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An undertaking as complex as the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) deserves thorough, periodic evaluation to consider what the aviation community has accomplished to date, where things stand, and where the effort is headed. At the FAA’s request, MITRE/CAASD has conducted such an assessment over the last several months and has delivered its recommendations to the FAA. Continue reading
In 1914, early on in the new Great War, one German inventor thought his way of taking photographs from the sky would be able to help the small number of airplanes available for the job. Back in 1907 Julius Neubronner had invented a small, automatic camera that could be strapped to a homing pigeon (these birds were already widely used by armies for carrying messages).
An employee of Northrop Grumman has accused the company of faking tests on its LN-100 Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System (INS/GPS). The GPS unit is installed on “various aircraft, including helicopters and unmanned drones (including the Predator), missiles, submarines, and other vehicles,” the lawsuit said. The LN-100 provides essential positioning data to the sensitive systems. Continue reading
New Mexico State University’s Physical Science Laboratory Unmanned Aircraft Flight Test Center acquired a Certificate of Authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to perform aeronautical research on an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) over an active open pit mine in central Colorado. Continue reading
Flying Production Ltd – a developer of Defence and HLS solutions, including Multi-Rotor Platforms – will launch Da-Vinci, a compact, lightweight, multi-rotor VTOL sUAS platform at upcoming AUSA 2014. The complete system, which is ideal for urban warfare observation missions, includes a Portable Ground Control Station and Dual Sensor EO/IR Payload. A number of Da-Vinci systems have already been sold to an Eastern European country.
Keith Skilling once again puts the Old Stick and Rudder Company’s massive Goodyear-built FG-1D Corsair fighter through its paces at the Classics Of The Sky airshow, Tauranga Airport, Bay Of Plenty, New Zealand. Continue reading
In addition to the eclectic runway displays, the opening day of the 24th edition of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2015also witnessed the debut of Wills Fashion Drone, a small flying body fitted with GoPro cameras which will fly over the venue till October 12, 2014 and will capture the best moments of the fashion week.
The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon Company a $19.5 million contract for engineering and manufacturing development of a new expeditionary radar that will detect, identify and track drones, missiles and aircraft. The total contract, including all options, is currently estimated at $71.8 million and includes the procurement of an additional three radar systems, for a total of six radar systems and product support.