Aero Gizmo
Pterodactyl-based UAV design for urban combat scenarios
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Scientists have designed a highly-maneuverable UAV modeled on a 228-million-year-old pterodactyl. The 30-inch robotic craft would alter its wing shape to “squeeze through confined spaces, dive between buildings, travel under overpasses, land on apartment balconies, and sail along the coastline.” Read More
Historic WWII Ford airplane to go under the hammer
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This rare 1929 Ford 4-AT-E Tri-Motor airplane is set to be auctioned in a No Reserve sale by the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company in January 2009. Recently restored to its original specifications, the plane has a fascinating history, having survived bullet fire during the World War II attack at Pearl Harbor. Read More
Historic Moller flying car prototype up for sale
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Moller International is selling its Jetson-like M200X 2-passenger VTOL prototype on eBay. Although it's a long way from the latest designs to rise from the Moller drawing-board like the hybrid flying car, the M200X is a significant piece of aviation history, having completed over 200 manned and unmanned flight demonstrations since 1989. Read More
SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 1 into orbit
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With the Space Shuttle scheduled to retire in 2010, alternative transport vessels will need to be developed to keep the International Space Station manned, and to keep options open for possible manned lunar missions. After three failed attempts, the SpaceX Falcon 1 has successfully achieved Earth orbit – the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to do so. Read More
Aircraft seat-bed design offers a comfortable journey for all travelers
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Another stand-out entry in the Create the Future Design Contest is the aircraft seat-bed design entered in the transportation section by Mario Martinez Celis from Mexico City. The concept design allows for 594 seats on the Airbus A380 which normally seats 555 but the real beauty of the configuration is that ALL passengers would be given the comfort of seat-beds with more space than ever before. Read More
Presidential helicopter achieves new milestone
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The first operational pilot production aircraft in the VH-71 presidential helicopter program has successfully completed its 40-minute maiden flight. The PP-1 is the first of five VH-71 production aircraft that will be tested during phase one of the US$6.1 billion presidential helicopter replacement program. Read More
Yves Rossy prepares for Cross-Channel flight – without a plane
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Later this week FusionMan Yves Rossy will attempt the first solo jet-propelled flight across the English channel. Using a new single jet wing he unveiled in May, and which has already been tested over the distance (Rossy flew 35 kilometers in ten minutes during the test – an average 210 mph). The event will be broadcast live by National Geographic Channel in 165 countries and will also be streamed live online. Check out the image gallery – quite simply amazing. Good luck FusionMan! Read More
The autovolantor Flying Car
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September 9, 2008 Moller International has announced that it has designed a hybrid flying car. The two-seater autovolantor is fashioned in the shape of a Ferrari 599 GTB with wings and is claimed to be capable of lifting off vertically from a traffic jam and flying at up to 150 mph for a short distance (about 15 minutes). The autovolantor is designed to function on the road very much like a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) using one of its eight Rotapower engines to generate enough electrical power to drive for up to 40 miles. Read More
Fraunhofer develops technology for the bonded aircraft
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An aircraft is held together by hundreds of thousands of rivets. Fully automatic machines install rivet holes and rivets with precision in numerous materials. A new hybrid technology combines this mechanical joining technique with adhesive bonding. The lighter an aircraft is, the less fuel it consumes. Given the need to cut carbon dioxide emissions, this is a key aspect of materials research. Aircraft manufacturers are therefore pinning their hopes on particularly lightweight construction materials. These include not only lightweight metals, but also fiber composite plastics, particularly carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). Whenever two CFRP components have to be joined together, this has so far been accomplished primarily by riveting. Read More
Airborne Laser starts on-board firing tests
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In another milestone for the Airborne Laser (ABL) program, and further evidence of the growing science-fiction like capabilities of the modern military machine, Boeing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have successfully fired a high-energy chemical laser onboard the ABL aircraft during ground testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The test moves the project a step closer to a full missile shoot-down demonstration expected in 2009. Read More
Sikorsky’s X2 Demonstrator First Flight
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August 28, 2008 Three years ago we wrote of Sikorsky’s intention to build a technology demonstrator for its X2 Coaxial helicopter technology, and earlier this year we expanded on the principals of the revolutionary aircraft. Today, we’re pleased to announce “it flies.” Earlier this week, Sikorsky successfully completed the first flight of its X2 Demonstrator, maneuvering the prototype aircraft through hover, forward flight, and a hover turn, in a test flight that lasted approximately 30 minutes. Read More
QinetiQ's Zephyr breaks world record for longest unmanned flight
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Qinetiq’s Zephyr solar powered high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has flown a world-beating three and a half day flight at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The solar powered plane flew for 82 hours 37 minutes, exceeding the current official world record for unmanned flight which stands at 30 hours 24 minutes set by Global Hawk in 2001 and Zephyr's previous longest flight of 54 hours achieved last year. Read More
AeroVironment receives funding for perch-and-stare micro-UAV
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AeroVironment has been awarded $4.6 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a new generation small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) with "perch-and-stare" surveillance capabilities. The micro-air vehicle will be based on the company's smallest existing UAS platform - Wasp. Read More
The ElectraFlyer C plug-n-fly electric plane
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August 19, 2008 The ElectraFlyer C is an electric aircraft based around the now defunct 1980s Moni kit plane designed by John Monnett which features in the Smithsonian Air and Space museum no less. The original and unreliable KFM 107 two-stroke air-cooled motor has been replaced with a modified version of ElectraFlyer’s US$8500 5.6 kWh lithium battery and US$4200 propulsion parts kit, will top 90 mph, fly for 90 minutes plus and recharges from a household power outlet in six hours at a cost of, would-you-believe, sixty cents. That’s serious bang-per-buck for an aircraft and bodes well for the coming era of personal flight being based around sustainable energy and as it’s almost totally silent, sustainable hearing without the need for earplugs. Silent aircraft, like silent RVs, are the way to a sustainable future for the sport. Read More
MotoPOD RV-10 fits a motorcycle to your plane
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August 13, 2008 Now here’s an interesting concept – announced at Airventure 08, the MotoPOD RV-10 cargo pod fits underneath a light aircraft and carries a street-legal motorcycle. It takes three minutes to remove the modified Yamaha XT225 and the whole package including motorcycle is anticipated to be under US$10,000 when it goes on sale later this year. Given most small airports are not located near ground transportation services, and the comprehensive and convenient total trip transport innovation dramatically reduces point-to-point times at an affordable price. Read More
Delta fleet to get in-flight WiFi
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Delta Airlines is set to introduce broadband Wi-Fi access onboard more than 330 aircraft operating in the continental United States. The company's passengers will be able to surf the web at 35,000 feet from next year at a cost of $9.95 on flights lasting up to three hours and $12.95 on longer trips. Read More
Short-Wave Infrared capability for the ScanEagle UAV
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August 8, 2008 The ScanEagle is a low-cost, long-endurance autonomous unmanned aircraft that has been one of the most significant new battlefield technologies to emerge during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, performing more than 100,000 combat hours in both theatres and delivering invaluable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) on a daily basis. The only trouble is that conventional electro-optical and long-wave infrared cameras are severely limited in fog or rain. Now they’ve managed to miniaturize a short-wave infrared (SWIR) camera to fit inside the diminutive ScanEagle, enabling clear vision in any circumstance. Read More
Aeros Sky Dragon enters flight testing phase
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New age dirigible designer Aeros has announced that its airship model Aeros 40D Sky Dragon MSN 21 has entered the flight testing phase. The craft will take flight at San Bernardino International Airport, and will be used as an airborne lab for the development of the new breed of variable buoyancy air vehicle – the Aeroscraft systems. Read More
SpaceShipTwo mothership revealed
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Virgin Galactic has achieved another milestone in its push to become the world’s first private commercial spaceline with the unveiling of the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft. Built at the Scaled Composites facility in Mojave, California, the twin fuselage WK2 is a formidable engineering feat. It is the world’s largest all carbon composite aircraft and the main wing, which spans 140 ft, is the longest single carbon composite aviation component ever built. Christened “EVE” in honor of Sir Richard Branson's mother, the aircraft can can fly across the US non-stop and reach altitudes of 50,000 ft - the height from which SpaceShipTwo (SS2) will be air launched. Read More
World's smallest camera carrying Micro Aerial Vehicle takes flight
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July 28, 2008 How often have you thought, “I’d like to be a fly on the wall in that room”. Well, a team at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands is hard at work trying to make that desire a reality by developing a Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), which they claim is the smallest flying, camera carrying ornithopter in the world. The DelFly Micro weighs just 3 grams and measures 10 cm from wing tip to wing tip. It has a range of 50 meters and is powered by a 30 mAh lithium polymer battery, which provides enough power for three minutes of fight time. To keep the weight of the unit down the wings are made from Mylar foil, while the body and frame is made up from carbon and balsawood. Read More
Moller International's M200G Jetson flying vehicle goes on sale in 2009
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July 20, 2008 As the rate of technological advances continues at an astonishing pace there’s probably one question that gets asked more than any other by the average person in the street – or the average person stuck in traffic anyway - why don’t we have flying cars yet? Well the simple answer is that developing a flying car is hard. But the long wait for the solution to car clogged streets could be coming to an end with Moller International announcing that it is in the process of completing its fourth M200 “Jetson” volantor airframe and it expects to complete forty of these fly-by-wire, multi-engine flying vehicles in 2009. Read More
Blast from the past - restored Avro Vulcan makes airshow debut
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July 18, 2008 A clear favorite of the local crowd, the newly restored Avro Vulcan blasted into the Farnborough Airshow this week. The only remaining airworthy example of the formidable subsonic bombers which saw active service Royal Air Force for the between 1953 and 1984 will appear again over the weekend when the airshow opens its doors to the general public. Read More
ICON A5 amphibious sportsplane completes first test flight
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ICON Aircraft has passed a key hurdle in the development of its innovative, amphibious sport plane design by successfully completing its maiden test flight. The full-scale prototype of the composite carbon fiber, two-seater A5 took to the skies at an undisclosed lake location in California on July 9, demonstrating the aircraft’s performance and flying characteristics during take-off, landing, and low-speed maneuvering flight as well as it on-water capabilities. The versatile A5, which has a folding wing design for easy transport and storage as well as retractable landing gear for flying off land and water, is set to undergo a series of test flights throughout the next year with a view to putting the finishing touches on the design and building a pre-production model for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and ASTM compliance. Production is expected to commence in late 2010. Read More
Etihad buys up big at Farnborough Airshow
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Soaring oil prices might be putting the squeeze on margins for airlines around the world, but that hasn't deterred United Arab Emirates national carrier Etihad from splurging more than $20 billion on orders for Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Read More
The Parajet Skycar: Britain's zero-carbon flying dune buggy aims for Timbouctou
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July 14, 2008 The race is well and truly on to develop a functional flying car, and innovators around the world are finding several different ways to accommodate the needs of a road-registerable flying vehicle. The Moller Skycar and Cell Craft G440 use complicated quad-turbine tilting jet engines to achieve VTOL and flight capability. The Terrafugia Transition and Skyblazer roadable aircraft have decided to go for a folding-wing convertible aeroplane design, and Larry Neal's Super Sky Cycle is a simple and cheap modification that turns a standard, safe gyroplane into a road-going trike. And now there's the Parajet Skycar, a Yamaha R1-engined, biodiesel-powered all-terrain dune buggy that's capable of extremely safe flight as a powered paraglider. The Skycar Expedition team plan to take the eye-catching vehicle from London to Timbouctou in 2009, using a combination of flight and driving to battle the tough Saharan terrain. There's a commuter model in the pipeline - and you won't need a pilot's license to fly it. Read More
Celebrating the Spitfire
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Bonham and Goodman is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Spitfire becoming operational by offering a 1945 Supermarine Spitfire MK XVI at their inaugural sale of Collector’s Motor Cars and Aircraft, in New Zealand on September 14. There are roughly 44 airworthy Spitfires in existence today, and it’s rare indeed for the general public to be given the opportunity to purchase such an important piece of history. Read More
Skyhook and Boeing build the world's largest VTOL aircraft
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One of the greatest hurdles for major construction in remote areas is moving heavy building materials to the worksite. Road-building is an environmental issue, as well as often being cost-prohibitive and impossible in many terrains. Some areas are unreachable by cargo ship, large cargo planes require good weather and long runways, and helicopters simply can't carry heavy enough loads - which is why Skyhook's Jess Heavy Lifter is so significant. It combines the neutral buoyancy and stability of an airship with the lifting power of four big rotors. Capable of lifting 40 tons (80,000lbs) vertically and transporting the load more than 200 miles without refuelling, the JHL-40 offers twice the load capacity of the world's current largest cargo helicopter. Read More
The plasma-powered flying saucer
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University of Florida mechanical and aerospace engineering associate professor Subrata Roy has submitted a patent for a circular, spinning craft that can hover and take off vertically. The wingless electromagnetic air vehicle, or WEAV, is just six inches across, but has the potential to be scaled up to a much larger size. The WEAV is covered with electrodes that ionise the surrounding air into plasma, which functions as the conducting fluid. Passing a current through the plasma creates lift and momentum. Read More
Geared Turbofan engine cuts emissions and running costs
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July 6, 2008 Pratt & Whitney’s Geared Turbofan demonstrator engine has been cleared for flight-testing. By incorporating a gearbox system into the engine, aircraft can achieve a 12% reduction in fuel burn and CO2 emissions, a 50% reduction in NOx emissions, and a 50% reduction in engine noise. The GTF engine has been chosen by Mitsubishi to power the company’s Regional Jet (scheduled to enter service in 2013), and the upcoming Bombardier CSeries. Read More
Evergreen Supertanker: the world's largest firefighting aircraft
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As global temperatures slowly increase, a number of nations, including the USA, are finding themselves battling widespread droughts and huge, devastating wildfires that threaten properties, lives, infrastructure and ecosystems alike. Whatever the causes, new tools are clearly required to help subdue the massive bushfires that have destroyed an area the size of Oregon over the last 18 years. Aerial fire suppressant drops are sometimes the only way to effectively fight huge firefronts, and Evergreen's new Boeing 747-based Supertanker promises to be the daddy of them all, carrying seven times more drop capacity than most dedicated firefighting aircraft. Evergreen expect the Supertanker to be a quicker, cheaper, safer and more effective aerial firefighting tool than anything else on the market - and its 747 base platform gives it the ability to operate throughout the USA and around the world wherever it's needed. Read More
Falx Air unveils multi-purpose hybrid aircraft design
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It's safe to say that there is a transport revolution underway. Driven by the need for cleaner, more efficient and more versatile vehicles, it's delivering an unprecedented number of radical and innovative designs for the road, sea, and for the air. The latest airborne example to come to our attention is this Hybrid Transport Aircraft design from Falx Air. In addition to being used as a standard light cargo platform, mid-air light re-fueling or surveillance aircraft, the Very Light Hybrid Transport (VLHT) can be adapted to carry six passengers, or four stretchers and two medical staff. Like the company's hybrid-electric tilt-rotor aircraft platform unveiled earlier this year, the design combines automotive hybrid electric technology with a fast charge battery system and solar cells to deliver exceptional fuel economy.
ICON Aircraft unveils fold-up amphibious sports plane
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A recurring theme at Gizmag in recent times has been the growing accessibility of the recreational sports aircraft, with manufacturers offering increasingly versatile and user-friendly designs combined with falling price points. Like the Cessna SkyCatcher, the ICON A5, which was officially unveiled last week in Los Angeles, is a case in point. Powered by a 100hp Rotax 912 ULS engine achieving an estimated maximum speed of 105 kts (120 mph) and a range of 300 nm, the amphibious, two-seat, composite carbon fiber plane features a sportscar inspired cockpit and retractable landing gear for flying off land and water, but the standout element is the folding wing design which allows the plane to be towed on the road like a speed boat and stored at home rather than paying for space at an airport. Read More
GULL 36 Seaplane UAV begins English Channel flights
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UK based marine aircraft developer Warrior (Aero-Marine) has commenced flying its GULL 36 amphibious UAV over the English Channel. Demonstrating the company's wave-piercing stepless hull, the 4-meter wide craft is designed to cleave through choppy water, handle large waves and overcome strong winds and high tow.
Milestone for Sikorsky X2 helicopter
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June 2, 2008 Helicopter development is hampered by the fact that for so long it has been a zero sum game, with designers only able to improve forward speed at the expense of hovering ability and low speed control, and vice versa. This, combined with other inherent design restrictions, has kept the top cruise speed for conventional helicopters at roughly 150—170 knots. Looking to overcome these limitations, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is working on a coaxial design aimed at realizing a cruising speed of 250 knots. The X2 technology demonstrator can hover, land vertically, manoeuvre at low speeds, and transition seamlessly from hovering to forward flight. In the words of Sikorsky’s president, Jeffrey Pino, it could prove to be a real ‘game changer’ for the industry. Read More
AeroVironment to continue Nano Air Vehicle development
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May 29, 2008 Unmanned aerial vehicles represent one emerging technology that has delivered as promised over the last decade, achieving critical relevance in battlefields situations where they can perform both reconnaissance and combat roles without putting humans in the the line of fire. In addition to the rapid growth and development that has occurred in relation to larger, weapons capable craft, smaller systems have also proved their worth, and the latest announcement from AeroVironment (AV) is further evidence that this sector will continue to flourish. The company which has already established unmanned micro air vehicle (MAV) programs - including the Raven and Wasp III - has now received funding to continue development of an even smaller scale platform dubbed the Nano Air Vehicle (NAV).
