The Mind of Tefft » Aviation

Virginia to require mandatory Internet safety lessons in schools.

Michael Tefft — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:35:15 +0000

Virginia has become the first state to mandate that public schools offer internet safety classes for all grade levels. The classes are to protect young web users from internet-based crime, especially from sexual predators using the internet to lure young children into becoming victims of sexual crimes. According to a 2006 study by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, about 13 percent of internet users ages 10 to 17 received unwanted sexual solicitations. Other states like Texas and Illinois have passed internet safety education laws, but they don’t make the courses mandatory. I am not sure how the mandatory classes are to be implemented in Virginia. Will students from 1st grade through 12th grade be required to take mandatory classes for every grade? In other words will students be required to have mandatory classes for each year of school from 1st to 12th? That seems to be a bit excessive. If the study shows that 90 percent of those targeted for sexual solicitation were teens what is the purpose of requiring mandatory classes for 1st graders? Should not the mandatory classes be targeted for when a student first becomes a teenager? This may be a naive statement on my part but shouldn’t young children be tutored on how to protect themselves from exploitation on the internet by the parents? The role of schools should be to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic, the traditional teachings of schools. It seems that schools are now teaching sex education, internet protection, political correctness, and all sorts of other topics that should not be taught in schools. When will a child have the time to learn the skills needed to make him a productive and successful member of society if all his/her time is being spent on all these other topics? It should be the parents who attend classes on sex education and internet safety, if needed, and then instruct their children at home. It is not the job of schools to replace parents. What is needed is for parents to become more effective parents and do what parents are supposed to do; protect, nurture, and raise their children to become responsible adults some day.

Why I love to fly.

Michael Tefft — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:51:22 +0000

Crosswinds !! –

Piaggio P180 Avanti II – One beautiful airplane.

Michael Tefft — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:44:12 +0000

One of my favorite channels to watch on my new HDTV is HD Theatre. One of the shows on HD Theatre is MegaWorld. The show highlights technologies of countries from around the world. Recently I watched an episode that showcased the technologies of Italy and one of the companies on that show was Piaggio Aero. Piaggio Aero produces the P180 Avanti II. The Avanti II is the worlds fastest turobprop business class aircraft, and in my opinion one of the sexiest aircraft I have ever seen. The Avanti II has a maximum cruise speed of 737 km/hr and a ceiling of 2, 500 meters. Power is provided by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-66B engines with the propellers mounted in the rear for a push configuration instead of pull. The aircraft also has a fixed canard like wing on the nose to help lift the nose of the aircraft. The Avanti II is capable of dogfight type maneuvers as well as carrying a crew of two and six passengers in comfort. The Italians have always designed everything they build with style and the Avanti II is one of the most stylish and beautiful aircraft flying today. Check it out for yourself on the Piaggio Aero web site. Man I have got to get me one of those.

The next Concorde ? Europe to Australia in 4+ hours.

Michael Tefft — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:11:42 +0000

I would have loved to have flown on the Concorde when it was still in service but now maybe I will have a chance to fly on the Concorde’s successor. British engineers have unveiled plans for a hypersonic jet which could fly from Europe to Australia in less than five hours. Dubbed the A2 and designed by Reaction Engines in Oxfordshire, the A2 would carry 300 passengers at a top speed of 6,400 kmh. The A2 would be 143 meters long which would make it about twice the size of the biggest jet currently flying. The plane would be fueled with liquid hydrogen which does not produce carbon emissions, making the plane environmentally friendly. On second thought, with projected fares of $6,900 maybe I won’t get a chance to fly the A2 unless I win the lottery. But a guy can always dream.

Crazy R/C helicopter flying demonstration.

Michael Tefft — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:19:08 +0000

This is the most fantastic demonstration of remote control flying that I have ever seen. The maneuvers done by this helicopter are amazing. This dude must have practiced for years to do this. Amazing!

Russian Su-30MK with canards and vectored thrust

Michael Tefft — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 02:23:57 +0000

This video shows the amazing flight capabilities of the Su-30MK two-seat multirole fighter and air superiority aircraft. I don’t think the U.S. has any aircraft capable of some of the flight maneuvers exhibited in this video. After watching the video visit the website for more incredible videos.

Technorati Tags: air superiority, fighter, Russian

HALO – Helium balloon mission to near-space

Michael Tefft — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:30:35 +0000

I came across this really interesting story about a man named Alexei Karpenko who launched a DIY helium balloon to an altitude of 30 km. For us metric challenged US citizens that is almost 19 miles up. The web site that chronicles this amazing project if full of spectacular photos and video that were taken during the ascent and descent of the balloon. Projects like this, along with other private venture projects like Spaceship One, space elevators, and lunar landers, show that NASA has some serious competition. Hopefully NASA will be able to take advantage of projects such as these to facilitate its own projects like manned missions to Mars and the Moon as well as space probes to other planets, comets, and asteroids. I am in awe of people like Alexei Karpenko who can accomplish such feats with meager resources.

Video from LDRS 2007 at Jean, Nevada

Michael Tefft — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:48:30 +0000

This is a clip from some of the video I shot while I was at the 2007 Large Dangerous Rocket Ship competition last July at Jean, Nevada. I had a great time attending the competition as well as exploring the nearby Mojave Desert. The original clip is almost 2 Gig in size so this is a low quality wmv of the original avi file. It was too big to put on YouTube so I am hosting it on my server. I will put some other clips up in the future.

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The Golden Age of Flight

Michael Tefft — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 03:11:38 +0000

Do you remember what it was like to fly before Homeland Security? Do you remember when most flights had a full meal that was included in the price of the ticket? Do you remember when flying was not a hassle and you never had to worry about your luggage being lost? Do you remember when you could take your kid up to the cockpit for a tour in-flight? I found this article about a children’s book from 1961 called “Gordon’s Jet Flight“. The book provides a fascinating look back at the golden years of commercial aviation. There are numerous scans of the books pages that show what air travel was like 46 years ago. I remember my first flight when I was about 15 years old. My brother Jeff and I flew from Corpus Christi, Texas to Virginia on a propeller driven airplane. I remember looking out the window and seeing the Rolls Royce engines and feeling very safe. It was an exciting flight and I have enjoyed flying ever since, even with Homeland Security and getting only peanuts and a drink on the flights.

World’s largest model radio control plane

Michael Tefft — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:36:46 +0000

I saw this video on Break.com which I record on my Tivo. I thought this was incredible. I bet they have to be real careful with something this big because if it got out of control it could do some serious damage.

This is the largest model airplane in the world. It is the B29 Dina Might, scale 1/5 and with its four engines of 160cc each it lifts 210 kg in the air.

Worlds Largest Model RC Plane – Watch more free videos