Model Airplanes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Back in the days when such things were allowed, aviation pioneer Harry Atwood landed his plane on the White House lawn, the finale of the first flight from Boston to Washington.

Atwood went on to other feats, but the plane, a Burgess-Wright Model F, which he landed on the South Lawn that July day in 1911, did not fare so well. Four years later, another pilot crashed it into a Massachusetts swamp. Parts of it were sold for scrap.

Now, more than a century later, a group of aviation buffs has launched a campaign to restore the plane, which it says is the last remaining authentic Wright Brothers aircraft. Its goal is to raise $4 million to rebuild the plane, which would then be displayed in Terminal A at Reagan National Airport.

“It’s just a fascinating project,” said Keith Meurlin, president of the Washington Airports Task Force, which helped launch the campaign. “The fact that it’s still around, that we have the ability to preserve and display it, is a great opportunity.”

The restoration would be done by Ken W. Hyde, who heads the Wright Experience, a Warrenton, Va.-based nonprofit dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Wright Brothers. Part of Hyde’s work focuses on restoring and rebuilding Wright Brothers aircraft.

Twenty years ago, Hyde found and purchased some original parts of the Burgess-Wright aircraft that Atwood flew, including the engine, transmission and some of the controls.

According to Hyde, Burgess started as a shipbuilding company but partnered with the Wright Brothers to

Article source: http://wtop.com/dc/2015/12/aviation-buffs-hoping-to-rebuild-a-wright-brothers-plane/

ASHEBORO — Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or quad-copters (also known as multi-rotors) look so cool when advertised on television or the Internet. Most come with visual recorders, but even the ones without can be fun to send rocketing around the yard.

But before the fun begins, a little thought is needed.

Frank Stickle of Central Carolina Hobbies, 10935-A/B N. Main St. in Archdale, said he has sold hundreds of drones. When someone comes in to buy a drone, he asks this question.

“What do you want your drone to do?” he said.

Do you want to take pictures? Do you want to see those pictures in real time or can you wait to download the images after the flight is over?

Stickle asks his customers how much they want to spend. He has drones as low as around $25 but the price can go up into the thousands for a large unit with all the bells and whistles.

Just as important, Stickle said, do you or the person you are buying for have any experience flying a remote-controlled device, especially if that person you are buying for is a kid?

“Drones are age-appropriate with adult supervision,” he said.

That means kids need to know the right and wrong uses for their new device. Spying on the neighbors is not an appropriate use. Chasing the neighbor’s cat with it isn’t appropriate. Using it to play tag with a friend is not appropriate.

The precautions don’t just apply to kids, either, Stickle said.

“There will always be people who abuse technology,” he

Article source: http://courier-tribune.com/news/local/know-you-buy-learn-you-fly

This is the story of two big round things that loom large in our culture.

The first of these is Apple Computer—and its ideas and ethics, as embodied in its monumentally circular new headquarters, now finishing construction in Cupertino, California (above).

The other is the Death Star—the spherical, moon-sized battle station and colossal narrative device of the first and third original Star Wars films.