Next-generation fighter concept from Boeing

Boeing is out with new concept art for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation fighter jet, a sleek, tail-less design featuring conformal engine inlets and what looks like a manned cockpit. The tail-less airframe, thin swept wings and conformal shaping suggest a stealthy, penetrating aircraft that may be able to fly supersonic. Boeing’s new vision comes as the Air Force begins to solidify a plan for the next generation of air superiority, alternatively called “sixth-generation fighter,”

http://aviationweek.com/blog/meet-boeings-latest-next-gen-fighter-concept?platform=hootsuite

Lufthansa says goodbye to the Boeing 737

Lufthansa says goodbye to the Boeing 737 at a ceremony held in Hamburg  after special flight LH9922 arrived from Frankfurt. It served them well for 48 years but on Monday. noting that aviation fans and airline employees have long referred to the aircraft as “Bobby,” thanks to a 1960s children’s book that suggested the Boeing 707 was the new jet’s father and the B727 its mother.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2016/11/01/lufthansa-boeing-737/93104524/

Showing the beauty of Australia's coastline with a drone

Drone photographer turns coastline into art. Showcasing the beauty of Australia's coastline and now travelling regularly, Scanu's photographs depict the gorgeous contrasts where land meets the ocean. Scenic composition is in the photographer's DNA, with Scanu telling From Where I Drone that his father Viv, a cinematographer, introduced him to the art capturing real life on film, all at the tender age of 12. The photographer recently returned from a trip to the United States where he captured some instantly recognisable landmarks from almost abstracted vantage points.

http://mashable.com/2016/10/31/gabriel-scanu-landscape-aerial-drone-photography/#RzrgrjRZrkqh

Plane incident at Chicago Intl Airport

Pilots were forced to abort a takeoff and evacuate passengers from a burning American Airlines flight on a runway at Chicago O'Hare International Airport after the airliner experienced what a federal official said was a rare and serious type of engine failure. Flames and heavy black smoke poured from the side of the Boeing 767 jet as it sat on the runway Friday after the aborted takeoff. Officials said the incident left 21 people injured. Footage from the scene showed passengers coming down emergency slides and hurrying across grass next to the runway as emergency vehicles surrounded the plane. The right wing was drooping toward the ground and appeared to have partially melted.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/official-plane-chicago-had-rare-serious-engine-failure-040432406.html

Last KLM flight to St. Maarten

For 26 years, a tropical paradise has been home to one of the world's scariest and most exhilarating landings in the world. Today, that era came to an end.

The last KLM Boeing 747 touched down in St. Maarten at 11:03 a.m. ET yesterday.

Since 1990, Dutch airline KLM has served beach goers hair-raising landings as their jumbo jets soared at low altitudes over the sandy coast and onto the runways at Princess Juliana International Airport.

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/jumbo-jet-makes-run-worlds-scariest-landing-st/story?id=43134296&cid=clicksource_4380645_6_comic_strip_sq_hed

The inaugural Drone Racing Championships

The inaugural World Drone Racing Championships (aka Drone Worlds) is the culmination of over a year’s anticipation for a truly global, world-leading first-person-view drone racing competition, and expectations were high. The event was held on Kualoa Ranch in Hawaii on the island of O'ahu, the spectacular setting which has served as the famous backdrop for Jurassic Park and many other films. The epic volcanic cliffs, which encircle the race course, create a rather dramatic backdrop.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/drone-world-racing-championships-hawaii-photos/

Drones to destroy mosquito populations

Drones used to hunt and destroy mosquito populations. The mosquito drone program is part of the University of Adelaide's unmanned vehicle research facility.  In the great tradition of research, the idea to use drones was Dr Clarke's, but he happily admits his honours student Tasya Sarira has done much of the leg work. Dr Clarke said when their development work was finished, drones would not just be used to find mozzies, they will destroy them.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-16/drones-to-hunt-and-destroy-mosquito-populations/7932490

Testing air traffic control system for drones

A team from NASA will conduct a weeklong test of an air traffic control system it is developing for both drones and manned aircraft starting Tuesday at Reno-Stead Airport, an exercise that will include flying drones beyond the limits of operators’ eyesight. Nevada is helping NASA develop the new air traffic management system, a key requirement before drones can be used for futuristic applications such as commercial delivery and infrastructure inspection.

http://www.uasvision.com/2016/10/19/nasa-tests-air-traffic-control-system-for-mannedunmanned-flights-in-reno/

Drones could soon re-charge while flying

Scientists have demonstrated a highly efficient method for wirelessly transferring power to a drone while it is flying. The technology uses inductive coupling, a concept initially demonstrated by inventor Nikola Tesla over 100 years ago. Two copper coils are tuned into one another, using electronics, which enables the wireless exchange of power at a certain frequency. Scientists have been experimenting with this technology for decades, but have not yet been able to wirelessly power flying technology.

http://phys.org/news/2016-10-drones-re-charge-airborne-technology.html

Word Bank uses drone technology

World Bank CIO says digital transformation includes use of drone technology. In their first strategic staffing plan, they made room for many new positions, and those new positions were all around new technologies. They have been using drones for mapping exercises, very effective in Balkans.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2016/10/17/world-bank-cio-digital-transformation-includes-use-of-drone-technology/4/#457f15585265

Students learn how to build drone businesses

North Dakota students learn how to build drone businesses. They are learning to fly drones, with the hopes of earning a FAA pilot's license, and are getting real-world business experience. At semester's end, students will pitch their enterprise ideas to venture capitalists and executives in a "Shark Tank" style setting. The class has three phases: learning to fly a drone, learning about the drone business, including industry regulations, and developing a business plan.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/north-dakota-students-learn-build-drone-businesses-42841521

US Coast Guard tests UAS-mounted ViDAR

US Coast Guard tests UAS-mounted ViDAR for search missions. Sentient, a developer of computer vision solutions, has announced the successful completion of its live demonstration of ViDAR with the US Coast Guard. The trial was conducted off Cape Cod, MA, over a week with a team from the USCG Research and Development Centre, Hood Technologies and TacAero. The demonstration highlighted ViDAR’s capability to find objects of interest at great distance, whilst searching over wide tracts of ocean from a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS).

http://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2016/10/sentient-demonstrates-uas-mounted-vidar-to-us-coast-guard/

Drone photo helps rescue flood victim

Drone photo on Twitter helps rescue flood victim and dog halfway across country. Quavas Hart was sharing flood footage from his drone when it caught the eye of the brother of a veteran stranded in Hope Mills, N.C. - in the very house Hart filmed. Hart flagged a rescue crew, who then saved Chris Williams and his dog Lana. Hart became aware of the emergency only because Chris’s brother, who lives in Texas, noticed a photograph that Hart had tweeted.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/10/11/insane-drone-photo-on-twitter-help-rescue-flood-victim-and-dog-halfway-across-country/

New lithium metal batteries

New lithium metal batteries could make smartphones, drones, and electric cars last twice as long. SolidEnergy Systems has developed an “anode-free” lithium metal battery with several material advances that make it twice as energy-dense, yet just as safe and long-lasting as the lithium ion batteries used in smartphones, electric cars, wearables, drones, and other devices. The battery essentially swaps out a common battery anode material, graphite, for very thin, high-energy lithium-metal foil, which can hold more ions — and, therefore, provide more energy capacity.

http://news.mit.edu/2016/lithium-metal-batteries-double-power-consumer-electronics-0817

Use of photogrammetry or LiDAR for surveying/mapping via drone

Unmanned Systems Source has released an article designed to help surveyors decide when to use photogrammetry or LiDAR for surveying and mapping via drone. Drone technology has made a huge impact on aerial mapping and surveying. Drones offer many advantages including the ability to capture photos at predefined elevations and at a predetermined overlap percentage. Today, drones mounted with LiDAR systems can map these same areas quickly, affordably and with far less logistical issues.

http://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2016/09/uss-compares-photogrammetry-and-lidar-for-aerial-mapping-via-drone/?utm_content=buffer915f6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

First university-level UAV course

The University of Maine at Augusta will offer Maine’s first university-level unmanned aerial vehicle course starting in October, the school announced Tuesday. The seven-week program, which begins Oct. 27 at the school’s Augusta campus, will offer students a path to seek a Federal Aviation Administration remote pilot’s license. Tom Abbott, project manager for the small UAV pilot training center at UMA, said applications for unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are growing and included business uses and search and rescue applications.

http://www.centralmaine.com/2016/09/27/uma-to-offer-drone-course-beginning-in-october/

Ancient cult site revealed with drones

Ancient Roman ruins that lie hidden below the surface at the Apennine Mountains of Italy have largely escaped discovery because the rugged terrain makes them difficult to spot by foot and dangerous to find by airplane. Using drones the archaeologists have found that an ancient settlement in the Apennines was much more dense and organized than previously thought, a new study reveals.

http://www.livescience.com/56186-drones-reveal-ancient-cult-site-italy.html

Drone racing takes to the Sky

Drone racing takes to the Sky with $1m investment. The satellite broadcaster is making the investment in the Drone Racing League (DRL) to bring competitive flying to its new Sky Sports Mix channel. The league specialises in "first person-view" drone racing, which features pilots flying custom drones through complex three-dimensional racecourses. One of the first events will be the DRL 2016 world championship.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37360753

ESPN have an agreement to broadcast the drone racing league

The Drone Racing League and ESPN have reached an agreement for the network to broadcast the first full season of the upstart organization, it was announced Wednesday. ESPN will air 10 one-hour episodes beginning with a viewer's guide to drone racing, airing Thursday night on ESPN2 and concluding with the DRL World Championship on Nov. 20. The elite pilots fly quadcopter drones at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour, with the goal of collecting the most points.

http://www.espn.com/moresports/story/_/id/17544727/drone-racing-league-espn-announce-broadcasting-agreement

Airshow plane crash in Germany

Fatal Germany airshow plane crash leaves two dead after aircraft collision. The pilots were operating a microlight and a glider respectively at an airshow in Erzgebirge, east Germany. Initial reports indicate that one of the aircrafts managed to land safely. The other aircraft crashed, reportedly killing a father and daughter.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/fatal-germany-airshow-plane-crash-8806612