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Aviation, Social Mobility, and the American Dream
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Amazon, Google, Others Developing Private Air-Traffic Control for
Drones
 Website visitor Dan T. wrote to ask that
I scan and post this article, which appeared in the 1962 Annual edition of American
Modeler magazine, on
making fiberglass cowls. It is a variation on vacuum bagging that exploits the even
tension applied by the elasticity of a rubber balloon. Although limited to relatively
small forms, it has the advantage of low cost and complexity, and it eliminates the potential
nuisance of the mold release agent not being fully coated and causing separation issues.
This method will probably not work too well with shapes that need localized indented
areas more than 1/32" to maybe 1/16" deep (like cooling fins). It should do fine with
rivet and panel line details. The article did not originally make ...
 "Recent research demonstrated that, although most
wing shapes used today create turbulent wake vortices, wing geometrics can be designed
to reduce or eliminate wingtip vortices almost entirely. In the study, the vortex and
wake characteristics were computed for three classic wing designs: the elliptic wing,
and wing designs developed in classic studies by the researchers. It's common to see
line-shaped clouds in the sky, known as contrails, trailing behind the engines of a jet
airplane. What's not always visible is a vortex coming off of the tip of each wing -
like two tiny horizontal tornadoes - leaving behind a turbulent wake ..."
 "By
today's standards, warbirds are clunky, noisy, dirty, inefficient and expensive to operate,
not to mention almost completely impractical. Despite those drawbacks, owning and operating
a warbird can be thrilling. Flying an ex-military airplane demands pilots update their
flying experience to ready themselves for the challenges of handling an airplane that’s
often configured with conventional landing gear and connected to power plants that create
sizable amounts of torque. Most warbird pilots told us they began their warbird experience
by logging time in either a T-6 or Stearman ..."
 Rosie the Riveter is perhaps most recognized symbol
of wartime aircraft production, having come about in World War II (although women
also built trucks, tanks, guns, sewed uniforms, made boots,...). She is also symbolic
of women entering
the workforce en masse. After WWII, many women went back to being housewives and
raising families with war-weary servicemen looking to resume peaceful lives. The respite
didn't last long, as the Korean conflict began within a week of the time the first atom
bomb was dropped on Japan in August of 1945. The U.S. entered the fray in fall of 1950
when North Korea invaded South Korea. Once again, America's women answered ...
 "The startup is building short-haul aircraft for
Boeing and JetBlue that combine gas turbines and batteries. In the century that's elapsed
since the dawn of commercial aviation, air transportation has become pretty well refined.
Yet paradoxically, it's easier to fly halfway around the world than to travel to a nearby
city. As a result, many people shun air travel when taking short trips. ..."
 "Virgin Galactic successfully launched and landed
its Unity spacecraft by rocket power, completing its first powered flight in almost four
years. Richard Branson's space company shared a photo of the SpaceShipTwo model spacecraft
as it blasted into the air above the Mojave Air and Space Port before going supersonic
and landing safely. "VSS Unity completed her first supersonic, rocket-powered flight this
morning in Mojave, California. Another great test flight, another ..."
 After seeing an article titled, "High School Aviation:
California Style," from the June 1968 issue of American Aircraft Modeler magazine,
website visitor Janice H. sent me a copy of this 1972 document titled, "A
Status Report of Aviation and Aerospace Education in California," by Earl W.
Sams, California State Department of Education, Sacramento. Janice is working to get
the Anderson Valley High School in Boonville, California, to create a memorial to the
program and its administrators and students ...
 Competitive model boating was a popular sport
in the 1960's as radio control systems became more affordable and reliable. Of course
if you have a glitch in your radio with a boat, the consequences are usually much less
that with an airplane. This report in a 1962 edition of American Modeler magazine
tells of one California model boating club that lost its "field" (a park lake) due to
"excessive and unnecessary noise." Yep, it was happening way back then. On the other
hand, it also reports on a club in New Jersey where the parks department constructed
a pier for them to use. As usual, your fortunes depend on the preferences and sentiments
of government bureaucrats. Many people these days are using brushless motor setups in
their ...
 "NASA has given Lockheed Martin a $247.5M contract
to build a
supersonic airplane that might help speed up air travel. The Concorde
was fast. Indeed, it was capable of speeds up to just over twice the speed of sound (Mach
2.04 or 1,354 mph) and flying from New York to Paris took just over 3.5 hours. But that
speed came with issues, the biggest of which were the loud sonic booms created by the
Concorde when flying faster than the speed of sound. The FAA banned overland supersonic
commercial flights in 1973 because of the noise and complaints created by sonic booms.
This meant supersonic flight was only allowed over oceans ..."
 Stepan Dokoupil and Patrik Svida founded
3DLabPrint in 2015 in Brno, Czech
Republic. Since that time, they have literally revolutionized flyable model airplanes.
The 3D-printed models like this Spitfire are utterly amazing. There are currently 14
scale designs including a P-38, P-51D, F4U, P-47, BF-109, MIG-15, and PT-17, plus a trainer.
The guys at FliteTest put together this video and one for the
P-38 Lightning.
You'll find many others on YouTube.
  Today, the House of Representatives passed the
FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (H.R.4), a long-term reauthorization
of the FAA. We are happy to share that Section 336, also known as the Special Rule for
Model Aircraft, is included in this bill with meaningful refinements that we supported
to help make it stronger. We especially want to thank the thousands of members who participated
in our Call to Action in the last few weeks to let Congress know the importance of protecting
our hobby. Your efforts during this critical time have made a significant impact. While
much of what we fought for was included in this bill ...
 Typical of the era, this
Art Chester
Racer control line model is very curvaceous and ruggedly constructed. Modelers of
the day enjoyed crafting models of full-size airplanes, often requiring months of building
an finishing. For many, it was their only means of participating in the exciting realm
of aerospace - at least until old enough to earn the money required to engage in full-scale
aviation. Hobbyists lived the lives of their pilot heroes vicariously through models.
In the time between then (1950's) and now, private aviation has gone through a cycle
of being relatively expensive to own and/or fly airplanes, to a time ...
 "Engineers at German automation giant Festo have
unveiled a flying semi-autonomous robot based on one of nature's most unusual mammals:
the
flying fox. The robot was developed by the group's Bionic Learning Network, a cross-disciplinary
group of scientists and engineers tasked with developing a handful of concepts each year,
in order to explore concepts that may help shape manufacturing in the future. The firm
typically unveils the fruits of these labours ahead of each year's Hannover Messe. Previous
creations have included robot ..."
 "British businesses will soon be able to compete
in the commercial space race using UK spaceports following the passing of the
Space Industry
Bill. Receiving Royal Assent on 15 March 2018, the bill is hoped to build on Britain’s
existing expertise in the space sector by unlocking a new era of space innovation, exploration
and investment. It is envisaged that British businesses and institutions will be able
to launch small satellites and scientific experiments from UK spaceports, which are also
expected to facilitate future developments ..."
 This is the complete set of
Peanuts Skediddlers, sold by Mattel.
Linus is extremely difficult to find, and when you do, he typically sells for $200 or
more. If you find a Linus Skediddler with the original box, expect to pay $400. Over
time, our (Melanie and me) Peanuts collection of memorabilia has grow from the few items
she had left over from her girlhood to complete sets. Everything was gotten via eBay
auctions. It took a lot of patience to be able to get good quality items at an affordable
...
 Air Trails - Hobbies for Young Men magazine
covered a wide variety of subjects of both model and full-scale.
All things fast and/or exotic were of great interest to America's youth in the day,
and everything was fair game for modeling. Lockheed's now long-famous C-130 Hercules
was just making its maiden flight as a prototype YC-130 in 1954 when this edition was
published. Grumman's F9F-9 Tiger jet fighter became the F11F Tiger while the F9F designation
became the significantly different-looking F9F Cougar - no confusion there. The Cessna 620,
a 4-engine version of their successful 310 (get it? - 2 x 310 = 620), never made it past
the prototype phase ...
 "Pilot
Frances 'Fran' Bera, who accumulated more than 25,000 flight hours,
ferried surplus military aircraft after World War II, set a world altitude record, and
taught and examined pilots for more than seven decades, died February 10 in San Diego,
California, at age 94. According to recognition posted on the Smithsonian National Air
and Space Museum's Wall of Honor, Bera's aviation feats included a tryout for the astronaut
program, flying as a chief pilot for aircraft manufacturers Beechcraft and Piper, numerous
air races, and more than 3,000 check rides as an FAA ..."
 This thankful
commemoration of the 20th anniversary of
U.S. Air Mail service from Burgess Battery Company, which appeared
in a 1941 issue of QST magazine, encompasses most of my major lifetime interests. First
and foremost, from my earliest memories, is a love of airplanes (and all things that
fly for that matter). A DC−3 (my favorite multi-engine propeller plane) is shown in one
of the photos as is a Ford Trimotor, which Melanie and I have flown on. Next comes the
electrical, electronics, and radio communications aspects, which encompasses the aircraft
wiring ...
 This is the January 18, 1942, "Flyin' Jenny" comic
strip. The Baltimore Sun newspaper, published not far from where I grew up near
Annapolis, Maryland, carried "Flyin' Jenny" from the late 1930s until the strip ended
in the mid 1940s, so I saved a couple dozen from there. The first one I downloaded has
a publication date of December 7, 1941 - that date "which will live in infamy," per President
Roosevelt. Many Americans were receiving word over the radio of the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor while reading this comic at the breakfast table. I expect that soon there
will be World War II ...
 Ah, the simpler times when enjoyment, competition,
and industry could be found on a
slot car
race track in a musty basement. Pre-fab models were rare in the day, and those that could
be bought couldn't hold a candle to those hand crafted by young men like the ones in
these photos. It was not a pastime only for the younger set, though. Older guys with
metal lathes and fine crafting tools created museum quality masterpieces ...
Author:
Kirt Blattenberger
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