Model Airplanes

CLEARFIELD — Jessie and Maddy Turner have big dreams for their futures, but both include doing well in school.

“The more I learn and the better I get at it, the more opportunities I’ll have,” said Maddy, a sixth-grader from Clearfield who attended the Northern Utah Expanding Your Horizons conference for young women on Saturday. She said she wants to be a pilot and a veterinarian “to be able to help animals all over the state when they need it.”

Both girls tend to enjoy staying after school some days to help with or participate in extracurricular science, technology, engineering and math programs.

“I like the hands-on stuff best,” said Jessie, while twirling the propeller of her homemade airplane that she made and learned to fly at the conference. “A lot of it is stuff you don’t get to do in class.”

Expanding Your Horizons exists to encourage more women to pursue interests and careers in STEM-related fields, said Kay Anderson, spokeswoman for Orbital ATK in Brigham City, which sponsors the annual conference for girls. The conference brings together hundreds of junior high schoolers to learn practical skills in fields where female participation is stereotypically low.

The girls sign up for various workshops, the most popular being one where they learn to measure, mix and heat chemicals to make their own lotion. Another that fills up quickly involves taking paper strips and soaking them in water to make pulp and then recycled paper that is used to make a

Article source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865666520/Conference-gives-girls-hands-on-learning-experience-in-STEM-fields.html?pg=all

The Duluth, Minnesota-based company began talking about building a jet a decade ago and in 2007 showed its first concept, a seven-seat single-engine jet with a V-tail. After the 2008 recession, however, the project, like many aircraft development programs, languished. Starting in 2012 Cirrus re-engaged with the Vision Jet project, leading to a progression of first flights for the prototype and production models.

The major subassemblies, all made from carbon fiber, are manufactured at the company’s Grand Forks, North Dakota, plant. Final assembly is done in Duluth. First delivery of the jet will occur in December in Duluth. But ultimately all customer services, including training and delivery, will be moved to the company’s new Vision Center under construction in Knoxville, Tennessee.

First customer for the SF50 is Joe Whisenhunt, a Conway, Arkansas, real estate developer who has owned nine piston-powered Cirrus aircraft since he began flying eight years ago. He has accumulated about 500 hours since then. He’s flown one of the development airplanes and is excited to transition to the jet. The company plans to be delivering an airplane a week by the end of the first quarter of 2017 with a further ramp up later in the year—all aimed at working down a 600-order backlog.

The Vision Jet is certified to 28,000 feet and has a top speed of 300 knots true airspeed. It can fly as far as 1,000 nautical miles. While it will seat seven, Pat Waddick, president of innovation and operations, said it

Article source: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/october/31/cirrus-earns-vision-jet-certification

On a sunny, warm morning a couple weeks ago, recreational pilot Mike Peterson took me up for a flight in his 2004 Zenair CH701 airplane. Peterson had graciously offered to take me on a flight to show me how communications work at an airport without a control tower, and to give me a taste of general aviation.

I’d been on commercial flights before but this was my first time in a smaller plane, much less one with a propellor. Peterson warned me about the close quarters in the two-seat cockpit before I stepped inside. With both of us sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, I’d describe the situation as cozy.

The Zenair CH701 is nicknamed the “Sky Jeep,” which is also written on the plane’s doors. It’s called that because it’s a rugged, basic airplane with no frills, Peterson said. It should be noted when Peterson met me at the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport and drove me to the hangar he rents, we rode to the hangar in his Jeep Wrangler.

“That’s just kind of a coincidence,” Peterson said with a laugh.

The single-engine, fixed-gear airplane features a basic instrumentation dashboard to which Peterson has added a GPS device and iPad. The iPad and the GPS produce more vibrant maps and displays, but it’s still a simple aircraft.

My favorite feature of the cockpit, though, was a label in the center of the dashboard which serves as a simple troubleshooting mantra while flying: “Don’t do nothin stupid.”

The stick sits between the two seats in the cockpit and the rudder

Article source: http://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/4152710-finding-flying-feeling

Madison Carter joined NBC29 as a reporter in June 2016.   She graduated from Syracuse with a degree in broadcast and digital journalism and a minor in policy studies.  You can reach her on Email, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Article source: http://www.nbc29.com/story/33514246/fly-in-remembers-clubs-founder