Above is the Dark Sword, the Chinese military’s newest drone. Not only does it look a lot cooler than any American model, it’s apparently much more manoeuvrable and highly capable in air-to-air combat. This is on top of the Chinese having carbon copies of the Predator and Global Hawk UAVs ready to go in their arsenal.

Not to mention the names are much more awesome. How cool is the phrase “Dark Sword?” Or better yet, “Sour Dragon?” Seriously. [DefPro via Wired via PopSci]

As part of their work at MIT’s Humans and Automation Lab (HAL, heh), the team thought about ways to improve on the suitcase-sized controller that soldiers must currently lug around to control hand-thrown Raven UAVs.

The iPhone app they developed sends GPS coordinates to the craft, which then in turn can send photos and video back to the iPhone.

We had the idea in June,” Cummings told Danger Room. “In six weeks, we went from the idea to a real flight test,” using MIT’s indoor robot range. (See video.) The total cost? $US5,000 for a new, commercially available, quad-rotor robot – plus the cost of iPhones for her crew.

[Wired Danger Room] DoD photo by Tech. Sergeant Russell E. Cooley IV, U.S. Air Force.

We don’t really know anything about the giant “toy” helicopter, except the model it’s based on, but the video below shows that it really works, and that we really don’t want it falling into the hands of any kids. [LiveLeak via Craziest Gadgets]

Thanks to 45 different software programs running on 14 different computers, the simulator allows Sheil to fly to and from 27,000 different airports around the world with breathtaking realism.

Sheil is part of a growing network of enthusiasts from around the globe that serve as pilots and air traffic controllers in a virtual word. This network is amazingly complex:

In Sheil’s simulator, computer screens replace the windows and if he is flying in the virtual world behind a person in Melbourne, and they are using a Qantas 767, “we actually see a Qantas 767 out the window – the software puts it in there for us – and he sees us”.

Moreover, if Sheil flies through Russia, he is greeted by a volunteer Russian air traffic controller. Cars can be seen on the road when he comes in to land and people wave at him from the terminals.

What’s even more amazing is that he managed to build the simulator for around $300,000 AUD (around $197,000 US) whereas professional training simulators can cost upwards of $40 million. This was made possible largely through donated parts given to Sheil because of his charity work. In return, all of the money he earns renting out the simulator is donated to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). Still, this remarkable feat earned him the Guinness record for the “world’s most expensive home flight simulator” (because Guinness will give out records for anything nowadays). As far as the cheapest is concerned, it would be hard to beat the $30,000 bedroom 747 simulator in terms of value. [SMH via Fark]

Thanks to Travis Cole for the photos and to the crane operator for taking them!

“You’re exactly what I want the pilot of Air Force One to look like. You look like Sam Shepard [the actor who played Chuck Yeager] in The Right Stuff,” the President says. Indeed he does. And he could have been Yeager himself, as only the finest pilots–with more than 2,000 hours in the cockpit throughout the world and a perfect record–can be on command of this plane.

The pilot has to be really good because he has to be able to dodge every single bullet for the President. Since Air Force One rarely has fighter escort, the plane depends on its own in case of an attack until the cavalry arrives (I don’t know why it doesn’t have escort, but hey, I guess the Secret Service knows better). Back in 1974, for example, the pilot had to execute some extreme evasive actions when four combat airplanes intercepted Air Force One in Syria’s airspace. They weren’t in danger, however: They were just unannounced escorts sent by the always-friendly Syrian government.

The Air Force One is an specially-prepared Boeing 747, a 231-feet long 400-ton aeroplane with a cabin area of 4,000 square feet. Two of them were ordered during the Reagan administration–Nancy decorated them personally–and since then they have been going through plenty of retrofitting, including the addition of attack countermeasures (which are classified), encoded digital communications (28 lines in case of wiretapping, plus 59 non-encrypted), and electromagnetic impulse (EMP) shielding, in case the United States suffers a nuclear attack.

And apparently, they also do great burgers with cheddar cheese and dijon mustard. [National Geographic]

The helium airship, named for the Greek god of the wind, is only in the concept stage for now. But it looks like something out of Dinotopia, and the goofy vertical design is surprisingly cool.

[Treehugger]

[Twitter]

I’m no warmonger, nor am I a motorcycle fiend, but I can appreciate both a landmark plane with an iconic design and a lavishly expensive bike all the same.

Yet when I look at this B-2 bike, all I can think is, the US Airforce actually spent money on that?

How about we commemorate 20 years of the B-2 bomber with, say, the uber-badass B-2 bomber? Who cares that this bike has some of the original titanium from the original B-2 aft deck or that each wheel features some stupid scale models of B-2s in star formations? What’s next, B-2 collectible cards in the spokes?

I look at this motorcycle and can only reminisce of the short-lived Street Sharks cartoon/toy campaign. It’s a caricature of America’s historical techno-military supremacy, but an unintentional one at that. [Northrop Grumman via Gizmowatch]