Aviation Innovation: Getting Higher Than Ever Before

Powering jet planes with eco-friendly biofuels such as algae has been done before and yet, I’m still being charged an arm and a leg by the airline companies who are still stuck in the past, burning up high emission jet fuels. Deep down in my heart I have always known that marijuana is not only a powerful medicine, but that hemp oil is also a useful and renewable energy source. Just ask DuPont.

Come early December, Air New Zealand will have a Boeing 747 fly off, powered by a new type of jet fuel made from marijuana. A mixture of both biofuel and conventional fuel will run one of the plane’s engines and the developers of the biofuel, UOP, are hoping it will cut down on carbon-dioxide emissions. They’re also hoping it will get everyone on board high as a kite.

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Full-flight Simulators For Rich Rookie Pilots

I know a lot of you out there are nuts about flying. It’s an expensive hobby, but someone’s got to do it. How else would I be able to get to Bangladesh? If you’re crazy about flying and I mean straight loony about it, then you won’t be afraid to learn how to fly all by yourself. Just kidding. No one in their right mind would let you jump into the cockpit of a plane without hours of experience behind a simulator. That’s where the CAE 7000 Series full-flight simulators come in.

British Airways Executive Club members have access to these top-of-the-line simulators which offer a wrap-around display, seating for a full cockpit crew, automated vocal warnings and full motion feedback. Even better - if you decide you want one in your home, it only costs fourteen million dollars to have CAE install and maintain it for you. Start saving now, because we both know that Microsoft Flight Simulator and Afterburner aren’t getting you anywhere. Neither will this thing, but it’s a better start.


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Collection Of Ejection Seat Test Videos

Filed under: Internet, Videos

Oobject has posted 10 videos of ejection seat tests that show the safety measures involved in testing a fighter jet ejection seat in action.  If you thought crash testing cars was extreme, check out some of these videos of pilots risking their lives in the name of safety testing. No crash test dummies here, folks. Only live flesh and bone are propelled in these videos.

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Martin Jetpack Is Almost Rocketeer Status

Let’s face it, we all want to be as cool as The Rocketeer. Fighting Nazis as a masked hero with a jetpack doesn’t get any cooler. Now a jetpack is hitting the mainstream market. Martin Jetpack is the world’s first practical jetpack and it was launched in action at Oshkosh, Wisconsin for AirVenture, right around the time of Virgin’s White Knight 2 launch.

Though the FAA is labeling it as an “experimental ultralight airplane, equipped with a gas-powered, V-4 piston engine and two ducted fans that provide the lift,” we all know it’s a jetpack used to fight off zombie Nazis. With the Martin Jetpack, one is able to hover for around 30 minutes and reach heights up to 8,000 feet. Good luck completing that nauseating 15 hour flight training after purchasing one for $100,000. Which, surprisingly enough, is way cheaper than those Rocket Belts.

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