"We finally flew our first thermal camera flight yesterday afternoon. About 10 seconds after launch my co pilot looked at the screen and said something like, 'We now have our very own predator drone'" A rice farmer in Louisiana had a real problem, feral pigs were coming out of the woods at night, into the rice fields, tearing up his crops and causing
thousands of dollars worth of damage. The only solution is to bring in hunters to shoot the pigs.
Hunting feral pigs in waist high rice plants, in the dead of night, is very difficult. You have to be within 10 feet of them to shoot them and it can take hours to stalk them down. So the farmer calls his brother, an Electronic Warfare engineer who flies
RC airplanes as a hobby.
$5000 worth of electronics, including a
$4500 infrared camera, are installed on a $80 model airplane, and the
Dehogaflier is born!
posted by smoothvirus
on Oct 18, 2011 -
52 comments
Boeing are currently testing the latest version of their venerable Jumbo Jet, the 747-8. Yesterday, in one of the last test flights prior to certification the new 747 flew for 17 hours, a distance of over 11,000 miles. The flight path can be seen
here.
[more inside]
posted by jontyjago
on Aug 3, 2011 -
27 comments
The largest model railway layout in the world, Hamburg's
Miniatur Wunderland has been featured here
before. Featuring areas modelled on real life attractions, it also is home to the fictional town of
Knuffingen where the 200,000 mini-inhabitants are very much looking forward to the opening of their new
airport.
[more inside]
posted by jontyjago
on Feb 12, 2011 -
15 comments
Reconnaissance will outlive the U-2, but there will always be a divot in the hearts of those who have seen the curvature of the earth, the stars seemingly close enough to touch, and known the satisfaction of having completed a mission with the Dragon Lady.
Former U-2 pilot and military correspondent
Cholene Espinoza writes a lovely adieu to these beautiful,
difficult-to-fly aircraft, as well as a requiem for the era of human pilots for surveillance, giving way now to
UAVs and other remote-control drones. The U-2 is, amazingly, still in service, but apparently soon to be grounded --
or not -- half-a-century after
Francis Gary Powers' little Cold War
incident. [
Previously]
posted by chavenet
on May 12, 2010 -
36 comments
Early in the days of
exploration of Antarctica, Australian geologist
Douglas Mawson turned down an invitation to join Robert Falcon Scott's
Terra Nova Expedition in 1910 (
Cool Antarctica previously). Instead, Mawson lead his own expedition, the
Australasian Antarctic Expedition (December 1911 to December 1913), an expedition to chart the 2000-mile coastline directly south of Australia, one of the least-visited parts of the continent throughout the early years of Antarctic exploration.
The group's efforts and activities are well documented, and many remnants of the expedition remain on Antarctica.
The conservation of Mawson's Huts is now an ongoing effort from
Association of Australasian Palaeontologists (AAP)
Mawson's Huts Foundation. While most efforts were focused on the recovery and treatment of artifacts inside the main hut, the group also searched for the
Vickers (
Aviation)
monoplane that was modified to become an "air tractor", or motorized sledge. The remains of the plane were last seen in 1975.
Now the plane has been found, thanks to an exceptionally low tide and a bit of luck.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Jan 5, 2010 -
11 comments
A
Presidential Boeing 747 along with two fighter planes continuously circled jarringly close to the tops of buildings in Lower Manhattan and Jersey City this morning. From the ground it looked as though a plane had been hijacked again, and the Air Force was attempting to force it down.
Panic ensued.
Another terrorist attack?
No, just a
top secret photo op. [more inside]
posted by stagewhisper
on Apr 27, 2009 -
207 comments
Airphoto North America ― Jim Wark is an aerial photographer who specializes in capturing unusual landscape and cultural images of North and Central America. The plane used is a small high-wing, bush type (an Aviat Husky) with a large side opening for unobstructed shooting, and with the capability of operating out of small rough areas. A full complement of camping gear and provisions are always on board so that remote sites can be used as operating bases.
posted by netbros
on May 12, 2008 -
13 comments
On Nov 22, 1968, exactly 39 years ago, on a reasonably clear, uneventful day, a new
JAL DC-8 descended toward the SFO airport. The landing was so well executed that no one was hurt when the pilot landed the plane
into the San Francisco Bay, several miles from the airport. What explanation did 15 year veteran pilot Captain Kohei Asoh give for his botched landing? It was so unusual (especially in this day and age), so refreshingly honest, that it came to be known as the
Asoh Defense. Amazingly, the plane was
recovered, refurbished, and was in service for another 35 years.
posted by eye of newt
on Nov 22, 2007 -
50 comments
Here's a seemingly simple physics problem: an airplane taxis in one direction on a moving conveyor belt going the opposite direction. Can the plane take off?
The debate rages on and on and on....
posted by zardoz
on Sep 29, 2007 -
248 comments
The
Zephyr, a solar powered plane, has smashed the record for the
longest duration un-manned flight, staying aloft with engines running for 54 hours. This was just a test run at the US military White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, according to the UK developers, "You ain't seen nothing yet". Meanwhile in Switzerland, development continues on the
Solar Impulse, which has a goal of flying around the world, manned(!), by 2010.
posted by stbalbach
on Sep 11, 2007 -
11 comments
I now know what to do in case I ever got stuck on an airplane that's not going anywhere- organize and stage a revolt, like the passengers of Continental flight 1669.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero
on Aug 16, 2007 -
82 comments
Many Mefi members have wondered about how they should get from their private island to friends' private islands. Finally,
SeaFalcon provides an answer. They have a built a wonderful vehicle that exploits
ground effects to provide a rapid, efficient way to island hop.
via
posted by sien
on Jun 14, 2007 -
39 comments
Snakes on a Base! In the wake of today's announcement that Raul Castro will be 'temporarily' taking power in Cuba while Big Brother (did I say that?) has an operation for some GI bleeding, The Smoking Gun has published some declassified Spec Ops planning cover sheets from the 60s and 70, listing plans to destabilize Cuba. Operation Bingo, on page 3, is especially amusing.
posted by baylink
on Aug 1, 2006 -
15 comments
Bunny versus Airbus A380. The bunny was on the runway as the A380 came in for a landing, but managed to avoid getting pancaked by bolting as the behemoth decelerated. We salute you, Runway Bunny.
posted by brownpau
on Jun 19, 2006 -
146 comments
Built at
Lockheed's secret
Skunk Works facility for use by the
Central Intelligence Agency, and in service since 1950s, the
U2 spy plane has seen service all over the world (or, at the very least,
70,000 feet above it). It has shown us what both our friends and enemies were doing,
helping us avert wars, and in at least one occasion, almost
causing one itself. Today, just over 45 years since
Francis Gary Powers fell from the sky into the Soviet Union, the United States Air Force has announced from Baghdad that yet another Dragon Lady has
fallen from the sky in an undisclosed location in Southwestern Asia.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow
on Jun 22, 2005 -
37 comments
