Model Airplanes | Even older kids like to fly

Johnson City Radio Controllers Club provides fun, flight

Model aviation is on the rise due to technological advances in the creation of fully-functional, small-scale aircraft -airplanes, helicopters, rockets and lighter-than-air machines – which in turn, have expanded the market, lowered prices and generated an exponential interest in the (now) affordable diversion for people of all ages.

Clubs have formed nationwide to promote the practice and circulation of the fast-growing radio control (RC) model aircraft hobby and the Tri-Cities is no exception. The Johnson City Radio Controllers Club (JCRC) is a non-profit group “dedicated to educational and recreational use of model aircraft for the people of the Tri-Cities region.”

The club’s over 100 members, who range in age and demographics from an 8-year-old elementary student to an 89-year-old WWII veteran, share their love of flight through demonstrations, public events (indoor fly-ins, cookouts, etc.) and free training for any potential scale flight enthusiast.

“It’s more about the people than it’s about flying,” said 10-year JCRC member David Collea. “Being around other people with the same interest is the main benefit of the club.”

The radio control club’s openly-professed purpose is “to further the interest in and enjoyment of all RC model aircraft and the exchange of ideas pertaining thereto.” For this reason, JCRC hosts six to seven annual events at which, according to Collea, existing members share “new aircraft or aircraft ideas,” and interested onlookers and entrants are welcomed with open wings; free flight training with members’ aircraft is offered at JCRC’s airfield, a carefully-maintained and city-approved closed landfill located just off of Eastern

Article source: http://www.timesnews.net/Community/2016/01/27/Johnson-City-Radio-Controllers-Club-provides-fun-flight.html?ci=stream&lp=11&p=1

Abundance of optimism for Boeing’s Dreamliner program in 2016

Low fuel prices and an unstable global economy haven’t shaken Boeing’s confidence in its 787 Dreamliner program.

Company executives said Wednesday that this year’s production increase is still on target, plans are underway to expand the North Charleston campus and deliveries are expected to match record levels set in 2015.

“We’re bullish about our prospects, but also paying attention to what’s happening in the macroenvironment around us,” Greg Smith, Boeing’s chief financial officer, said during a conference call.

Boeing started making money on every Dreamliner it sells starting last quarter, stabilizing the program’s deferred production costs at about $28.5 billion. Smith said the aerospace giant will start chipping away at those expenses when the North Charleston and Everett, Wash., assembly plants combine later this year to increase production to 12 Dreamliners every month from 10.

Increased efficiencies at those factories are driving down the cost of building the jets, with production expenses for the 787-8 model falling 40 percent and the 787-9 model decreasing by 30 percent since deliveries of those models began. Smith said deliveries of the newer and longer 787-9 variant will “notably exceed” the 787-8 in 2016.

Smith said last year’s 71 Dreamliner orders “shows the healthy market demand for this compelling wide-body airplane” and its backlog of 800 orders “fully supports our planned production rate increases.”

Boeing plans to spend $2.9 billion on capital improvements this year, much of it related to new facilities

Article source: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160127/PC05/160129460/1005/boeing-x2019-s-hopes-flying-high-dreamliner-maker-x2018-bullish-about-prospects-x2019-despite-signs-in-wider-economy

1929 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing Top Torpedo Convertible Coupe

There is no version of the Duesenberg Model J that isn’t a rare work of art. In the style of the best of the prewar luxury cars, each body was custom made by a third party coachbuilder, and even two cars with the same style were never completely identical. These were some of the most expensive cars in America at the time, frequently costing as more than double the price of Cadillac’ s top-end V-16 models. For the coachbuilder Murphy, of Pasadena, California, the Disappearing Top Torpedo Convertible Coupe body built in very limited numbers for the Duesenberg Model J is generally considered to be the company’s finest work.

So the car you see here is Duesenberg’ s finest clothed in Murphy’s finest, obviously a highly sought-after car. It was bought new by David Gray, a Californian whose father had been an early investor in Ford. When he sold his stake in the company back to Ford, he had become almost unfathomably wealthy, and David was able to get, at the very least, an incredible car out of the deal. The car has been featured on a number of book and magazine covers as a standout example of a Duesenberg, and now it’s going up for auction.

Continue reading to learn more about the

Article source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/duesenberg/1929-duesenberg-model-j-disappearing-top-torpedo-convertible-coupe-ar172333.html

Boeing Beats Q4 Earnings Estimates, Profit Plunges Y/Y

Aerospace giant The Boeing Company (BA – Analyst Report) delivered fourth-quarter 2015 adjusted earnings of $1.60 per share, confidently beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.25 by 28%. Earnings, however, plunged 30.7% from $2.31 per share a year ago, owing to the previously announced $569 million after-tax charge (84 cents per share) on the 747 program due to production cuts given the slow recovery in the air cargo market.

On a GAAP basis, Boeing reported a profit of $1.51 per share, down 25% from $2.02 per share in the year-ago quarter.

2015 non-GAAP earnings were $7.72 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.35 but decreasing 10% year over year. On a GAAP basis, earnings were $7.44 per share, up 1% year over year.

Revenues

The company’s revenues dropped 4% year over year to $23.57 billion in the reported quarter. The reported figure was however ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $23.39 billion.

Revenues were $96.11 billion in 2015, up 6% year over year and ahead of the Street expectation of $95.90 billion.

Total Backlog

Backlog at the end of the fourth quarter declined to $489.3 billion from $502.3 billion at 2014 end. Reported backlog included $83 billion of net orders during the year.

Quarterly Segment Results

Commercial Airplane Segment: The segment saw a 4% decline in revenues to $16.09 billion on lower delivery volume. Operating margin contracted 580 basis points (bps) year over year to 3.5%. Margins reflected stepped-up RD and the previously announced $885 million pre-tax charge on the 747

Article source: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/205110/boeing-beats-q4-earnings-estimates-profit-plunges-yy

25 Reasons to Visit Romania With Diana-Florina Cosmin

All photos by Vali Barbulescu

Diana is my model in life. She is an amazing writer, a passionate traveler, a very smart and beautiful woman, she is a gifted journalist (editor-in-chief at Forbes), she is well-grounded, sensible and altruistic, and she makes every dream possible. When I read her words, I have one predominant feeling: “now it’s time to fly”. And I make you a promise: you’ll never forget her!

1. You’ve traveled the world, you saw a lot of beautiful places and you could live anywhere. Why did you choose to live and work in Romania?

For me, the whole magic of traveling resides in being constantly on the move, while having a cozy place to call home. I lived and studied in London, Geneva, Vienna, Leiden (close to Amsterdam) and I travelled for interviews or personal pleasure in over 50 countries, but I need a foothold for my adventures. After getting my Masters degree 7 years ago I decided to come back home, to work and live in Romania, because it just felt right. I tend to listen to my inspired hunches and gut feelings, they’re the best life compass in my case.

If you’re good at what you do and you’re a hard worker, I truly believe you can adapt and become valuable in any company, on any continent, but you should settle down in the place where your feel you belong. I belong in

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ioana-budeanu/25-reasons-to-visit-roman_16_b_9077212.html

The Challenger Explosion, 30 years later

By Sarah B. Boxer

“I often say that we were tremendously excited, the whole bunch of us were tremendously excited that we were kind of on this major interstate highway moving toward the heavens,” says June Scobee Rodgers, remembering Jan. 28, 1986, the day her husband, Cmdr. Dick Scobee, boarded the Challenger space shuttle.

“And then this terrible, numbing accident happened,” she says. “And he just kept on going toward heaven. And he left me dangling at the edge of that highway.”

Thirty years later, memories of the launch still bring Scobee Rodgers to tears. The seasoned NASA wife stood alongside civilian Steven McAuliffe, whose wife, Christa McAuliffe, was participating in the mission as the first teacher in space. They both had their children by their sides.

“The most memorable for me, and I’ve never spoken about it, but now that he’s so much older I think I can,” says Scobee Rodgers. “[Their son] Scott McAuliffe sat at the window with his nose against that window, waiting for the launch. And he wouldn’t move. That little boy stood there, glued.”

But within 73 seconds of takeoff, Scobee Rodgers and Steven McAuliffe — and the rest of America — could plainly see that something had gone terribly wrong. The shuttle exploded into two ghastly smoke streams in the air, and the families

Article source: https://www.yahoo.com/katiecouric/30-years-later-challenger-widow-tells-her-story-140818583.html

Sy in the Sky: Torrance Airport Legend Merlin “Sy” Symons

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