Another Bell BAT mockup photo.
Apr 092013
Apr 082013
Some test footage of the Laser Weapon System installed on the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105). This was previously shown HERE (and discussed HERE and HERE). In the footage, shot apparently last July, it’s shown frying (rather slowly) a small drone aircraft. Previously released video showing the laser knocking down identical flying-wing drones seem to have featured a ground-mounted system; this new video would seem to indicate that the shootdown occurred with the ship-mounted system. No data on how fast the ship was going and how rough the seas were. Guess: sitting still in calm seas.
[youtube OmoldX1wKYQ]
UPDATE: now with newsification.
The future is now: Navy to deploys lasers on ships in 2014
It somehow seems vaguely relevant to this news item:
PETA Plans to Fly Drones That Would ‘Stalk Hunters’
Apr 062013
A photo of the Bell Helicopter BAT (Bell Advanced Tiltrotor) mockup built in the late 1980s. This was an early competitor in the Light Helicopter eXperimental (LHX) program, eventually won by what would become the RAH-66 Comanche. While the BAT met the early requirements of the program, it was too unconventional.
Apr 062013
On occasion, an aircraft will survive a mid-air collision.
This is not one of those times.
[youtube zSHYpM1JDKE]
Apr 032013
One of the first modern attempts to field a battlefield drone was the Lockheed MQM-105 Aquila (Eagle). Designed in the 1970’s and test flown in the first half of the 1980’s, the Aquila was intended as a target designator… a laser in a belly turret would pick out targets for Copperhead and Hellfire missiles. The Aquila looked pretty spiffy, but was expensive, didn’t quite work as hoped, and had a complex launch and recovery system (a pneumatic truck-mounted catapults, and a large truck-mounted catch-net). It was cancelled in 1987.
Apr 022013
Airline to charge passengers by body weight
Samoa Air is going to start charging not by the seat, but by the kilo, with rates of $1 to $4.16 per kilo of combined passenger and luggage. This makes complete sense: the economics of air travel is dictated by the *physics* of air travel; and fuel burned is directly driven by the weight of the aircraft. The engines don’t care if they are transporting 100 100-kilogram people, or 1000 10-kilogram toddlers.
By charging by total weight, this will encourage people to travel lighter. Not only less luggage, but perhaps shedding a few of their own pounds.
Mar 302013
A 1960’s concept painting from Bell depicting a vertical takeoff and landing supersonic transport. The eight individually podded turbojet engines were hinged so that they could rotate upwards at least 90 degrees, providing vertical thrust. It’s far from certain that this was an actual engineering effort as opposed to pure artistic marketing. Exactly what benefit there would be in a VTOL SST is anyones guest.
Mar 262013
In the 1970’s, when everybody and their brother was thinking of ways of dealing with oil shortages and the like, Boeing studied the idea of using giant aircraft to carry oil and/or natural gas from Alaskas north slope down to the lower 48. Quite a number of these aircraft were designed; the math seemed to work on the aircraft being possible, but the math didn’t seem to work on them making economic sense. One of these crashes… hoo boy. Still, the idea of watching the Keystone pipeline protestors heads asploding when seeing these monster planes fly over would almost make the risk worthwhile.
Shown below is a photo of a model of one such design, capable of hauling a two-million pound payload (about 10 times the 747’s capability).
One of these decades I’ll probably do an APR article on the concept.
Mar 252013
Cat survives Indiana plane crash in wall of house
In short: a plane crashed into a house in Indiana about a week ago, trashing the place. The resident cat, Zuul, disappeared, only to pop out from the wall as the house was being torn down. Fortunately, that old nut Zuul was rescued by a construction worker.
It must be difficult enough for the human of the house to deal with the situation… everything is going along normally, when all of a sudden there’s a twin-engined aircraft in your house. Imagine what that must to to a cat.
Mar 232013
A late-war design for a “Jager mit BMW 803.” More will be released on this when I can get images that aren’t just, just terrible.
