Model Airplanes

The jumbo jet, for many years the workhorse of modern air travel, could be close to running out of runway.

Last year, there were zero orders placed by commercial airlines for new Boeing 747s or Airbus A380s, reflecting a fundamental shift in the industry toward smaller, twin-engined planes. Smaller planes cost less to fly than the stately, four-engine jumbos, which can carry as many as 525 passengers.

The slump in sales of the jets has raised questions over how long manufacturers can sustain production. It has also fuelled internal debate in both companies over the future of the planes, sources said.

The outcome of those discussions will affect the value of existing fleets and thousands of production jobs at the plane makers and their many parts suppliers.

Sales forces at Airbus and Boeing are fighting for potential orders plane by plane as they seek to keep production going beyond the end of the decade, said other aviation market sources. The aircraft makers are offering discounts of at least 50 per cent from catalogue prices of about US$400 million for a jumbo jet, those sources said. Airbus has said it is also considering a revamp to make its superjumbo more attractive to buyers.

Boeing in September plans to slow the pace of production of its latest 747-8 model to an average of 1.3 planes a month from 1.5 currently. At that rate the orders it already has in hand will only keep the production line going for two-and-a-half years.

The crunch, though, will come earlier because

Article source: http://www.thenational.ae/business/aviation/make-or-break-for-jumbo-jets

When he came to Aptakisic Junior High to build drones for some kids, Donald Miller found the same kinds of enterprising minds that got him into the rapidly growing market in the first place.

While setting up the school’s first unmanned aerial vehicle, the founder of MadLab Industries told students about how a flood and a farmer changed his career path. Upon hearing the story, seventh-grader Justin Kuncheria had a question:

“Did you get paid?”

“Oh yeah, we got paid, of course,” Miller responded.

From there, some of the kids’ minds took off like a quad-copter.

Miller visited Aptakisic on April 16, helping their Aviation Explorers Club assemble and learn to pilot the remote-controlled, four-propeller Grasshopper V3 helicopters his firm makes. The club will fly their new rigs on May 7 in a demonstration at the Illinois State Capitol, then compete on May 16 at the Shedd Aquarium against other Explorers Clubs groups. On the “perfect” windless day, Miller showed the nine club members present how to calibrate the machine’s sensors, enabling it to, in certain contexts, fly itself.

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Article source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/buffalo-grove/news/ct-bgc-drones-tl-0423-20150417-story.html

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is expanding its operations in Helena, as it prepares to supply parts for a new version of the 787.

In a video supplied by Boeing, a milling machine the size of a small house cuts a structural piece for a Boeing airliner at the company’s Helena plant.  The plant, acquired by Boeing five years ago, supplies parts for most of the commercial models Boeing builds.

“We build the parts for the wing, we also build landing gears for a couple of the models, we also build some internal structural parts for some other models.”

Boeing Helena director Eric Smith says his plant just finished expanding by nearly 50 percent, adding factory floor space equivalent to football field. It will soon start adding to its 140-person workforce as well, as the plant gets ready to build wing attachments for a forthcoming stretch version of the 787 Dreamliner, taking titanium from a factory in China and machining it before it’s shipped to the next factory, in Japan.

The plant makes more than airplane parts, though, it also produces waste, such as metal shavings and contaminated cutting fluid. It all gets reused or recycled, according to Luke Peterson, who runs the recycling area at the plant.

“We take that titanium or aluminum and we remove the excess

Article source: http://mtpr.org/post/boeing-expands-its-helena-operation

Google’s share of the mobile space is HUGE. Android is now the most used mobile OS on the planet by a considerable margin – over 60% if you’re wondering. A lot of Google’s success with Android is to do with its distribution model and the sheer number of devices it comes inside – all markets, price points, sizes and shapes are covered. Here it’s very much quantity vs. MEGA quantities, as both are quality platforms. 

Android KitKat launched in October 2013 and is still the most dominant “recent” build of Google’s platform with a 39.1% share of the ecosystem, according to Android Developers Dashboard. Jelly Bean is still the most widely used build of Android, however, with a 46% share.

Android Lollipop isn’t even mentioned on the Dashboard, and the reason why is because it accounts for less than 0.1% of the Android Kingdom. What exactly is slowing down Android Lollipop adoption? 

CNET posits the following theory: “Before Google’s newest version can actually reach users, the mobile device makers must test and often customise it. Then the OS moves up the chain to the mobile carriers, who must also test as well as certify the OS and plan the deployment before they can actually push out the software to Android phones and tablets. And this process has to be done on a worldwide basis, country by country. Since the process can take so long, Google usually comes out with a brand new mobile OS before the current one has

Article source: http://www.knowyourmobile.com/mobile-phones/apple-ios-8/22239/ios-8-vs-android-kitkat-biggest-and-best-platforms-compared