Model Airplanes

The Walk

The centerpiece of director Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk is its re-creation of Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers. Visual-effects supervisor Kevin Baillie explains how the sequence took shape.

1. Creating the Background

The Twin Towers scenes were shot on a green screen, which required Baillie’s team to construct New York from scratch. “New York today looks vastly different from what it did back in 1974,” he says. “We couldn’t go there and take a bunch of photos and call it a day. We ended up pulling thousands of reference photos from thousands of sources. We built every building, every window, every hot-dog stand in the street.”

2. Making it Real for the Cast

The set was forty by sixty feet, with the actors, including star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, standing twelve feet off the ground. “If you fell off from that height, you could hurt yourself, so there is a little bit of inherent fear built in there,” Baillie says. To increase the anxiety for the actors, Baillie’s team put together reference photos to give the performers an idea of what the ground would have looked like from the top of the towers. A SimulCam system “showed a real-time composite of video-game quality. You could see through the lens of the camera where the horizon was, how far down things were, vanishing points, so the actors knew that was what the camera was seeing,

Article source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/movies/g2489/the-2016-incredibly-special-effects-awards/

Thomson ReutersVisitors walk past a model of the C919 aircraft, presented by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China,Ltd. (COMAC) during the 49th Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airport near Paris

By Siva Govindasamy

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (Comac) aims to conduct the first flight of its much-delayed C919 passenger jet around the end of 2016 to early 2017, people close to the aircraft programme told Reuters.

The timing will allow engineers at the state-owned aerospace company to complete ground tests beforehand without undue haste, said the people, who were not authorized to speak with media on the matter and so declined to be identified.

Comac’s C919 represents China’s attempt to challenge Airbus Group SE and Boeing Co in the market for narrow-body aircraft. It is scheduled to reach its first buyers in 2018 after a series of production delays pushed deliveries back four years, though industry observers expect delays into the 2020s.

The company unveiled the airplane in November and said it had received 517 orders, mainly from Chinese lessors. However, the plane will not be airborne until around a year after its unveiling while Comac conducts ground tests.

“This will allow them to go through the tests gradually, and iron out as many kinks as possible in the aircraft’s structure and design,” said one of the people who is in regular contact with Comac officials.

“Their executives keep emphasizing that they would rather the aircraft be late than unsafe.”

Officials at

Article source: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-chinas-comac-aims-for-first-c919-flight-by-early-2017-sources-2016-2

Our fancy of flight begins almost as soon as we are conscious beings, as toddlers fascinated watching and reading about birds, glimpsing and even riding in planes, as well as learning about the rugged helicopter and all of its mechanics. But why the obsession? Why the stubborn drive to soar in the air—often with great successes like the Wright Brothers, as well as tragedies and mysteries like that of Amelia Earhart? Ambition and glory certainly play a role, but most would say that we want to fly high above terra firma because it represents freedom, and more than a little rebellion against the norm.

While building model airplanes becomes a fun and challenging hobby for many, when you add history to the mix the whole process of learning and creating (as well as seeing them fly!) becomes even more exciting. Stepan Dokoupil knows his history and his planes, as well as 3D design, and the Czech Republic-based designer, also a talented architect and pilot, has certainly taught us a thing or two in the last couple of years about iconic aircraft. We’ve followed his progress in releasing 3D models such as the P-51D Mustang and the 3D Printed RC Spitfire Mark XVI. Now we’re all going to learn even more as his company 3D LabPrint releases a new lineup of 3D printable planes.

“The successful models of Spitfire and Mustang fighters in one-twelfth scale are accompanied by the so far largest model of

Article source: http://3dprint.com/121119/3d-labprint-new-model-planes/

Feb. 23, 2016 | By Kira

3D printed drones and RC quadcopters are all the rage these days, but good old fashioned RC model planes can be just as much fun—especially when they can be made on a standard desktop 3D printer, and for less than $20. To make that dream a reality, Štěpán Dokoupil of 3DLabPrint has just released a series of four fully 3D printable RC fighter airplanes for all levels of experience.

3DLabPrint is a Czech-based online shop dedicated to creating 3D printed aircrafts that can be made on FDM desktop 3D printers. The process is as simple as selecting your preferred model airplane, downloading the purchased files, and following the detailed instructions. 3DLabPrint even offers email support and customized G-codes for users that aren’t 100% sure where to start. The basic requirements to make your own model RC plane are an FDM 3D printer with minimum 195 x 195 x 195 mm build volume, a 0.4mm nozzle, and PLA filament. A heated bed is also recommended, if possible.

Initially, Dokoupil designed and launched two fully 3D printable RC model airplanes: the Spitfire and Mustang Fighter. Following their success, he has now released two more: the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, one of the largest fighter aircraft in history, and the EasyMax sports glider, designed specifically for less-experienced pilots.

The first new RC plane model is the EASYMAX 001, which offers the best weight to wing area ratio of all the models, and is therefore the most user-friendly. With a

Article source: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160223-3dlabprint-releases-new-3d-printable-rc-model-airplanes-for-under-20.html

We are the psychos in first class. People see me and my older son and wonder how we could afford tickets. They probably decide I’m the crazy wife whose husband is never home because he extends every business trip to include a mistress tryst and sends me his love via miles for upgrades.

My son asks for water: “Do you have a bottle? Um. Excuse me? Do you have four? Oh! Thank you very much. Thank you.”

I know. You’re waiting on the advice on creating a passive income. Okay. Here:

1. Be the annoying person in the room no matter where you go.
I get up to go to the bathroom. The flight attendant tells me to sit down. I pretend I’m deaf. Then I forget to flush. Sort of. It’s just too much noise in such a small space.

We have the violin in the overhead. People keep trying to squash it into the shape of a french horn so their roll-on bag will fit. If you are first class you can tap the flight attendant on the arm and say, “Can you make sure our violin is okay?” If you are not first class you have to defend the extra space like it’s a Stradivarius. Not that anyone on the plane would care.

Now the violin has an overhead bin to itself. And I pretend to be a disinterested party while I listen to the flight attendant telling people to check their bags.

2. Believe money will solve your problems.
I open my journal, which

Article source: http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2016/02/22/passive-income-is-bs-but-heres-how-to-get-it/