Model Airplanes

Ardmore Although at least one commissioner said they are already banned, Lower Merion officials plan to update an ordinance to make it clear – no flying drones in township parks.

Donna Heller, director of Parks and Recreation for Lower Merion, at a Park and Recreation Committee meeting Dec. 6 said the township has a code that addresses the use of bikes, skateboards, golf and model airplanes within the parks.

“We want to clarify the language, take out airplane and switch it with aircraft to become more general and up to date with any of the other potential areal devices that may come along,” Heller said. “Drones, for example, is the hot topic but who knows what the future may hold and aircraft may address those types of flying objects within the park system.”

Gladwyne Commissioner Josh Grimes said he supports the proposed change because it makes the prohibition clearer.

“I support this clarification,” Grimes said. “I’ve argued to constituents in the past that drones were already included but this already makes it better.”

Grimes said he has also been contacted by residents who say they get nervous when they see a drone fearing it will fall out of the sky and hit their children. So he asked about how regulations such as this are enforced in township parks.

According to Heller, the township has park stewards that go around park to park. During the winter months, Heller said they rely on the police more to monitor the parks.

“It’s really a matter of informing us,” Heller said.

Article source: http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/mainlinetimes/news/lm-mulls-revising-park-ordinance-to-ban-drones/article_bc9562b9-e5da-5e66-9056-9e3c6783435b.html

If you have enviously eyed the packable but expensive Alpacka packrafts made in Alaska – but just couldn’t commit to the $600-$2,500 price tag – there’s good news.

A 37-year-old British Columbia engineer has designed similar boats out of lightweight materials that he will cut for you. For a much more modest price – ranging from $129 to $280 depending on the kit – and an investment in sweat equity, you can now build your own packraft for a fraction of what an Alpacka would set you back.

Matt Pope, of Smithers, B.C., came up with the idea for DIY packraft after enduring similar envy. A geoscientist who also has mechanical engineering training, he doggedly set out in 2015 to create his own boat.

“My best friend and I designed and built sea kayaks when we were 15 and 16, but aside from that, this is my first outdoor gear,” he wrote in an email.

Pope grew up on the West Coast where his family always kept a canoe at the lake next to their house.

“Later, I got into sea kayaking and sailing, and as soon as I was heavy enough I started windsurfing, so I guess I’ve always been drawn to the water,” he wrote. “My family was into hiking, too, and in college I joined an alpine club and started mountaineering. Packrafting ties all these threads together.”

On his website, Pope noted that he spent “hundreds of hours researching, testing materials, and designing and building prototypes” until finally finding a design

Article source: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/dec/14/diy-packraft-offers-outdoors-enthusiasts-an-afford/

LIVERMORE, CA – Aviation enthusiast Trystyn Clark has soaring dreams — literally — when he turns 18. The 16-year-old student pilot from Livermore is charting, mapping and eagerly anticipating a solo, around-the-world flight, with stops in 20-plus countries, to tout the thrills of aviation.

“This is my love and passion, and it’s been like that since I was really little,” said Trystyn, a sophomore at Granada High School, who has been flying since he was 7 years old.

Seven? Really?

“As long as you can touch the pedals, you can fly an airplane,” he said, adding that his official “hour-logging” lessons began at 13.

Trystyn credits his love of flight to his grandfather, a retired U.S. Air Force air traffic controller, with whom he built model airplanes and who convinced Trystyn’s mother to take him as a child to the Livermore Municipal Airport to watch planes take off and land.

“He was my inspiration,” said Trystyn, who has flown more than 37 different types of aircraft and now co-owns a 2017 single-engine Cirrus SR 22T that he calls “a Ferrari in disguise.”

And it is in that Cirrus that Trystyn plans to fly around the globe in 2019, roughly 21,400 miles with 20 or more stops and in less than two months — a goal, that if accomplished, he said, will make him the youngest American to do so on record.

“He’s a great guy,” fellow pilot John Youngblood of San Ramon said, adding that Trystyn is an active participant in aviation club get-togethers at

Article source: https://patch.com/california/livermore/livermore-teen-pilot-plans-solo-flight-around-world

Several Tesla suppliers are now reporting that Model 3 production is increasing rapidly and they are back to working on Tesla’s guidance of 5,000 units per week in December, which was delayed last month.

In October, a few days before Tesla’s earnings and the announcement of the Model 3 production ramp-up delay, Taiwanese auto component maker Hota Industrial Mfg. Co announced that Tesla slashed its orders for Model 3 parts by 40% (5,000 per week to 3,000).

Now the same supplier, which makes gears and axles, told Taiwanese media that Tesla increased the demand for parts back to 5,000 units per week this month.

Chairman Shen Guorong even said that they now have to mobilize the whole company and work overtime in order to comply with the change and that they are even shipping parts by airplanes instead of boats.

The report also cites other Taiwanese suppliers for Tesla’s Model 3 saying that production is now increasing following the bottlenecks.

Electrek’s Take

While it’s certainly great news that the suppliers have to increase their production sooner than anticipated – at least following the announced delay, it’s important to keep in mind that there can be an important delay between the part orders and the actual assembly due to transit time.

If the parts are being produced at 5,000 per week now, it can take up to a month before Tesla can put them in a Model 3, which would mean that the 5,000 per week production level would be achieved in

Article source: https://electrek.co/2017/12/14/tesla-model-3-production-increasing-to-5000-units-per-week-suppliers/