Last weekend, PopSci traveled to Lakeland, Florida, to watch Mike Selby's 5.5-to-1 scale model A-10 Warthog—star of our recent feature story— compete in Top Gun, an invitation-only event that is effectively the world championship of experimental radio-controlled aircraft. Selby's team includes pilot Raymond Johns, an Air Force test pilot and three-star general; pit crew/logistician Bill Davidson, who is the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the US Air Force; and Bangkok jet-engine builder Pornchai "Hard Porn" Saechour.
I have been a Popular Science reader for at least 50 years. The original story about the model A10 was one of the most fasinating and best written I can remember reading in your magazine. What made it so much better was the follow up in the Top Gun event. Thinking about enormous amount of money, brains, and technoIogy that was expended, I became as excited to see how the plane would fare in Florida as I ever felt for my favorite spors team I'm for this an annual series. By that, I mean research a different Top Gun contestant's projet in the magazine and then follow-up on how it did in the contest.
Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone with full articles, images and offline viewing
Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed
Share links with friends, comment on stories and more
In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.
Check out the best of what's new here.