CIA Airlines: Inflatable Getaway Plane Delivered Upon Request

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:50:00 +0000

You find yourself held under “house arrest” in a remote jungle region of Indonesia, sometime in the late 1950s. You may have your suit, fedora and at least one halfway decent tie, but the chances of getting back to the US of A seem slim. The CIA thinks you’re not so dispensable, so spytechs—with the help of the always patriotic Goodyear Company—build an inflatable aeroplane that they can drop into a jungle clearing. Here’s what it looks like when fully inflated and ready for takeoff:

One version was apparently inflated by adding water to special pellets which produced gas. Another version says the engine itself, sans prop, pumped the plane up. Either way, it quickly became airworthy and, as a raft as well, could use a body of water as a takeoff strip.

One of the agents involved told the Spycraft authors that it was a viable invention: “We tested it and it worked out pretty good.” He admits, though, that the project was killed, probably because of “politics.” When a similar crisis emerged later on, the agent thought to pull it out of storage and put it to work, but by then, it had rotted and cracked in a secret CIA warehouse. (They probably shouldn’t have put it right next to the Arc of the Covenant.) [More CIA Spytech from the Spycraft Book]

Goodyear Announces an Octet of ‘Rugged’ GPS Units

Gizmodo US Edition — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:30:42 +0000

Goodyear, that name you’re accustomed to seeing on tires, has decided to jump into the GPS game, sticking its familiar brand name onto navigation devices. Hey, they have something to do with cars, don’t they? The company has pulled a Garmin on us, brand spamming with an entire product line of eight different GPS units that’ll roll out at CES, and ship in Q2 of this year. They’re calling them “rugged” for reasons we can’t fathom. Anyway, they’ll have a remote control you can stick within easy reach, letting you push a button to answer your Bluetooth-enabled cellphone. Spend a bit more, and you can hook up with MSN Direct for traffic and weather reports. No pricing was announced yet. This all sounds familiar. Check out the spec list of the entire bunch:

• GY100K (keychain)
SiRF Star III
Bluetooth
10-hour batery life

• GY130
3.5-inch touchscreen
Centrality GPS chip
324MHz Atlas III CPU
64MB internal storage, 1GB SD
WinCE 5.0
MP3 playback
6-hour battery life

• GY140
4.3-inch touchscreen
Centrality GPS chip
300MHz Atlas II CPU
64MB internal storage, 1GB SD
WinCE 4.2
MP3 playback
6-hour battery life

• GY230
3.5-inch touchscreen
Centrality GPS chip
400MHz Samsung ARM9 CPU
2GB internal storage, 1GB SD
WinCE 4.2
MP3 / AVI playback
8-hour battery life

• GY330
3.5-inch touchscreen
SiRF Star III GPS chip
400MHz Samsung ARM9 CPU
2GB internal storage, 1GB SD
WinCE 5.0
Optional MSN Direct access
MP3 / AVI playback
FM transmitter
A/V inputs
8-hour battery life

• GY340
4.3-inch touchscreen
SiRF Star III GPS chip
400MHz Samsung ARM9 CPU
2GB internal storage, 1GB SD
WinCE 5.0
Bluetooth handsfree controls
Optional MSN Direct access
MP3 / AVI playback
FM transmitter
A/V inputs
8-hour battery life

• GY440
4.3-inch touchscreen
SiRF Star III GPS chip
400MHz Samsung ARM9 CPU
2GB internal storage, 1GB SD
WinCE 5.0
Bluetooth handsfree controls
1 year of MSN Direct access
MP3 / AVI playback
FM transmitter
A/V inputs
8-hour battery life

• GY540
4.3-inch touchscreen
SiRF Star III GPS chip
400MHz Samsung ARM9 CPU
2GB internal storage, 2GB SD
WinCE 5.0
Bluetooth handsfree controls
Separate Bluetooth handsfree remote control
1 year of MSN Direct access
MP3 / AVI playback
FM transmitter
A/V inputs
Voice memos
Stereo speakers
8-hour battery life

[Businesswire]

Gizmodo Australia » goodyear

CIA Airlines: Inflatable Getaway Plane Delivered Upon Request

Goodyear Announces an Octet of ‘Rugged’ GPS Units