Fly-on-the-Wall Spy Drone

That buzzing may not be a fly at all. It may be the most advanced tool being used to observe and report on activity.

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/04/29/stanford-researchers-unveil-fly-on-the-wall-spy-drone/19459430/

(April 29) -- Imagine a tiny drone that can quietly fly up to a building, land on the wall and then stay put for days, feeding video or audio back to its operators. A recently released video of just such a perching drone demonstrates that this futuristic surveillance scenario may not be that far away.The micro unmanned aerial vehicle, created by engineers from Stanford's biomimetics lab, works by using "feet" equipped with tiny spines that can grab onto rough surfaces, such as brick or concrete. In fact, a perching spy drone is exactly what the Stanford engineers had in mind when they first envisioned this concept.

In a white paper describing the drone, Stanford professor Mark R. Cutkosky and graduate student Alexis Lussier Desbiens wrote that this work could lead to "a flock of small, unmanned air vehicles [that] flies quietly into a city, maneuvering among the buildings." The tiny drones would seek out "places to land, not on streets or rooftops but on the sides of buildings and under the eaves, where they can cling, bat- or insect-like, in relative safety and obscurity."

Long-endurance miniature drones would certainly be an attractive technology for the military or intelligence community. A recent article in The Washington Post says the CIA was operating a pizza-platter-sized surveillance drone in Pakistan that could stay aloft for more than a day -- a claim that, if true, greatly exceeds the endurance of known fielded micro UAVs, which typically fly for less than an hour.

Heads up, it is coming

http://www.space.com/nightsky/space-shuttle-landing-skywatching-100418.html

The shuttle is scheduled to enter Earth's atmosphere over the central Pacific Ocean at 8:17 a.m. EDT and should be visible over Montana about a half hour before landing in Cape Canaveral, NASA flight director Brian Lunney told Reuters.

It is only the second time since the 2003 Columbia disaster that a NASA space shuttle will descend across the continental U.S. -- and it is likely the last time before NASA retires its shuttle fleet later this year, according to a Space.com report.

Could be your last chance to catch the shuttle coming in to land.

A Heritage Flight, P-51 Mustang on top

http://www.usafa.af.mil/photos/mediagallery.asp?galleryID=7076

A Heritage Flight consisting of a P-51 Mustang, A-10A Thunderbolt and F-15 Eagle flies over Falcon Stadium, Colo., during Falcons pregame ceremonies for the Air Force-San Diego State game Sept. 26, 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo/Bill Evans)

Jets are the future but I still love those old piston driven prop airplanes.

Flying the zip line to school

School run: Nine-year-old Daisy Mora makes the trip every day to get to lessons, with her five-year-old brother riding in a cloth bag


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1259691/The-children-ride-40mph-zip-wire-quarter-mile-high-to-school.html



No need for a machine to let you fly with the birds. These people have a most simple and efficient means of transportation.

Virgin space is one step closer

The Video of the Week for this week shows the first flight of White Night Two while carrying the Virgin Galactic "Enterprise" spacecraft. The flight took place just three days ago and is the latest step toward operating commercial passenger space flights in 2011.

Gadling was there when they unveiled SpaceShipTwo under very stormy skies. But they couldn't have had a more beautiful day to accomplish this test flight. I can't imagine what it's like to sit in the far right side of the giant aircraft. Landing just a few feet from the right side of the runway must take some getting used to. According to a comment on the video, the left side may be used to take observers of the launch in the future. This could be nearly as exciting as going on a launch itself.

As for the experience of travelling weightless over California for a few minutes, would you join the over 330 people who have put down deposits on the $200,000 flights? Virgin Galactic claims another 80,000 people are on the waiting list.

So, if money were no object, would you take a ride?

B17 Flying Fortress Bomber still flys

World War II bomber offers rides over French Valley Local News PE.com Southern California News News for Inland Southern California

The B-17 Flying Fortress, nicknamed Aluminum Overcast, made a landing Tuesday at French Valley Airport, just north of Murrieta. The plane was restored in 1983 by the Experimental Aircraft Association, which now tours the country with the aircraft offering rides.

The B17 Flying Fortress is the instrument that changed the tide of war over Europe. It is a shame that more of them were not preserved after the war. This one sold for$750 as surplus equipment.

Discovery launch Video

NASA High Definition Video

Only three more shuttle launch missions on the schedule. If you want to see one of these you need to make plans soon.

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html

Did anyone notice the Discovery launch?

Image above: Seated are Commander Alan Poindexter (right) and Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. From the left (standing) are Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Naoko Yamazaki and Clayton Anderson. Image credit: NASA

Mission: STS-131Space Shuttle: Discovery Primary Payload: Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module Launch Date: April 5, 2010 Launch Time: 6:21 a.m. EDTLaunch Pad: 39A Landing: April 18, 2010Landing Time: 8:29 a.m. EDTLanding Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.Mission Duration: 13 daysInclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Commander Alan Poindexter will lead the STS-131 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery. Jim Dutton will serve as the pilot.

Mission Specialists are Rick Mastracchio, Clay Anderson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Discovery will deliver a multi-purpose logistics module filled with science racks to be transferred to laboratories on the International Space Station. The mission will feature three spacewalks.

Mastracchio and Anderson will conduct three six-and-a-half-hour-long spacewalks on flight days 5, 7 and 9 to replace an ammonia tank assembly, retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior and switch out a rate gyro assembly on the S0 element of the station’s truss. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station.

Have you notice how fast the public looses interest in space when everything goes smoothly? It is only those times when the wheels fall off that we are drawn back to the history that is being played out before our eyes.

Want to learn to fly?

http://wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=77743

If you have ever looked up at an airplane and just watched it go out of sight. Now would be a good time to put yourself into the machine that can take you over the horizon.

Flying commercial is nothing like flying in a small airplane where you see all the controls. Just to be honest the view is much better. The things on the ground are not just little specks that you see from 35,000 ft.

Just keep in mind that if a news reporter or a 16 year old teenager can do it. Odds are that you will have no problem.

Want to Learn to Fly? Now's the TimePosted Thursday, April 1, 2010 ; 10:03 PM View Comments Post CommentUpdated Thursday, April 1, 2010; 11:55 PM

The site features 3,500 flight school locations nationwide.
Story by Susan SullivanEmail Bio Other Stories by Susan Sullivan

FAIRMONT -- Ever since the Wright Brothers had their first successful flight in 1903, people have wanted to take on the challenge themselves - and learn to fly.
But did you know that you can learn to fly right here in North Central West Virginia?
We checked LetsGoFlying.com and found lessons at AC Express, Inc. at Fairmont Municipal Airport.

“From the very beginning, we try to get people involved in flying the airplane,” said Flight Instructor Mike Crouse. “It starts from the time you taxi out here to the end of the runway, so we let you get a feel for the rudders, and we taxi out, we take off, climb up, the instructors sitting right beside you, and it's very hands on from the very beginning.”

During the introductory lesson, which costs about $99, Crouse covered all the basics for a curious student.

Let's Go Flying sports a database of more than 3500 flight schools nationwide - so it's easy to find one close.

Most flight schools on the website offer up to 50 percent off introductory flight prices.
“It's sponsored by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. They're a non-profit organization that represents over 415 thousand pilots around the United States.”

Crouse says it seems everyone is desperate to enjoy the nice weather after this wild winter, and inquiries for the flight program come several times a day.

“Everyone from people who are stopping by and the people we've trained in the past - high school kids, college kids, people working 40 hours a week, people of all ages, retired, it really doesn't matter,” said Crouse. “Everyone can enjoy aviation.”

If our introductory flight looks like fun to you, click the links below for more information.
Related Links: - Let'sGoFlying.com

So what did you do on your sixteenth birthday?

http://www.theunion.com/article/20100401/NEWS/100339927/1001&parentprofile=1053

We all have milestones in our life. For most of us at sixteen it is getting a car driver's licence. Just think how far you could have gone on that first drive if you had been flying.

If “routine” describes someone's birthday, it probably wasn't all that great.

“Routine,” though, was the way Grass Valley's Bob Donahoe wanted son Chris' 16th to go. The two spent Sunday morning practicing for Chris to earn his pilot's license before father stepped onto the tarmac and sent his son into the sky alone for the first time.

“It was kind of a non-event,” Bob said of his son's successful solo flight at the Yuba County Airport in Marysville. Chris took off, landed, repeated the process and shook his dad's hand afterward. Both walked away from the two-seat Cessna 172 F happy.

Bob, a commercial pilot, said routine is preferable to any other outcome. “In aviation, we want every day to be uneventful.”

By earning his wings, Chris joins a long list of Donahoes who fly.

“All the males in my family have been pilots. My dad flies, my grandfather was a pilot, I have a cousin who flies for the Air Force, an uncle...”Chris said. “I've always known it's what I wanted to do.”

He also joins a small number of young pilots.

Sandy Mills, who owns Alpine Aviation, a flight school out of the Nevada County Airport, said most new pilots are older who have the time and resources for flying lessons.

“With the really young kids it's hard because they've already got studies,” Mills said. “It's like taking a college class on top of what you're already taking.”

Chris, a sophomore at Marysville High School, trains with his dad and said he was driven to get his license as a way to strengthen his application the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he hopes to attend college. The school requires prospective students to meet rigorous academic standards as well as participate in a number of extracurriculars.In addition to following his dad's instruction, Chris participates in the Civil Air Patrol at Beale Air Force Base, a cadet program for aspiring pilots. “I'd like to fly any kind of fighter for the Air Force,” Chris said. “Hopefully an F-15 or A-10.”