 "It's amazing how many iconic and forgotten radio telescopes pop-up in movies, TV shows, and documentaries. The human eye was our first space image detector. On a beautifully clear night at the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve in New Zealand with the Milky Way displayed above us, we can see about 5,000 stars. But to really see - that is, to detect and communicate into space - a radio telescope is needed. Such devices can receive radio waves from astronomical sources in the sky and are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy. Whereas optical telescopes study the light wave portion of the spectrum, radio telescopes focus on the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum emitted by almost all astronomical objects..."
 "Come away with me, Lucille, In my merry Oldsmobile. Down the road of life we fly, Automo-bubbling, you and I. To the church we'll swiftly steal, Then our wedding bells will peal, You can go as far as you like with me In my merry Oldsmobile." "In My Merry Oldsmobile" was first produced in 1905" with music by Gus Edwards and lyrics by Vincent P. Bryan. That was prior to Henry Ford's Model T hitting the showroom floors. Contrary to popular belief, the Model T (introduced in 1908) was not the first car built in America; it was the first high volume production line car to be produced using an assembly line - Ford's famed innovation. Ransom Olds sold his first car in 1900, as presented in this 1954 issue of Air Trails magazine. The Wikipedia entry for Oldsmobile claims their 1902 model was the first mass-produced auto in the country...
 "Tiny aircraft that weigh as much as a fruit fly could serve as Martian atmospheric probes. Despite weighing about a third of a milligram, nanocardboard flyers have the ability to lift payloads. In this artist's conception, fleets of flyers could be launched from ground-based rovers and steered with lasers to collect samples. Planets and moons with thin atmospheres and low gravities would enhance these flyers' ability to levitate by shooting air through their corrugated channels. A study demonstrated nanocardboard's flying and payload-carrying abilities in an environment similar to that of Mars..."
 The middle of the last century was a time ripe with opportunities for people with a penchant for innovation, experimentation, designing, and building high technology products. Aviation, aerospace, land and sea transportation, medicine, manufacturing, chemistry, physics, astronomy, communications, electronics, mechanics, nuclear technology, remote exploration of space and the sea, and many other realms were pushing forward the frontiers of knowledge (or pushing back the frontiers of ignorance, depending on your viewpoint) at an incredible rate. Both trade and hobby magazines often featured articles encouraging participation as technicians and engineers in a field related to hobby interests (Ham radio, model airplanes, boats, and cars, etc.). Air Trails magazine ran many such pieces, including this 1954 example...
 "Walmart signs trio of drone deals as it races to play catch-up with Amazon. Brent Morgan is one of many Americans who have had a Walmart package dropped off at his home during the coronavirus pandemic. Yet his delivery did not fit the typical mold. A drone flew overhead and dropped a bag in his front lawn. Inside, there was an at-home Covid-19 test kit. The aerial delivery in Morgan’s Las Vegas neighborhood is part of a new effort by Walmart to understand how drones could expand its on-demand deliveries and help it better compete with Amazon. Over the past month, Walmart has announced three deals with drone operators to test different uses for the drones. It's teamed up with Flytrex to deliver groceries and household essentials in Fayetteville, North Carolina..."
 The October 2020 issue of Astronomy magazine has a great article celebrating the 60 year anniversary of Celestron. Did you know that at one time Celestron made 16"and 22" telescopes? Author Michael Bakich covers the entire history beginning in 1955 when Tom Johnson designed and built his first telescopes as part of his Valor Electronics company in Gardena, California. Models were sold for amateur and professional observers. It was the famous orange 8" Celestron that really launched Celestron to fame in 1970, with a price tag under $1,000. The company went through many owners and management change-outs, while for the most part successfully enduring market downturns and emerging today as a very profitable and successful telescope maker. The story is a good read.
 It has been a long time since Microsoft released a new version of Flight Simulator. According to a review done by IEEE Spectrum writer Mark Pesce in an article entitled "Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2020 Blurs the Line Between Tools and Toys," "With real-time air-traffic and weather data, you'll forget you're at your desk. My nephew recently sent me an email about our latest shared obsession: Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2020. 'Flying a Cessna 152 in this game feels exactly like flying one in real life,' he wrote. And he should know. Growing up next to a small regional airport, he saw private aircraft flying over his home every day, and he learned to fly as soon as his feet were long enough to reach the rudder pedals. While he relaxes with the game, my experiences with it have been more stressful..."
 Mr. Peter M. wrote a couple weeks ago requesting a high resolution version of this 4−view line drawing of the De Havilland DH60G Gipsy Moth in order to assist his in creating a 3D computer model of it on the 3D Warehouse website. It appeared in the May 1969 issue of American Aircraft Modeler magazine. As you can see from the screen capture above, he did an amazing job! Click on the image to view the live 3D model that can be rotated and zoomed. Peter's model replicates the airplane flown by Amy Johnson on her historic 11,000-mile solo flight in 1930 from solo from London England to Darwin Australia. Many thanks to Peter for making this available...
 Model railroading is probably as big a deal or even bigger today than it was when this "Basement Railroad" article appeared in a 1954 issue of Air Trails Hobbies for Young Men magazine. The level of engineering and artistry exhibited by model railroaders is utterly amazing. The same can be said for most forms of modeling, but the layouts created by model railroad enthusiasts trumps what you typically see for model car, model boat, or model airplane displays. As shown here, there are elaborate railroad layouts hidden away in basements, garages, and back rooms all over the world. Pitifully, the decades-long work of some modelers is lost when he passes on, and the parts are sold off in estates sales or auctions. It pains me to think of the creations that have ended up in a landfill because the inheritor did not appreciate the value of the work and equipment. Of course that happens much less frequently these days with the availability of Etsy and eBay. In fact, some pretty amazing prices are paid for vintage trains...
 "According to Unmanned Systems Technology, 5G will enable three prominent drone technologies. It has been shown that flying drones on cellular networks, particularly 5G networks, is a viable option for delivering low-latency and high-performing drone applications such as emergency supply delivery, search and rescue missions and equipment and infrastructure inspection. According to Unmanned Systems Technology, 5G cellular data will enable three prominent drone technologies: Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM), Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights and Sensor Data Transmission (SDTX). UTM will deliver a globally standardized technology, allowing 5G networks to be integrated with these traffic management systems to enhance the safety and security of commercial..."
 "Rolls-Royce has announced on its blog that the company has completed testing of the technology it plans to use in its line of electrically powered planes - one of which they expect will break speed records for electric airplanes. The new plane will be one of the core products of the company's ACCEL initiative, whose main objective will be to produce zero-emission planes and engines for other plane makers, and to be net-zero by 2050. Rolls-Royce has also created a video showing parts of the ground testing, which has been posted on YouTube. The testing was done with a plane segment featuring a full-scale model of the front of the fuselage of the ionBird plane. It was fitted with a 500-horsepower electric engine backed up with 6,000 cells..."
 1968 was the beginning of the 3-man crew Apollo era with the first manned space flight of the series, Apollo 7, launching in October of that year. Model rocketry was all the rage. Per this article from a 1968 issue of American Aircraft Modeler magazine, the average age of an American model rocketeer was about 13.6 years. I was 10 years old at the time and had by that time been building and flying model rockets for a year or two. Being a fan of both airplanes and rockets - hence this website's name - I liked the rocket boost gliders. The Estes Falcon, Nighthawk, and Space Plane models were available at the time. The Falcon was the simplest with a pylon-mounted engine that ejected with the ejection charge. The Nighthawk was more akin to the Polish boost-Glider in this article, where the power pod separates from the airplane and comes down via streamer while the airplane glides back to earth...
 The National Association of Rocketry (NAR) has been around since 1957. At one time, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) was pretty tightly joined with them in covering model rocketry events and promoting model rocketry. In fact, for while there was space allotted in American Aircraft Modeler, AMA's monthly magazine, for model rocketry. From February 1968 through August 1969 there was a newsletter feature entitled "Model Rocketeer" in addition to a separate article, often written by G. Harry Stine. A complete list of all editions is provided. The NAR and AMA still work together. For example, the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) delegates authority for aeromodeling and spacemodeling to the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), who has in turn delegated Spacemodeling (model rocketry) to the NAR...
 The 2020 ARRL Online Auction will be held October 15th-22nd. The preview began October 8th. "Don't miss this opportunity to get in on the fun and bid on a variety of items at the 15th annual ARRL Online Auction to benefit ARRL educational programs. We suggest you read through the 'Help' section, listing bidding tips as well as the link to our Help Desk should you need assistance. All bidders must register (your arrl.org user ID and password will not work on the auction site). If you have registered for a previous ARRL Online Auction, you may use the same log-in information..."
 Here is the full set of building instructions for the beautiful 1970s era Airtronics Aquila sailplane. A fairly compressive building description was published in the May 1975 issue of R/C Modeler magazine when the Aquila first appeared, but these are much more extensive. Aquila kits have not been manufactured for many years, and some of the ones that appear on eBay are missing the instruction booklet, so now you can access a copy of the original in its entirety. Photos of the kit parts and plans can be seen on my main Airtronics Aquila page. You can also see the 105% Aquila I built from enlarged plans.
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