Drones Posts

First-Person View and Recreational Flight
April 6, 2014

First-Person View and Recreational Flight

From the first time we looked up, what has attracted humans to flight is seeing the world from the perspective of a bird. That attraction still drives many of us, but how we achieve this first-person view (FPV) has changed with technology. If you do…
Math Transports Jellyfish From Sea to Sky
Jan. 26, 2014

Math Transports Jellyfish From Sea to Sky

Technology rules the present and future of every aspect of aviation. It seems clear that pilots can’t fly today without it, or very well with it. If there’s handwriting on the hangar walls that pilots should be paying attention to it wou…
Suction Engineers Relieve Shutdown Despair
Sept. 29, 2013

Suction Engineers Relieve Shutdown Despair

Drowning in the destructive rhetoric spewing unabated from self-important politicians, I turned to the sky to relieve the oppressive shroud of despair their words have woven around me. A beautiful autumn day here in Wisconsin, the Sunday afternoon s…
Happy Birthday Jetwhine
Sept. 26, 2013

Happy Birthday Jetwhine

Getting old isn’t really so bad, is it?Sure a few more lines and sags stare back at you every morning in the mirror, but the upside to aging is wisdom.Jetwhine’s 7th birthday is just around the corner and I like to think Scott Spangler…
Midair Refueling is Drone’s Next Challenge
Sept. 16, 2013

Midair Refueling is Drone’s Next Challenge

The refueling probe on this Learjet isn’t the latest option available from the venerable business jet manufacturer. It’s not connected to the airframe’s plumbing, but it is an integral part of a flight test program at Navy Pax Riv…
Friends, Forecasts & the Future of Aviation
Sept. 3, 2013

Friends, Forecasts & the Future of Aviation

Most of my friends and acquaintances are, in some way or another, involved with aviation. Talking with them over the past months, the future of aviation seems to be the discourse destination of choice. On the whole, their outlook on aviation’s…
Aircraft Development Awaits Disruptive Tech
May 27, 2013

Aircraft Development Awaits Disruptive Tech

Catching up on the news after a two-week vacation that was, like my last two week respite in 1975, totally disconnected from the wider world, on May 5 The New York Times reported that there are new aircraft designs in the works because “Jet Ma…
Being There: UAV Crews & Combat Valor
April 24, 2013

Being There: UAV Crews & Combat Valor

Bowing to pressure from military and veterans groups who clearly don’t understand the rigors of combat at the controls of armed drones, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has replaced the proposed Distinguished Warfare Medal with a device that w…
J-bot Drones Give Journalists a New View
March 31, 2013

J-bot Drones Give Journalists a New View

Not long ago, the periodic newsgram from my alma mater reported the birth of a new course at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Science Investigative Reporting/Drone Journalism. The nation’s first J school, now more than a centur…