Up to 150 large remote control planes to fly at the Elkhart Municipal Airport

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Writer

ELKHART — This weekend’s remote control model airplane air show at Elkhart’s Municipal Airport is all about history and evolution.

The second annual three-day event, known as “Air Supremacy over Elkhart,” will feature upward of 150 large-scale remote control model airplanes that are much more sophisticated than the traditional crafty items that were popular in previous decades.

While the show highlights major eras of aviation history, it’s being done with some of the same technology used in military drones from the first Iraq War, according to Chuck Hamilton, who is co-sponsoring the air show alongside RJ Monroe.

Some of the model planes have switched from gas engines to batteries, making it much more quiet. Some also feature custom built engines and landing gear, Hamilton said.

“This is not your grandfather’s model airplane,” Hamilton said. “This is high technology, high fabrication, but yet we’re going back to yesteryear, flying these aircraft in the prototypical manner of a P-40 or a Piper Cub and reliving those glory days through model aviation.” 

Unlike modern drones, the planes featured in the show remain visible to the controller.

The show runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The event is much more established than its first year, and organizers think the show could become a popular tradition.

Last year, they had less than 80 planes. The goal was to double the participation this year, Monroe said.

Pleasant weather forecasted for the weekend could push participation even higher.

“We’ve gone from a

Article source: http://www.elkharttruth.com/hometown/elkhart/2014/09/17/Remote-control-air-show-at-Elkhart-Municipal-Airport-first-of-two-big-weekends.html

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Wonkbook: The most important — and disappointing — aspect of today’s economy

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Writer

Welcome to Wonkbook, Wonkblog’s morning policy news primer by Puneet Kollipara (@pkollipara). To subscribe by e-mail, click here. Send comments, criticism or ideas to Wonkbook at Washpost dot com. To read more by the Wonkblog team, click here. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.


(bigstock)

Wonkbook’s Number of the Day: $180. That’s how much the median household income in the United States rose last year, a statistically insignificant gain that explains why so many Americans doubt the economic recovery.

Wonkbook’s Chart of the Day: The poverty rates for Americans and for American children have fallen for the first time since 2000.

Wonkbook’s Top 5 Stories: (1) Why Americans aren’t feeling the recovery; (2) the military’s challenge in fighting Ebola; (3) feds’ Ferguson response update; (4) Congress’ uphill blitz against the NFL; and (5) silence masked GM’s woes.

1. Top story: Economic growth doesn’t tell the whole story about the economy

The most important thing about the state of the U.S. economy. “The new numbers…in many ways tell us more about how well the economy is serving — or failing — the mass of Americans than data that create hyperventilation in the financial markets….We now know that if your household brought in $51,939 in income last year, you were right at the 50th percentile….In inflation-adjusted terms, that is up a mere 0.3 percent from 2012. If you’re counting, that’s an extra $180 in annual real income for a middle-income American family….Going back a

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/17/wonkbook-the-most-important-and-disappointing-aspect-of-todays-economy/

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Quick 5: Model Airplane Club to share thrill of flight Saturday

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Writer


By RIMSIE MCCONIGA
rmcconiga@leavenworthtimes.com


Posted Sep. 17, 2014 @ 12:24 pm


Lansing, Leavenworth, Leavenworth County

Article source: http://www.leavenworthtimes.com/article/20140917/NEWS/140919393/12900/NEWS

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Military should have stripped plane before it went to museum: minister

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Writer

Defence Minister Rob Nicholson, right, says it’s the military’s fault spare parts weren’t stripped from a transport plane when it was decommissioned.

Article source: http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/military-should-have-stripped-plane-before-it-went-to-museum-minister

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Government under fire for scavenging aircraft parts from museum plane

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Writer

Canada’s search-and-rescue system is being held together by “tape and baling wire,” say experts and opposition critics, after revelations that the Royal Canadian Air Force had to raid an old Hercules airplane at a museum for parts.

The Citizen reported Monday that air force technicians went through a Hercules on display at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, Ont., in July 2012 because they needed navigational equipment for a similar aircraft still in use.

Asked about the issue in the House of Commons Monday, Defence Minister Rob Nicholson referred only to “a mistake” but did not explain what he meant. His office had earlier defended the scavenging of the museum-based aircraft, saying the military “took the initiative to remove these functional, perfectly good parts and use them effectively.”

News of the museum visit prompted opposition MPs to question the government’s commitment to Canada’s search-and-rescue capabilities in light of growing concerns about the state of the rescue system, which they argue has gotten worse under the Conservative government.

“This is a basic commitment for the Canadian Forces,” NDP defence critic Jack Harris said of search and rescue. “And the government is not giving it priority. It really makes you wonder why we can be so cavalier about foreign operations and at the same time we haven’t got our act together here at home.”

The Canadian Forces and Coast Guard respond to thousands of emergency calls around the country every year, from stranded fishermen and lost children to downed pilots and avalanche survivors. Search and rescue is considered a “no-fail mission,”

Article source: http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/government-targeted-for-scavenging-aircraft-parts-from-museum-plane

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MyReporter – Where can model aircraft be flown?

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Writer

A. Posted rules at New Hanover County parks prohibit a number of recreational pasttimes including equestrian activities, fireworks, bathing in ponds and, unfortunately for enthusiasts, operating radio controlled aircraft, cars trucks and boats in most cases.

That being said, there are multiple clubs supporting the area’s R/C fans.

Rod Smith, president of the Wilmington Model Flying Club, said that while the group does not have facilities for rocketeers, there are options for airplanes. The Cape Fear Quiet Flyers (www.CapeFearQuietFlyers.com) maintain a field along Randall Parkway, and members passing a flight test are welcome to fly there.

The larger Wilmington Model Flying Club (www.wilmingtonmodelflyingclub.org) maintains a large field off of U.S. 421 about 20 miles north of town. To join a discussion on the topic, visit that club’s online forum at http://wmfc.lefora.com.

A national organization, The Academy of Model Aeronautics, can be found at www.ModelAircraft.com.

– Paul Stephen

Q. When did the LORAN towers come down and how long did the job take?

A. The towers were taken down in May. The job took “approximately five weeks,” said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Lane Munroe, command center chief of Sector North Carolina.

The Coast Guard “is determining the best course of action for the land,” Monroe said.

The four 628-foot towers were located for many years on Coast Guard property on River Road.

The 210-acre tract of land near Snow’s Cut Bridge formerly housed a Coast Guard LORAN Station.

The towers were used to send out low-frequency radio waves for the LORAN system before the LORAN program was decommissioned in

Article source: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20140915/ARTICLES/140919790?Title=MyReporter-Where-can-model-aircraft-be-flown-

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Fighting wildfires with eyes in the sky

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Writer

DENVER — Firefighters in Colorado are sending advanced infrared sensors and cameras aloft in airplanes as part of a first-in-the-nation effort to stop wildfires before they get started.

The plane’s cameras can “see” the heat from something as small as a blowtorch on the ground from 20,000 feet up in the air, allowing operators to more precisely direct firefighters. In the West’s rugged terrain, finding small wildfires sparked by lightning or a hunter’s campfire can take hours to pinpoint, especially when firefighters have to hike or drive miles through canyons, over mountains and through dense forests.

Left unchecked, those small fires can smolder for days until a warm day and high winds fan them into a megablaze. While other government agencies have similar aircraft, Colorado officials say they’re the first state to deploy a comprehensive network of planes, firefighting aircraft and data-sharing systems.

“This is going to be the model for how we fight wildfires in the future,” said Paul Cooke, director of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.

The two planes are part of a newly expanded $20 million aerial firefighting program intended to help protect Colorado from devastating wildfires that have charred parts of California, Washington and Oregon

Article source: http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2014/09/15/fighting-wildfires-with-eyes-in-the-sky/15692909/

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