A Tragedy of Errors. On Feb. 21, 2010, a convoy of vehicles carrying civilians headed down a mountain in central Afghanistan and American eyes in the sky were watching. "The Americans were using some of the most
sophisticated tools in the history of war, technological marvels of surveillance and intelligence gathering that allowed them to see into once-inaccessible corners of the battlefield. But the high-tech wizardry would
fail in its most elemental purpose: to tell the difference between friend and foe."
FOIA-obtained
transcripts of US cockpit and radio conversations and
an interactive feature provide a more in-depth understanding of what happened.
posted by zarq
on Apr 10, 2011 -
59 comments
Got an iPhone? Always wanted to fly a helicopter?
AR Drones allow you to fly a quadricopter with mounted video cameras through your iPhone.
[more inside]
posted by Biru
on Sep 6, 2010 -
35 comments
When Parents Won't Cut the Cord. As a reaction to helicopter parents (who read books about the stages of grief so they can cope with their kid's growing up), colleges are literally shutting the gates on parents who can't let go.
posted by dzaz
on Aug 23, 2010 -
274 comments
Stunning pictures by Michael Yon show what happens when helicopters land in dust storms:
The Kopp-Etchells Effect is thought to be the result of static electricity created by friction as materials of dissimilar material strike against each other, in this case titanium/nickel blades moving through the air and dust, but a precise definition is as of now not known.
[more inside]
posted by krautland
on Nov 21, 2009 -
33 comments
Metal Storm Limited specializes in weapon systems featuring rapid fire electronically fired bullets, up to 1 million a minute. The weapons platform can be used to make the worlds strongest
handgun as well as be used to equip unmanned drones with firepower. The most frightening of which is perhaps the
"dragonfly" micro copter. Their site has a number of
videos showcasing some of the various weapons applications.
Metal Storm has been around for a while, without getting a product to market, but with a recent
influx of funding it doesn't look like they are going to go out of business any time soon.
posted by reverendX
on Jul 10, 2006 -
50 comments
Imagine what it might feel like to get hit in the head by a rotating helicopter blade.
Johnny Lowe found out two days ago -- and has survived to earn the nickname "Chopper".
posted by soiled cowboy
on Dec 28, 2005 -
25 comments
Because spaceflight, in and of itself, is just way to easy. On 08 August 2001, NASA launched
Genesis. It was a spacecraft that would spend 1125 days in space, including 884 days collecting 0.4 milligrams of solar particles. At that point, it would launch a 500 lbs return vehicle that would travel 600 mph back to earth. When it enters the atmosphere, at approximately 11:55am EST on Wednesday of this week, it will be going close to twenty-five
thousand mph. Oddly enough, this is the easy part of the mission.
Because then, two minutes later, NASA is going to catch it. In mid-air. With a helicopter. Really.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow
on Sep 7, 2004 -
32 comments
Police seize Vietnamese farmer's unlicensed, homebuilt helicopter This NYT/AP report convinced me that globalization truly dooms that American middle class pitted against such dedication. Yankee tinkering once provided a foundation for the North American industrial revolution. But now:
' The farmer said he won't give up, vowing to sell his house or 25 acres of land if that's what it takes to get the license. "If I cannot do it, my children or my grandchildren will do it,'' he said. '
posted by troutfishing
on Feb 16, 2004 -
38 comments
Remember the Coastal Records Project? When I first heard about this, I applauded, then wasted a couple of hours looking at the nice pics. But I couldn't help wondering when they'd run into some compound of a celebrity who'd put up a stink (okay, I was hoping it would be Ah-nold, and there'd be a scene reminiscent of his movies, stinger missile launched from his patio at the helicopter...) alas, it's only
Barbara. Still, does this only make me wonder if our celebrities are helping push through laws to establish themselves in a higher class than us peons? Please note that the irony of rich people suing each other isn't lost on me, and I'm not trying to put forward that it could be any one of us touring in a helicopter doing this.
But I mean, the guy's taking picture's of the whole coast, not just some star-map, coastline version. Until this lawsuit, I'd wager, only the most dedicated stalker would've known this was her place. But now...
posted by Busithoth
on Jun 1, 2003 -
12 comments
Fly The Copter
You think it's easy flying a radio-controlled helicopter into somebody's head. My hi-score is 418. See if you can beat it.
posted by sahrens428
on May 2, 2002 -
20 comments
Here's something you don't see every day.. The north Texas radio station
KVIL 103.7FM has a traffic copter which has flown nearly every weekday without fail for years. It's a regular sight in the sky for Dallas commuters. This morning, it
became traffic. Engine failure led to an emergency landing on a city street. Avoiding power lines and oncoming traffic, the pilot lost the tail rotor assembly but otherwise landed his copter intact. A near catastrophe was averted by a very capable, steely-eyed missile man of a pilot. The three reporters in the copter with the pilot suffered only minor injuries. A very lucky day. It coulda been a lot worse.
posted by ZachsMind
on Apr 11, 2002 -
12 comments
