Model Airplanes

The US Department of Transportation announced Wednesday the participants in its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program, which will test drones for a variety of applications otherwise not permitted under current law. Google, Qualcomm, and Microsoft all made the cut, while Amazon and DJI won’t be involved.

The initial round of the initiative—first announced six months ago—will include test programs that will operate in the cities of Reno, Nevada and San Diego, California. The Transportation Departments for Kansas, North Carolina, and North Dakota will oversee projects, as well the Memphis County Airport Authority, Lee County Mosquito Control District, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Two colleges will also be involved: the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and Virginia Tech.

“This is such an exciting day for aviation, for safety, for innovation,” US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said at an event Wednesday announcing the selectees, according to The Verge. “We’ve got to create a path forward for the safe integration of drones if our country is to remain a global aviation leader and reap the safety and economic benefits drones have to offer.”

Over the course of the next two and a half years, the selected programs will collect data from drones as they carry out their unique tasks, all with an eye toward integrating drones into airspace across the country and accelerating the acceptance of the unmanned aircraft for commercial use.

Each

Article source: https://gizmodo.com/trump-administration-taps-google-passes-on-amazon-and-1825904705

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. — “That’s the sound America makes when she’s angry.”

That’s how Col. Tom Palenske, commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing, characterized the AC-130 gunship after two aircraft fired hundreds of rounds from their 40mm and 105mm cannons and 25mm Gatling gun in the skies above A-77, a range specially made for target practice.

Palenske, also the installation commander here, says crews can’t wait for the next best thing: the AC-130J Ghostrider.

“It’s going to be awesome. It’s our big gun truck. It’s going to have more powerful engines, a more efficient fuel rate, and also has a more precise fuel capability so you know exactly how much gas you’ve got on board,” he said.

Palenske caught up with Military.com during a tour of Air Force Special Operations Command aircraft and a live-fire training exercise on ranges used by Hurlburt and neighboring Eglin Air Force Base as part of Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson’s recent trip to AFSOC.

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“You can keep the sensors on the bad guys longer,” Palenske said, referring to the J-model’s ability to stay airborne longer due to better fuel management.

Along with the 105mm cannon the U-models sport, the AC-130J will be equipped with a 30mm cannon “almost like a sniper rifle … it’s that precise, it can pretty much hit first shot, first

Article source: https://www.military.com/dodbuzz/2018/05/09/special-operators-predict-ac-130j-will-be-most-requested-aircraft.html

Bangladesh has selected the UK’s Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group to modify a pair of ex-Royal Air Force-operated Lockheed Martin C-130Js and provide long-term support for the tactical transports.

Announced by Marshall on 10 May, the deal will include work in designing, developing and installing a new medical evacuation fit for Dhaka’s Hercules. This will “enable the Bangladesh air force to carry out important tasks within the country and overseas delivering support to UN missions,” the Cambridge-based company says.

Marshall says it will provide a “total support solution” to the Asia-Pacific nation, including aircraft maintenance, engineering and logistics services and spare parts. This will “ensure the effective operation of the fleet”, it adds.

The Bangladesh air force says the ex-RAF transports will provide “a key enhancement to our current airlift capability… as we prepare to take the step from the B- to J-model.” Flight Fleets Analyzer records the service as currently using four C-130B/Es, aged between 56 and 58 years. The UK’s surplus “Super Hercules” are on average 19 years old, it shows.

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The RAF has already retired its five short-fuselage C-130Js, having focused its operations on the stretched -30 model, 19 of which remain in use. One of its surplus airlifters has already been bought by the US Navy and will be employed in support of its Blue Angels aerobatic display team, where it will replace an aged T-model transport.

Article source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/bangladesh-picks-marshall-support-for-secondhand-c-1-448490/

About two weeks ago, for the first time in a while, the double manual Flemish harpsichord owned by Cottey College was tuned and used in performance. It was used by adjunct piano instructor, Peggy Graves in a repertoire class.

On Tuesday afternoon, pulling it out of its storage area, next to the concert grand piano, Dr. Dyke Kiel, emeritus professor of music he retired in 1983 pushed it onto the stage of the 490-seat Missouri Recital Hall in the Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts.

For Peggy and her class I tuned up everything except for the casters on its stand, so be warned, they really squeak, said Kiel as the casters let themselves be heard.

Uncovering it and opening up first its keyboard and then soundboard, his eyes twinkled like those of a proud papa as he looked it over from stem to stern.

Then, setting down in a front-row seat he pulled out a sheaf of papers and began searching.

In answer to a question he said, Oh, I did the tuning myself as he pulled out a copy of his original purchase order for the kit, dated April 16, 1986.

Holding up the document he read, It cost $3,110 and we ordered it from Zuckermann Harpsichords in Stonington, Conn.

At the time, Kiel was writing a book with a colleague and so safely stored the kit until time permitted him to put it together.

And I needed some cohorts in this endeavor, said Kiel. On something like this, you

Article source: https://www.nevadadailymail.com/story/2511081.html