Tag Archive for 'planes'

NASA/Boeing’s U-48B! Blended Wing-Body Goodness!

jackson published on April 9, 2010 in technology and transportation. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

(images courtesy of NASA)

Just look at her. Isn’t she lovely?

This little beauty is a joint venture between NASA and Boeing, the U-48B. It’s a blended fuselage plane as you can see. The body of the plane and the wings form one continuous line, helping it achieve far greater lift using less fuel, potentially carrying more passengers and cargo that today’s 747 fleet. I say potentially because the U-48B pictured above is a model. But planes like this could soon be soaring through the stratosphere, saving gas and looking a great deal safer.

Can’t wait! Any project of Boeing’s that doesn’t involve arms sales is a big fat win for Peace. Yay, Peace!

Jason Paur over at wired.com has the full story.

Breaking News: US Airways Flight 1549 Floats Down the Hudson River

jackson published on January 15, 2009 in zeitgeist. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

(from cnn.com)

(From my flip not ten minutes ago.)

A plane just made a controlled water landing in the Hudson River not blocks from the SuperForest offices!

From cnn.com:

“US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 headed from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, was down in the river after a failed takeoff, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.”

I was sitting at my desk when the sound of a very loud plane made me get up and walk to the window. When sirens and helicopters followed, we grabbed our coats and went outside.

Video of the scene is uploading and will be available shortly.

Were are unsure right now as to the status of the passengers and crew, but from the wholeness of the plane, it looked to be a very controlled descent.

To watch a 737 float down the Hudson escorted by boats and helicopters is not something I’ll soon forget.

Our hopes and prayers to the people on board, their families, and all parties involved or reading this.

Wired: Plug-In Battery Powered Plane!

jackson published on August 6, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .



We want!

Great new item from wired.com:

“Take your everyday metal moni motoglider, trick it out with a custom battery pack and you’ve got the ElectraFlyer C, a small electric airplane that debuted at the AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, last week.

The plane, which received its airworthiness certificate in April, features a 5.6 kWh lithium battery with a projected life cycle (the number of times it can be depleted and recharged) of 1,000 cycles. The battery has a max weight of 78 pounds and can be custom-built to fit the available space in an airplane. It provides juice for a motor driving a 45-inch superlight PowerFin propeller made of a foam core surrounded by an outer shell of carbon fiber and glass fabric.

Once in the air, the ElectraFlyer C cruises at 70 miles per hour. Top speed is 90 mph and the stall speed is 45. The plane can fly for 90 to 120 minutes before the battery needs recharging. When the battery winds down, just plug it into a 110V outlet — your house is full of them — and you’re good to go in just more than six hours. Bump the voltage to 220 and you’re flying again in two hours.”

Yes! Are they kidding? Yes! Yes!

Slap some thin-film photovoltaics on the wings and roof to maintain charge mid-flight and we’re seriously talkin’.

Long gone are the days when we thought of commercial airline travel as “bearable.” Long have we wondered what wonderful new tech and behaviors would supplant flying coach.

Now that Personal Air Vehicles have arrived, perhaps we may never again have to suffer the indignity of another TSA screening.

Couldn’t have gotten here sooner.

Awesome!