One Last Experiment for the MAACS Project?

The Moving Axis AirCraft Simulator was our popular 2008 research project that combined a moving base flight simulator with a virtual reality headset. We learned a lot from the project, but MAACS may have one last experiment to perform.

During construction, we made about 20 video logs that detailed the designs and design changes along the way. It shows the gadgets and techniques we tried, the tests and the trials. I am considering publishing all the videos in a 20 episode YouTube series. This series will show the public the behind-the-scenes story of the MAACS project for the first time ever.

Things don't go smoothly all the time in this series. There is a lot of trial and error. A lot of ideas we were originally excited about, get tossed after they are found unworkable. My hope is that this series will inspire people to experiment, to try, to create and to accept the inevitable failures along the way. I want to show that it's ok to try a lot of things, keep what works and learn from the things that didn't work.

So, is this a good idea? Should I even bother?

JetLev Water Jet Pack........WOW

I just can't stop thinking about this thing. Combine the uber-tech mystique of a jet pack with a relaxing day at the lake, and toss in a little overdose of AWESOME. I would love to “fly” one of these things.



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DIY Virtual Reality Helmet

We experimented with virtual reality technology for flight simulator. We ended up with a beautiful virtual reality helmet that works pretty well. The idea of virtual reality (VR) is quite tempting. Imagine being immersed in a different world with realism rivaling our own. Is today’s technology good enough to transport you to that other world? We investigated.

We started with a stock VR headset, the Vuzix VR920 which includes the display, the view tracker and speakers. We hacked and modified the headset until it became the finished VR helmet you see in the video. The video shows the evolution of the project.

A full transcript of the video and more info on the Vuzix VR920 is at this page on our website.



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Microsoft Cancels Flight Simulator

The people that developed the world’s oldest and most successful flight simulator franchise abruptly lost their jobs this week. Microsoft cut the entire flight simulator game development staff (Aces Studio) in layoffs that will leave 5000 employees jobless over the next 18 months. More about the layoffs here and here.

We extend our encouragement to those talented people that put so much creativity and effort into this software and brought fun and learning to so many pilots and would-be pilots all over the world.
So now what? We would hope that our fallen comrades at the Aces Studio are looking ahead with optimism. Many comments on various flight sim forums and blogs are gloomy and short-sided. Some readers assume this is the end of the hobby. They’re wrong. Man has been fascinated with flight for at least 5000 years, according to Egyptian hieroglyphs. The fascination will live and so will this hobby.

I imagine that many of the energetic and clever former Microsoft employees will continue to be energetic and clever for someone else, or go into business for themselves creating excellent add-ons for flight simulator. The add-on industry for flight simulator is huge. Many companies build excellent aircraft that the purchaser downloads and installs into their existing flight simulator program.

Aircraft are not the only add-ons for flight simulator. Other ex-Microsoft employees may work to develop enhanced ground scenery, water textures, roads, bridges, animation, improved flight dynamics and improved Artificial Intelligence traffic in the air and on the ground.
Others may script new elaborate missions and multi-player competitions.

How many more great add-ons will be available as freeware in the future as ex-developers become part of the flight sim fan base? How will the Virtual Airlines benefit?

FSX will still be a hearty piece of software for a long time. Let’s not forget that most of us do not have fast enough computers to run FSX in its full glory will all the options turned on and detail sliders at maximum. Mark Avey has some great observations about this.

This is not the end of Flight Simulator. I believe it is a de-centralization of its continued evolution. The Aces Studio developers still love Flight Simulator as much as we do, but now they’ve joined the fan base. The gene pool of flight sim enthusiasts just got richer.

~Matt Thomas

RCpowers.com – the Super Heroes of the RC Skies

Dave and Val Powers experiment with radio-controlled airplanes and post videos of their test flights. Now they’ve achieved rock-star status in the world of RC aviation, and here's the proof:

Their YouTube videos have over 10 million views.
Their videos are viewed over 70,000 times per day.
Their channel ranks at #83 of the most watched channels of all time.
Those are serious numbers.

The videos feature a wide range of inventive flying experiments like a tail-less airplane, a transforming flying bus, and a bomb-dropping F-117 Nighthawk as well as product reviews of commercial RC park flyers. There’s also a hefty dose of zany stuff like guys shooting at Dave’s plane with AirSoft rifles and plenty of comic relief from another flying buddy, Keith.

Why so popular?
It helps that Dave and Val are attractive and live in a fashionable part of the world: Southern California. More importantly, Dave tirelessly experiments with the aerodynamics and control systems of his creations. Dave answers questions about his RC planes on live webcam once per week.
~Matt Thomas



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Funny Garmin Commercial

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Is this good advertising? Notice it doesn’t even show the product, but it does communicate the main idea: WAAS allows you to fly an instrument approach that looks like an ILS, even at airports where there is no ILS system.

Bonus: it’s funny.

Dude, Where’s My Flying Car?

One of the disappointments of modern technology is the absence of a practical flying car. As the great Ralph Waldo Emerson once penned, “O how elusive ye are, thee flying car.” Ok, not really.

But seriously, dude, where IS my flying car?


Maybe it’s in England. The Parajet Skycar uses a different design philosophy than other attempted flying cars: simplicity. Basically, it resembles a dune buggy with a pusher propeller hanging below a parachute. Powered parachutes are a proven and widespread technology, so we have high hopes for the success of this idea.

The Parajet Skycar team is nearly ready for public demonstrations of their flying machine. You would think that simply flying it around England, and later hitting the aviation expos at Farnborough and Paris would be a good start. No, the Parajet Skycar team wants to attract the world’s attention with the audacious goal of taking the Skycar all the way to Timbuktu.

In 2009, the Parajet Skycar will fly over the English Channel, across France, Spain, across the Strait of Gibraltor, into Morocco, and deep into Africa. They’re also bringing a land-roving support team, motorcycles, and a cast of characters with names strait from a Speilberg movie: Duncan Milligan, Kim Vande Velde, Simon Westmore, Giles Cardozo, etc. Major funding is provided by Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Imagine this crew plowing through the Sahara – it’s part Mad Max, part Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines. I hope that the Discovery Channel does a show about these people.

Best of luck and happy landings to the Parajet Skycar team!

San Fran Zeppelin

We’ve often thought our Cessna 172 is the perfect machine for scenic flights, but how about a zeppelin?

Airship Ventures is now offering the first zeppelin flights in North America since 1937. This is a genuine zeppelin from the German Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik company, an offshoot of the original 20th century zeppelin manufacturers. Specifically, the modern version is a Zeppelin NT for New Technology, and it’s filled with helium, not that scary hydrogen stuff.

A one-hour flight around the San Francisco Bay area is $495 per person, or $5750 if you want to rent all 12 seats in the gondola.

Airship Ventures’ website is packed with info and a history of how this unique service evolved…and don’t miss the videos.

It’s hard to imagine the original Zeppelins sailing across the skies in the 1930’s. They were larger than any flying machine that anyone alive has ever witnessed. This website shows the comparative lengths of a modern Boeing 747 (231 feet) and the Hindenburg (804 feet). The Hindenburg was over three times longer than a Boeing 747! Airship Ventures’ Zeppelin NT is 246 feet long.

At the time of the Hindenburg disaster, zeppelins had a far better safety record than airplanes. Indeed, zeppelins far surpassed airplanes of the 1930’s in terms of lifting power, range, endurance and speed. But the newsreel images of the Hindenburg engulfed in flames spelled the end of the zeppelin dynasty. It is one of the most recognized film clips in history. One can wonder if the zeppelins would have endured if the Hindenburg accident hadn’t been caught on film.

Here’s an account of the first media flight with Airship Ventures.

Civil Air Patrol Aviation Business Academy

CAP and Evergreen teamed up recently and launched the first annual Capt. Michael King Smith Evergreen Aviation Business Academy held at the amazing Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

Well that’s superb, and rare that youth have an opportunity to learn about aviation entrepreneurship in this way. Innovation is closely related to entrepreneurship and a way to eventually improve the aviation industry.

Parts of the aviation industry tend to treat their machines better than their customers. Customer service at the airlines is awful, but not because the pilots or management (or the TSA) lack a certain technical knowledge. Likewise, in General Aviation it’s hard to find and retain a good Flight Instructor. Again, not because the CFI’s lack a technical knowledge, but many lack a focus on the customer.

On the other hand, many Air Charter operators seem to be experts in meeting and exceeding customer expectations. These companies are also much smaller than the one-size-fits-all airlines and also tend to be rather entrepreneurial. In fact, you can find several air charter pilots that own the charter business and the airplane they’re flying.

This new Aviation Business Academy is very interesting but there’s currently very little information about it on the web. Here’s a press release written prior to the academy at this link
and some cool pictures of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum here, but that’s about it.

The article in CAP Volunteer shows cadets presenting their aviation-related business plans. I bet that each cadet remembered to include a website in their business plan. It’s strange that the Aviation Business Academy apparently does not have one.

You can get the short article, and actually the entire Sep-Oct 2008 issue of the CAP Volunteer here.