Eric Palmer blog: A-29 Super Tucano selected by USAF

Eric Palmer blog: A-29 Super Tucano selected by USAF: The A-29 Super Tucano has been selected for the USAF light air support mission.

UPDATE: January 5, 2011: The USAF has sent out a stop order on the recent contract awarded to Embraer due to legal action brought forth by Hawker Beechcraft. Check out the details in the link below.

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Ref.

1. bizjournals.com. "Air Force stops Jacksonville military plane contract" by Sarah Mueller. January 4, 2011. ( http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2012/01/04/air-force-stops-work-on-the-embraer.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+vertical_46+%28Software+Industry+News%29 ).

Victoria Principal is Future Virgin Galactic tourist!

Best known for her role as Pamela Ewing on the TV drama show "Dallas" from 1978 to 1987, Ms Victoria Principal will also be one of the future space tourists for Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tour service.

Now 61 years old, Victoria Principal is in training so that she can make the space trip. No date has been given yet as to when the first tourists will take flight.

In the article, the news about her being a future space tourist took second place to the news that she would not be a part of the big Dallas reboot to take place on TNT in the summer of 2012. The other actors of that series that will be reprising their roles. Larry Hagman as JR Ewing, Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing. Linda Grey will also be returning to the series as well.

The show will now focus on their children - now all grown up. Jessie Metcalfe will be playing Bobby and Pam Ewing's son Christopher.

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Ref.

1. Daily Mail. "As Dallas gets a reboot, original cast member Victoria Principal, 61 , proves that some classics really don't get old..." by Amelia Proud. December 26, 2011. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2078562/Dallas-star-Victoria-Principal-61--looks-youthful-Malibu.html). images are from same article.

Merry Christmas 2011

To every one who has visited this and my other blogs, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Paul Allen's new Stratolaunch Systems Endeavour

Billionaire Paul Allen and Burt Rutan announched a new venture for manned space travel. It will be the largest aircraft ever built based off of the carrier/space booster plan profile that the White Knight/SpaceShipOne was.

Broken down, you have the giant carrier aircraft which will built by Rutan's Scale Composites. The other part of the system is the multi-stage booster to be built by Elon Musk's SpaceX. The Mating and integration system that can handle up to 490,000 pounds will be built by Dynetics.

Quote: Stratolaunch Systems will bring airport-like operations to the launch of commercial and government payloads and, eventually, human missions. Plans call for a first flight within five years. The air-launch-to-orbit system will mean lower costs, greater safety, and more flexibility and responsiveness than is possible today with ground-based systems. Stratolaunch's quick turnaround between launches will enable new orbital missions as well as break the logjam of missions queued up for launch facilities and a chance at space. Rutan, who has joined Stratolaunch Systems as a board member, said he was thrilled to be back working with Allen. "Paul and I pioneered private space travel with SpaceShipOne, which led to Virgin Galactic's commercial suborbital SpaceShipTwo Program. end quote.

The new carrier aircraft if huge. It will have a wingspan of 380 feet which is longer than that of a football field. Quoting Burt Rutan: "You should never show this airplane, or a model of it, without right next to it, showing a plane that we know how big it is, like a little 747." end quote.

The carrier will have six turbofn engines - the type use of Boeing 747s. It will have a take-off weight of 1.2 million pounds and it will need a runway of 12,000 feet long to get off the ground. More than likely, it will have to take off from the Space Shuttle runway at the Kennedy Space Center.

Initially, Stratolaunch Systems will focus on cargo flights, but human flights quote: "will follow after safety, reliability, and operability are demonstrated."

First flight should take place before the end of the decade. Also, if you have problems viewing the video, just click on it to watch it on YouTube.

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Ref.

1. NSS Blog. "Stratolaunch Systems: New Space Launch System Announced by Paul Allen" December 13, 2011. (http://blog.nss.org/?p=3167).

2. cnet.com. "Paul Allen's Stratolaunch: Grand plan for next-gen space travel" by Daniel Terdiman. December 13, 2011. (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-57342415-52/paul-allens-stratolaunch-grand-plan-for-next-gen-space-travel/). image from article.

3. Stratolaunch website (http://www.stratolaunch.com/)

4. New Space Journal.com. "Paul Allen to unveil Stratolaunch Systems today" December 13, 2011. (http://www.newspacejournal.com/2011/12/13/paul-allen-to-unveil-stratolaunch-systems-today/).

UFO Seen Over Moscow Protest Rally

A recent daytime UFO sighting of what appears to this blogger to be of a helicopter-like drone, was seen at a political protest rally in Bolotnaya Square; in the Russian Capital of Moscow this month.

The video link here ( http://bcove.me/7ohwxeld ) and some of the screen captures were posted online by the Daily Mail recently. Poor picture quality and the videos taken by two individuals that the Daily Mail was able to reach are of poor quality too.

I am guessing both videos were taken by cellphone cameras. Hint to future video takers. Cellphone cameras do have a ZOOM in function if you will just take the time when you have your UFO moment to use it!

In the pictures, the object appears to have legs or other blade-like objects sticking out from the central body. Witnesses to this sighting state that they did not hear any rotor blade or engine sounds from this object.

The protesters were voicing their opposition to Vladimir Putin's United Russia party's contentious victory in elections the week before when the UFO sighting took place. And those present became more concern with the UFO instead of the main reason they were there.

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Ref.

1. Daily Mail. "Russian protesters distracted during Moscow demo against Putin... by 'UFO' flying over Kremlin" By Chris Parsons. December 13, 2011. ( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2073132/Russian-protesters-distracted-UFO-Moscow-demo-Vladimir-Putin.html ). images from same article.

70 Years After The World Changed for America!

This day marks the 70th Anniversary of the Japanese attack on the US military in the Hawaiian Islands and Pearl Harbor specifically.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta will be placing a wreath at the Navy Memorial today. In a message released yesterday, Panetta said, Pearl Harbor survivors represent the best of America and serve as role models for the current generation that responded to another deadly surprise attack.

In another quote by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta: "In the memories of that day, we continue to draw determination and conviction to protect our freedoms, to sacrifice for our fellow citizens, and to serve a purpose larger than self. You, the survivors of Pearl Harbor and of the war that followed, embody this conviction, this determination to raise high the torch of freedom and sacrifice.”

The generation that live and fought through those times are dying off now. But their stories are legend. Every future Pearl Harbor remembrance becomes even more poignant with the passage of time.

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Ref.

1. Eavesdropping by John Eaves(http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/december-7-1941/).

2. US DOD. "Panetta to Honor Pearl Harbor Dead, Salutes Attack Survivors" by Jim Garamone. December 6, 2011. (http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66371).

3. Personal photo from 2007 trip to Hawaii.

Mysterious Debris Crashes Through Plymouth Warehouse Roof « CBS Boston

Mysterious Debris Crashes Through Plymouth Warehouse Roof « CBS Boston .

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Ref. Photo Credit: Kathy Curran.

Pits add to Stonehenge mystery

Pits add to Stonehenge mystery

Earth Similarity Index Released

A new paper has been released in the journal Astrobiology about how habitable nearby worlds would be. There are actually two indexes. First one is called: Earth Similarity Index (ESI) and the second one is the Planetary Habitability Index (PHI).

The most habitable alien worlds discovered so far that could harbour extraterrestrial life. Worlds such as Saturn's moon Titan and the exoplanet Gliese 581-g which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.

Co-author Dr. Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University said the following: "The first question is whether Earth-like conditions can be found on other worlds, since we know empirically that those conditions could harbour life. The second question is whether conditions exist on exoplanets that suggest the possibility of other forms of life, whether known to us or not."

The ESI rating comes from several factors such as size, density, and distance from the parent star. The PHI looks at different set of factors like if the world has a rocky or frozen surface, has an atmosphere or a magnetic field. PHI also takes into account chemistry such as if organic compounds are present. And if liquid solvents are available for vital chemical reactions.

Earth Similarity Index (ESI)

Earth - 1.00

Gliese 581g - 0.89

Gliese 581d - 0.74

Gliese 581c - 0.70

Mercury - 0.60Mars - 0.70

HD 69830 d - 0.60

55 Cnc c - 0.56

Moon - 0.56

Gliese 581e - 0.53

The Gliese 581 system has been well studied by astronomers and comprises four or five planets orbiting a red dwarf star. Gliese 581g, Gliese 581d, and Gliese 581c come is first, second, and third, place on the ESI after Earth.

The next exo-planet on the list is HD 69830d. This is a Neptune-size world located in the constellation Puppis because it lies in what is known as the "Goldilocks Zone." This is a area around a parent star where surface temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold for life.

Planetary Habitability Index (PHI)

Titan - 0.64

Mars - 0.59

Europa - 0.49

Gliese 581g - 0.45

Gliese 581d - 0.43

Gliese 581c - 0.41

Jupiter - 0.37

Saturn - 0.37

Venus - 0.37

Enceladus - 0.35

The PHI produced different results with Saturn's moon Titan scoring at the top with a 0.64 followed by Mars (0.59) and Jupiter's moon Europa (0.47) for its subsurface water ocean that is thought to be heated by tidal flexing.

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Ref.

1. BBC. "Most liveable alien worlds ranked" by ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15863549 ).

2. Liebertonline. Astrobiology > A Two-Tiered Approach to Assessing the Habitability of Exoplanets. ( http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2010.0592 ).

Photographer captures stunning images of UFOs above Hatfield - News - Welwyn Hatfield Times

Photographer captures stunning images of UFOs above Hatfield - News - Welwyn Hatfield Times

China's Gigantic Desert Puzzles - Why?

There has been arecent discovery made on Google Maps. In the middle of a Chinese desert, there are intricate networks of lines in the desert.

What are they made of, metal of white plastic material or something else. Or the lines could have been made by digging in the dirt.

The mystery location is in Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Gansu. Which is north of the Shule River which crosses the Tibetan Plateau over to the west of the Kumtag Desert.

These lines are huge, viewable from outer space-like a targetting grid. Some even look like the American HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research) project. HAARP is located near Gakona, Alaska, and is funded by the US Air Force, the US Navy, DARPA, and the University of Alaska.

One of these "structures" is about 18 miles in length.

In another photo, the Chinese built a 1:20th scale model of the disputed border region between China and India. A terrain model that is .7 by 1 kilometer sand table to play wargames with 1:20th scale tanks???

So what is really going on here? I don't think we are going to like the answers no matter what is really going on here.

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Ref.

1. Gizmodo.com. "" by Jesus Diaz. November 13, 2011. (http://gizmodo.com/5859081/why-is-china-building-these-gigantic-structures-in-the-middle-of-the-desert).

2. slashgear.com. "" by Shane McGlaun. November 14, 2011. (http://www.slashgear.com/massive-networks-of-stripes-appear-in-chinese-desert-14194983/).

US Navy Marine Corps are Buying Decommissioned British Harriers

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/11/navy-marine-buying-decommissioned-british-harriers-111311w/

There's no UFO cover-up says the White House

The White House has responded to two petitions asking the government to acknowledge formally that extraterrestrial beings have interacted with the US government.

Quote: The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race," Phil Larson from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy reported on the WhiteHouse.gov website."In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public’s eye."

The msnbc news article reporting this says that hundreds of military and government agency witnesses have confirm the ET/US government interaction with their testimony. They also report that opinion polls show that 50% of the American people believe that there are, or have been a alien presence on earth. And that more than 80% believe that the US government is not telling the truth about the phenomenon.

One of the groups that went out promoting the petitions, The Paradigm Research Group; stated that the response from a "low-level staffer" was unacceptable and that it would begin a new petition campaign.

The White House, as a result of this petition campaign, has raised the bar for online signing to petitions before they will respond. What once required 5,000 online signatures within 30 days now requires 25,000.

And this blogger is NOT surprise by the answer the White House delivered. In my opinion, First Contact will have to take place OUTSIDE the boarders of the United States of America in another country. And even then, I doubt that our government will be forth coming with any details from previous contacts with ET since the end of World War Two.

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Ref.

1. msnbc.com. "White House: There's no sign of E.T. or UFO cover-up" by Nancy Atkinson. ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45176460/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.Tra0j_QUq7s ).

2. image of UFO from old British tv series "UFO"

Ghost Hunting Theories: Ghost Sex: Seriously??

Ghost Hunting Theories: Ghost Sex: Seriously??: Ok. Something to fill in for the paranormal section for this blog.

Another reference for this is ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/ohio-house-haunted-by-sex-obsessed-ghosts_n_1070127.html ).

The plane that will change the experince of flying lives up to its promise | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

The plane that will change the experince of flying lives up to its promise | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Huff Post vs USAF over UFOs

The Huffington Post discovered a referrence to UFOs in a 2008 United States Air Force document - and wrote about it. Now, this week, that USAF document has been "updated" and there is no mention of UFOs again.

The doc in question is Air Force Instruction 10-206. It advises pilots, radar operators, and other Air Force personnel on what they should do if they encounter any unknown strange objects, i.e. UFOs. Now in the 2011 version, the reference to UFOs has been dropped.

Just for the record. Project Blue Book was stopped in 1969.

As early as September 2011, USAF personnel were advised to note the following information about any UFO... quote: "altitude, direction of travel, speed, description of flight path and maneuvers, what first called attention to the object, how long was the object visible and how did the object disappear?"

Eyes in the sky and on the ground were commanded to treat a UFO as they would if they had seen a missile, hostile aircraft or unidentified submarine. end quote.

For more information, please read the entire article on Huffington Post. "Air Force UFO Rules Vanish After Huffington Post Inquiry" by Lee Speigel. OCtober 19, 2011.

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Ref.

1. Huffington Post. "Air Force UFO Rules Vanish After Huffington Post Inquiry" by Lee Speigel. OCtober 19, 2011. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/19/air-force-deletes-ufo-rep_n_982128.html#s283323&title=UFO_Over_Holloman).

Branson opens world's first 'spaceport' in US

Branson opens world's first 'spaceport' in US

Armed Aerial Scout 72X Helicopter Readied For Competitive Fly Off Demonstration

Armed Aerial Scout 72X Helicopter Readied For Competitive Fly Off Demonstration: Armed Aerial Scout 72X (AAS-72X) Arrives At AUSA Convention In anticipation of a competitive flight demonstration.

Boeing Studies X-37B Evolved Crew Derivative | AVIATION WEEK

Boeing Studies X-37B Evolved Crew Derivative | AVIATION WEEK

New Space Venture Could Bring Every City On Earth Within Two Hours Travel

New Space Venture Could Bring Every City On Earth Within Two Hours Travel

NPC Luncheon with Elon Musk | The National Press Club

NPC Luncheon with Elon Musk | The National Press Club

China warns against U.S. F-16 upgrade for Taiwan

China warns against U.S. F-16 upgrade for Taiwan

Reno Air Race Crash - The End of Air Races or Not?

A old World War Two era P-51 Mustang, modified for Air Racing and painted with the number 177 on the sides of the fuselage - crashed at Reno, Neveda. The tragic event took place on Friday, September 16th.

As of the 17th, the death toll has climbed up to 9. More than 50 spectators were injured at the same time.

Jimmy Leeward lost control of his aircraft and it crashed into the crowd on the ground. Mr. Leeward hails from Ocala, Florida. He was 74 years old and a skilled airman.

And now the typical calls to end "anything" that might result in "possible" deaths. But as was stated in that article that I reference this blog post for quote: But all the regulations in the world won't prevent deaths in the event that a competitor plunges into spectators. end quote.

Other than the flying aspect to the National Championship Air Race, there is no difference than any automotive type racing such as Indy or NASCAR.

Another quote from that same article: "When you fly an airplane, there are certain risks just taking off and landing," said Michael Houghton, president and CEO of the Reno Air Races. "When you add the other dimension of racing — it's a fast sport. It's not unlike Indianapolis or NASCAR." end quote.

This blogger thinks that - over time, the Reno Air Races will resume once again next year. And then the year after that, and the year after that.

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Ref.

1. Xfinity.net. "Reno air race has raised alarm in past over danger" by Martin Griffith and Scott Sonner of the AP. September 17, 2011. ( http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20110917/US.Air.Show.Race.Dangers/ ).

2. image with article (AP photo/Grass Valley Union, Tim O'Brien).

3. Xfinity.net "Friends: Pilot in Reno crash was skilled airman" by Martin Griffith and Scott Sonner of the AP. September 17, 2011. (http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20110917/US.Air.Show.Crash.Pilot/ ). photo of Jimmy Leeward by AP Photo/Doug Engle - Star-Banner.

A Super Earth Found 35 Light Years Away

Space.com is reporting that 50 new alien planets - including one "Super" Earth that could support life, has been discovered by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

Sixteen worlds fall into the "Super" Earths category including one specific world in orbit of HD 85512 b. A star in the southern constellation of Vela (the Sail). This world is estimated to be about 3.6 Earth masses and is in the outermost region of the habitable zone of HD 85512 b.

Observations were made with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher instrument, or HARPS. The HARPS spectrograph is part of ESO's 11.8-foot (3.6-meter) telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Quote: "This is the lowest-mass confirmed planet discovered by the radial velocity method that potentially lies in the habitable zone of its star, and the second low-mass planet discovered by HARPS inside the habitable zone,” said exoplanet habitability expert Lisa Kaltenegger, of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany and Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Boston.

"I think we're in for an incredibly exciting time," Kaltenegger told reporters in a briefing today (Sept. 12). "We're not just going out there to discover new continents — we're actually going out there to discover brand new worlds." end quote.

Total confirmed extra solar planets discovered so far is now 564 alien worlds.

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Ref.

1. Space.com. "'Super-Earth,' 1 of 50 Newfound Alien Planets, Could Potentially Support Life" by Denise Chow. September 12, 2011. ( http://www.space.com/12915-habitable-alien-planet-hd-85512b-super-earth.html ). image from same article on Space.com.

Jobs have gone to China, thanks to Obama adviser | islandpacket.com

Jobs have gone to China, thanks to Obama adviser | islandpacket.com

HMS Dragon - A Type 45 Destroyer

I recently came across a posting about the launch of the 4th Type 45 Destroyer-named HMS Dragon. What caught my eye was the painting on both sides of the bow, was a dragon.

Checking out some other websites, HMS Dragon has a 18-meter long Welsh Dragon painted on it's 152 meter length hull when it was launched from BVT shipyard at Govan into the river Clyde on November 17, 2008.

This ship is the fourth of eight planned Type 45 destroyers for the British Royal Navy. This type of vessel is planned as escorts for the new British carrier (yet to be built). The rear flightdeck can operate helicopters up to the size of a Chinook type helicopter. It will normally carry a Lynx or Merlin type helicopter.

It has the latest satellite communication systems and packing the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS). Other missile systems include Surface-toAir (SAM) Sea Vipers. Then smaller Aster 15 and Aster 32 missiles.

As for guns, it has 1 Vickers 4.5 inch and two 20mm Vulcan Phalanx Close-in Weapon systems guns.

Max speed will be about 29 knots and the ship can cruise up to 7000 nautical miles at 18 knots. Crew numbers about 187.

As an added bonus, in my search I came across the Marine Traffic.com website and it showed the current postion of this warship as it was sailing down the Clyde. Pretty cool. In time of war, I hope that the British (or the American) warships are not tracked like this.

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Ref.

1. Armed Forces UK, Navy ( http://www.armedforces.co.uk/navy/listings/l0014.html ).

2. Kincardineshire Observer. "" by . August 27, 2011. ( http://www.kincardineshireobserver.co.uk/news/scottish-headlines/warship_dragon_heads_to_new_home_1_1808760 ).

3. Marine Traffic.com. HMS Dragon ( http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=235053408 ).

Movie Review for Cowboys & Aliens

Daniel Craig changes out of his business suits for his James Bond character and puts on a cowboy hat for a wild ride in the recent movie Cowboys & Aliens.

Craig's character is Jake Lonergan who is an outlaw with amnesia due to contact with the aliens. Along for the ride is Harrison Ford who plays Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde. Your typical powerful, rich cattleman who has the town of Absolution in his back pocket.

Then there is beautiful Ella Swenson, played by Olivia Wide; as the mysterious traveler. Doc, the saloon owner is played by Sam Rockwell.

Now, this blogger never saw or read the comic that this movie is based off of. But I had heard of it and was waiting with baited breath for it to come out. I was not disappointed. For me, it was interesting to see Ford play a bad guy. But you know movie story lines, he moves from bad guy to good guy over the course of the film.

The creatures (aliens) were referred to as "Demons" by the town folk and they were done very nice - scary looking and great CGI work.

I like this movie and I will be looking forward to getting this on DVD when it comes out.

CNN Expert Says Fake Alien Invasion Would Save Our Economy in 18 months! |Latest UFO News| UFO 2011 Sightings|Alien Pictures|2012 Solar Flares|UFO News|Web Bot|UFO

CNN Expert Says Fake Alien Invasion Would Save Our Economy in 18 months! |Latest UFO News| UFO 2011 Sightings|Alien Pictures|2012 Solar Flares|UFO News|Web Bot|UFO

Reaganite Republican: Last Surviving Pilot of 1942's Astonishing 'Doolit...

Reaganite Republican: Last Surviving Pilot of 1942's Astonishing 'Doolit...: "A great and genuine American hero Col William Bower The audacious US Army air attack upon the Japanese home islands in April..."

Mystery Roadkill Prompts DNR Investigation | KSAX.com

Mystery Roadkill Prompts DNR Investigation | KSAX.com

Shuttle Replacement A Duplication of Effort and Years from Reality

Shuttle Replacement A Duplication of Effort and Years from Reality

Sending Astronauts to an Asteroid

Daunting space task -- send astronauts to asteroid

With the space shuttle now history, NASA's next great mission is so audacious, the agency's best minds are wrestling with how to pull it off: Send astronauts to an asteroid in less than 15 years.

State of New Hampshire Erects Historical Marker for Betty and Barney Hill

State of New Hampshire Erects Historical Marker for Betty and Barney Hill

Additional information can be had at the following website ( http://www.kathleen-marden.com/ ).

The End of the Shuttle Era!

A perfect landing to end an era with going by what was reported by the Daily Mail of the United Kingdom. The 135th mission of the shuttle fleet.

Main gear touchdown was at 5:57am with wheels stop about a minute later.

Shuttle sommander Christopher Ferguson radio back to Mission Control in Houston, Texas "Mission complete, Houston." "Job well done, America" was the reply.

Being the type of rascal that I am, Mission Control had to have been reading from a script. They should have just said "Job well done, Atlantis" and be done with it that way.

I have to question those in Washington DC who speak with fork tongue. Out of one side of their mounth, the fools say they are for further space exploration. Then out of the other side, they starve NASA of the funds to keep Manned Spaceflight operational.

There should have been someone to stand up against the current and told President George Bush that we should keep flying the shuttle until its replacement is DECLARED OPERATIONAL!

Maybe in another timeline that happened - but not in ours. Boeing, Space X, and the others will eventualy come online while in the meantime, Russia soaks the United States for every penny it can get out of us to haul a astronaut up to the International Space Station.

This state of affairs is just plain wrong in my opionion.

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Ref.

1. Daily Mail. "Home at last: Atlantis makes historic final landing as Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme comes to a glorious end" July 21, 2011. ( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2017122/Atlantis-landing-Nasas-30-year-space-shuttle-programme-comes-end.html ). images from same news article.

Ethane lakes in a red haze: Titan's uncanny moonscape - space - 11 July 2011 - New Scientist

Ethane lakes in a red haze: Titan's uncanny moonscape - space - 11 July 2011 - New Scientist

NASA to host next-gen mini-shuttle

NASA to host next-gen mini-shuttle

B-17 Liberty Belle Destroyed by Fire in Oswego, Illionis.

Due to computer problems this week - I was unable to post this article when the news arrived. The B-17G known as the "Liberty Belle" was destroyed by fire in Oswego, Illionis; after a emergency landing in a farm field.

This news hit me kinda hard since one of my very first blog postings was about my ride on this B-17G. A total loss. But the crew and passengers were able to get out safely.

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Ref.

1. Daily Hearald.com. "Fire destroys WWII bomber in Oswego" Bob Mudra. ( http://dailyherald.com/article/20110613/news/706139928/photos/AR/ ).

2. Aerospace Technology Paranormal and UFO News post "B-17 Liberty Belle" by Don W. Shanks. July 26, 2008. ( http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com/2008/07/warbirds.html ).

Riverine Forces Make History with Well Deck Certification

Riverine Forces Make History with Well Deck Certification

Space Future Journal - Zubrin's Proposal to Fund "Pathway to the Stars"

Space Future Journal - Zubrin's Proposal to Fund "Pathway to the Stars"

Former Senator Schmitt Proposes Dismantling of NASA and Creation of a New, Deep Space Exploration Agency

Former Senator Schmitt Proposes Dismantling of NASA and Creation of a New, Deep Space Exploration Agency

AT-6 Texan II from Hawker Beechcraft

Surfing the net this morning, found some articles on the AT-6 Texan II/PC-9 today.

Over on The DEW Line by Stephen Trimble, there was this great image of the armed version of the AT-6 Texan II with the sharks' mouth and eyes painted on the nose and it just made the aircraft look awesome! The other picture is from a quick search on Google to find other images of the AT-6 Texan II.

Now Hawker Beechcraft need to make a Aircraft Carrier version. One that can land on a carrier and be launch able with a catapult, have fold able wings. Then again, with the size of America's current carriers, they really don't need to be catapult capable, they could just back up to the stern and take-off like they did back in World War Two.

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Ref.

1. The DEW Line. "Is Hawker Beechcraft an American company?" by Stephen Trimble. May 17, 2011. (http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2011/05/is-hawker-beechcraft-an-americ.html).

2. Kansas.com "Hawker win is key to 800 jobs in Wichita" by Molly McMillin. April 3, 2011. (http://www.kansas.com/2011/04/03/1791211/hawker-win-key-to-800-jobs-in.html).

Lasers to Clear Space Junk

With thanks to the Drudge Report, I found this article from the San Francisco local CBS station website had the following bit of news... NASA is considering using lasers to battle space junk.

Oh really? Those of us who are Sci-fi fans have known that this will be the ultimate way to deal with the garbage that is in orbit now.

Using mid-power lasers that could move the objects instead of totally vaporize the debris.

quote: The proposal for the laser took two years to complete. NASA estimates the cost would be much lower than a manned mission designed to collect debris. end quote.

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Ref.

1. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com. "Another Look: NASA Considers Lasers To Battle Space Junk" (http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/05/10/another-look-nasa-considers-lasers-to-battle-space-junk/).

Space Adventures Looks Forward to Commercial Lunar Flight Missions

The company known for putting space tourist Dennis Tito into orbit has come out with a new plan. One can read the press release (link below) from Space Adventures.

What was released with this press release were some images of the Soyuz TMA configuration spacecraft with it's lunar booster. Attached to the booster is another habitat module that would increase the interior space of the spacecraft for the lunar circumlunar flight.

One seat has already been sold and they are waiting on one more to be sold before going ahead with ordering the equipment. It is possible that this private/commercial spaceflight can take place as early as 2015.

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Ref.

1. Comspacewatch.com. "Space Adventures Looks Ahead To Commercial Lunar Missions" Stacey Tearne, Vice President, Communications press release. May 5, 2011. (http://www.comspacewatch.com/news/viewpr.rss.html?pid=33481). images also from same website.

Stealth Helicopters Used in bin Laden Hit

Aside from the news on May 2nd that the US Navy SEAL Team 6 finally bagged Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This raid, by accident; revealed some new US technology that we REALLY didn't want the rest of the world to know about just yet.

But,you know, when Murphy's Law get involved, accidents happen. Such is the case with one of two stealth helicopters used in that May 2, 2011 raid. Associated Press and European Press Agency photographers manage to get pictures of pieces of the wreck before Pakistan forces picked them up, and trucked them off. No doubt - to China.

As to what the final appearance of the helicopters look like - leading contender is a upgraded, stealth-optimized MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. And that goes along with what CIA director Leon Panetta's assertion of May 3rd that the 25-man strong strike team was "carried in two Blackhawk helicopters that went in."

By the way, this blogger thinks there was a backup helicopter - just in case that there was problems with one of the other mission helicopters. One Blackhawk cannot carry 25 troops/crew, plus their weapons. There had to be something else to get the entire team plus the down helicopter crew out of that compound.

Sean Naylor of Army Times backs up this conclusion. Naylor quotes a retired Special Forces aviator saying the special Blackhawk, modified by Lockheed Martin, had the hard edges similar to the F-117 stealth fighter (also from Lockheed Martin).

Also, there is no doubt in my mind that these aircraft were flown by the pilots of the 160th Special Operations aviation regiment. They get some of the nicest toys to play with.

What this blogger found amushing was the following paragraph from the Wired article that I got this information from. quote: According to a source who spoke to our own Spencer Ackerman, the modifications might have taken place with the help of a mysterious Army organization called the “Technology Applications Program Office,” located at Fort Eustis, Virginia. The rumored nickname? Airwolf. That’s right, like the cheesy ‘80 TV show. end quote.

Hey, I'm a big Airwolf fan! Hell yeah if this baby is finally shown off to the public - I'm all for it to be the official name for this helicopter.

Aviation artist Ugo Crisponi produced a quick rendering of what the secret chopper (and that was included in the wired article). Then from Globalsecurity.org, John Pike talked about the "MH-X" project from the 1980s.

Elements from the RAH-66 Commanche project appeared to have made their way over to this new MH-X "Airwolf." The Commanche was killed off in 2004. It might actually ahve been a cover project for this MH-X project and was no longer needed - so that is why the Commanche was killed off.

Going by the Wired article, these special helicopters are not very many in numbers. In fact, they operate out of "Area 51" in Nevada.

Aviation Weeks's Bill Sweetman stated the following: the fact that the Pentagon was willing to risk its most secret whirlybird “shows the importance of the mission in the eyes of U.S. commanders." end quote.

The world's FIRST radar-evading helicopter proves that the USA still has the lead when it comes to designing helicopters - no decay there.

Our Special Forces has the ability to now strike fast and most important; unseen - all over the world.

MH-X Airwolf. I like the sound of that.

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Ref.

1. Wired.com. "Aviation Geeks Scramble to ID bin Laden Raid’s Mystery Copter" by David Axe. May 4, 2011. (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/aviation-geeks-scramble-to-i-d-osama-raids-mystery-copter/).

2. Wired.com "" by David Axe. May 4, 2011. (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/aviation-geeks-scramble-to-i-d-osama-raids-mystery-copter/3/).

3. images from the same articles (Reuters, Associated PRess), artwork by David Cenciotti.

4. Flight Gobal. "Secret helicopter revealed in bin Laden op?" by Stephen Trimble. May 3, 2011. (http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2011/05/secret-helicopter-revealed-in.html).

No Sex in Space - According to the Russians

Over the years, there have been rumors that both the Americans and the Russians may have explored the sexual frontier while in the final frontier.

Valery Bogomolov, the deputy director of the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems; recently told reports to Russian Interfax. As far as the Russian or Soviet space exploration the director stated.

People (unofficially) would like to know the effects of weightlessness on the sex act. And this blogger believes that it will be a future "space tourist couple" that will gain the title of First F**king Couple in outer space.

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Ref.

1. My Fox DC.com. "Secret Space Sex Experiment Rumors Denied By Russian Expert" by AFP. April 22, 2011. (http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/offbeat/secret-space-sex-experiment-rumors-denied-by-russian-expert-ncxdc-042211).

JFK Asked About UFOs in Memo - 10 Days Before His Death!

Leave it to the Brits to get this story out to the masses. The American Main Stream Media (MSM) wouldn't touch this with a 10 foot pole without making a joke about tin foil hats and the kinds of people who actually see UFOS.

It seems that John F. Kennedy wrote to the head of the CIA demanding some highly confidential documents and memos about UFOs 10 days before he was assassinated.

The memo is one of two letters written by the President asking about UFO and other paranormal information. Date listed on the letters is November 12, 1963. All this comes from the CIA in a recent document dump through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

William Lester aquired the FOIA documents for a new book he is writing about entitled, "A Celebration of Freedom: JFK and the New Frontier."

For more information, please use the link below.

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Ref.

1. Daily Mail. "Was JFK killed because of his interest in aliens? Secret memo shows president demanded UFO files 10 days before death" April 19, 2011. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1378284/Secret-memo-shows-JFK-demanded-UFO-files-10-days-assassination.html).

2. image of JFK with same article.

The Shuttle Fight Begins!

Its all about politics. How else can you explain New York City getting a space shuttle to sit on top of a aircraft carrier and Houston - home of the Johnson Space Center; gets nothing.

New York?!

New Frackin' York?!

President Obama must have been paying back something to Senator Charles "Chucky" Schumer(D) for New York to get the shuttlecraft Enterprise.

Right now, the Enterprise is in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

To read the NY Daily News article about efforts underway to change this out come, the senator said, "Fughgeddaboutit." Actually, the NYD News said in the opening paragraph of their news article the following: "A peeved Utah Congressman, joined by a bunch of poor-loser Texans, is mounting a campaign to yank the NASA shuttle Enterprise from the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum."

Republican Rep Jason Chaffetz of Utah is pushing a bill that will reshuffle the final resting places of the shuttle fleet. Namely, one of the shuttles (either Enterprise or Endeavour) will go to Houston, Texas. The space shuttle Discovery will replace the Enterprise at the The Smithsonian Institutions National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar facility-in Hazy Center, Va.. Cape Canaveral/ Kennedy Space Center in Florida, gets to keep the space shuttle Atlantis. And the California Science Center in Los Angeles would get the remaining shuttle.

As for this Texan. I am somewhat resigned to the fact that Texas will not get a space shuttle do to the fact that our state did not - and still doesn't support President Obama very much. But Obama can and does expect New York to carry his waste water with loving care at his beck and call.

While the Enterprise never made it up into orbit - it was only a prototype test airframe to prove the shuttle concept. To leave Houston out of the picture was the most disturbing thing about this sorry mess. To my fellow Star Trek fans - don't jump the gun too fast next time when it comes time to name another spacecraft after a famous fictional spacecraft.

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Ref.

1. NY Daily News. "Star wars: Rep calls for Houston to get NASA shuttle, not Intrepid; Schumer says 'Fugheddaboutit'" by Richard Sisk. April 15, 2011. (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/04/15/2011-04-15_rep_calls_for_houston_to_get_nasa_shuttle_enterprise_not_intrepid_schumer_says_f.html)

2. photo is AP/Lisa Nipp.

Rare Battle of Britian Discovery Made

Yahoo news reported on a discovery yesterday that was made two years ago and reported in the British newspaper, the Daily Mail in back in 2010.

It appears that a rare Dornier 17, known as the "Flying Pencil", was discovered in a sand bar when a fisherman's net caught on it.

Buried under a sandbar for decades in Goodwin Sands-a ten-mile long sandbar off of Deal, Kent, UK.

The RAF museum announched planes to try and recover this rare find for display. Air Vice-Marshal Peter Dye, the Director General of the RAF Museum told reporters "The aircraft is a unique and unprecedented survivor from the Battle of Britain. It is particularly significant because, as a bomber, it formed the ehart of the Luftwaffe assault and the subsequent Blitz."

Work on the wreck will be undertaken at the RAF Museum's conservation center in Cosford, Shropshire.

The Flying Pencil attack some airfields in Essex on August 26, 1940. It was hit by RAF fightercraft and the German pilot, Willi Effmert, attempted to do a wheels-up landing on Goodwin Sands. But the aircraft flipped on landing and Effmert and one other crewmember were captured. Two others crew members died in the bomber.

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Ref.

(1). Daily Mail. "Up and away: Rare German wartime bomber found in Kent seabed to be raised for museum display" September 3, 2010. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1308589/Rare-German-wartime-bomber-discovered-Kent-sandbank-recovered.html). images come from same article.

S-97 Aurora by Sikorsky

Wow! Happened to come across this article and the picture with it! Looks like it should appear on that old tv show Airwolf!

A company by the name of Aurora FLight Sciences announched that it had been selected by old granddaddy helicopter giant Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation to design and build some prototype airframes for the S-97 Raider project.

The S-97 Raider program is based off of Sikorsky's next-generation X-2 Technology rotary wing demonstrator aircraft, which features twin coaxial counter-rotating main rotors and a pusher propeller.

NASA selected the X2 Demonstrator as the recipient of the 2010 Collier Trophy. The S-97 can fly nearly twice the speed as other conventional helicopters with greater maneuverability, greater endurance, reduced noise, and fly at higher altitudes.

Now Aurora Flight Sciences designs and builds robotic aircraft and other advance vehicles for scientific and military projects and they operate out of Manassas, VA.

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Ref.

1. Verticalmag.com "Sikorsky Selects Aurora for S-97 RAIDER" by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. April 4, 2011. (http://www.verticalmag.com/control/news/templates/?z=0&a=16627).

2. (www.aurora.aero).

There was once a British Royal Navy

This blogger came across this bit of cheery news on the cdr salamander blog. He posted this picture of two of Great Britain's two S/VTOL aircraft carriers.

And its sad that the UK will not be preserving HMS Invincible as a mermorial ship. This warship took part in the Falklands War in 1982. In the background of the picture, was the HMS Ark Royal at her Portsmouth berth - waiting for a new owner or the scrapyard.

Twenty Sea Harriers of the Fleet Air Arm and backed up by some RAF Harriers was the only means for the Royal Navy to provide air cover against what the Argentian's Air Force and Navy Air Armanda could throw at the British.

It's sad to see the Invincible in the shape it was in -being towed by tugs, paint on the island flaking off. The bold black waterline marking all but gone. In the picture, one can see both ship's famous ski-jump ramp.

Its just a sad picture of a former Navy power going into the dustbill of history. Her citizens have decided that they need more government programs and give aways than actual national defense. And this blogger is waiting for the same thing to start happening here in the US of A..

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Ref.

1. cdr salamander. "Royal Navy's decline in a picture" March 28, 2011. (http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2011/03/royal-navys-decline-in-picture.html). Picture by Mike Walker.

2. Naval-History.net. "BATTLE ATLAS of the FALKLANDS WAR 1982 by Land, Sea and Air"by Gordon Smith (http://www.naval-history.net/NAVAL1982FALKLANDS.htm).

3. History of War Online.com. Falklands. (http://www.historyofwaronline.com/Falklands.html).

Devon England UFO Video

Discovered this bit of YouTube footage from a article on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory tonight.

Incident suppose to have taken place on March 5, 2011, and the video was hot by a 72-year old farmer who was out walking his dog in Devon, England. As one can see, the disc moves behind some trees and then disappears from view.

On YouTube, the video was posted by someone going by the handle "whatintheworld10", real name of Patricia. I quote what Patricia wrote with her video posting:

"Filmed in Devon England. 5th March 2011

Ok, there are already a lot of rumours floating around about this clip, and unfortunately most of you wouldnt know real if it hit u in the face.

1. filmed by a 72 year old farmer friend of mine (next time I will ask him to say a few words for u all so as to make it a little more realistic)

2. WIND. u all know what it sounds like when u get a light oncoming breeze into the mic on your phone. sorry if you believe that this is not right in any way. it only goes to show you are wrong.

People create their own stories according to how it should be to them. and if it doesnt fit in with your idea, You wont accept it either way. Some of you really are convinced that you think you KNOW. If you were in my shoes, you would see you didnt KNOW after all. The only people who know, are the ones involved.

Here's a very important point i feel i should make. the only way anyone will believe anything, is if they experience it themselves. until then, it will always be a no go."

end quote.

Now, real or fake; I think this is a good UFO video, period. Again, I do have problems with sizing the vids, so you can just click on the video above and watch it on YouTube directly.

Evidence of Alien Life on Meteorite Claim

That alien life form is/was very similar to a known giant bacterium known as Titanospirillum velox. An organism found here on planet Earth.

So claims Dr. Richard B. Hoover, an astrobiologist with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. He has traveled to very remote areas on Earth such as Antarctica, Siberia, and Alaska for ten years now collecting meteorites. His report, which was published in the March edition of The Journal of Cosmology.

Dr. Hoover been tracking down the very rare class of meteorites, called Cl1 carbonaceous chondrites. There are only nine such meteorites that have been recovered on Earth. Inside these meteorites are fossil evidence of bacterial life within such rocks. This, by extension his report suggests; that we are not alone in the universe.

quote: "I interpret it as indicating that life is more broadly distributed than restricted strictly to the planet earth. This field of study has just barely been touched -- because quite frankly, a great many scientist would say that this is impossible.” end quote.

For more details, please use the link below in the Ref section.

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Ref.

1. Foxnew.com. "Exclusive: NASA Scientist Claims Evidence of Alien Life on Meteorite" by Garrett Tenney. March 5, 2011. (http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/03/05/exclusive-nasa-scientists-claims-evidence-alien-life-meteorite/).

Boeing Tanker Won over EADS's Tanker

Well, I am surprise by this announcement. I thought for sure that enough lobbyists from both sides had enough congressmen and senators paid off that the final decision would be a split purchase between the two companies.

And going by what one article said, that may still be in the works for a future purchase after these first 176 KC-46As are purchased. Price tag is $30 billion plus. EADS version of its Airbus A330 plane to be converted over to a tanker would have been called the KC-45A.

Problems with the F-35 keep on taking place along with the price tag keeps on going up. The USAF is rapidly retiring many of its legacy fighter aircraft such as the F-15 and F-16. Just to try and keep the wonder plane (i.e F-35) on track.

As a smaller aircraft, the KC-46A is expected to burn less fuel in absolute terms than the KC-45 over a 30 year lifespan for the airframe.

Boeing has to deliver the first 18 KC-46As within six years of the contract award date. The production spans over 13 years for building all 179 aircraft. And Boeing has confirmed that first flight for the KC-46A is scheduled for 2015. So, we should see a KC-46A flying by February 2015. I won't hold my breath. Something ALWAYS happens to screw up the production schedule. Then Boeing has to go to Congress to get more funds, etc., etc.

Now its a race against time. The USAF has 400 really old KC-135 Stratotankers that have to be replaced. Many of them are 50+ years old.

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Ref.

1. ELP Defens(c)e Blog. "Boeing KC-46A air-refueling tanker for the USAF. Now what? #military" by Eric Palmer. February 24, 2011. (http://ericpalmer.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/boeing-kc-46a-air-refueling-tanker-for-the-usaf-now-what-military/).

2. Flight Global.com. "USAF selects Boeing for KC-X contract" by Stephen Trimble. (http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/02/24/353642/updated-usaf-selects-boeing-for-kc-x-contract.html).

Academy of Model Aeronautics Press Release-“Special Rule For Model Aircraft”

AMA has been working with the FAA on setting up certain guidelines that will still allow model aviation to take place in the United States of America. I could have posted this article over on my other blog (Flash 255 Bunker), but since this also involves real world politics and the FAA; I decided that it had to go on this blog.

For months, modellers have been worried that Homeland Security/Federal Aviation Administration will come up with some sort of rule set that in effect will force thousands of people out of the hobby. Thousands more to lose their jobs when their industry has(had) just be outlawed by the Feds.

So it was with some releif to read the press release by the AMA (dated February 18, 2011) entitled "AMA Works to Amend Reauthorization Bill Providing Relief for Model Aviation from sUAS Rules".

I will post the entire press release below -

M U N C I E, I N – Sen. James Inhofe, OK, successfully sponsored S.223 in the Senate yesterday with an amendment specifying a “Special Rule For Model Aircraft” that provides an exemption from regulation for model aircraft operating within the following parameters:

 Flown specifically for recreational, sport, competition, or academic purposes;

 Operated in accordance with a community-based set of safety guidelines within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization;

 Limited to 55 pounds or less unless certified through a design, construction, inspection, flight test, and operational safety program currently administered by a community-based organization.

“On behalf of our 140,000 members I want to thank Senator Inhofe, Chairman Jay Rockefeller and Ranking Republican Kay Bailey Hutchinson for their leadership in shepherding the FAA reauthorization bill through the U.S. Senate,” said Academy of Model Aeronautics President Dave Mathewson. “Aeromodeling is an exceptional family recreational and education activity that has traditionally been a stepping stone for our children to careers in aviation and aerospace. With the Senators’ help we hope model aviation will continue to help provide that impetus for future generations of engineers, pilots and astronauts.”

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives, which is expected to rule on the matter in the very near future.

AMA has contended that the purpose and operation of model aircraft flown for recreational purposes is uniquely different from the operation of the growing number of commercial small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for which the FAA is drafting regulation. Aeromodelers operating under AMA’s guidelines have earned a reputation of being one of the safest, if not the safest users of the National Airspace System. This exemplary safety record spans more than 75 years.

The Academy of Aeronautics, founded in 1936, charters 2,400 clubs across the country, sanctioning more than 2,000 events and competitions as a member of the National Aeronautic Association. It is dedicated to promoting aeromodeling as a recreational, competitive and academic pursuit.

# # #

On a more mundane note, I flew my Seagull Models sport-scale PC-9 this morning for the first time. This now makes THREE of these models that I have owned. They are nice flying airplanes. The wing to this particular model I flew today actually came off my very first PC-9 which had a accident (i.e it crashed - busted out the landing gear). Totally rebuilt the wing and the fuselage came from someone in Greece. The landing was ok, but the model drifted off to the side of the runway, hit a clump of grass and ripped out the right landing gear. So more repairs are now needed. But - that just goes with part of this hobby.

.

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Ref.

1. AMA "AMA Works to Amend Reauthorization Bill Providing Relief for Model Aviation from sUAS Rules". February 18, 2011. (AMA Works to Amend Reauthorization Bill Providing Relief for Model Aviation from sUAS Rules).

FINALLY - Only ONE Engine for the F-35!

Pratt & Whitney has finally beaten out General Electric and Britain's Rolls-Royce to power the troubled F-35 fighter jet program.

And all it took was a coalition of Democrats and Tea Party Republicans to get it done. The U.S. House of Representatives finally voted down the mandate to have a backup engine design (which was a thinly disguise jobs aid program to GE for House Speaker John Boehner's southwestern Ohio and surrounding districts.

For years, going back to former President George W. Bush, and current President Barrack H. Obama; have tried to kill off the GE engine for the F-35. But the House kept on voting funds for that engine. And that added to the cost of the overall F-35 program.

For more information, check out the link below.

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Ref.

1. CT Now.com. "Pratt Wins F-35 Engine Battle" by Mara Lee. February 16, 2011. (http://www.ctnow.com/business/hc-pratt-engine-20110216,0,4274620.story).