Model Airplanes

PARIS (Reuters) – Boeing Co (BA.N) on Monday ruled out reviving its dormant 767 passenger plane as it continues to ponder options for a potential new niche in the middle of the aircraft market.

“Bringing back the 767 (passenger version) – I just don’t see it,” Randy Tinseth, vice-president of commercial marketing, told reporters on a conference call.

There has been some speculation Boeing would revive the 767 wide-body passenger line to offer airlines a low-price backstop in case a proposed brand-new mid-market plane suffered delays, or in case Boeing decided not to go ahead with that project.

Boeing continues to target 2024-25 for entry into service of a possible family of jets with 220-270 seats, designed partly to replace single-aisle 757 and some wide-body 767 models.

“If it goes beyond that (date), that would be a challenge as (airlines) do have to replace those ‘57s and ‘67s,” Tinseth said.

Boeing says it is examining the business case for such a jet. Tinseth declined to say when it might make a decision, but industry sources say it could start offering the jet this year.

“We continue to make progress on the program. Things around configuration are coming together,” Tinseth said, adding Boeing had not decided whether to offer two engine choices or stick with a single engine maker, as on its 737 and 777.

The mid-market plane would offer 40 percent lower costs per trip than some wide-bodies – although with

Article source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-airplanes/boeing-executive-rules-out-reviving-767-passenger-jet-idUSKBN1GH311

PORT TOWNSEND — On the past four Wednesday afternoons, a small group of enthusiastic students have looked up during Blue Heron Middle School’s early release program.

Twelve boys and girls flew hand-launched gliders, rubber-powered airplanes, electric helicopters and electric-powered airplanes in the school’s gym under the supervision of eight volunteer mentors from the community.

“You Can Fly! was a joint project between the school, the Port Townsend Silent Flight Association (PTSFA) — which supports aero modeling activities in Jefferson County — and Skillmation, a nonprofit organization that matches young people with skilled mentors.

Taking part in the program were PTSFA members Jeff Kelety (electric powered airplanes), Jim Tolpin (hand launched gliders), Bob Garrison, Jeff Becker (rubber powered airplanes), Dik Lang, Hank Fly (electric helicopters), Rob Davis and Chris Hanson.

The program is scheduled to be repeated at the end of April for another four sessions.

Kelety has been impressed with the students’ ability to catch on quickly during the four one-hour sessions.

“A few of the kids picked this up and really excelled,” he said.

The first session was focused on the slow-flying, easy-to-guide electrics. Kelety said flying electric models is like being in a cockpit. The experience became a teaching moment for Kelety.

“I realized that there was a design issue with the electric planes we were flying. So I took a commercial wing, reworked it, and then put the engine in the back to create a pusher model,” he said.

“It’s easier to fly now with the weight in the back, and the kids really liked it.

Article source: http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/taking-flight-port-townsend-students-expand-skills-during-mentoring-program/

CLOSE

Joe Booth, a 69-year-old cancer patient, had one last wish: to fly in an airplane. His nurse made it happen.
Thomas Novelly/Courier Journal

Joe Booth was told in February to stop taking his medication, his two-year fight with prostate cancer wasn’t looking good. 

The 69-year-old New Albany, Indiana resident said he was scared, but there was still one last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to fly in an airplane. 

“I’ve never stepped foot in an airplane,” Booth told Courier Journal. “I used to build model airplanes all the time as a kid, but I just never got the chance.”

But last week, on February 25, Booth’s last wish became a reality. Thanks to his oncology nurse at Norton Hospital, Tracey Hoffman, Booth got to fly in a plane where he took off from Bowman Field and saw Louisville and Southern Indiana from thousands of feet in the air.

More news: ‘Then one day you live in the river’ Utica residents return home after Ohio River flood

“Here we are talking about the end of his life and he’s thinking about how he had never been in an airplane,” Hoffman said. “I decided to put it on social media … my phone started to

Article source: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/03/05/norton-cancer-patient-last-wish-fly-plane/372241002/

Article source: http://www.wltx.com/article/news/nation-now/ask-the-captain-will-virtual-reality-improve-flight-simulators/465-1467c458-8b49-4b7d-901f-b553d1b0d737

“Our results reveal that rigid and incompressible balsa can be made highly compressible by a chemical treatment and carbonization process, yielding a wood carbon sponge with mechanical compressibility and fatigue resistance and electrical response sensitivity surpassing those of most reported compressible carbonaceous materials,” says co-senior author Liangbing Hu, a nano-engineer and materials scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD)’s A. James Clark School of Engineering. “Since this wood carbon sponge is fabricated completely from natural wood with a simple and cost-effective method, the source material is also exceptionally renewable and sustainable, as opposed to popular options like carbon nanotubes or graphene.”

The authors achieved the bendable yet resilient architecture of the wood carbon sponge by using common chemicals to destroy the stiff hemicellulose and lignin fibers that maintain the normal cell-wall structure of the balsa wood and then heating the treated wood to 1,000?C in order to turn the organic material into carbon alone. The net effect of the process was to collapse the repeated, regular, rectangular pockets typical of the microstructure of balsa and other woods and replace them with a stack of wavy, interlocking, arch-like carbon sheets, likened by Hu to a cross between a coiled spring and a honeycomb.

Whereas normal carbonized wood, obtained from only the heating step without any chemical modifications, is so fragile that any reasonable applied force pulverizes it irreversibly into ash and dust, the wood carbon sponge withstood and rebounded from substantial compression for up to 10,000 consecutive trials before deformation set

Article source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180301125108.htm

SOUTH HAVEN — The Michigan Maritime Museum will be hosting Troy Thrash, President CEO of Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum Wednesday, March 14 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. for his talk “Air Zoo – Restoring the Past, Igniting the Future.”

This talk will explore the factors that spurred the Air Zoo’s remarkable growth and will dive deeply into the restoration of Lake Michigan aircraft. Guests will be able to experience artifacts of military, aviation, and space history pulled from the Air Zoo’s vast collection; see a science experiment used to inspire local youth; and enjoy the opportunity to view and hold “before and after” pieces from the Wildcat and SBD currently in restoration.

The Air Zoo has had a remarkable almost four decade run of inspiring our southwest Michigan communities through aviation and space. Over the past five years, the museum has begun to evolve into an interactive aerospace and science experience. With new hands-on educational programs and exhibits, as well as a new value proposition to the region, the Air Zoo has grown in participation over the past four years more than four times faster than the average of the Top 20 museums in the country.

One significant factor in this growth is the participatory restoration of WWII aircraft from Lake Michigan. The Air Zoo is currently restoring a Grumman FM-2 Wildcat and a Douglas Dauntless SBD 2-P, both of which have been on the bottom of the lake for at least 65 years. As

Article source: http://www.thedailyreporter.com/news/20180304/mmm-lecture-series-air-zoo-wwii-plane-restoration