Aircraft

Phantom Ray: Boeing unveils spy plane of the future... that doesn't need a pilot

Called the Phantom Ray, Boeing's cutting-edge unmanned airborne system (UAS) was unveiled at a ceremony in St Louis yesterday. The sleek craft has a 50ft wingspan, measures 36ft long and has a gross weight of 36,500lbs. It operates at an altitude of 40,000ft, which is 10,000ft higher than the average long-haul commercial airliner. It will cruise comfortably at a speed of 614mph, or 0.8mach, just shy of the speed of sound.Read More

The Navy's MQ-8B helicopter drone makes its first narcotics bust on the high seas

Drug runners and pirates beware: a Navy helicopter drone made its first official drug bust on April 3. The U.S. Navy Fire Scout stealthily tailed a "go-fast" boat suspected of carrying narcotics for three hours, and captured video of the boat's refueling rendezvous with a fishing vessel. Not a bad outcome for started as a "routine test flight," according to Navy reports.Read More

NASA's Hybrid Wing Drone Soars on First Flight Tests

A 500-pound unmanned aircraft with the appearance of a flying manta ray could herald the future of jetliners. NASA and Boeing's flying lab has wrapped up the first series of flight tests that should help pave the way for less noisy, more fuel-efficient airplanes that also emit less pollution.Read More

David Keyes

Have you ever wondered how the huge 803 foot long by 130 foot in diameter Hindenburg Zeppelin was built in the 1930s? Apparently with several really tall ladders.

Gizmodo

The B2/B52 are bad, but the brass wants something badder

It turns out the Air Force's next generation bomber really isn't much of a bomber at all. While the next iteration of stealth bombers is still on the drawing board, the DoD and top Air Force command know what the wars of the next century will call for: intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), as well as the ability to deploy non-kinetic weapons to disrupt enemy operations.Read More

Cutaway view of the engine on an incredibly detailed 1/16 scale all-aluminum Corsair aircraft model

Young C. Park of Honolulu, Hawaii is a retired dentist who has been an aircraft modeler since childhood. He is now fulfilling a lifelong dream of making incredible precision aircraft models of the Corsair and P-51 Mustang out of aluminum.

Using tweezers, the controls can be moved.

All cables and linkages are meticulously installed and work all of the aircraft's wing control surfaces.Read More