Model Airplanes

A zipping comes across the sky.

A man named Neil Parfitt is standing in a field on a cattle ranch outside Warwick, Australia. A white vehicle appears above the trees, a tiny plane a bit bigger than a seagull. It glides towards Parfitt, pitches upwards to a vertical position, and hovers near him, a couple hundred feet in the air. From its belly, a package comes tumbling downward, connected by a thin line to the vehicle itself. Right before the delivery hits the ground, it slows, hitting the earth with atap. The delivery slows, almost imperceptibly, just before it hits the ground, hardly kicking up any dust. A small rectangular module on the end of the line detaches the payload, and ascends back up the vehicle, locking into place beneath the nose. As the wing returns to flying posture and zips back to its launch point half a mile away, Parfitt walks over to the package, opens it up, and extracts some treats for his dogs.

The Australian test flight and 30 others like it conducted in mid-August are the culmination of the first phase of Project Wing, a secret drone program that’s been running for two years at Google X, the company’s whoa-inducing, long-range research lab.

Though a couple of rumors have escaped the Googleplex—because of course Google must have a drone-delivery program—Project Wing’s official existence and substance were revealed today. I’ve spent the past week talking to Googlers who worked on the project, reviewing video of the flights, and interviewing other people convinced

Article source: http://qz.com/257674/the-secret-story-of-googles-quest-to-deliver-products-by-drones-in-the-sky/

You like rumors? Hot, hard-to-resist rumors? Here’s one to jack your blood pressure through the roof! The next Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 will be mid-engined. That’s right, kids! Multiple sources have told us that the next version of the Corvette ZR1 will be mid-engined. One of these sources even stated that the next-generation Corvette — the C8 — will ship with its engine mounted in the middle. The rendering above, by Tom Matsumoto, shows what the mid-engined Corvette could look like.

Yes, yes — we know — another story about a mid-engine Corvette. Will this madness never end? This particular fantasy tale, as some of you know, seems to have been continuously reported on since 1963 when the CERV II was built. The father of the Corvette — Zora Arkus-Duntov — seriously wanted to build a mid-engine ’Vette. Only GM’s cement-shoed board stopped him. Chevrolet tried again in 1964 with the (admittedly rear-engined) XP-819 and then again with the XP-882 in 1969. Next came the XP-895 in 1972, the two-rotor (and Porsche 914-based!) XP-897GT in 1973 (odd side note: the XP-897GT eventually got a Mazda 13B mated to a front-drive Cadillac transmission installed by its private owner in 1997), the Aerovette in 1976 and finally the CERV III in 1986.

Article source: http://www.hotrod.com/news/1408_scoop_mid_engine_chevrolet_corvette_is_a_go/

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) – Pete Graven got hooked on aviation as a young boy, listening to stories from his uncle, a WWI fighter pilot.

Jim Jackson was among the first mechanics to work on the B-29 bomber during WWII.

Norm Constan spent nearly four decades with the Boeing Co., delivering airplanes.

Now, in their golden years, these volunteers spend a day or two a week at Paine Field, fixing up vintage aircraft at the Museum of Flight Restoration Center. Many are well into their 80s. The oldest is 99.

“The people here have just as many interesting stories as the aircraft they’ve worked on,” said Tom Cathcart, the museum’s director of aircraft collections. “It’s just as much about the guys out here working as the aircraft the museum ends up putting on display. The aircraft is getting a second life, but some of these guys are, too.”

The restoration center opened at Paine Field about 30 years ago. In 1988, the center moved into the two hangars it now occupies near Airport Road. These days, it’s one of several historic aircraft attractions at the Snohomish County Airport, which also hosts the Future of Flight, the Flying Heritage Collection and the Historic Flight Foundation.

The restoration center is no dark, dingy workshop. It’s open to the public most days of the week. Adult admission costs $5.

Walk inside, and you’ll see about two-dozen aircraft. There are immaculate specimens – and others that look like they barely escaped the scrap heap.

The collection includes a restored F2G-1 Super Corsair, a

Article source: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/state/volunteers-spend-golden-years-restoring-planes_90333523

DAYTON — Wright “B” Flyer Inc., an all-volunteer organization that flies a lookalike of the Wright brothers’ first production airplane, has launched a project to replace its venerable flying machine.

The not-for-profit organization has been flying Wright “B” Flyer No. 1, also known as the “Brown Bird” or “Iron Bird,” since 1982. The airplane resembles a 1911 Wright Model B airplane, but its design meets modern airworthiness standards, and it’s built from modern parts and materials.

The airplane has made flybys of the Rose Bowl and the Statue of Liberty and has been on display in Berlin. Numerous aviation pioneers and dignitaries have flown on the airplane, including the late Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong. It’s a familiar sight in local skies at the Vectren Dayton Air Show and other community events.

The Brown Bird has been flying for a generation, thanks to regular maintenance and periodic upgrades. “We’re thinking ahead to the next generation,” said Jay Jabour, Wright “B” Flyer president and acting chair. “Eventually we will need to replace the Brown Bird with a new airplane. To ensure continuity of our mission in future years, we’re beginning the replacement process now.”

The new airplane project begins as Wright “B” Flyer’s heritage partners, the National Aviation Heritage Alliance, the National Park Service and others are working to restore the original Wright Company factory buildings in Dayton. The factory was the first in America built for the purpose of producing airplanes, and its first product was the Wright Model B.

Wright “B” Flyer is developing

Article source: http://www.abc22now.com/shared/news/top-stories/stories/wkef_vid_22001.shtml

Originally published: August 26, 2014 6:45 PM
Updated: August 27, 2014 12:53 AM

By JOAN GRALLA
 joan.gralla@newsday.com

Lee Ackerman in his Stewart Manor yard on Friday Aug. 22, 2014, where he said he found a piece of metal that had been shed by a jumbo airliner. (Credit: Howard Schnapp)

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In his book The Direct Mail Solution, direct marketing expert and entrepreneur Craig Simpson provides easy-to-follow solutions for creating direct mail campaigns that work! In this edited excerpt, the author outlines the seven critical parts you should include in every direct mail sales piece.

If you were building a model airplane, it wouldn’t be any good to make most of it great but to leave off the left wing or connect the rudder upside-down. You would completely undo all your good work by being sloppy in even one area. If the airplane is going to be worth anything at all, every part of it has to be perfect.

It’s the same with your direct mail sales piece — you want to get the absolute most out of every one of its parts, and you don’t want to skimp on anything. The success of your business is riding on your sales piece doing its job. That means you have to give each section the attention it deserves.

Every sales piece has exactly the same elements, no matter how long it is. Whether your sales piece is a postcard, a two-page letter or a 36-page booklet, it will have all or most of the following parts. Make sure you give attention to each one that you include.

Headline. You have to grab your reader’s interest in just a few seconds, and the best way to do that is with a great headline. It can be just a few words long, or it can be

Article source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235828