Yates took to the air above the Mojave Desert, reaching a speed of 202.6mph during his 16 minute flight. The Long-ESA electric plane is based on the Long-EZ by Burt Rutan, except this version is electric. Butan had previously designed several aircraft, including the X-Prize winning SpaceShipOne, a reusable, suborbital spaceship. The 202.6mph flight shatters the previous record of 175mph, set by Hugues Duval in the Cri Cri airplane.

But Yates isn’t satisfied. This was his first ever flight in a full electric plane and he recognizes that the Long-ESA can go even faster. I’m sure he and his team will be taking to the skies again very soon, breaking his own record over and over again.

[Source]

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Most of us fly via commercial aircraft, but what if it was more affordable to have a personal airplane of your own? Leading us down that path is the Synergy aircraft with its unique, more efficient design. The “double box tail” is purpose-built to eliminate as much drag as possible.

This is huge, because fuel is easily one of the biggest costs associated with air travel. The reduction in drag should aid in improving comfort and reducing noise too. It has a “glider-like efficiency” that should be more stable than a more conventional personal airplane. Designed by John McGinnis and his team, the Synergy has enough room to accommodate the pilot and four passengers. It’s cheaper to build too, helping to lower the barrier to entry for personal air travel.

The Synergy is reportedly ten times more fuel efficient than an equivalent small jet and it could cost as little as ten times less to build. The team still has some ways to go, as they’ve only flown a scale model and are only in the process of building the first full-sized prototype. They’re really close to their Kickstarter goal of $65,000 in funding, though, so this little plane that could just might get off the ground.

[Source]

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This one’s not a fake!

Remember those good old school days? Remember the crafts we used to do, including the strategic designing of paper airplanes. The wings had to be just right, and we would try so many different styles to beat our friends. Well, there’s still a little kid in all of us that’s for sure, some more than others, and that’s why the giant paper airplane flew over the Arizona desert this week.   The thing weighs in at 800 pounds, is 45 feet long, and has a wingspan of 24 feet.  It was launched by the Pima Air & Space Museum. The design of the airplane was inspired by 12-year-old Tucson resident Arturo Valdenegro, who won the paper airplane distance contest held at the museum earlier this year. That’s why it was named Arturo’s Desert Eagle. As he was the winner, Valdenegro got a chance to meet the aviation experts who worked for making the big airplane a reality.

The airplane was hoisted into the air by a helicopter and it flew from an altitude of 2,703 feet. It reached a speed of 98 miles per hour before returning to Earth. Check out the video to see the first flight.

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Let’s pretend we are in science class for a moment. When a plane is traveling at the speed of sound, it is literally compressing the air at the front of the wing and leaving an area of negative pressure in the plane’s wake. What results is actually two sonic booms that are oftentimes experienced as a single sound. The sonic boom is a cool effect, but it’s not so good for people who live on flight paths, nor is it likely all that good for the wildlife in the area either. But we want to travel at that speed.  So, researchers at MIT and Stanford University have come up with a biplane design that effectively eliminates this problem. If you look lengthwise at the wings, you get a couple of triangles pointed at eachother with flat edges on the outside. In effect, the shockwaves get reflected, canceling out the sonic boom effect altogether.

The problem with this design, which was originally conceived by Adolf Busemann in the 1930s, is that it doesn’t generate enough lift at sub-supersonic speeds. The new design by MIT and Stanford allows for the wings to change shape over the course of the flight, giving you the best of both worlds. Shown here is one example as produced by Tohoku University in Japan. Ground level shock waves are reduced by 85 percent. It’s still a work in progress, but this could be the future of commercial flight.

[Source]

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That’s where the OVO-4 soars into the picture. This is a full-motion flight simulator that’s small enough to fit in your house. The egg-shaped capsule houses three monitors, simulated controls, and all the motors and such needed to give you the full-motion experience. That includes rumbling for simulated turbulence, as well as having the whole capsule pitch and roll in time with Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X.

You can have them configure the inside the mimic the look and feel of a Cessna 172, Piper Seneca, Mooney Bravo, or — if you prefer — some generic layout for some generic plane. There’s even a “smart lighting system” that adjusts the interior lighting to represent the ambient lighting depicted in the game simulator.

The whole shi-bang will cost you GBP35,995 (just under $60k US), including delivery, installation, and setup. Find it for sale on VirtualFly, a Spanish company.

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If you’re a frequent flyer like me and have been on a couple of long haul flights, then you’ll know how tough it can be to catch some shuteye during those 10+ hours in the air. Air New Zealand could help the couples in the audience, because they’ve just launched the “cuddle class” on select flights.

We’ve heard about this before, but the airline has now officially introduced what it calls the Economy Skycouch on board the Boeing 777-300ER. Andy and Barbara Maclean were among the first passengers to give it a try. Basically, the seats fold out to provide an extended flat surface that reaches the seat in front of you. In effect, you get a couch where you can sleep.

This could be great for couples flying to their honeymoon destination, but it might be quite as appropriate for business associates attending a conference overseas. For that, they can pony up for Business Premier class with its lie-flat seating, thicker memory foam mattress, and full size pillows.

For now, the cuddle class is only being offered for flights between Los Angeles and Auckland, as well as Los Angeles and London. It looks like a half decent idea, but it does mean that the couple has to pay for three seats to buy out the row… unless they don’t mind someone joining them for the cuddle.

[Read]

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Flying used to be a luxury. It used to be a privilege. Now, it’s not all that different from hitching a ride on the Greyhound, aside from the TSA molestations. What, then, can airlines do to revolutionize our experience?

The guys at Gizmag have put together a series of concepts for different seating arrangements that could one day find their way onto commercial aircraft. Some approach the “cattle class” end of the equation, trying to cram as many passengers as possible into as small a space as possible. Others increase your comfort for a radically increased price.

For my part, I’m surprised that airlines have already started adopting the Thompson Solutions Cozy Suite highlighted here. The staggered seating allows for more passengers (read: more revenue), fewer moving parts (read: less weight and, thus, less fuel), and no shared armrests (read: more comfort). It’s win-win all around, isn’t it?

I’ve heard that there are some airlines in China considering a standing room only plane for domestic flights. That can’t be safe, can it?

[Gizmag]

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The FAA-conforming HondaJet just successfully completed its maiden voyage over the skies of Greensboro, North Carolina, the site of Honda Aircraft Company’s world headquarters. The bird was in the air for just under an hour and it seems that everything is peachy keen on the FAA conformity front. This places the plane that much closer to commercial viability by 2012, just as Honda had planned.

The jet has an interesting design, similar to that of a hummingbird, Honda must have been playing in the wind tunnel for some time. It’s a shame there’s no hybridization for the HondaJet, reading the press release below it appears to be a typical fuel burning sky flyer. It can up to as far as1400 nm (1611 mi/ 2593 km) and carry 2 crew + 6 passenger with 57 cubic feet of cargo.

[Honda Jet]

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Available through Hammacher Schlemmer for $39.95, the Airplane Seat Back Valet gives you much easier access to your things that usual carry-on bags.

Normally, I prefer to take the aisle seat so that I can get to the overhead bin, but even then, it’s far from convenient. If you stow your back underneath the seat in front of you, you still have a very tight space to open the pockets and get at your gear.

Yes, you could look like a total goof with this seat back valet, but it means that you don’t have to rummage around to find your iPod, passport, reading material or whatever. One inaccuracy that I see with the picture, however, is the thermal mug along the right side. I thought they wouldn’t let you bring empty liquid containers on the plane!

Source: Gadgetreview

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