Aviation Insider - March 2011

Friendship Born at EAA Air Academy
Tyler Sibley, EAA Lifetime 739864, and Aaron Wypyszynski, EAA Lifetime 579057, grew up in different areas of the country but shared a keen passion for aviation that brought them together about a decade ago at the EAA Air Academy in Oshkosh. Read more

It's a Bird, It's a Camera… It may look like a hummingbird. But it's much more. AeroVironment Inc. announced it has accomplished a technical milestone - controlled precision hovering and fast forward flight of a flapping two-wing aircraft that carries its own energy source and uses only the flapping wings for propulsion and control. Read more	This small hummingbird is actually a flying camera.

Women Soar Ever wonder what it's like to fly a plane? Or are you thinking of majoring in aviation, science, or engineering in college but aren't sure it's the career you want? Women Soar You Soar will help you find answers to those questions and more. Entering its seventh year of inspiring young women to reach for their dreams in aviation, the program is expanding to four days in 2011 and will now be held toward the end of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Read more	Women Soar participants at AirVenture 2010

Scientists Seek 'Spitting Image' of Earhart's DNA Last December EAA reported that a bone fragment found in 2009 on the remote Pacific atoll Nikumaroro was to undergo DNA testing to see if it belonged to long-lost aviatrix Amelia Earhart. But first, scientists need Earhart's genetic profile to compare to that of the fragment. Reportedly they'll attempt to create Earhart's profile using her saliva taken from envelopes she's likely to have sealed, then compare to determine if the bone fragment is hers. Read more

Doubts Cast on Earhart Wreckage Sighting On the day it was announced that the latest DNA tests on a bone fragment thought to be that of Amelia Earhart were "inconclusive," a group on the South Pacific island of Bougainville has claimed to have discovered her lost aircraft. The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier reported that armed men are guarding a wreck partially covered by a coral reef northwest of Buka Island on the north end of Bougainville. Some people are skeptical of this discovery since established research about Earhart's last location make it unlikely that her Lockheed 10E Electra is now some 2,000 miles west of her last known position. Read more	Amelia Earhart at Lae, Papua New Guinea, the day before she left on her last flight.

Last Hurrah: Discovery Begins Final Space Flight The final flight of space shuttle Discovery lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center February 24 to deliver a new module and critical supplies to the International Space Station. One of the STS-133 mission objectives is delivering the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) named Leonardo. The module can support microgravity experiments in areas such as fluid physics, materials science, biology, and biotechnology. Inside the PMM is Robonaut 2, a dexterous robot that will become a permanent resident of the station. Read more

Kepler Telescope Discovers Far-Off Planets Scientists using NASA's Kepler space telescope recently discovered six planets made of a mix of rock and gases orbiting a single sunlike star known as Kepler-11. This is the largest group of transiting planets orbiting a single star discovered outside our solar system. Read more

Wanted: Paper Planes From Space In the ever-growing realm of amateur balloon launches to the edge of space came a project in which dozens of paper planes were carried aloft by a helium balloon and released at an altitude of 112,000 feet. The paper planes, each carrying a Samsung SD memory card with a text or video message, then glide for as long as the winds of hope will carry them. A group of Britons sent a balloon aloft in Germany, and so far they've received reports from just about every continent that one of their planes has been found. Read more

Ice Pilots Coming to Nat Geo Those in the United States who've always wanted to watch Canadian reality TV series Ice Pilots NWT which features Buffalo Airways, an airline that still uses DC-3s, will be in luck this spring. The series has been airing in Canada only, but according to a tweet last week from @IcePilotsNWT, the show will come to National Geographic in May. Read more

Thunderbirds, Blue Angels Ready to Fly 2011 Season They're fast, they're graceful, and they're elite. And chances are they're performing somewhere near you in 2011. The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron's Thunderbirds and the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels are scheduled to perform at locations throughout the United States. Read more	The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds prepare for the 2011 season.

Winners Named in NASA 'Kids in Micro-g' Challenge What effects would microgravity have on a pendulum? Is the buoyancy of an object affected in a microgravity environment? You might guess the answer to those questions, but you would never know for sure since creating a microgravity environment on earth isn't likely. Luckily, for a select number of kids between grades five and eight, they have another alternative. Read more	Astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson performs the Kids in Micro-g Newton's Space Office Experiment.