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Aero Gizmo
CityCab - creative rethink on Taxi Cab design
By Mike Hanlon
October 2, 2006 The best known taxi design in the world is the London Cab, and competitors for the purpose-built design have been remarkably rare. Which kinda makes the CityCab significant, because it offers a vehicle that is clearly better suited for transporting commercial passengers than 99% of taxis in use worldwide. Helsinki Polytechnic and the University of Art and Design Helsinki developed the CityCab based on a detailed passenger survey. Designed for five passengers with an option for one passenger using a wheel chair, the CityCab employs a hybrid powertrain from Toyota and simply bristles with good ideas (for a taxi cab). Read More
Hanging out at the First Annual Rocketbelt Convention
By Mike Hanlon
September 29, 2006 Last weekend Gizmag’s Billy Paul attended the First Annual Rocketbelt Convention at the Niagara Falls Aerospace Museum in New York, USA. Yes folks, you read it right, we said rocketbelt as in jet-pack, Buck Rogers, James Bond, the 1984 Olympics and Lost in Space. Believe it or not, these devices have been around for more than four decades with the first untethered flight performed on April 20, 1961 by Harold “Hal” Graham. During the inaugural flight, Graham flew the Bell rocketbelt a not-so-astounding distance of approximately 100 feet while only a few inches off the ground. Perhaps the anticlimactic nature of this device is the central reason that we are not all flying to work using rocketbelts. Nonetheless, enthusiasts and Bell Aerospace (or just Bell depending on the year) employees from all over the globe flew to New York on boring and very un-James-Bond-like commercial jets in order to attend this rather enigmatic event. Read More
US$10 million skin for DARPA's remarkable ISIS stratospheric airship
By Mike Hanlon
September 29, 2006 Lockheed Martin has received a US$10 million contract to further develop advanced material technology and next-generation hull material for DARPA's Integrated Sensor Is Structure (ISIS) program. The ISIS program will develop the core technologies necessary to integrate an extremely capable sensor package directly into the structure of stratospheric airships, which operate at approximately 70,000 feet. The planned capabilities of the ISIS project are straight out of a sci fi film – ISIS will provide a dynamic, detailed, real-time picture of all movement on or above the battlefield: friendly, neutral or enemy – a big picture map showing everything moving for hundreds of kilometers. Read More
New GPS satellite successfully launched
By Mike Hanlon
September 27, 2005 It might look like a machine built for a childrens' playground but it's one of the most sophisticated bits of kit on, err ... near the planet. It's actually the second modernized U.S. Air Force Global Positioning System (GPS) Block IIR satellite and was successfully launched aboard a Delta II rocket earlier this week from Cape Canaveral. Known as GPS IIR-M, the modernized spacecraft are the most technologically advanced GPS satellites ever developed and are designed to significantly improve navigation performance for U.S. military and civilian users worldwide. The satellites orbit the Earth every 12 hours, emitting continuous navigation signals. The signals are so accurate, time can be figured to within one millionth of a second, velocity within a fraction of a mile-per-second and location to within 100 feet. Read More
Our fledgling colony in space
By Mike Hanlon
September 22, 2006 Our fledgling colony in space is growing in size - the second of four pairs of massive solar arrays and a Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) have been installed on the International Space Station by the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis. Just to get an idea of how big the panels are, check out the accompanying pic which shows the panels in production and installed. Each of the eight wings consists of a mast assembly and two solar array blankets. Each blanket has 84 panels, of which 82 are populated with solar cells. Each panel contains 200 solar cells. The eight photovoltaic arrays thus accommodate a total of 262,400 solar cells. When fully deployed in space, the active area of the eight wings, each 107 by 38-feet, will encompass an area of 32,528-sq. ft., and will provide power to the ISS for 15 years.The two new solar arrays have been deployed and are generating electricity. When brought on line during the STS-116 mission in December, they will nearly double the power available to the Space Station. A second rotary joint and a third pair of solar arrays will be delivered to ISS on STS-117 in early 2007. The Space Systems ISS solar arrays are the largest deployable space structure ever built and are by far, the most powerful electricity-producing arrays ever put into orbit. When the Station is completed a total of eight flexible, deployable solar array wings will generate the reliable, continuous power for the on-orbit operation of the ISS systems. The eight array wings were designed and built by Lockheed Martin under a US$450 million contract from the Boeing-Rocketdyne Division for delivery to Boeing and NASA. Read More
Inside the 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF)
By Mike Hanlon
September 16, 2006 Believe it or not, this is the inside of an aircraft – not just any aircaraft mind you, but the 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF), the first of three specially modified 747-400 passenger jets that will be used to transport the large composite sections and wings of the all-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The new aircraft touched down at Seattle's Boeing Field at 8:08 a.m. PDT on September 16, ending a non-stop, 13-hour, 17-minute flight from Taiwan. Previous reports and images here. The LCF is a key element of the lean, global production system that is critical to the 787's success. Flying the large components reduces shipping time to as little as one day from as many as 30. Read More
X-50A Dragonfly concept canned
By Mike Hanlon
September 17, 2006 It makes sense that an agency vested with the responsibility of investigating the feasibility of promising ideas such as the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) occasionally says “no, that mousetrap won’t fly” and that appears to be what’s happened with the canard rotor/wing (CRW) X-50A Dragonfly unmanned air vehicle (UAV) we reported on last December. Read More
U.S. Air Force's first hunter-killer UAV named Reaper
By Mike Hanlon
September 14, 2006 The Air Force has announced "Reaper" has been chosen as the name for the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle, the Air Force's first hunter-killer UAV. Formerly known as the Predator B, the MQ-9 is still in final development but is larger and much more powerful than the MQ-1 Predator and is designed to go after time-sensitive targets with persistence and precision, and should the Reaper ever be assigned your case, you are indeed very likely to become toast. Compared to the current MQ-1, which could carry two Hellfire missiles and is credited with at least one top 10 targets in Iraq, the Reaper is much more capable, and can carry 14 Hellfire II anti-armour missiles. The MQ-9 can also deploy precision guided weapons such as the GBU-12 and 500lb GBU-38 JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition). Similarly, the Reaper can carry an internal sensor payload more than twice that of MQ-1, now has an operational ceiling of 50,000 ft and can cruise above clouds at 260 knots for 14 hours at a time. In announcing the new moniker, Gen. T. Michael Moseley stressed that the key advantage of the UAV is not keeping pilots out of harm's way, but the persistence UAVs can inherently provide. Read More
World’s first hands-off autonomous air refueling engagement
By Mike Hanlon
September 13, 2006 With two aircraft flying about 50 feet apart at hundreds of miles per hour, aerial refueling, even under the most ideal conditions, is an exacting manoeuvre. In the last few weeks, both Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Boeing have demonstrated new technologies that will improve safety for tanker aircrews and the airplanes receiving critical fuel. DARPA), in a joint effort with NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, performed the first-ever autonomous probe-and-drogue airborne refueling operation on August 30, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Boeing meanwhile, used its new KC-767 Tanker to demonstrate a new technology using a series of cameras mounted on the tanker's fuselage. The KC-767 Remote Vision System (RVS) provides high-definition stereoscopic imagery to the aircraft's boom operator stationed behind the KC-767 cockpit. Read More
U.S. Air Force prepares to test synthetic fuel on B-52
By Mike Hanlon
September 13, 2006 The move to become less dependent on foreign oil is certainly beginning to accelerate and the news that the U.S. Air Force is getting set to trial a B-52 powered by a mix of synthetic and JP-8 fuel shows everyone is getting the message. The historic first flight is slated for early next week (Sept 19)from Edwards Air Force Base in California, bringing the Air Force one step closer to reducing its dependence on foreign fuel. "This is an extremely important moment for the Department of Defense," said Michael A. Aimone, the Air Force's assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support. "Our goal is to by 2016 have 50 percent of our aviation fuel coming from alternative fuel sources," he said. According to Aimone, energy is both an economic and national security issue, which is why the Air Force has developed a comprehensive energy strategy. Read More
Boeing 747 swing-tail LCF first flight
By Mike Hanlon
September 10, 2006 The Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter took to the skies for the first time yesterday, initiating the flight test program that will culminate in U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification. The two-hour, four-minute flight was the first of 250 expected flight test hours for the unique freighter, a specially modified 747-400 that has been created with the sole intention of transporting major composite structures of the all-new 787 Dreamliner. The enormous 747-400 LCF has an enlarged upper fuselage that can accommodate three times the cargo by volume 65,000 cubic feet (1,845 cu m) of a standard 747-400 freighter. Moving major 787 assemblies by air to the 787s Everett, Wash. final assembly facility could save 20 to 40 percent compared to traditional shipping methods, and reduce delivery times to as little as one day from as many as 30 today. Such savings will allow Boeing to recoup its initial investment in the 747s during the first few years of 787 production. Read More
The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle – NASA awards design, develop, and build contract
By Mike Hanlon
September 1, 2006 Yesterday NASA awarded the contract to design, develop, and build Orion, the primary next generation vehicle for human space exploration. Lockheed Martin got the approximately US$4 billion gig and now has the enviable task of creating the Orion - an advanced crew capsule design that will succeed the Space Shuttle in transporting human explorers to and from the International Space Station, the Moon, and eventually to Mars and beyond. Orion will be capable of transporting four crewmembers for lunar missions and later supporting crew transfers for Mars missions. Orion could also carry up to six crew members to and from the International Space Station. There is an excellent overview article on the NASA site here and an extensive image library here. Read More
First private female spaceflight participant set to launch to the International Space Station
By Mike Hanlon
August 30, 2006 Thirty-nine year old Iranian-born entrepreneur and Ansari X-Prize title sponsor, Anousheh Ansari, has been officially named to the Soyuz TMA-9 primary crew and will become the first private female spaceflight participant. Following in the footsteps of the three previous Space Adventures private cosmonauts, Ansari will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 14 en route to the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Expedition 14 crew members: NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin. Mrs. Ansari began her cosmonaut training earlier this year in preparation for a future orbital spaceflight with Space Adventures but with a Russian Medical Board deeming Japanese businessman Daisuke Dice-K Enemoto unfit for space flight, Ansari will become the first private female astronaut, two days after her fortieth birthday and achieve an ambition she has harboured since childhood. In her quest to fly in space, Ansari kickstarted the private spaceflight industry by creating the US$10m X-Prize competition, which was awarded in 2004 to Bert Rutan. “By reaching this dream I’ve had since childhood, I hope to tangibly demonstrate to young people all over the world that there is no limit to what they can accomplish,” said Anousheh Ansari, chairman and co-founder of Prodea Systems. Prodeo is Ansari’s latest venture, focussing on digital home technology. Go Girl !!!! Excellent image library. Read More
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship
By Mike Hanlon
August 18, 2006 If you can’t remember the first time you heard the name Red Bull, we can tell you it wasn’t long ago, because the brand didn’t exist before 1987 and wasn’t sold outside Austria until 1992. Driven by a marketing campaign based around over-the-top, extreme living, Red Bull has become the world’s best known and top selling energy drink and one of its most valuable brands in short order. Similarly, the Red Bull Air Race World series was conceived in 2001 to make flying more interesting and accessible for the public, the first race was held in 2003 and the 2006 series has been held in Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Berlin, St. Petersberg and Instanbul with Budapest this weekend and Longleat (UK), San Francisco, and Perth still to come. In five short years, Red Bull has manufactured a new form of mass-appeal spectator sport where pilots race against the clock around a slalom course of 20 metre high air gates, with races staged in the heart of the world’s major cities before an enthralled audience of well over a million spectators at a time. Indeed, the nine race series will have more live spectators in 2006 than will witness the 18 Formula One races. Extraordinary image gallery with this story. Read More
The Rocketbelt Convention
By Mike Hanlon
August 13, 2006 Vaporware is software or hardware which is announced but fails to materialise. The term implies unwarranted optimism … that development is too early to support responsible statements about its completion date or even feasibility. The rocket belt is perhaps then, the world’s longest gestation vapourware, first entering the public consciousness in the 1920s through the newspaper-syndicated Buck Rogers scifi comic strip, and first attempted by the German Army during WWII as the Himmelsturmer (Skystormer). The first working rocket belt was built by Bell for the U.S. Army in the 1950s. It created mainstream awareness in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball and raised expectations of consumer versions when it was used in the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympics. But 50 years after the Bell Rocket Belt was built, only a handful of people have flown a rocketbelt, only one commercial version is available (at US$250,000) and only two companies (here and here) have successfully commercialised demonstrations. All that might change soon as a number of people have rocket belts under development and next month (September 23-24), there’s to be a Rocketbelt Convention at Niagara Aerospace Museum in New York which is to be attended by all the major players in the fledgling industry. Organised by Peter Gijsberts, the head of the Airwalker Society and curator of the most comprehensive and up-to-date rocketbelt information website, the RocketBelt Convention is compulsory attendance for all would-be Buck Rogers. Read More
The EA-18G Growler airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft
By Mike Hanlon
August 5, 2006 Attack aircraft will do more than just shoot bullets and missiles in the future battlespace. With networked systems and information availability critical to a cohesive battle plan, electronic attack will be even more important than physical attack. The U.S. armed forces' newest airborne electronic attack aircraft, the EA-18G Growler had its public “coming out” ceremony yesterday, being presented to a crowd of more than 750 U.S. Navy customers and industry partners during a ceremony at Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems facilities in St. Louis. The EA-18 Growler combines the combat-proven F/A-18 Super Hornet with a state-of-the-art electronic warfare avionics suite and is being developed to replace the fleet's current carrier-based EA-6B Prowler. Capable of Mach 1.8, the Growler is packed with state-of-the-art electronic warfare systems to jam enemy electronic systems and provide electronic suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD). The Growler is also capable electronic emissions detection, classification and monitoring. A derivative of the combat-proven, two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet, the EA-18G's highly flexible design enables warfighters to perform an array of airborne electronic attack (AEA) missions, operating from either the deck of an aircraft carrier or land-based fields. The EA-18G integrates the capabilities of the most advanced AEA system, designed and produced by the Northrop Grumman Corporation, which recently completed tests on the EA-6B, with the advanced weapons, sensors and communications systems found on the Super Hornet. The EA-18G is expected to enter initial operational capability in 2009. Read More
The Airborne Weapon Re-Arming system - making airforces more efficient
By Mike Hanlon
Far Technologies’ latest clever military aviation idea could have far reaching consequences as it enables military air forces to use fewer resources in performing more missions. Jet fighters are frightfully expensive weapons that require a lot of effort getting them to the fight. Aerial refuelling enables fighters to cover vast differences but once they’ve used their onboard firepower, usually in just a few minutes, they need to go back to base, land, re-arm and start all over again. The Airborne Weapon Re-Arming system (ABRA) removes much of that process by re-arming aircraft in the air close to the fighting zone. ABRA doubles most measurables such as attacks executed and operational tempo, without increasing the aircraft fleet. The operational flexibility is both simplified and improved. Aircraft can remain in the vicinity of targets, the density of the attacks can be dramatically increased, response times (from target detection to attack) reduced, pressure on operating bases decreased and there’s a significant reduction in determining and allocating the sequences of the combat forces and formations for the mission along with increased aircraft availability for alternative real time mission allocation. Aircraft can even take off without ordnance and be configured appropriately enroute. On top of that, ABRA would also enable a continuation of aircraft usage when the home base or carrier ship is under attack and greater aircrew familiarity with the constantly changing battle arena. Read More
Cosworth races into AE1rospace
By Mike Hanlon
July 27, 2006 Cosworth is a name that has been associated with auto racing at the highest level since Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin got together in 1958, most commonly in Formula One where its engines have won 176 Grands Prix plus countless competitions from World Rally Championship to World Sports Car Championship to World Touring Car Championship to CART/Indy titles. Now there’s a new engine from Northamptonshire that looks set to do very well in an entirely new sphere – UAV propulsion. Over the next decade the market for reconnaissance & surveillance UAVs is expected to be worth US$11 billion, so Cosworth’s new AE1 engine attracted a lot of attention from key international players in the UAV sector at this year’s Farnborough International Air Show. It’s not the big snarling four-stroke you might imagine wearing the Cosworth name – it’s a single cylinder 100 cc two stroke. Read More
The Terrafugia Transition - the first viable flying car?
By Mike Hanlon
An interesting new flying car is being launched this week at Oshkosh. The Transition is a Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) designed to make general aviation more practical for personal transportation. From start-up company Terrafugi, the Transition drives like a car on public roads and can transition into an aircraft at the nearest airport by lowering its 27-foot wings and taking off. As an aircraft it has a top speed of 130mph, a range of 500 miles and can carry a payload of 430 pounds. One stop gives you over a thousand miles of range inside eight hours. Then you land and fold up the wings and you’re back on the road. As Terrafugia Chief Operating Officer Anna Mracek explains, deposits are being taken at Oshkosh, “our anticipated purchase price is $148k, and a deposit of 5% of that anticipated price will secure your place in line, but not guarantee that exact price.” The Transition delivers 30 mpg in either car or plane mode and promises a true integrated roadable aircraft at an economically compelling price. A prototype is being constructed and deliveries will start in 2009. The Transition will be capable of driving at normal highway speeds, flying at speeds that approach the light sport aircraft limit, and park in a standard garage. The CEO and CTO of Terrafugia is Carl Dietrich – note that name as he’s been incredibly impressive in everything he’s ever attempted and this is an ambitious play. Carl will receive his PhD from MIT in Aeronautics and Astronautics this year. Carl received both his SB and SM degrees from the same department, winning all four out of four design competitions available to him then the golden globe for entrepreneurs, the prestigious $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize which annually recognizes one student for outstanding innovations. Read More
eFlyBook Aviation eDoc Viewer to be introduced at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006
By Mike Hanlon
July 23, 2006 The general aviation marketplace is to get its own version of iRex Technologies first generation electronic reader, the iLiad. In an innovative three-way partnership, ARINC has teamed with MyAirplane.com and Netherlands based iRex Technologies (a spin-off of Royal Phillips Electronics) to bring the eFlyBook aviation solution to market. ARINC and MyAirplane.com executives will announce the eFlyBook at a press conference at the upcoming EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006 on July 27. The ARINC eFlyBook electronic document (eDoc) viewer is a major breakthrough in display and document viewing technology. The eFlyBook is a portable electronic device that contains all of the U.S. digitized terminal procedures, IFR high and low altitude enroute charts, U.S. airport facility directory, the FAR/AIM, and can accommodate other user installed eDocs such as books, newspapers, magazines, pictures, and many others. Read More
Obstacle Cable and Terrain Avoidance System (OCTAS) showcased for rotorcraft
By Mike Hanlon
July 22, 2006 BAE Systems has developed a day/night, all-weather, all-obscurant capability that enables helicopter pilots to fly safely and avoid obstacles, including cables, in darkness, bad weather, and brown-out conditions. The Obstacle Cable and Terrain Avoidance System (OCTAS), being demonstrated this week at the Farnborough International Airshow, combines a Radar Cable Detection (RCD) system with BAE Systems’ TERPROM terrain avoidance system and a pilot display. It offers a low-cost way to significantly improve pilot situational awareness and can be expanded through addition of other sensors and capabilities to suit specific missions. Read More
Aircraft powered by 160 AA batteries
By Mike Hanlon
July 22, 2006 Panasonic (AKA Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd) certainly comes up with some interesting and original promotional concepts for its Oxyride battery business. In April 2005 we wrote about the company visiting Japanese schools and shopping malls to demonstrate a car powered by two AA-size Oxyride batteries and now comes the news of battery-powered flight. Yes folks, Panasonic together with the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT), has been working on the Oxyride Dry Cell Manned Flight Project since January this year. On July 16, the airplane powered by 160 AA-size Oxyride dry cell batteries flew a distance of 391.4 meters at an altitude of 6.11 meters at Okegawa Airport in Saitama Prefecture on the northern outskirts of Tokyo. The one-seat airplane, weighing 54 kg with a wingspan of 31 meters and piloted by a TIT student weighing 53 kg, was in the air for 59 seconds. Read More
Smart Rack doubles the firepower of an F/A-18
By Mike Hanlon
July 21, 2006 EDO has delivered the first of 135 BRU-55 dual-carriage, "smart" bomb racks to the US Navy and in so doing, is doubling the firepower of the Navy's F/A-18 aircraft. The BRU-55 doubles the smart-weapon carriage capacity of an F/A-18, and incorporates the electronics necessary to interface with "smart weapons", such as the GBU-38 500-pound GPS guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and enables individual targeting and release of each weapon. As Naval aviation has transitioned to the use of smarter weapons, the BRU-55 becomes a critical force multiplier and offers the potential for significant operational cost avoidance. Read More
DC-10 drops retardant in a first for firefighting
By Mike Hanlon
July 20, 2006 In a first for fire fighting, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) Sunday used a modified DC-10 to drop fire retardant on a significant blaze known as “the Sawtooth Fire”. Three separate external tanks with a capacity of 12,000 U.S. gallons of retardant were utilized during the two separate flights by Tanker 910 so it could build a buffer of retardant between the Fire and the community of Big Bear while allowing ground crews to get in position to build a containment line. The modified jet is one of two new jet-based services which were vying to be the first to demonstrate their effectiveness. The jets are a new tool developed in recent times to combat the destructiveness of fire in the United States where annually there are 80,000 wildland fires which destroy around six million acres and cost US$1.2 billion in fire suppression costs. The true cost of wildfire is much higher as when timber, tourism and property losses are added, annual figures run near to US$10 billion. Read More
The MV-22 Osprey goes intercontinental
By Mike Hanlon
August 9, 2006 Two Bell Boeing MV-22 Ospreys recently visited the United Kingdom for the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) and Farnborough International Air Show (FAS). Though the demonstration flights at RIAT and FAS were conducted by Bell Boeing pilots, the flights to and from the United States were part of an overall long range operational evaluation being conducted by the US Marines. The Osprey is such a new animal, with its dual helicopter and long-range plane capabilities that the Marines are busy “writing the book" on long-range deployments and have been conducting a series of long-distance flights to develop tactics,techniques and procedures for long-range, over-water movements of MV-22s, in preparation for the first combat deployment in 2007. Unlike conventional rotary wing aircraft, which must be transported into overseas theaters of operation aboard amphibious shipping or heavy lift transport planes, the V-22 can self-deploy thousands of miles over water to get itself to the fight. Read More
Sam Munro
- November 26, 2009 @ 08:08 UTC
