The Science of Supersonic Freefall

Posted By on Oct 31, 2011

As a follow-up to our article on Joe Kittinger: Supersonic Parachutist, holder of the parachuting altitude record for over 50 years, we present this video explaining some of the problems encountered by people attempting to break this record.  Felix Baumgartner, who plans on making the attempt, is being assisted by Joe Kittinger (who also appears in this...

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Design Your Own Aircraft

Posted By on Aug 8, 2011

Aviation company GE Aviation has added a simple and yet fun “Design Your Own Plane” game to their website.  In this game you can experiment with different wing, engine and fuselage options to try to build an optimum airplane.  Then, when you think you’ve come up with the perfect plane, click a button and watch it fly.  Or not.  (My first one did...

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Jimbo – Episode 1 – A Big Little Problem

Posted By on Jun 26, 2011

An animated series from the mid 1980s, about a talking airliner that was built too small due to the designer confusing inches with centimetres… Reference: Jimbo and the Jetset...

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Little Johnny Jet

Posted By on Jun 23, 2011

Ever wondered how jet planes are made?  Perhaps this old cartoon from 1952 will explain…  

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WestJet’s Aircraft Weight Reduction Plan

Posted By on May 16, 2011

Canadian airline WestJet released this video in early April, outlining their extraordinarily sensible plan for reducing aircraft weight, thereby reducing fuel burn and carbon emissions. These guys are geniuses! I can’t see any reason that wouldn’t work. Can you? There were several April Fools jokes played by airlines this year, but I think this WestJet video was the...

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