Worlds best model airplane...

[280plus]

Actually has 8 "real turbines" at about $1500 each! Took over 2 years to build. It has a wing span of about 22 feet. Takes multiple pilots, as there are so many things to control. Think they were nervous during the maiden flight? Unbelievable that someone would make this - all real turbines!

Check out the movie link below to see the first flight.

http://www.mcgirt.net/RC/VIDEOS/Giant_B52/B52_flight2.wmv

[Larry Ashcraft]

Very cool!  Don't let P95Carry see that.  He'll be mortgaging his house!

[280plus]

LOL... did you watch the video? Definitely cool. I'd hate to be the one to screw up and crash the thing though.

[zahc]

Coincendentally, I just bought a new battery pack and charger for my Slow Stick today.

[Larry Ashcraft]

LOL... did you watch the video? Definitely cool. I'd hate to be the one to screw up and crash the thing though.

I'll have to watch the video tomorrow at work when I have DSL.  Dial-up at 26.4 sucks!

[cosine]

Awesome! *drool* I've always had an interest in model airplanes, and have flown some when I've had more time in the past. (mainly free-flight and rubber-powered. I ought to get into RC. )

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

absolutely incredible. My mom was telling me last night about a r/c meet she and her husband went to in Mt. Pleasant, TX over the weekend. He's a retired automotive engineer and has been an r/c plane nut for years. On the last flight of the day someone augered in a gorgeous jet valued at over 10k. They sadly recovered the turbines and a few electronics and piled the rest back in the crated and covered it up.

He's had the jet bug for awhile, but lately he's been doing the microlites and electrics. His next project will be a turbine, though.

Regards,
Rabbit.

[m1911owner]

Interestingly, this story:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/09/060509055355.jjazoykq.html

is linked off of Drudge right now.

In summary, it's "sounding the alarm" about how terrorists are investigating "UAV"s.    I thought the last paragraph is particularly humorous:

"To many people UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) may seem too exotic, demanding substantial efforts and cost compared with the methods terrorists frequently use," he said. "But science and technology is developing so fast that we often fail to recognise how much the world has changed."

Clearly, the author has no clue that millions of kids have been building sophisticated "UAV"s for decades now.  I think there's even a Boy Scout merit badge on the subject.  (That would be, "Model Airplanes", of course, not "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.")

[RocketMan]

Check out the rest of the videos on that site.  They did crash it, in a fashion eerily similar to the B52 crash at Fairchild AFB in Spokane a few years ago.