Tag Archives: aircraft

Google X acquires Makani Power, an airborne wind turbine manufacturer

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Larry Page just picked up another bird for his flying craft collection, and this plane doesn’t even carry passengers. In fact, it’s not used for transportation at all — the aircraft is tethered to the ground. Google X, the tech giant’s experiment…


Airbus A320 family to use Dell Latitude laptops for electronic flight bags

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Airbus isn’t putting all its eggs in one basket — or rather, one bag. While it already has a suite of iPad cockpit apps to assist pilots, the aircraft maker is hedging its bet with a deal to use Dell Latitude laptops as electronic flight bags on …


Final X-51A WaveRider hypersonic mission achieves Mach 5.1, record flight length

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With the third X-51A WaveRider failing to reach hypersonic speed due to a fin failure last August, it seemed the United States Air Force would possibly forgo the fourth (and final) run. On the morning of May 1st, however, that last X-51A got its c…


Final X-51A WaveRider hypersonic mission achieves mach 5.1, record flight length

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With the third X-51A WaveRider failing to reach hypersonic speed due to a fin failure last August, it seemed the United States Air Force would possibly forgo the fourth (and final) run. On the morning of May 1st, however, that last X-51A got its c…


Solar Impulse sets off on its journey across the US (video)

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Early this morning at Moffet Air Field in Mountain View, California, Solar Impulse finally took off on the first leg of its barnstorming tour across the US. Of course, this isn’t the first time the sun-powered plane and its pilots, Bertrand Piccar…


Navy launches first drone squadron, comprised of ten Fire Scout MQ-8Bs

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The US Navy has officially introduced unmanned aircraft along with eight newly manned helicopters into its squadron, making it the latest military branch after the Army and the Air Force to embrace the drone. Indeed, ten of the 18 aircraft to be d…


Visualized: Boeing supersonic airliner concept soars in a wind tunnel, quietly

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No, you’re not looking at an early preview of Star Wars Episode VII — it just might represent the future of air transport, though. Boeing has spent years developing a truly quiet supersonic airliner concept, the Icon II, and what you see is an ae…


Boeing resumes 787 Dreamliner deliveries in early May, finishes retrofits soon after

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Now that Boeing has received the all-clear to implement its battery fix for the 787 Dreamliner, aviation buffs have mostly been left waiting to hear when they can once again climb aboard the advanced jet. It might be a short wait, according to CEO…


Tiny DARPA chip has six-axis inertial guidance for military GPS backup

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Before satellites, getting from A to B without radio signals involved cumbersome inertial systems found only on advanced civilian and military aircraft. Those are still the best backup for GPS, and working with the University of Michigan, DARPA has f…


Hacker claims he can remotely hijack airplanes using an Android app

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Hugo Teso, a security consultant who also happens to be a trained commercial pilot, says he’s developed an Android app that can make an airliner “dance to his tune” by attacking its flight management systems. The hack was demoed at this year’s Hack I…