Here Comes that Daring Young Man in His Flying Life Boat?!

Ah yes, thank listener Dan for this sublime noodle canoldle! But in truth the head line is correct. Johnathan Trappe from north Carolina plans to come to Maine.somewhere in either Caribou or Presque Isle,(because of the northerly Maine location) strap a crapload of balloons to a lifeboat and float across the Atlantic to Europe

Trappe's lifeboat gondola is the famed Portland Pudgie, built in Portland by David Hubert.

If this all sounds a bit familiar, Trappe, using the same cluster of balloons, has flown over Lake Michigan, the English channel and the Alps.

Trappe say that he now will begin prepping in May and will wait for the best conditions to arrive for a successful crossing between July 1 and September 30.



Here is the complete Portland Press article link

2 Hour Trans-Alantic Flight?

A two hour flight across the Atlantic may be possible within 10 years. Employing new hyper speed engine technology the HyperMach SonicStar will be able to fly twice as fast as the Concord or 3.6 mach. and do so at altitudes above 60 thousand feet (high enough to see the curve of Earth) while carrying a passenger load of 20 souls.

Plans for the SonicStar were unveiled at the 2011 Paris airshow. The engines are supposed to be 30% more efficient and the overall airframe will all but eliminate sonic overpressure. The plane's ultra high speed will put most of Europe in range of a 2 hour plus flight and complete circumnavigation a hair over five hours.

How Did Dinosaurs Evolve Flight?

Tim Sayell sends in an article from Yahoo news that I think everyone will find interesting. The article lays out discoveries that may lead to how dinosaurs evolved flight behavior.

The research centers around reconstructing the brains of extinct birds. Researchers are attempting to discern when birds started down the road from land animals to ones of the air.

Most evidence to date suggests that this process took place around 150 million years ago but the critical part missing is at what point did the "bird" finally make the break towards true flight.

From the Yahoo article:

Scientists in Scotland are focusing on changes in the size of a part of the rear of the brain. This part of the cerebellum, known as the flocculus, is responsible for integrating visual and balance signals during flight, allowing birds to judge the position of other objects in midflight.....

Being able to understand when this structure changed will give researchers a clearer idea when flight first took place.

Researchers feel that an understanding of how the flocculus has evolved to deal with different flying abilities will give them new understanding about when birds first evolved the power of flight. To this end, they will study both birds that fly and those that have lost the ability, both extinct and present day.

Again, from the article:

The researchers are looking for a link between a larger flocculus and a greater ability to process the visual and balance signals during flight. If the relationship is proven, it could mark a major step forward in understanding bird evolution, and even might help resolve the controversy over whether some ancient bird-like fossils were truly those of dinosaurs or simply of birds that lost the power of flight.

NASA Considering single person flight suit

Personal flight has been at the heart of all innovation in flying. Tim Sayell sends in an article in the New York Times detailing a hybrid of vertical take of planes, helicopters and a wee bit of jetpack. Called the Puffin, it is still in the theoretical stage at NASA. The Puffin is designed to be 12 feet in length, with a total wingspan of 14 and a half feet; it would weigh in at 300 pounds. The major difference between the Puffin and personal jetpacks is the Puffin's helicopter-style blades powered by electric motors.



Click here for complete NY Times article

Is a personal helicopter in your future?

Now for something completely different. We have all seen the Japanese personal helicopter that has been making the rounds on the internet. Except no one has seen it fly. I can do one better. If your interested in personal aviation but don't see yourself straping on a jetpac for 20 seconds of flight time - here is the future of personal flight. Well if not the future, at least the damn thing flies! And it is certainly entertaining to boot!
Check it!

helicoptere personnel
by OXY67

New 'space jet' proposed for suborbital jaunts

The European company EADS Astrium said on Wednesday it plans to have a space tourist plane in operation by 2012. The vessel, which EADS plans to start developing in 2008, would provide tourists with a 90-minute suborbital flight, including three minutes of weightlessness at an altitude of more than 100 kilometres, says Francois Auque, president of EADS Astrium. The fare could be "around €150,000 to 200,000 ($199,000-265,000) (Illustration: Marc Newson Ltd/NASA)

Full story link

Thanks to Shaun Saunders for the post