Model Airplanes

RIP Giant Machine That Put Space Shuttles on Top of 747s

It’s a great American tradition. When something is old and less useful than it once was, we just tear it down to make room for new and more useful things. That’s exactly what’s happened to the Mate-Demate Device (MDD) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It used to mount Space Shuttles on 747s. Now it’s scrap metal.

NASA just announced the demolition of this 35-year-old structure. The job took nearly two months and yielded 844,700 pounds of recycled steel, tin and aluminum which could ostensibly be used to build whatever NASA’s planning to put in the MDD’s place. Then again, we’ve learned with other Space Shuttle-related gadgets that it’s best to just say goodbye to some these pieces of history—and hello to the auction block for the rest.

Rest in peace, giant Space Shuttle lifting device. We’ll always remember you at your finest.

[NASA]

Images via NASA

Article source: http://gizmodo.com/rip-giant-machine-that-put-space-shuttles-on-top-of-747-1684022097

Airlines’ best friend: Aviation Technical Services at Paine Field

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Article source: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20150208/BIZ/150209194

New facilities setting the stage for an ongoing ‘Boeing effect’ in South Carolina

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For more Boeing news, go to postandcourier.com/Boeing.

Boeing Co.’s announcement in 2009 that it would build a Dreamliner factory in North Charleston is often called a game-changing event for this area’s manufacturing sector.

But it has proven to be just the starting point for what some analysts say will be an aerospace-based economic cluster that could rival what the company built in Washington state.

“Boeing South Carolina is not a one-trick pony,” said Saj Ahmad, chief analyst for Strategic Aero Research. “Anyone that thinks they are only going to produce the 787 and not much else is very much mistaken.”

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On Wednesday, Boeing will officially open its newest facility here that will design and build engine inlets for the 737-MAX — a single-aisle airplane that will be 20 percent more fuel-efficient than any competitor. The first 737-MAX delivery is scheduled for 2017 and air carriers have ordered nearly 2,500 of the model, which will be built in Renton, Wash.

The 225,000-square-foot Propulsion South Carolina facility is in Palmetto Commerce Park in North Charleston near another Boeing plant that makes overhead cabins and interior parts for the Dreamliner. It’s debut precedes another Boeing project in the works — an $82 million facility that will paint 787s for customers, scheduled to open in late 2016 on a small portion of 466 acres Boeing is leasing
Article source: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150207/PC05/150209535/1177/new-facilities-setting-the-stage-for-an-ongoing-x2018-boeing-effect-x2019-in-south-carolina

B-17 bomber in Salem to be restored

The buzz at Salem Municipal Airport has nothing to do with commercial airline service and everything to do with a grand new tenant.

Inside a 6,400-square-foot hangar on the west side of the airport near the restaurant is a dismantled B-17 Flying Fortress waiting to be restored to its original glory.

“When you get a historical piece of equipment out here, whether it’s flyable or not, it’s very exciting,” airport manager John Paskell said.

This isn’t just any B-17 bomber. It was a landmark for more than six decades perched above the pumps at a gas station on SE McLoughlin Boulevard in Milwaukie.

The bomber, caked in layers of corrosion and bird droppings, arrived at its new home in early December.

The B-17 Alliance Group will oversee the restoration project and plans to share it with the Salem-Keizer community and beyond. The nonprofit organization is scheduled to open its “museum” in April, and admission will be $4, with all proceeds supporting the restoration mission.

“We don’t want this to be hidden,” said Sean O’Brien, board member and co-operations manager for the group. “This is an education piece.”

Restoring the aircraft, dubbed the Lacey Lady after the man who brought it to Oregon in 1947 as a roadside

Article source: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/columnists/capi-lynn/2015/02/08/bomber-salem-restored/23015257/

Teen aviation weekend is all about passion for planes

Alan Cleveland (left) hands a remote controlled airplane Teens learn about aviation during an event on Saturday, Arlan Grover, an adjunct professor of research and Dave Dibble of Salem shows a remote controlled plane A remote controlled plane on display during an aviation Alan Cleveland teaches teens about aviation during A <a href='https://www.modelairplane.com/link/modelairplane'>model airplane</a> hangs from the ceiling during an aviation Alan Cleveland shows a remote controlled airplane during Lucas Murphy looks a a remote controlled airplane during

Last Slide Next Slide

Sitting at long tables inside a large, blue metal building, a group of teens, ages 14-17, listened intently to several experts talk of the inner workings of sport aviation and aerospace. They were at the Independence State Airport on Saturday morning for the fourth annual teen aviation weekend.

A total of 14 youths from across the Mid-Valley gathered in the Experimental Aircraft

Article source: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2015/02/07/teen-aviation-weekend-passion-planes/23047639/

France will bestow high military honor on WWII veteran from Eugene – The Register

Edward “Mike” Reuter had to save his platoon. Bullets were bouncing off rocks. One of his scouts had been shot through the arm. Several men were already dead at the bottom of a ravine.

It was 1944, and France was a battlefield. The 509th Parachute Infantry, B Company, 3rd Platoon, had been making its way down a narrow ridge to a castle west of Cannes held by the Germans.

As dawn broke, German snipers on the other side of the ridge began firing. Reuter, a first lieutenant in command of the platoon, ran at them — alone.

Thick brush hid his approach, but at the top of the ridge, “A German with a ‘burp gun’ opened up.”

Reuter dropped for cover.

The burp gun — firing 900 rounds a minute — missed, blowing up dirt all around him. A machine gun opened up to his right. Fifteen feet away, he saw a German stick grenade explode. Reuter tossed his own grenade over the ridge crest.

“After this, I heard no more firing from the Germans,” Reuter recalled. “I think they thought I had some other guys with me.”

The Germans had withdrawn.

When Reuter walked back down the ridge, he could see that the 509 had continued on. He followed their trail to the castle where the battle had already ended.

“Where in the hell have you been?” his commanding officer demanded.

“I got

Article source: http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/32706042-75/eugene-wwii-veteran-to-receive-frances-highest-honor-for-soldiers.html.csp

Business jet makers want nothing to do with the UN’s aircraf…

REUTERS/Darrin Zammit LupiA Gulfstream G450 private jet with U.S. actor Brad Pitt onboard arrives at Malta International Airport outside Valletta September 1, 2014.