Shape shifting ?? The decision comes after the successful completion of the project’s Phase 1 preliminary design, which resulted in an innovative testbed aircraft that used active flow control (AFC) to generate control forces in a wind tunnel test. The project has now moved to Phase 2, which will focus on the detailed design and development of flight software and controls. This phase will also culminate in a critical design review of an X-plane demonstrator that can fly without traditional moving flight controls on the exterior of the wings and tail. Finally, the contract includes a Phase 3 option in which DARPA intends to fly a 7,000-pound X-plane that addresses the two primary technical hurdles of incorporation of AFC into a full-scale aircraft and reliance on it for controlled flight. The demonstrator aircraft will boast some unique features that include modular wing configurations, enabling future integration of advanced technologies for flight testing either by DARPA or potential Full article; Sorry for all the pop up crud. DARPA is building X-plane demonstrator without moving parts
Tuesday, January 24th, 1pm, Bemidji. Two - possibly three - P51's in the restoration shop. P47 #42-27609 (it's seared into my brain) waiting in a hanger for my hugs and affection. I'm so lonely.
And I thought 'burying the needle' in my Camero was fast ?? "On a bright Saturday afternoon, State Trooper Al Loney witnessed a motorcycle travel 205 mph. You read that right. Here's what Trooper Loney had to say about that day, 18 years ago. I was in total disbelief, I had to double-check my watch because in 27 years I'd never seen anything move that fast. Luckily, Trooper Loney was able to radio another trooper who was ready to pull over the motorcycle and arrest the 20-year-old man from Stillwater with reckless driving, driving without a motorcycle license, and traveling at a staggering 165 mph over the posted speed limit. What was the reason for such high speeds on a motorcycle? It was reported by Tropper Loney that the driver who was arrested was racing with another person on a motorcycle. The two were seemingly unaware they were being watched by law enforcement the entire time. Whoops. 135 seems so slow NOW !
We had half an ASROC casing that had ... something ... in it. One wave starts at one end and disappears at the other end. Primordial ooze level shit. The wogs had to swim that. Still remember that smell.
I've experienced Nirvana over the span of ten days. On the 14th my butt was in the seat of a F16, albeit it was a mockup - front 10 feet of a decommissioned Falcon. On the 24th I climbed up a latter to the leading edge of a Jug. A P-47D-23RA Thunderbolt. The feeling of approaching the cockpit, with the canopy slid back, the wing solid as a cement floor under my boots and the realization I was really doing this far surpassed excitement. (Sorry, but I'm still a little hopped up). Slipping my left foot into the foothold then flipping out the step arm to place my right foot on the ridiculously narrow bar protruding out, stepped up, swung my left foot up and down onto the seat. A slight turn grasping the canopy frame, bending my knees and Holy $hit I was sitting. I was able to hold on to my composure for oh maybe twenty seconds. Looking around I glanced up directly into the gun sight. That's when things got interesting. Realizing this was the view the people we honor by remembering them here on the forum saw while trying to stay alive. The memories of stories listened to, the hours spent with someone who was there, didn't actually hit me but flooded into my soul with an impact so intense it left me speechless, overwhelmed but also immediately with a sense of serenity I've never felt before. My wife was shouting to "Look here!" while snapping pictures while I was staring at the floor of the Jug unable to look up. Ed, the guy who assisted with my ingress casually looked away and after a few moments I smiled my dumb-ass smirk. It wasn't so much a feeling but more of a sensation. Call me crazy, and I'm damn close, but I experienced a warmth like an indescribable embrace and with the feeling that it wasn't just me sitting there. Oh yeah, I also climbed into a P51D-20NA and saw/touched a P51 once owned by Jimmy Stewart and Jackie Cochran. My life is full.
U.S. Aircraft Carriers of Task Force 38 entering the fleet anchorage at Ulithi Atoll on December 12, 1944.