Roadside bombs have long represented the greatest killer of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, but there's hope beyond the sturdy little demolition bots that already work with their human handlers. The Pentagon now has two aerial drones on the testing docket as possible countermeasures for improvised explosive devices (IEDs)--one of which we're calling 'Helipanda' for the remainder of this post.
Rick Blackmon Http://airplanemodelsandkits.com That sure is a sweet looking RC helicopter. If they had only a 50% success rate, just think of how many American lives could be saved! My fingers are crossed for success.
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 lived in Alexandria, LA for 4 years. At the time, England AFB in Alexandria was the home of the A10 Warthog. They used to return from their restricted flying area, passing over our house. My son's best friend's father was wing commander of the A10 squadron. I saw a flight demo at an air show at England and the pilot did a loop extremely close to the ground. It had to be the ugliest plane ever. I remember walking in front of a Maverick missile they had on static display with the infra-red sensor in the nose following me as I walked in front. It was scary!! Rick Blackmon http://www.airplanemodelsandkits.com
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