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Aero Gizmo
World's largest aircraft from 1930: Giant Russian K-7 flying fortress
By Paul Evans
16:34 April 14, 2009 PDT
The Soviet aircraft industry really like building big. We recently reported on the Hotelicopter, a converted Soviet Mil V-12 Heavy Lift Helicopter, which proved to be an April Fools prank. The Russians can still claim the title of world's largest aircraft, though, with the Antonov AN-225 heavy lift transport, which has a larger wingspan than the Airbus A380. Both of these modern day wonders have still not eclipsed the Hughes H-4 Hercules or “Spruce Goose” for size and we have just unearthed pictures of something the Russians were working on in the 1930s that may have dwarfed even the Spruce Goose. Read More
Raven UAV demonstrates 30-hour persistent surveillance
06:35 April 2, 2009 PDT
AeroVironment's Raven UAV system has been used to demonstrate the viability of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as a low-cost surveillance alternative in a continuous 30-hour persistent surveillance test flight. Conducted in conjunction with the U.S. Army Product Manager for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS), the demonstration involved unbroken surveillance of a target site using one standard production Raven RQ-11B baseline system (three aircraft and two ground control stations) operated by two-person crews working in eight-hour shifts. Read More
AIRchitecture: Flying classrooms of the future
By Karen Sprey
05:00 March 31, 2009 PDT
If you’ve ever sat in a classroom, bored silly, and wished you could just fly away, here’s the solution, well, sort of. The new concept from Geotectura and Malka - a flying structure for Delft University’s Architecture Faculty - melds spacecraft with studio space to create AIRchitecture, a dynamic, real-world learning environment with a minimal carbon footprint. Read More
Charles Simonyi makes second tourist trip to outer space
By David Greig
20:59 March 30, 2009 PDT
Dr Charles Simonyi has made history by becoming the first person to leave Earth for a second time as a space tourist. Space Adventures, Ltd., the only company that currently provides space missions for tourists, has just announced that their orbital client and his crew have successfully arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) after launching onboard the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 26. Read More
NASA investigating the SMART shape changing helicopter rotor
By David Greig
20:04 March 26, 2009 PDT
Can you imagine a world full of large, relatively quiet rotorcraft making short hops between cities such as New York and Washington, carrying as many as 100 passengers at a time in comfort and safety? This, amongst other technological improvements, would require helicopters with greatly improved rotor blade efficiency, allowing them to travel much quieter, smoother and further with the same amount of fuel. NASA is currently conducting research in their wind tunnels on the SMART rotor hub, which has rotor blades made with shape-changing materials that could one day make this scenario a reality. Read More
AeroQuad: the foldable, self-stabilizing VTOL personal flying platform
By Loz Blain
14:05 March 19, 2009 PDT
We've written before about the nifty flying carpet-style PAM Individual Lifting Vehicle - now it seems there's another self-stabilizing coaxial dual-rotor flying platform on the way. The AN-1 AeroQuad, from Spain's Aeris Naviter, boasts all the key advantages of the PAM VTOL platform - it's as easy to pilot as a Segway, it'll fly for up to 5 hours, and happily hover at 20-30 feet with a maximum payload of 200kg - making it very handy for crop spraying, firefighting, aerial photography, lifeguarding, rescue and border control in mountainous areas. The AeroQuad moves forward from the PAM design, though, in that it comes in both land- or water-based configurations, and either one is able to fold up after use to a size so small you only need a half-trailer to transport it. Read More
Boeing unveils F-15 Silent Eagle configuration
By David Greig
22:51 March 17, 2009 PDT
The Boeing Company has unveiled the F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE), a new F-15 configuration designed with a range of improvements over the previous F-15 variants including improved stealth coatings, redesigned conformal fuel tanks, a canted vertical tail to improve aerodynamic efficiency and much more. The prototype will be ready for its first test flight in early 2010. Read More
Solar Powered hybrid aircraft - Sunseeker II
By Paul Evans
16:58 February 28, 2009 PST
A variety of solar powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have been setting world records for flight duration and altitude in recent times, there are even plans for solar powered craft that can remain aloft for years at a time. But it's not just aircraft of the unmanned variety that stand to benefit from solar technology, with planes that carry pilots now starting to take to the skies. Based on glider/sailplane construction methods, the Sunseeker II is the only manned solar airplane flying in the world, and according to SolarFlight, it has logged more time in the air than all other manned solar powered airplanes combined. Read More
CO2 monitoring satellite fails to reach orbit
18:14 February 24, 2009 PST
In bad news for NASA (and the planet in general), the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) satellite did not reach orbit as planned yesterday. According to a launch contingency briefing from NASA, the Taurus XL from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base at 4:55 a.m. EST proceeded normally, with only typical "minor issues" reported as the rocket approached lift-off, but preliminary indications are that the fairing on the Taurus XL launch vehicle failed to separate. Read More
Toilet training the space community
By Darren Quick
16:27 February 15, 2009 PST
When we are born, we soil ourselves and other people clean it up for us. As we mature, we take responsibility for our own excrement. Strangely, as a society, we're not at all good at toilet training ourselves regarding the excrement produced by industry, transport or agriculture. Human beings capacity to eschew short term gain when faced with long term harm is notoriously woeful so it’s not surprising we've done exactly the same thing in space, leaving so much debris that it's now dangerous to be in the orbital band around earth due to the likelihood of being hit by junk traveling at 18,000 mph. The latest evidence: last week saw the first ever accidental collision between two intact spacecraft, a deactivated Russian satellite and an Iridium 33 satellite, which left a fresh cloud of debris 497 miles above the Earth. Read More
AeroVironment upgrades data system for Raven UAS
23:21 February 10, 2009 PST
AeroVironment, Inc. will produce 50 new Raven RQ-11B unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) equipped with enhanced communications following the announcement of a USD$16.8 Million order from the U.S. Army on January 22. The company's new Digital Data Link (DDL) replaces the original four-channel analog set-up, increasing communication channels by a factor of four and allowing more of the unmanned craft to be flown in one area simultaneously. Read More
Water-propelled jetpack: could this be the one?
By Loz Blain
02:25 February 2, 2009 PST
We're nearly 10 years into the new millennium, and the stark reality facing science fiction fans is that we STILL don't have an affordable jetpack. Promising technologies like this ion-propelled, remotely-powered unit seem to pop up from time to time, but nothing materializes on the market. The guys at JetPack International have built a beauty of a machine that does exactly what you'd hope - but at USD$200,000 it's still way out of reach for most people. This one might not be, though. It's propelled by super-fast jets of water pumped up through a tube that connects the jetpack to an engine that sits under the surface of a body of water. By tethering the flyer to the ground, this device is able to vastly reduce the weight of the flying apparatus by leaving all the heavy fuel and engine components behind, and since you're flying around above the surface of the water, you've got a much softer landing if you fall. Most importantly, the device looks like exactly as much fun as you'd hope, and because there's nothing too complicated to it, we can't see it costing much more than a jet-ski if it goes into production. Excellent! Read More
The wildest ride in history?
By Mike Hanlon
03:12 January 19, 2009 PST
January 19, 2009 Forty years ago this week saw one of the most spectacular escapes from death in recorded history. Soviet Commander Boris Volynov was returning to earth in Soyuz 5 when the service module failed to separate and he found himself entering the earth’s atmosphere with an inverted craft and the heat shields facing backwards. He was just moments from incineration when the service module sheared and the craft resumed the correct orientation. The heat damage was extensive though, and the descent parachute only partially deployed, then the chute-mounted soft-landing rockets failed, and it landed so hard Volynov smashed teeth. Crawling out of the craft, he found himself in minus 38 C temperatures in wilderness, hundreds of kilometres outside his landing zone, so he walked until finding a peasant hut. Volynov is also a contender for the most frightening case of déjà vu in history – seven years later, while flying Soyuz 21 … Read More
Challis Heliplane: simple, cheap and twice as fast as a normal helicopter
By Loz Blain
21:29 January 5, 2009 PST
Conventional helicopters are incredibly useful vehicles in many short-range scenarios - but their asymmetrical aerodynamics enforce a fairly low terminal speed limit of around 150mph, making them less than ideal for longer-range missions. Tilt-rotor aircraft like the Falx and Osprey, and coaxial 'copters like the Sikorsky X2 are tackling the problem from different angles, but both result in complicated and expensive solutions - which is what makes the new Challis Heliplane concept quite remarkable. Still in early stages, the Challis uses a very simple design to balance the lift forces of a helicopter and bring top speeds of over 300mph into reach. And wait 'til you see this thing accelerate! Read More
Air New Zealand completes biofuel test flight
19:58 January 1, 2009 PST
Air New Zealand has successfully undertaken the world's first commercial aviation test flight using the second-generation biofuel jatropha. A series of key performance tests were conducted at various altitudes during the two hour flight over New Zealand's North Island in which a 50:50 jatropha and Jet A1 fuel blend was used to power one of four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines on the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400. Read More
PCADS – from water balloons to a killer app firefighting technology
By Mike Hanlon
17:35 December 29, 2008 PST
Man’s engenuity knows no bounds and we are regularly fortunate enough to report on a technological solution that is so clever that it inspires us all to seek inspired responses to difficult problems. Bushfires deliver destruction and terror throughout the world and are often so powerful they defy man’s attempts to control them. In January 2003, Australians watched aghast as a bushfire destroyed 70% of the entire Australian Capital Territory and entered the suburbs of Canberra, the nation’s capital city. When a bushfire needs to be stopped, most countries simply do not have the resources. Until now! The PCADS system was inspired when a boy accurately dropped a water balloon on his father’s head from three stories up. The father contemplated the accuracy of his son’s handiwork and developed an ingenious firefighting technology – the PCADS. Read More
WhiteKnightTwo completes historic maiden flight
17:37 December 22, 2008 PST
WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), the carrier aircraft that will become the launch platform for Virgin Galactic's sub-orbital spaceline has taken to the skies over California in its maiden test flight. Powered by four Pratt and Whitney PW308A turbofan engines, the mammoth, 140-foot wingspan carbon composite aircraft launched from the Mojave Air and Space Port on Sunday morning and completed an hour long test flight without a hitch. Read More
Revised 787 Dreamliner launch schedule announced
20:04 December 11, 2008 PST
Citing disruption caused by the recent Machinists' strike along with the need to replace certain fasteners in early production airplanes, Boeing has announced a set-back to the much anticipated first flight of its 787 Dreamliner. The new-generation composite commercial airliner is now scheduled for its first flight in the second quarter of 2009 with first deliveries in Q1 2010. Read More
Finnair's future fleet: flying into the 21st century
By Kyle Sherer
20:54 December 4, 2008 PST
To celebrate its 85th anniversary, Finnair has served up a blue-sky vision of what the next 85 years of aviation could hold. Concentrating mainly on potential developments in environmentally friendly technology and lightweight material, the Departure 2093 website lists five aircraft that could grace our sky later this century. Read More
Boeing's new AH-6 light attack/reconnaissance helicopter
By Mike Hanlon
14:20 November 26, 2008 PST
November 27, 2008 Boeing recently announced a new rotorcraft program to develop what will be designated as the AH-6 light attack/reconnaissance helicopter. The AH-6 features an Electro-Optical/Infrared forward-looking sight system as well as a mount for weapons that have been qualified on the aircraft, including Hellfire missiles, the M260 seven-shot rocket pod, a machine gun and a mini-gun integrated with a sensor system. Read More
Student team sets fuel-cell powered flight record
23:36 November 23, 2008 PST
Fuel-cell manufacturer Adaptive Materials and students from the University of Michigan have teamed up to set a new world record for the longest fuel-cell-powered flight of a radio-controlled aerial vehicle. The flight of 10 hours, 15 minutes and four seconds beats the previous mark of just over nine hours set by AeroVironment's Puma UAV earlier this year. Read More
SJ30 breaks light jet speed record from London to Dubai
By Kyle Sherer
16:39 November 20, 2008 PST
The London to Dubai route is probably going to see a lot of private business air traffic in the coming years and Emivest Aerospace has used it to showcase the high speed capabilities of its SJ30 Business Jet. The aircraft has set a speed record for its class, flying from London to Dubai in seven hours and seven minutes, including a 41-minute refueling stop in Istanbul. Read More
Compact mortar-based launcher developed for small UAVs
By Mike Hanlon
02:41 November 19, 2008 PST
November 19, 2008 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been the major innovation of modern warfare in the last decade, offering invaluable and unprecedented information about what the enemy is doing. Though US forces currently have 30 unmanned combat air patrols operating 24 hours a day over Iraq and Afghanistan, increasingly, the need for situational awareness on a micro scale is driving technological development of manpackable UAV systems. Now BAE has announced yet another major UAV breakthrough – a compact mortar-based launcher for small Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs). Read More
F-35 Lightning II breaks sound barrier
By Kyle Sherer
13:30 November 18, 2008 PST
Lockheed Martin has promised that its fifth gen F-35 fighter will allow pilots to “do things that were previously considered impossible, and to think things that were previously unthinkable.” Almost two years after its maiden flight, the F-35 Lightning II has reached another development milestone – supersonic flight. Test pilot Jon Beesley accelerated the F-35 AA-1 to Mach 1.05, with a full internal load of dummy weapons. Read More
Biofuel-powered jet completes transcontinental flight
21:53 November 12, 2008 PST
Following on from its breakthrough flight in October last year, Green Flight International has set another green-aviation record, this time flying a jet across the U.S. using environmentally-friendly Biofuel. Piloted by President and CEO Douglas Rodante and Chief Pilot Carol Sugars, BioJet 1 completed the flight from Reno, Nevada to Leesburg, Florida in just over 11 hours at altitudes ranging from 13,000 to 17,000 feet. While 1,776 miles where flown on 100% Biofuel, a 50/50 mix of Biofuel and standard jet fuel was used for the remainder of the 2,486 journey in order to compare performance data and also demonstrate the ability to blend these fuel types. Read More
Gary Noel
- November 22, 2009 @ 06:20 UTC
