Steven9026
Aug 29, 2002, 12:17 PM
Model airplane team hopes to try again
Aug. 28 — A team of five unusually talented engineers from Maryland who attempted to fly a "true" model airplane (one weighing less than 11 pounds) across the Atlantic Ocean and set an international record say they will try again. (A 30-pound drone has previously crossed the Atlantic.) Three of their four models that they took to Canada for the attempt lie at the bottom of the ocean, but one made it 479 sm before encountering a storm that it couldn't handle. It was making 61 mph, or 6 mph better than expected and was on track to Ireland, guided by GPS signals and a newly invented autopilot, at the time of its demise. Team member Barrett Foster, who designs one-of-a-kind remote camera equipment for National Geographic photographers, said the team hopes to raise $15,000 for a return trip to try again next year. Their first attempt this year ended due to a mechanical problem; the second got 17 sm before suffering a fuel-pressure problem. The model carries 5.5 pounds of Coleman lantern oil. There is little doubt the team has the talent to conquer technical problems. It includes Les Hamilton, 62, an electrical engineer; 77-year-old Roy Day, former deputy director of NASA's space shuttle program; Maynard Hill, 76, an expert in hypersonic aerospace metals who has set many world records with model airplanes, and Paul Howey, in his 40s, who has a doctorate in biology and designed the craft's radio transmitter that uplinked data to satellites such as position, airspeed, and engine information. The team prepared four years for this year's effort, one observed by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, keeper of aviation world records.
Thought everyone would find this interesting.
Steven
link to the site http://tam.plannet21.com/
Aug. 28 — A team of five unusually talented engineers from Maryland who attempted to fly a "true" model airplane (one weighing less than 11 pounds) across the Atlantic Ocean and set an international record say they will try again. (A 30-pound drone has previously crossed the Atlantic.) Three of their four models that they took to Canada for the attempt lie at the bottom of the ocean, but one made it 479 sm before encountering a storm that it couldn't handle. It was making 61 mph, or 6 mph better than expected and was on track to Ireland, guided by GPS signals and a newly invented autopilot, at the time of its demise. Team member Barrett Foster, who designs one-of-a-kind remote camera equipment for National Geographic photographers, said the team hopes to raise $15,000 for a return trip to try again next year. Their first attempt this year ended due to a mechanical problem; the second got 17 sm before suffering a fuel-pressure problem. The model carries 5.5 pounds of Coleman lantern oil. There is little doubt the team has the talent to conquer technical problems. It includes Les Hamilton, 62, an electrical engineer; 77-year-old Roy Day, former deputy director of NASA's space shuttle program; Maynard Hill, 76, an expert in hypersonic aerospace metals who has set many world records with model airplanes, and Paul Howey, in his 40s, who has a doctorate in biology and designed the craft's radio transmitter that uplinked data to satellites such as position, airspeed, and engine information. The team prepared four years for this year's effort, one observed by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, keeper of aviation world records.
Thought everyone would find this interesting.
Steven
link to the site http://tam.plannet21.com/