‘Spend the Minimum’: After Crash, Lion Air’s Safety Record Is Back in Spotlight

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Writer

“What I saw was a company, from the top down, that made saving money a motto — so spend the minimum on pilot training, salaries, management, everything,” Mr. Caron said.

Edward Sirait, Lion Air Group’s president director, denied that the company cut corners or dissembled in logbooks. In an interview in his sparsely furnished office, he said the company had twin priorities: growth and safety.

“When we expand, we think about all the markets we have to get,” he said. “But we always develop in accordance with our fleet, human resources, crew and also the maintenance facilities.”

Mr. Sirait added that Lion Air pilots were “professional” and would not keep dual logbooks. “If he was caught, his license would get revoked,” he said.

Lion Air, Indonesia’s first low-cost private airline, was founded in 1999 by Rusdi Kirana, a former typewriter salesman and pastry chef whose sole experience with the aviation industry was running a travel agency.

Today, Lion Air Group is Southeast Asia’s largest carrier in terms of fleet size, according to the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, a consultancy, and the airline has 458 planes on order.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/22/world/asia/lion-air-crash-safety-failures.html

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Brickmania 2183 B-17G “Flying Fortress” WWII Heavy Bomber [Review]

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Writer

We recently reviewed the new Brickmania F-4C Phantom II fighter kit, but the Brickmania team has also just restocked the massive B-17G WWII Heavy Bomber custom kit, their largest LEGO aircraft kit produced to date. This custom kit of the legendary “Flying Fortress” is built from 3,074 LEGO pieces and includes 10 custom-printed minifigures.

The packaging, instructions, and sticker sheet

Official LEGO sets have varying box sizes based on the number of parts in the set, but Brickmania only uses a few box sizes. As a result, the B-17 comes in the same size box as the Phantom II jet we recently reviewed, with artwork highlighting the bomber and its crew on the front and a historical photo and a focus on working features on the back of the box.

But because the box is the same size as other large Brickmania sets, the parts are packed in so tightly that we had trouble re-packing them after this photo!

The spiral-bound instruction booklet reminds us of the large booklet that comes with the UCS Millennium Falcon. Each page includes more steps than the build process for official LEGO sets, so the 88 large pages in the Brickmania instruction booklet give you a sense of just how massive this custom kit is from the moment you open the box.

The first page of the instruction booklet highlights the service history of the real-world aircraft, while the end of the

Article source: https://www.brothers-brick.com/2018/11/22/brickmania-2183-b-17g-flying-fortress-wwii-heavy-bomber-review/

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Clinton-Massie senior climbs toward clouds as USA Junior free-flighter

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Writer

Representing the United States of America, Clinton-Massie High School senior Kyle Gerspacher earned a silver cup at the 2018 Junior Free Flight World Championships in Bulgaria.

During their flights, these model airplanes are free of control from the ground. They follow the wind and soar in rising currents of warm air, according to the National Free Flight Society website.

The class in which Gerspacher placed second had 29 youth from a dozen countries taking part. A free-flighter from Estonia finished first, while a young person from Israel came in third.

Gerspacher’s contest involved seven rounds of flights, and because he possessed a top score after the seven rounds, he participated in two fly-off rounds, too.

He thinks being consistent and having a strict attention to detail are keys to doing free flight well.

A competition can last from 8 in the morning to sometimes 7 in the evening and most of the rankings in the standings are within a few seconds of each other, according to his father David.

At the world championships in Bulgaria, the head judge from Sweden came over to David after the contest and told him how impressed he was at Kyle’s focus and drive during the day of competition.

Kyle’s primary airplane broke, and he had to go to his backup ship to finish the contest.

The head judge remarked that even most adults would have been rattled, and would not have continued on as well, related David.

Kyle said he is very proud to have represented the United States, adding it was a

Article source: https://www.wnewsj.com/news/90015/clinton-massie-senior-climbs-toward-clouds-as-usa-junior-free-flighter

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Black Friday RC Deals (Cars, Trucks, Airplanes, Helicopters, Boats)

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Writer

Remote-controlled models capture the imagination of everyone from toddlers to grownups. The RC deals for Black Friday this year offer some incredible choices at rock-bottom prices. All the big brands are taking part so keep reading to see our best of the best picks for Black Friday 2018.

We have selected each radio-controlled model with great care. Whether you want something for a toddler, a teen, or a hobby-grade model for a parent, it’s all here. There’s a shortlist of outstanding models for all the main categories. These include RC cars, trucks, boats, aircraft, and robots.

Each category has three RC models for different skill levels and budget. Jump straight to the Black Friday RC sales if you know what you want. Read the rest of this quick intro if you need a little help.

Black Friday Radio Controlled Cars

The first three picks are excellent RC cars for kids and older enthusiasts:

What to Consider with RC Cars

There are a few things to consider when buying electric RC cars. The first is to check is the maker’s recommended age for the model. Next is the skill level and the critical features of the vehicle. Make sure you know the play times (battery life) and charging times. Also,

Article source: https://3dinsider.com/black-friday-rc-deals-cars-trucks-airplanes-helicopters-boats/

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Solid-State Airplane With No Moving Parts Takes Flight

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Writer

Aviation

Published on November 22nd, 2018
by Steve Hanley

0

November 22nd, 2018 by  

An airplane with no moving parts has flown a distance of 60 meters. Is that a big deal? It is if you consider that on a cold December day in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright’s first airplane changed the world when it flew a distance of only 37 meters. What new ideas could a solid-state airplane with no jet or internal combustion engine lead to?

Steven Barrett is an aeronautics professor at MIT. He has been leading a team of researchers investigating “ionic wind” propulsion for more than 5 years. He tells The Guardian the inspiration for the research came straight from watching episodes of Star Trek when he was young.

“I was a big fan of Star Trek, and at that point I thought that the future looked like it should be planes that fly silently, with no moving parts — and maybe have a blue glow.

Article source: https://cleantechnica.com/2018/11/22/solid-state-airplane-with-no-moving-parts-takes-flight/

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He wouldn’t take a dime

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Writer

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Article source: https://tucson.com/he-wouldn-t-take-a-dime/article_60a9029e-edb9-11e8-b2fa-23aff33ec587.html

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MIT Flies Model Airplane Powered by the Blue Glow of Electric …

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Writer

Since their invention more than 100 years ago, airplanes have been moved through the air by the spinning surfaces of propellers or turbines. But watching science fiction movies like the “Star Wars,” “Star Trek” and “Back to the Future” series, I imagined that the propulsion systems of the future would be silent and still – maybe with some kind of blue glow and “whoosh” noise, but no moving parts, and no stream of pollution pouring out the back.

That doesn’t exist yet, but there is at least one physical principle that could be promising. About nine years ago, I started investigating using ionic winds – flows of charged particles through the air – as a means of powering flight. Building on decades of research and experimentation by academics and hobbyists, professionals and high school science students, my research group recently flew a nearly silent airplane without any moving parts.

The plane weighed about five pounds (2.45 kilograms) and had a wingspan of 15 feet (5 meters), and traveled about 180 feet (60 meters), so it’s a long way from efficiently carrying cargo or people long distances. But we have proved that it is possible to fly a heavier-than-air vehicle using ionic winds. It even has a glow you can see in the dark.

Revisiting discarded research

The process our plane uses, formally called electroaerodynamic propulsion, was investigated as far back as the 1920s by an eccentric scientist who thought he had discovered anti-gravity – which was

Article source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/mit-flies-model-airplane-powered-electric-fields-and-ionic-winds-180970877/

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