The Flight Deck

The article has text with a lot more explanation, but the video does a good job of explaining it as well. Sure, it’s a flat bed slow rolling down a runway but really the jump to a pitching deck isn’t that far for software, just a few more variables to handle. Bookmark to: Hide Sites

On Friday, August 26th, I had the honor of attending a Navy Boot Camp, Pass-In-Review graduation ceremony in Great Lakes, Illinois.  If you’ve never been to one I highly recommend it.  The place just oozes  joy and patriotism.   Graduation Ceremony, Great Lakes  Bookmark to: Hide Sites

Fire on the flight deck. So proud of how it was handled by the flight deck crew. An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113 experienced an engine fire following a touch-and-go landing aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) April 11. The pilot was able to execute a single-engine approach and land on [...]

AeroVironment video of flight tests of its Nano Hummingbird flapping-wing nano air vehicle, developed for DARPA. Battery-powered and remote-controlled, the hummingbird-like prototype uses flapping wings for propulsion and control. Carring a video camera and downlink, the prototype has a wingspan of 16cm (9.5in) and weighs just 19 grams (0.66oz). It can hover for 8 minutes, [...]

Via Dangerroom – The Chinese milblogs are a passing around fence snaps purported to be the stealthy J-20 5th generation fighter.  Looks a bit like the MiG 1.42/1.44 to me.   And oddly, it actually looks a lot like the fictional Chinese MiG from Command & Conquer Generals: Bookmark to: Hide Sites

One of the benefits of living the greater Annapolis metroplex is the opportunity to be sponsor parents to Midshipmen at the Naval Academy.  A few years ago, we got a call from my brother-in-law, an Army officer hisself, asking if we would be willing to act as surrogate parents for the daughter of a brother-in-arms.  [...]

Thank goodness for my handy dandy site meter! Mulling through it this last evening last I noticed that someone had spent a fair bit of time and quite a few page views on Free Falling for just coming off a Google image search. Curious, I clicked on their entry page. And reminisced through this post. [...]

Israel’s air force on Sunday introduced a fleet of huge pilotless planes that can remain in the air for a full day and fly as far as the Persian Gulf, putting rival Iran within its range.They are Heron TPs or Eitans. Looks like a Global Hawk and a P-38 had a baby.HeronGlobal HawkP-38 (Not necessary, [...]

This is a follow on to “Event Four” and “Event Six“… Again, most folks are real, one callsign and one real name are changed for obvious reasons. Enjoy.  If my grammar is poor, please don’t tell my mother.  Thanks. —- Event Nine We lost two events recovering from the emergency pull forward.  If it were [...]

Armies of robotic drones may be just around the corner. Taking a cue from The Terminator films, the U.S. Navy is developing unmanned fighting vehicles that network together and operate in “swarms.”Read more over at Fox News. Bookmark to: Hide Sites