Model Airplanes

All summer there’s sea caving, kayaking, clam digging, some of the best kitesurfing you’ll find anywhere, and beaches so beautiful and remote you’ll believe, just for a moment, that you own the entire world.

The people are warm and welcoming and, despite easy assumptions to the contrary, for the most part they are bilingual. The restaurants are of a calibre you’d never think possible. And it’s so easy to catch a sunrise and sunset over the sea that you could see both on the same day, purely by accident.

It’s equal parts rustic and refined, luxurious and down to Earth — and you can reach it all in the comfort of your own car. If you would drive to Prince Edward Island, you can drive here and get off the ferry with your own wheels at the ready as you set off to explore.

The Forester FTW

My daughter and I made this trip together in the 2016 Subaru Forester.

That was at the end of last summer. The 2017 Forester has since been announced and it’s on the horizon sporting an extensive suite of updates.

One of the hallmarks of the new edition is improved soundproofing, which is key because that would have been my primary complaint with the outgoing model.

While the 2016 Forester was already an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, the 2017 version comes with a significantly upgraded suite of safety features, including updated forward collision prevention technology and rear and side detection.

Standard partial zero-emissions equipment comes on all 2017 models fitted with the

Article source: https://www.thestar.com/autos/2016/07/11/road-trip-car-camping-in-the-magdalen-islands.html

Just how smart can an airplane be?

One day, smart enough that people will be able to get around in on-demand self-flying taxis, predicts Irene Gregory, senior technologist for advanced control theory and application at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Today, planes are very smart, but humans still call the shots every step of the way. The technologies to turn science fiction into reality are starting to emerge, though, bringing the next big step into sight: planes that can think for themselves, to operate more efficiently and improve their safety in flight.

“Think of George Jetson and his car,” said Dr. Gregory during a presentation at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference in Washington, D.C., in June. She was referring to the character from “The Jetsons,” the animated TV comedy from the 1960s that portrayed a future where George commuted to work in a flying car.

That’s not precisely the future Dr. Gregory envisions, but it gives the flavor of the flying taxis she does expect

Article source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-pursuit-of-planes-that-think-for-themselves-1468202642

Here’s something to gnaw on: Your teeth endure nature’s cruel forces—all that chewing and gnashing, not to mention the two hours spent grazing through an $8 bucket of popcorn at Star Trek Beyond. Luckily, science is helping more dentists—and patients—boldly go where they’ve not always gone before.

The same technology that helped humans design car bumpers and airplane wings can retool teeth. Dentists are now using digital technology to plan and create inlays, onlays, veneers, crowns, bridges, dentures, full-mouth reconstructions, and orthodontic work that’s often faster and longer-lasting than traditional methods. Much of the wizardry revolves around computer-aided design, or CAD, and computer-aided manufacturing, CAM.

CAD is a system that designs detailed two- or three-dimensional models of physical objects; CAM lets specialized computers control, monitor, and adjust tools and machinery to produce the parts. The concept was born in 1963 when computer scientist Ivan Sutherland combined the display capabilities of the cathode-ray tube with the computer’s computational powers, building a system for designing mechanical parts that was quickly adopted by the aerospace and automotive industries.

Turns out what’s good for cars and planes is great for molars. CAD/CAM machines started retooling dentistry more than a quarter century ago, but most of the nation’s 200,000 or so dentists have been slow to buy the equipment for their offices, often because of price. A leading manufacturer, Sirona Dental Systems—which recently merged with Dentistry International to become Dentsply Sirona—says its office CAD/CAM systems are in 16 percent of US practices, up from 10 percent a decade

Article source: https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/07/12/dentistry-tech-innovations-will-make-dentist-visits-less-painful/

The four-engine military transport aircraft caught fire during take-off on Monday, Portugal’s RTP broadcaster reported.

At least three Portuguese Air Force personnel have died, a source in the National Medical Emergency Institute told Lusa news agency, adding that the authorities are still reviewing the status of the other three crewmembers.

Observador newspaper reported there were seven people on board the cargo plane, all of them military. With three fatal victims, at least one more person was seriously injured, it said.

The incident happened around noon local time. Dozens of emergency teams have been mobilized following the crash. Portugal’s Defense Ministry has not yet commented on the incident.

Three transport squadrons and one helicopter search and rescue squadron are located at the Montijo Airbase. The crashed aircraft was part of one of the cargo squadrons, providing logistic support to the Portuguese Navy.

The turboprop C-130 Hercules model has been produced for over 60 years, making it one of the longest continuously-manufactured military aircraft. The cargo plane serves as the main tactical airlifter for many military forces in the US, Europe and other parts of the world.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/news/350650-portugal-hercules-montijo-crash/

Formerly a builder like his father, Claussen, 65, had taken a few welding classes and started making stone sculptures in 1978, eventually moving on to using metal and wood. Attached to being his own boss, he’s been able to sustain himself on commissioned work ever since. He’s built commissioned sculptures for Pine River Valley Bank, Alamosa State Bank and businesses around the country. He’s built life-size horses, metal acorns, a dress for a women’s hospital in Fort Worth. Lately he’s modeled old Volkswagens.

Article source: http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20160711/NEWS01/160719977/Durango-sculptor-builds-model-of-early-20th-century-aircraft

Boeing is likely to decide by year end whether to go ahead with a larger version of its 737 MAX, one that would replace the current -9 MAX with a bigger model referred to as the -10 MAX, a leading airplane leasing executive said Monday.

Earlier on the opening day of the Farnborough Air Show, Boeing finally confirmed it is changing the design of the smallest model in that airplane family, the 737-7 MAX, by stretching the fuselage to add two extra seat rows.

Southwest Airlines and Westjet of Canada, which together account for 55 of the 60 orders for the original -7 MAX design, have agreed to the change, Boeing sales chief John Wojick said.

Article source: http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-modifies-one-max-model-and-is-seriously-studying-two-more-new-airplanes/

The Boeing Co. is turning 100 on July 15. Throughout the year, The Daily Herald is covering the people, airplanes and moments that define The Boeing Century. More about this series

A steady, chill wind blew across the North Carolina beach as the man climbed into the spruce, linen and wire contraption. The small motor chugged. The mooring line was released, and the craft ran into the wind along a thin wooden track. At 10:35 a.m. on Dec. 17, 1903, it lifted into the air. Orville Wright jerked the plane’s heavy rudder — left and right — fighting to stay in the air.

After 12 seconds and about 120 feet, the Wright Flyer smacked back into the sand. Man had flown.

Earlier that year, a recent Yale dropout steamed into Grays Harbor on Washington’s coast. He’d come to turn his inheritance into a fortune in logging. Bill Boeing had a sharp mind for mechanics and business. He was an avid hunter and adventurer, as well.

Boeing quickly joined the cluster of millionaires who’d wrenched fortunes out of the state’s lush forests, rich mineral veins and bountiful fish runs. By 1915, he’d bought a yacht — as well as the shipyard that built it — and a mansion in the Highlands, a posh enclave north of Seattle.

In July of that year, he and a friend, George Conrad Westervelt, paid a wiry barnstormer, Terah Maroney, to take them flying. Lake Washington dropped away below as the plane banked and turned through the air.

Boeing

Article source: http://www.heraldnet.com/news/scrappy-at-first-boeing-grew-into-a-company-built-to-last/