Model Airplanes

With all the insanity on terra firma, you’re forgiven if you missed the 30,000-foot brilliance of this year’s Crystal Cabin Awards—the Only International Award For Excellence in Aircraft Interior InnovationTM. Ladies and gents, it was marvelous: heated floor panels, rentable beds for economy fliers, a rollout mattress for those in business, and more.

One finalist that saw its hopes for a trophy go down the drain is Zodiac Aerospace’s Durinal. As the name (sort of) indicates, this innovation would replace one standard lavatory with two urinals. Because in an age where flying is more misery than miracle, anything that can make the experience better—like shortening bathrooms lines—is worth a shot.

“The innovation will benefit female passengers too, at least indirectly: when the men have their own urinal facility, the queue for the rest of the cabin will be reduced,” the press release announcing the award finalists read. “Things may be a little cleaner too.” Zing, dudes.

But will giving half the population a yellow-tinged fast track really save everybody time? On one hand, stand-up pee-ers wouldn’t be clogging up the lines to those sit-down commodes. On the other, the Durinal removes an outlet for sit-down urinators who share their reduced number of toilets with women, as well as with men who aren’t headed to the lav to pee.

Fortunately, mathematicians have created an entire field dedicated to striking the balance between one gender’s convenience and another’s irritation.

OK, the science of waiting in line—technically known as

Article source: https://www.wired.com/story/airplane-urinals-lines-math/

The air around the Elton Hensley Memorial Airport on Saturday morning was filled with the drone of small airplane engines and the scrumptious smell of frying sausage.

A healthy crowd turned up to enjoy the hearty breakfast, Kingdom Pilots Association President Steve Wendling said.

“This gives us the opportunity to raise funds for scholarships,” he said.

During the event, Kareem Boakye-Yiadom was presented with a $1,500 scholarship to help him earn a pilots’ license, Wendling added.

Compared to last year, when stormy skies kept pilots away, this year’s event drew quite a crowd, he said.

“It’s a great day to fly,” Wendling said. “The difference between a good day to fly and a great day to fly is on a good day, you want to go flying but the weather conditions prevent it. A great day to fly is any day you get to fly.”

Attendees brought motorcycles, planes, plenty of appetites and even a functional SR-71 Blackbird model at 1/8th scale. It took its creator, Lance Campbell, 10 years to perfect. He’d initially expected it to be a four-year project, but decided he couldn’t bear to cut corners.

“I thought it was too cool of an airplane not to build,” he said.

Campbell has 35 years of experience building model airplanes.

“I started as a kid with my grandfather,” he said. “We had the slightly inappropriate goal of buzzing the neighbor kid off his riding lawnmower. It turned out building model airplanes is harder than we expected.”

He fabricate the Blackbird from scratch, using materials such as fiberglass and

Article source: http://www.fultonsun.com/news/local/story/2018/may/22/airport-patrons-enjoy-pancakes-planes/727273/

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U.S. and China reach a truce on trade, which may buoy Asian markets; Tesla to sell a $78,000 model as shareholders urged to split chairman’s role from Musk; and FOMC minutes to be released as yield curve remains in focus.  Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about.

Trade Truce

The Trump administration won’t impose tariffs on Chinese products for now, after the two nations made progress on trade issues during two days of talks, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.  President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on as much as $150 billion in Chinese imports to punish Beijing for allegedly violating American intellectual property and unfair trade practices. China vowed to retaliate with tariffs on everything from soybeans to airplanes.  Mnuchin’s comments came after the two nations on Saturday released a joint statement in which China proposed to “significantly increase purchases” of U.S. goods.

Tesla’s $78,000 Model

Elon Musk’s Model 3, once touted as Tesla’s $35,000 car for the masses, can now set a buyer back almost $80,000. Musk unveiled specifications for a faster and more powerful version of the Model 3 in a series of tweets over the weekend. It will cost $78,000, more than double the $35,000 base-model starting price discussed into the run-up before the electric car’s deliveries started last year. Meanwhile, Tesla shareholders are being urged to support a proposal to split the role of chairman and chief executive officer — jobs now

Article source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-20/five-things-you-need-to-know-to-start-your-day