The Easy Airliner Cockpit enclosure is a new Do-It-Yourself Flight Simulator project. People love to simulate airliners with their flight sims and the cockpit enclosure makes it a fun immersive experience. The project includes two modified keyboards with buttons that correspond to the Mode Control Panel and the overhead panel...you don't have to memorize a bunch of key commands, they're all labeled for you.
The keyboard mods also have new overlays that make the panels look like a CRJ700, a Boeing 737, or an Airbus A320...the default airliners in FSX.
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Customers can instantly download the DIY videos and instruction manuals from DIYflightsims.com. Customers save money because the company doesn't manufacture or ship the products. The materials for this DIY project are already in most people's home town on the shelves at Home Depot, Lowe's or the local hardware store.
The DIY Easy Airliner Cockpit is made from plastic PVC pipe, Styrofoam insulation, a basement window well cover and a couple of standard computer keyboards. It can fit one, two or three monitors. The instructions show you how to adjust the enclosure to fit.
See more pictures and a video of the DIY Easy Airliner Cockpit and the gray modified keyboards here.
March 23, 2009
March 19, 2009
Beautiful Air-to-Air Video of RC Planes
I never thought that a video of RC airplanes could be beautiful, but this one is. Both planes have tiny onboard cameras that show a pilots-eye view from the tiny aircraft. It’s called First Person Video (FPV).
But this video has much more than just FPV. It has air-to-air footage from an RC camera plane as it follows an RC seaplane. RC air-to-air video? Has that ever been done before?
The RC seaplane is a scale replica of a Blohm & Voss BV 138. Its on-board camera is inside its tiny cockpit and the camera moves as a pilot would move his head during flight.
FPV Air2Air Hydroplane from flip on Vimeo.
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Bonus: the seaplane takes off from a pristine lake in the early morning hours. The sun is glinting off the water and the surrounding landscape is green and beautiful.
But this video has much more than just FPV. It has air-to-air footage from an RC camera plane as it follows an RC seaplane. RC air-to-air video? Has that ever been done before?
The RC seaplane is a scale replica of a Blohm & Voss BV 138. Its on-board camera is inside its tiny cockpit and the camera moves as a pilot would move his head during flight.
FPV Air2Air Hydroplane from flip on Vimeo.
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2. see the blog directly or
3. update your Flash player
Bonus: the seaplane takes off from a pristine lake in the early morning hours. The sun is glinting off the water and the surrounding landscape is green and beautiful.
March 11, 2009
Watch the Space Shuttle Launch Online
You can see the Space Shuttle Discovery's launch tonight at 8:20 pm CDT (01:20 UTC). We are streaming live online video from NASA TV: watch it here free.
This important mission will complete construction of the large solar panel array on the International Space Station (ISS) and make it the second brightest object in the evening sky. The ISS will be even brighter than Venus. After completion of this mission, the ISS will be even easier to see with the naked eye. Look here for a live graphic of the ISS's position and instructions on how to see it.
This important mission will complete construction of the large solar panel array on the International Space Station (ISS) and make it the second brightest object in the evening sky. The ISS will be even brighter than Venus. After completion of this mission, the ISS will be even easier to see with the naked eye. Look here for a live graphic of the ISS's position and instructions on how to see it.
March 6, 2009
Flight Simulator X vs. Flight Schools
Are people more interested in Microsoft's Flight Simulator X for home computers or actual, real flight training?
I am fascinated with Google Trends, I think it's a thought-provoking resource. Type in two or three or more search terms and see how the number of searches varies over time. For example, type in "air shows" and you will see a seasonal peak in the summer flying months, and little in the off-season. Type the search term"online" and you see that people are increasingly looking for more and more things online.
Is this a good measure of a population's interest level in different topics?
Try "flight school" or any variation of that phrase. The results show a waning interest over time. That's no surprise if you are familiar with the FAA civil pilot statistics. Also try the search term "FSX" for Flight Simulator X. We see FSX was non-existant until mid-2006 when it was unveiled. At that time, interest in it skyrockets. For about a year the search volume for FSX is close to the search volume for flight school. Then, in 2008, FSX pulls ahead. More people are searching for a home flight simulator game than they are real flight training.
I am fascinated with Google Trends, I think it's a thought-provoking resource. Type in two or three or more search terms and see how the number of searches varies over time. For example, type in "air shows" and you will see a seasonal peak in the summer flying months, and little in the off-season. Type the search term"online" and you see that people are increasingly looking for more and more things online.Is this a good measure of a population's interest level in different topics?
Try "flight school" or any variation of that phrase. The results show a waning interest over time. That's no surprise if you are familiar with the FAA civil pilot statistics. Also try the search term "FSX" for Flight Simulator X. We see FSX was non-existant until mid-2006 when it was unveiled. At that time, interest in it skyrockets. For about a year the search volume for FSX is close to the search volume for flight school. Then, in 2008, FSX pulls ahead. More people are searching for a home flight simulator game than they are real flight training.
March 4, 2009
Stealth Fighter Hoax
Some hoaxes never die, especially if they are accompanied with good photographs and are delivered in an email from your friends. Here’s an example:
The plane in these pictures is still officially the 'Air Vehicle Number 1', a prototype, on board the USS GeorgeWashington CVN-73 for catapult fit checks. Not exactly still Top Secret but certainly not yet made public.
It will be known as the F/A-37. Although specs are classified, it is believed to be Mach 3.5 (top speed in the Mach 4 range), super-cruise stealth fighter/bomber/interceptor with approximately a 4,000nmrange. Awesome!
Check out the Navy test pilot in the cockpit of the F/A-37...LT. Kara Wade... Go girl!
Our compliments to Lt. Kara Wade, she looks so much like Jessica Biel. Well, it is Jessica Biel. The F/A-37 is the fictitious airplane from the 2005 movie “Stealth.” The US Navy allowed director Rob Cohen to film on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. Here’s a press release from the Navy, and here's the movie trailer:
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The Navy’s cooperation in the making of this film may remind you of the Top Gun effect we mentioned in a previous post. Heroic military movies have a positive effect on recruitment numbers.
The plane in these pictures is still officially the 'Air Vehicle Number 1', a prototype, on board the USS GeorgeWashington CVN-73 for catapult fit checks. Not exactly still Top Secret but certainly not yet made public.It will be known as the F/A-37. Although specs are classified, it is believed to be Mach 3.5 (top speed in the Mach 4 range), super-cruise stealth fighter/bomber/interceptor with approximately a 4,000nmrange. Awesome!
Check out the Navy test pilot in the cockpit of the F/A-37...LT. Kara Wade... Go girl!
Our compliments to Lt. Kara Wade, she looks so much like Jessica Biel. Well, it is Jessica Biel. The F/A-37 is the fictitious airplane from the 2005 movie “Stealth.” The US Navy allowed director Rob Cohen to film on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. Here’s a press release from the Navy, and here's the movie trailer:
Don’t see a video screen? You can
1. try disabling ad blockers and refresh this screen or
2. see the blog directly or
3. update your Flash player
The Navy’s cooperation in the making of this film may remind you of the Top Gun effect we mentioned in a previous post. Heroic military movies have a positive effect on recruitment numbers.
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