Wee Worthington: Models depicting city’s historic past to be displayed at museum

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Writer

This model will be a depiction of Worthington, but it will be a cityscape that most current residents wouldn’t recognize. It hearkens back to Worthington’s past, a time when ice was harvested from the lake; Charlie Wong ran a laundry service adjacent to the town’s mercantile store; a two-story bathhouse along the lake offered recreation for residents; and children were educated in a hexagon-shaped schoolhouse.

The creator of this miniature community is the late Ray Wilson, who died in January 1990. A veteran of World War II, Wilson served in the Navy and made model airplanes from brass shells during his three years of service. After stints painting cars for a body shop, running his own tinker shop and working for a beer distributor, Wilson was employed for 17 years by the Nobles County Highway Department, retiring in 1977.

That’s when his model crafting kicked into high gear. According to stories published in the Daily Globe in 1982 and 1986, Wilson drew on his memories and old pictures to re-create miniaturized replicas of things he remembered from his younger days, as well as even earlier times.

“He always had a project going,” said his daughter, Karen Keiper, from her winter home in Florida. “He was always downstairs listening to his music and doing something.”

The models he crafted eventually found a home in the Nobles County Historical Museum, on loan from Wilson’s descendants. The museum has 45 such models in all, with documentation of 26 of them being made by Wilson. It’s likely that

Article source: http://www.dglobe.com/lifestyles/people/3952108-wee-worthington-models-depicting-citys-historic-past-be-displayed-museum

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Boeing gets US license to talk deals with Iranian airlines

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Writer


Boeing Co said on Friday that the United States gave it a license to hold talks with airlines in Iran about buying jetliners, but said it would need additional U.S. approval to make sales.

Boeing’s license, received on Thursday, marked a step toward catching up with European rival Airbus, which last month agreed to sell Iran 118 planes worth about $27 billion at list prices.

“We have applied for and received a license to assess the current commercial passenger airplane needs of U.S. Government-approved Iranian airlines,” Boeing said in a statement. “The license permits us to engage approved airlines to determine their actual fleet requirements.”

The U.S. Treasury declined to comment.

Analysts said Boeing faces numerous obstacles in Iran. The country may not be able to afford many planes, and financial backers may balk at funding leases or sales fearing the risk in repossessing aircraft in a bankruptcy.

Iran also faces tough competition from established Middle Eastern carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways that offer top-notch service with alcohol, Western movies and Internet access.

“There might be hundreds and hundreds of potential orders, but the realities of establishing a real airline industry in Iran are going to put a brake on those numbers,” said Richard Aboulafia, analyst at the Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia.

Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-iran-idUSKCN0VS2J2

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DOE Announces First ‘HPC for Manufacturing’ Industry Partnerships

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Writer

Feb. 18 — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $3 million for 10 new projects that will enable private-sector companies to use high-performance computing resources at DOE’s national laboratories to tackle major manufacturing challenges. The awards are part of DOE’s High-Performance Computing for Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) program, which was rolled out last year.

The announcement was made by David Danielson, assistant secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), during an online media event hosted at Berkeley Lab. Also on hand were Mark Johnson, director of the DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, which created and sponsors the HPC4mfg program; Mark D’Evelyn, vice president of bulk technology at Soraa, which has been collaborating with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to develop a high quality crystal growth model for the gallium nitride reactor to create more efficient lighting; and representatives from LLNL, Berkeley Lab and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which are partnering to lead and support the project.

On February 17, DOE announced the first 10 new HPC4Mfg projects during an event at Berkeley Lab that included representatives from EERE, LLNL, Berkeley Lab and ORNL. From left to right are Robin Miles, LLNL; Horst Simon, LBNL; Peter Nugent, LBNL; Trish Damkroger, LLNL; Dona Crawford, LLNL; Mark Johnson, DOE EERE; Kathy Yelick, LBNL; Jeff Roberts, LLNL; Peg Folta, LLNL; and John Turner, ORNL. Image: Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab

Berkeley Lab will work with GLOBALFOUNDRIES to optimize the design of transistors under a project entitled “Computation Design and Optimization of Ultra-Low Power Device Architectures.”

Article source: http://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/doe-announces-first-hpc-for-manufacturing-industry-partnerships/

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Sailplane pilots have a romance with aviation

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Writer

model airplanes, with their minuscule plastic pieces and wings cemented in place by tubes of aromatic glue, were Dick Butler’s childhood passion.

As an adult, Butler still likes to assemble planes, but these days, the planes are far larger, and definitely more airworthy, than the plastic aircraft he tinkered with as a kid.

Butler flies sailplanes, engine-less gliders, and he brought his glider, the Concordia, to town this weekend for the Soaring Society of America Convention.

“As a kid, I built model airplanes,” said Butler, standing next to the sleek Concordia on Thursday at TD Convention Center. “Most of the people here grew up with a romance with aviation, and I’m one of those kids still, a 74-year-old kid.”

The convention, which runs through Saturday, brought together more than two dozen of the graceful gliders with thin, aerodynamic wings and bubble-topped cockpits, as well as pilots from as far away as Europe.

Butler’s glider is larger than most, with a 28-meter wingspan. He built it in a hangar on a farm in Tennessee. Putting it together was a nine-year labor of love, he said.

“Originally, we had planned it to be a four-year project, and it ended up being nine years,” Butler said. “But airplane projects have a way of doing that. … Almost all airplanes end up taking twice as long as

Article source: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/entertainment/2016/02/18/sailplane-pilots-have-romance-aviation/80455076/

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Belly Tanks, the Ultimate Hot Rods

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Writer

Every movement has its mascot, an emblem of sorts that represents that movement’s purpose. The dragster, for example, with its oversized rear tires, mountainous engine, and long, slender chassis has one goal: to accelerate as rapidly as possibly in a short, straight line. Show anyone a picture of one and they’ll tell you as much.

If the belly tank isn’t the mascot for land speed racing already it probably should be. “They’re iconic,” observed historian and NHRA museum curator Greg Sharp. “You look at one and you know it’s a Bonneville car. People know that even if they’re not an enthusiast.” Belly tanks are the essence of the breed, a purpose-built missile with one objective: to slip through wind with as little resistance as possible. The belly tank was made for racing.



SROS 110050 TANKERS 4 HR
2/25

The plate on Alex Xydias’ push truck puts this photo at 1952. The following year the tank briefly held the C-class record at 197.19. That’s Xydias at the helm, Keith Baldwin at the rear, and Sturdy second from right.

Only the belly tank wasn’t made for racing, much less automotive use, something that makes it the ideal goodwill ambassador of land

Article source: http://www.hotrod.com/features/history/1602-belly-tanks-the-ultimate-hot-rods/

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Eugene parks proposed as no-smoking, no-fly zones – The Register

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Writer

Smoking and flying drones and model airplanes would no longer be allowed at Eugene city parks under proposed rules released for public review and comment.

The proposed rules also would prohibit bicyclists from riding on the wood chip trails at Alton Baker and Amazon parks.

The public comment period closes March 3.

With the proposed smoking ban, Eugene would join other cities in Lane County that have snuffed out tobacco use at their parks. The cities of Cottage Grove and Veneta, and the Willamalane Park and Recreation District, which serves Springfield, imposed smoking bans last year. A smoking ban at all state-owned parks in Oregon took effect in January 2015.

Advocates say the ban promotes healthy outdoor recreation, reinforces to children that most Oregonians don’t smoke, reduces exposure to secondhand smoke, protects wildlife and the environment from cigarette butts, and saves money through less maintenance and lower fire risk.

Craig Carnagey, the city’s parks and open space director, said the ban could take effect as early as April once the city adopts the final rules.

The proposed ban would apply to all city parks except the Park Blocks in downtown Eugene.

City officials continue to weigh a smoking ban for sidewalks and other public places in downtown.

Councilor Greg Evans, who brought forward the downtown proposal last year and heard about the proposed exemption from city staff, said officials didn’t want to ban smoking at Park Blocks —

Article source: http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/34073248-75/eugene-parks-proposed-as-no-smoking-no-fly-zones.html.csp

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Airline execs confident despite slow going at Singapore Airshow

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Writer

Orders and agreements are never as big in Singapore as in London or Paris (Le Bourget), but the economic significance of this show is paramount for the Asia-Pacific commercial aviation and defense industry.

In 2014, more than $32 billion in orders and agreements were signed in Singapore (a 3% increase over 2012), but expectations for this year’s show remained low as rumors of an upcoming aerospace downturn have been floating in the air.

“Some people are saying we’re in the middle of a bubble,” Airbus COO John Leahy said at a press conference. “But reality is, the only thing that worries me is to not be able to deliver the aircraft our customers have ordered.”

In fact, both Airbus and Boeing have strong backlogs and even though sales have been weak during the past year, optimism remains high at both manufacturing houses as the number of airplanes they have to deliver is, in Leahy’s words, large.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg agreed that worries of an upcoming crisis are unfounded.

He said aircraft demand will increase at a much faster pace than economic growth, as income and urbanization will continue to rise in Asia.

Embraer’s CCO John Slattery concurred, saying demand for new regional jets in the Asia-Pacific region will escalate to 6,350 new aircraft by 2020.

Asia to be aviation epicenter of the world … just not yet

Most of this growth will be powered by China, where urbanization and middle-class growth will require an enhanced

Article source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/aviation/singapore-airshow-2016-wrap-up/

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