Model Airplanes

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/world/asia/boeing-737-indonesia-crash.html

An Indonesian airliner has crashed into the sea with 189 people on board.

The Boeing 737, owned by the low-cost airline Lion Air, went down after taking off from the capital Jakarta.

Flight JT 610 was headed for the western city of Pangkal Pinang. Rescuers have recovered some bodies and personal items, including baby shoes.

There is no sign of survivors. The cause of the crash, which involved a plane that had been in operation since August, remains unclear.

The incident is reported to be the first major accident involving a Boeing 737 Max – an updated version of the 737.

“We need to find the main wreckage,” said Bambang Suryo, operational director of the search and rescue agency. “I predict there are no survivors, based on body parts found so far.”

What do you get when you cross an airship and an airplane? If you’re willing to spend more than $4 million, you could get the Plimp hybrid aircraft that’s envisioned by Seattle-based Egan Airships.

The patented concept calls for mounting a helium-filled balloon on an airframe that has wings equipped with adjustable propellers. The result is a not-quite-lighter-than-air vehicle that rises like the Goodyear Blimp but can cruise like an airplane at speeds of more than 80 mph.

“This is a brand new approach. As you see it fly, what was not obvious becomes intuitive,” said the company’s co-founder and president, James Egan, a Seattle attorney who was recently in the news in connection with a lawsuit challenging the Seattle City Council’s repeal of a head-tax measure.

After years of work on the design and prototype testing, Egan is trying to drum up enough interest among potential buyers to move ahead with the years-long process of getting the plane built and certified.

It’s an unorthodox sales pitch: If customers are willing to pay $4 million plus overages, in installments spread out over the course of four years, they’ll get a Plimp Model J aircraft that’s capable of carrying either a ton of payload in cargo mode, or two pilots and eight travelers in passenger mode.

The aircraft would get its forward thrust and 40 percent of its lift from an electric-powered propeller system. Even if

Article source: https://www.geekwire.com/2018/egan-airships-floats-sales-campaign-get-plimp-hybrid-aircraft-off-ground/

Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of the Thai Constitution, earlier filed a petition with the Office of the Auditor-General asking for an investigation into the Army’s procurement of the Italian-made helicopters at prices he alleged to be inflated.

The Royal Thai Army on Friday dismissed the claims of irregularities in its purchase of helicopters, which Srisuwan said are similar to the one involved in a recent fatal accident that killed Leicester City football club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

Colonel Sirichan Ngathong, deputy spokesperson for the Army, said the amount paid for the purchases included the cost of pilot training, spare parts, maintenance and additional equipment.

Also, the size of the models purchased by the Army was a lot larger than the civilian version involved in the accident in England, she said, which is why the helicopters bought by the Army were more expensive.

Srisuwan made the allegation after reports that the crashed Agusta Westland AW169 helicopter cost about Bt280 million. He pointed out that two AW139 helicopters were purchased for Bt675 million each in 2012, when Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha was serving as commander-in-chief of the Army.

Sirichan said on Friday that the Army had purchased a number of Agusta Westland AW139 and AW149 model helicopters in line with mission needs and procurement regulations.

She explained that these

Article source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30357780