The "Billy Martin" Award goes to.... or "Why I Love Tal Newhart"

 Nuff Said...

Great Aviation Library and other goodies

Aviation Books Company is your source for pilot supplies, software, aviation books, art, aviation supplies, leather flight jackets, gifts, flight bags, apparel, headsets, sunglasses, GPS, transceivers, products and accessories for your plane.

Awesome FREE model airplane simulator software

The FMS (Flying Model Simulator) is Freeware. Lots of options, airplanes and ideas to play with. No cost, no license, no warranty. Any trike models in there? Maybe you could design one?

Life of an Aircraft Salesman

Guys who sell airplanes don't always make the deal, but they always have the funniest stories to tell. Link

Couldn't resist just one more .... The DIY Propeller Trike

Does anyone have a spare wing to lend this guy? Waaaaaayyyyyy Cool!

World's Smallest One Man Helicopter?

Continuing on with our "no trike blog post Sunday" I happily turn you on to the Gen H-4 which is billed as the worlds smallest one man helicopter. One question.. where do you mount the BRS? ;)

Thirty years in the making?... the Skycar

When I was a kid, I remember reading about the Skycar in Popular Mechanics. It was always "just around the corner" from being introduced to the public. Soon we were all going to be driving in them and roads were going to be eliminated.... "Roads? ... where we're going we don't need Roads Marty...!"




Don't hold your breath, but the Skycar is pretty cool technology for the flying crowd.

Spectacular Approaches!

Think you had it tough getting your 400lb trike in for a crosswind landing over the trees? Check out these big boys! Where's Jim Bair when you need him for some of his own amazing shots!?!

Check your video upload and download speed with Speedtest

If you are experiencing any difficulties with bandwidth, I recommend that you try Speedtest.net for a check of your upload and download speeds. Very cool graphical interface and easy to use.

Aviation "oops" classics .. audio and video

 
I remember seeing about five years ago, and just stumbled upon it again today. Check it out for some incredible aviation thrills and spills. Link

One of my favorite images - The Earth at Night

How to make a $29.00 camcorder for your trike

There is a new breed of "one-time use" camcorders being sold by CVS Pharmacies for around $29.00, though I've seen them as low as $19. The catch is that they are supposed to be used once, then returned to the store and then you never see the camcorder again...just like disposable cameras. Some clever folks have discovered that this is simply not necessary. With a little ingenuity and a few bucks of spare parts, you can make a simple USB adapter that will let you download the video files from this inexpensive camcorder right into your mac or pc, and then use the camera again and again. Perfect for mounting on your trike or your helmet! Link

Have you checked out Aerotrekking yet?

There is a new type of trike flying going on in the American Southwest. It involves low-level terrain "mapping", or to put it another way, flying "under the radar."

The decision to fly so low is probably best summed up by this quote from their website:

What is the point of flying so low?

It has to be experienced to be appreciated, but when flying at low level there is an exquisite sense of belonging to the landscape that you are flying through. At higher altitudes that sense of being part of countryside is removed and replaced by a sense of being an observer of the ground. In addition,the scenery at ground level is more varied.

Being from the Midwest, I can appreciate the thrill of flying down on the deck... since we can do it all the time over the endless fields of corn. I only wish we had the type of scenery and landscape that they have down in New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada!

There is a lot of interesting information at the American Aerotrekking Society Website, as well as the related site of the SkyGypsies

Another example of a BRS Chute in Action

In case your GPS Breaks - How to Use Your Wristwatch as a Compass

Hold a watch with 12 o’clock at left. Move your arm so the hour hand points at the sun. The spot halfway between the hour hand and the 12 is south. This is for the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere you point the 12 at the sun, and halfway between that and the hour hand is North.

From Wired Magazine

The Joy of Wikipedia

Have you guys met Wikipedia? If not, do so...because there is no better online source for factual information about EVERYTHING. Best of all, it's a social network which ensures that all the information is democratically monitored and edited. No political agenda involved. If the facts and data aren't correct, someone will call it out and change it or delete it. Elegant and simple.

Check out the Ultralight Trike section here. Hey... I forgot to tell you that you can also make your images available for public use through a creative commons license. That's my friend Bob Munsie in the image who I captured about five years ago on a particularly beautiful and cloud-filled day!

Jetpack Dreams

Follow up to my earlier post about the second annual Rocketbelt Convention, which was held this past weekend as
part of the Thunder of Niagara air show on the Air Force’s reserves
base in Niagara Falls. Check out the video of GoFast! pilot Eric Scott, who blasted off for
a 15-second, 110-decibel rocketbelt demonstration.

Check out TokBox for Instant Video Chat with no plug-in required

This is TokBox and it is a new video chat channel that sets up very quickly with no plug-in required. It allowed me to get it working on my mac laptop in about two minutes after registering. Once it is set up, you can invite someone to chat via email or you can send them to your custom user page on the TokBox site. The person who you invite can participate in the video chat with you even without registration.

It is very easy to use and has simple controls. You can freeze or close the camera or sound and can also use it to leave a video message for someone who is not online. There is a pop-up feature that lets you put the chat window on top of your other programs so you can work while you are conversing, and it can also be embedded into other applications (Like I am doing now in this blog!)

TokBox can also be a part of your social network. You can add and save friends and include interests or common tags if you like (i.e. Quik Owners), and sort your contacts in such a way.

I'm going to be testing this for the TrikePilot Social site and would encourage you all to give it a try. I will post instructions on how to embed the widget into your member page shortly, but for now, feel free to try and reach me for a chat. Could be fun (or scary!) to see your faces and voices from around the world finally! ;)

Alternative Music Player to Embed into your Trikepilot Social Page?

Get Your Own Free Player at Ivoon.com

This one is pretty cool. You can build up your own playlist from songs they have at the site, or upload your own. Then you can display the songs on your own webpage, or even in one of the comment posts on Trikepilot Social. Looks and works just like an iPod! Just copy the embed code from your playlist page on Ivoon and paste it into your member page using the HTML code.

More Simulator Ideas?

I think when I have the time this winter I'm going to be working on a trike simulator similar to this. Made by a Sam and Bill Rotomoto from Montana for Maker's Faire 2007. They live in Montana, and it obviously has had an effect on their heads.


Check out their website:

Andes Engineering makes Hang Glide which I actually flew at the Kermit Weeks' Air Museum in Florida during Sun-n-Fun 2006.
 
Here is another idea that is similar, but hard to tell from the poor video quality.