Model Airplanes

Officials of an Augusta-based aircraft parts supplier and manufacturer are considering reviving production of the Meyers 200 single, piston-engine aircraft.

GlobalParts Group purchased the production type certificate for the airplane last year as well as the intellectual property and tooling. The intent was to support owners of existing Meyers airplanes by providing them with parts and service, Malissa Nesmith, GlobalParts senior vice president and chief operating officer, said Friday.

“They’ve not really been fully supported,” she said. “They really haven’t had a go-to source for parts.”

GlobalParts – whose divisions include parts, manufacturing and repair – is a Federal Aviation Administration certified repair and overhaul shop.

Since becoming involved in the community of Meyers aircraft owners – Nesmith estimated there are about 70 of the planes in airworthy condition – GlobalParts has been evaluating interest in reviving production of the airplane, she said.

“With the possibility of taking it into production, we’re moving a little bit further along,” Nesmith said. “…The discussions are happening. There’s been no solid decision at this point.”

Since GlobalParts’ incorporation in 2003 and expansion into manufacturing and aircraft repair and overhaul, she said, “all of the pieces that would complement aircraft production we have put in place.”

Nesmith said the company owns a Meyers 200 and has been using it to experiment with upgrades, such as a new propeller and avionics.

“Our thought is to perhaps offer some modifications to existing (Meyers) airplanes … I think a new, revised upgraded version of the Meyers 200 could be exciting.”

The Meyers 200 was designed

Article source: http://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article31147736.html

The tragic disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in March 2014 generated few facts and many questions. But a team of computational math, engineering, modeling, and advanced scale computing experts believe they solved at least one of the many puzzles: How the Boeing 777-200ER entered the ocean.

Just as the team of academics behind this research hope their investigation sheds light on the mystery that happened over the Indian Ocean more than a year ago, they believe the tools and techniques they used also can help enterprises answer big-picture questions and analyze vast quantities of seemingly unrelated data to better position companies to take advantage of new opportunities, markets, or products.

Having watched news coverage about the vanished plane and heartbreaking presumed deaths of 239 people, Goong Chen, professor of mathematics at Texas AM University (TAMU) in Austin and TAMU Qatar, realized nobody had yet studied Flight MH370’s water entry from a mathematical perspective. Rather, most analytics focused on the trajectory, he told EnterpriseTech. Applied mathematics plus crash analysis crunched on high performance computers, coupled with input from experts in other fields, determine how the plane entered the ocean, said Chen. That, he said, would provide a richer picture of the global quandary – and a further demonstration of how mathematics and advanced scale computing can answer questions about the unknown for organizations across a spectrum of disciplines.

Investigating the water entry took insight and data from multiple experts.

“I really needed to rely on

Article source: http://www.enterprisetech.com/2015/08/14/did-analytics-answer-malaysia-flight-mh370-water-entry-question/

Hisao Horiyama first learned how he was due to die from a simple slip of white paper. On it were written three options: to volunteer willingly, to simply volunteer, or to say no.

But as a 21-year-old airman caught in the thick of Japan’s faltering war with the allies, he knew there was only one choice. Without hesitation, he agreed to fly his plane into the side of a US warship.

With that one act of destruction, he would end his life and the lives of many others, in the name of his emperor as a member of an elite, and supposedly invincible, group of young men whose sacrifice would deliver victory to Japan: the kamikaze.

Horiyama was a young soldier in an artillery unit of the Japanese imperial army when he was drafted into the air force.

It was late 1944, and the tide of war was turning against Japan. In the newly formed kamikaze, Tokyo’s military leaders envisioned a dedicated unit of ideologically conditioned warriors willing to die a glorious death for their empire.

As a devoted subject of the emperor, Horiyama longed for his moment of glory.

“We finished our training and were given a slip of white paper giving us three options: to volunteer out of a strong desire, to simply volunteer, or to decline,” Horiyama, now 92, told the Guardian at his home in Tokyo.

A model

Article source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/11/the-last-kamikaze-two-japanese-pilots-tell-how-they-cheated-death

Jaybird, a company that most would probably consider to be the best at making active Bluetooth headphones, announced a new product today called the Jaybird X2 as the follow-up to the largely successful Bluebuds X. The new X2 is available starting today from Best Buy and Jaybird’s website for $179. 

The improvements from the Bluebuds X to the Jaybird X2 are everywhere (Edit: Read updates below). This new model has three sizes of Comply Sport memory foam ear tips (previously an aftermarket accessory), enhanced audio, up to 8 hour battery life,  an architecture called SignalPlus that should eliminate interference, and a carrying case that actually holds all of goodies that come with the X2. Jaybird X2 also gets software updates, is still very sweat-resistant, and includes Secure Fit, Jaybird’s “patented redesigned ergonomic ear fins.”

The Jaybird X2 comes in a variety of colors this time around, including Storm (white), Charge (neon), Fire (red), Midnight (black), Ice (blue), and Alpha (green).

If you own the Bluebuds X, like I do, I would imagine that you are contemplating the upgrade. I know I am. The Bluebuds X are the best sport Bluetooth headphones I have used to date. The improvement in battery life alone is a big deal, let alone the improved audio that was already best in class.

Update:  We’ve got a chat planned with Jaybird today to talk through the improvements. I’ll update this post as I have more.

Update 2:  Alright, so after some

Article source: http://www.droid-life.com/2015/08/12/jaybird-announces-x2-bluetooth-headphones-with-8-hour-battery-life/

Hobbyists, particularly radio-controlled vehicle hobbyists, have been among the first and most ardent adopters of 3D printing technology.

The ability to create everything from functional parts to pure design elements has captured their imaginations, and as a result, led to some cutting edge output from airplanes to drones to cars, trucks and even snowblowers.

Jakub Ratajczyk

So when it came time for Jakub Ratajczyk to take on a graduate school project, he decided to fuse his knowledge of robotics, programing, electronics and 3D printing to build an artistic and complex form which would meld those capabilities.

Ratajczyk decided to print 3D the major parts of a radio controlled car, and he used Voxelizer, a dedicated software package designed to drive ZMorph and other RepRap-compatible printers.

The software was created to extend the capabilities of open-source software, and it has also enabled the use of tools from 3D printers to CNC mills and various types of extruders.

While Voxelizer does function as traditional ‘host’ software to control a printer or CNC machine, it can also generate Gcode from three-dimensional geometry in a novel way. Rather than using the typical triangle based geometry of file formats such as .STL and .OBJ files, the software converts 3D data into voxels. Voxels, data which consists of small ‘boxes’ or ‘atoms,’ allow an entirely new way of thinking about conversions from virtual model to physical object.Article source: http://3dprint.com/87737/zmorph-3d-printed-rc-car/