Model Airplanes

When I visited Jordan, Zach, and Travis in Fort Collins, they were living in a ranch house in a development of similar houses not far from open prairie. I arrived at about 11 A.M., so as not to find them still asleep. Zach was supposed to be there but at the last minute had decided to attend a drone race in Seoul, where he would appear as a drone-racing celebrity but not as a competitor. Jordan asked me to remove my shoes. I was amazed to find their domestic arrangements so orderly, and not like the chaos I inhabited when I was twenty-six.

An eight-foot-long shelf of trophies dominated the living room—trophies from races in Phoenix, Detroit, Orlando, Louisville, and Dubai, among other venues. Some of the awards stood four feet high and resembled Brancusi sculptures. The real center of the house was the basement, where I was led first. In America there are tens of millions of basements like this, with the same short-pile wall-to-wall carpeting, cinder-block walls, high windows in window wells, exposed ducts and pipes overhead, water heater in the corner, and pervasive sense of away-from-the-family refuge. This particular basement also rocked with a hum of invention and ambition that the Wright brothers might have recognized. On the walls, instead of the usual band posters and imitation stolen street signs, hung several of those large prop checks which are

Article source: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/05/the-trippy-high-speed-world-of-drone-racing

The Boeing Company ‘s BA Commercial Airplanes segment has been consistently witnessing solid deliveries, buoyed by the increasing demand for its commercial jetliners 737, 787 and 747 in the domestic as well as international market. We expect this strength to get reflected in fourth-quarter 2017 results, which are scheduled for release on Jan 31, before the market opens.

Solid Deliveries Buoy Optimism

On Jan 9, 2018, Boeing announced upbeat fourth-quarter and 2017 delivery figures. The company dispatched 763 jets in 2017, up 2% from the year-ago figure of 748 jets, buoyed by higher 737, 747 and 767 deliveries. The figure was within the company’s delivery guidance of 760-765.

In 2017, Boeing delivered 529 jets of the 737 fleet and 136 of the 787 fleet. In the year-ago period, the company delivered 490 units of the 737 and 137 units of the 787 fleet. Boeing delivered 74 units of the 777 model in 2017, compared with 99 units a year ago. Other deliveries include 10 767s and 14 747s, compared with 13 and 9 units, respectively.

Coming to its fourth-quarter deliveries, Boeing reported fourth-quarter 2017 commercial deliveries of 209 airplanes, up year over year backed by higher demand for 737 and 747 jets. Sequentially, the numbers went up 3.5%. Delivery of the single-aisle 737 jet increased to 148 in the fourth quarter from 122 a year ago.

Shipments of the 777 and 787 Dreamliners totaled 16 and 36, compared with 26 and 33 in the year-ago period, respectively. The company’s delivered 6 747 and

Article source: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/can-commercial-jet-deliveries-aid-boeings-ba-q4-earnings-cm912191

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January 23, 2018 Carl Thomas (Tom) Curtis Jr., 78 , of Rockford, Ill., and Ocala, Fla., died on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, in Ocala. He was preceded in death by his parents, Sen. Carl T. Curtis and Lois Wylie-Atwater Curtis; and sister, Claramae C. Hopkins. Survivors include his sons: Wesley T. Curtis and John A. Curtis of Rockford and Charles M. Curtis of San Francisco, Calif.; former wife and friend, Judith S. Curtis, of Roanoke, Va.; and a host of friends and fellow hobbyists. Tom was born in Kansas City, Mo., and grew up in Washington, D.C. He was a graduate of Roanoke College, where he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, United States Navy Officer Candidate School, and United States Navy Supply Corps School. He was the supply officer aboard the USS Elokomin from 1964-67. At the conclusion of his naval service, he became a CPM and worked for Westinghouse and Sundstrand in various locations around the United States. After leaving corporate purchasing, he opened Hobbytown USA, a very successful hobby business in Rockford and the ideal match for his longtime interest in model airplanes. A memorial service will be scheduled in Rockford at a later date.

Article source: http://www.roanoke.com/obituaries/curtis-jr-carl-thomas/article_7c21ea03-19e6-5d5b-8fce-fc9d40be5ce0.html