First Lockheed Martin LM-100J Reaches Production Milestones

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Writer

The LM-100J is the civil-certified version of Lockheed Martin’s proven C-130J Super Hercules and an updated version of the L-100 (or L-382) cargo aircraft.

“Watching the LM-100J move from concept to reality is monumental for everyone involved, including our team members, industry and our customers,” said George Shultz, vice president and general manager, Air Mobility Maritime Missions at Lockheed Martin. “The LM-100J offers the commercial market a real-world, proven transport platform that is unmatched in capability, reliability and versatility. The LM-100J is a derivative of the world-renowned C-130J, and is the only commercial airlifter that offers the same all-terrain and all-weather service.” 

Lockheed Martin officials submitted a Program Notification Letter to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Jan. 21, 2014, for a type design update for the Lockheed Martin Model L-382J airplane, a civil-certified variant of the C-130J Super Hercules to be marketed as the LM-100J. The LM-100J is expected to make its first flight in 2017, then enter into an FAA certification phase. 

Through select design innovations, the LM-100J will perform as a commercial multi-purpose air freighter capable of rapid and efficient cargo transport. The LM-100J is an ideal airlift solution for delivering bulk and oversize cargo, particularly to austere locations worldwide. Like its military counterpart, the LM-100J will be able to support multiple missions, ranging from fire fighting to medevac to VIP transport.

The LM-100J incorporates technological developments and improvements over the existing L-100s that result from years of C-130J operational experience, including more than

Article source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-lockheed-martin-lm-100j-reaches-production-milestones-300253000.html

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The Conversation

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Writer

There are two errors here. First, my father, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., was married to the sister of Fairbank’s wife, not to Fairbank’s sister. Second, John Fairbank was never a member of the Communist Party. That charge was part of a smear campaign by McCarthyites against Fairbank because, as a leading scholar of Chinese affairs, he saw events in the Chinese civil war differently from right-wing supporters of Chiang Kai-shek. Indeed, Fairbank was a man so distinguished in his field that Harvard named its center on China after him—today called the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

Stephen Schlesinger
New York, N.Y.

The Big Question: What Are the Best Last Words Ever?

(On TheAtlantic.com, readers answered April’s Big Question and voted on one another’s responses. Here are the top vote-getters.)

10. Rhett Butler’s priceless last words to Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind: “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

— Terry Desser

9. B. P. “Pearl” Roberts, a well-known hypochondriac in Key West, Florida, on her gravestone: “i told you i was sick.”

— Dan Hunsberger

8. “I have been, and always shall be, your friend. Live long and prosper.” — Spock to Captain Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

— David Shinn

7. Karl Marx: “Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough!”

— Matt Kerr

6. Can there be any better last words than the dolphins’ in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “So long, and thanks for all the fish”?

— Steven R.

Article source: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/the-conversation/476406/

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Factory-built Zenair CH 750 piston-single returns

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Writer

Zenair, Canadian developer of the CH-family of piston-singles, will offer a factory-built version of its two-seat CH 750 kit plane, seven years after its production line for the type was shut down.

The Midland, Ontario-based company has joined forces with US light sport and ultralight aircraft manufacturer M-Squared, which will assemble the CH 750 at its St Elmo, Alabama-headquarters, with parts supplied by Zenair. Deliveries of the all-metal type are scheduled to begin this quarter.

“This is welcome news to fans of the short take-off and landing design who don’t have the time or inclination to build their own kit version of the airplane,” says M-Squared founder and president Paul Mather.

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Zenair

The CH 750 kit aircraft was launched in 2006, but strong customer demand for a completed model persuaded Zenair to set up a dedicated production line two years later with sister company Aircraft Manufacturing and Development. The venture was short-lived, however.

“We stopped offering the fully assembled version in 2009 after a production run of around a dozen aircraft,” says Zenair chief executive Matthew Heintz. “The financial crisis hit our orderbook, and those customers who still wanted to purchase the aircraft chose to build it themselves to keep the cost down.”

Sales of the kits have remained consistently strong over the last decade, he adds, with over 1,000 aircraft sold to date.

An M-Squared-completed CH 750 is priced at $100,000 – around $25,000 more than the kit, “which takes around 1,000h to build”, says Heintz.

The Continental O-200-powered, Garmin G3X-equipped

Article source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/factory-built-zenair-ch-750-piston-single-returns-424309/

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Story of cities #25: Shannon – a tiny Irish town inspires China’s economic boom

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Writer

When Wen Jiabao visited the small Irish town of Shannon in 2005, it was like a religious pilgrimage for the then Chinese premier and arguably the world’s second most powerful man. He was the latest in a long line of high-level Chinese dignitaries to come and pay their respects to the site on the west coast of Ireland where they believe China’s rise to superpower status really began.

In the buildup to the visit, the Chinese ambassador had told his Irish hosts that they wanted time to allow Wen to pause for reflection on the “plateau” – a spot on Tullyglass Hill that overlooks a grey, windswept, industrial estate. “To us it was just this nondescript place on the top of a hill, but for the Chinese, they wanted to see where it all started,” said Kevin Thompson, president of the Shannon Chamber of Commerce, pausing at the memory of this incongruous spectacle. “This was the leader of China, a country with a population of 1.3 billion!”

Shannon is a tiny town with a population of just 9,673 in the middle of rural County Clare. But it is famous in the history of economic development, widely considered the site of the first modern “special economic zone” (SEZ). The industrial estate that Wen would have gazed upon that day is the Shannon Free Zone — a 2.5 sq km stretch of land that was carved out and given to foreign investors in the late 1950s, an audacious attempt

Article source: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/19/story-of-cities-25-shannon-ireland-china-economic-boom

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Drones’ New Mission: Save the Forests

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Writer

CORVALLIS, Oregon—“Everyone step back 20 meters!” Michael Wing shouts before a Phantom 3 quadcopter loaded with sensors takes off in a clearing. Even though the drone’s pilot, Jonathan Burnett, has many hours of flying under his belt, caution is at the forefront. “All it takes is a fraction of a second to damage your arm, your hand, or your face,” Wing says, pointing at a set of six-inch blades.

I take the message to heart and back up a lot farther than I need to. By the time I stop walking Burnett has started up the rotors of the three-pound, two-foot-long machine. The buzz isn’t as loud as I expected, but I’m still glad that I’m not standing next to it.

Then, in a flash, the drone is in the air. It shoots upward, levels off, and then zips across the field. At the controls, Burnett swings it around and points it where it needs to go. Every change in direction is in the blink of an eye.

FULL COVERAGE: Fight for the Forests

Wing and Burnett aren’t flying for fun or testing a way to deliver your packages by air, Jetsons style. Rather they’re scientists, and the flying robot buzzing overhead may just help save the world’s forests and the wildlife that depend on them. That includes nearly a million acres of Douglas fir trees in the Pacific Northwest that are dying of a disease that is spreading rapidly throughout the region.

Douglas firs are among the most important tree species for

Article source: http://www.takepart.com/feature/2016/04/18/can-drones-save-worlds-forests

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Civil Liability Arising Out of the Commercial Ownership and Operation of Drones

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Writer

Generally, drones are robotic aircraft. They are not much different from the model airplanes that enthusiasts have been flying for decades. A couple of innovations have allowed the old-model airplane technology to advance so rapidly that these toys are poised to become ubiquitous tools comparable to cars, computers, cameras, and mobile phones. People and organizations that own or operate drones are exposed to civil liability risk from both the ownership and the operations of drones.

Individual private operators are generally people who buy drones for recreational or other hobby uses. These are operators who typically own and operate a drone themselves and use it as a hobby rather than a tool. This category includes children using drones as toys and drones used for amateur photography. These operators are exposed to many of the same risks as commercial operators, but they are considered distinct from commercial operators for the purpose of this article.

Commercial operators are corporate or institutional users that intend to use drones as a tool for their business. This could include rescue operations that need to see into disaster areas, a film production company, a utility company that needs to survey its transmission and distribution network, a surveying company that needs to fly remote sensors over large areas, a short-haul package delivery service, a police department or security company that needs targeted surveillance or persistent surveillance of an area, or a rental company that provides drone rentals.

The word “drone” can refer to a few different categories of robotic aircraft including

Article source: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=064b7d54-fd69-4312-bc0b-73ca521de1b5

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Littlecote was a hobby shop that adolescent boys adored

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Writer



Posted Apr. 18, 2016 at 6:45 AM

Article source: http://www.uticaod.com/article/20160418/NEWS/160419502

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