been delivered to the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., where it will conduct its first hovers and vertical landings. The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II STOVL stealth fighter will replace U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B STOVL fighters, F/A-18 strike fighters and EA-6B electronic attack aircraft, and will also be used by the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and Royal Navy and the Italian Air Force and Navy. Read More
Long awaited satellite to monitor water cycle reaches orbit
By Darren Quick
22:43 November 5, 2009 PST
The 658kg (1,450 lb) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) this week is the first ever satellite designed both to map sea surface salinity and to monitor soil moisture on a global scale. The unique radiometer it carries will enable passive surveying of the water cycle between oceans, the atmosphere and land thereby playing a key role in the monitoring of global climate change. Read More
Spiraling maple tree seeds inspire world's smallest single-winged rotocraft
By Jeff Salton
18:08 October 21, 2009 PDT
Students at the University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering have turned to nature to create a flying device that can hover and perform surveillance duties, and that could lead to applications for military and emergency services. The enigmatic maple tree seeds (or samara fruit) - and the unique spiraling pattern with which they glide to the ground - have intrigued children and engineers for decades. Now aerospace engineering graduate students have applied the seeds’ design to airborne devices and created what they believe to be the world's smallest controllable single-winged rotocraft. Read More
Pentagon looking for someone to pick up the trash in space
18:05 October 8, 2009 PDT
The Soviet Union launched the very first earth-orbiting satellite in 1957, and the world looked on in awe as Sputnik flashed through the sky. Fifty years later, you’d be lucky to see anything. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network says there are almost 20,000 man-made objects in orbit, ninety-four percent of which are non-functional debris. And that’s not counting the hundreds of thousands of bits of junk too small to track. Little wonder the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has put out a call for someone – anyone – to come up with a way to effectively remove orbital debris. Read More
What, exactly, makes a rocket fuel environmentally friendly?
By Darren Quick
22:52 October 7, 2009 PDT
Automobiles aren’t the only vehicles turning to more environmentally friendly fuel sources. As we reported recently, NASA are testing a new type of rocket propellant made of a mixture of water and “nanoscale aluminum” powder they claim could provide a cleaner way to launch rockets, power long-distance space missions and generate hydrogen for fuel cells. A number of readers wondered, not unreasonably, what qualifies a rocket fuel as eco-friendly. We now have a few more answers. Read More
Locusts give up aerodynamic secrets of insect flight
By Karen Sprey
19:04 September 20, 2009 PDT
It seems that locusts, the bane of farmers the world over, have served some purpose after all. With the aid of a wind tunnel and a high-speed digital video camera, scientists have captured the changes in the shape of the locust's wings during flight and created, for the first time, a computer model that recreates the airflow and thrust generated by their complex flapping movement. Modeling the aerodynamic secrets brings us a step closer to creating miniature robot flyers with the maneuverability and energy efficiency of an insect - such micro-aircraft would likely have huge benefits for search and rescue, military activities and inspecting hazardous environments. Read More
windykites1
- February 9, 2010 @ 19:22 UTC
