The AeroVironment Global Observer is a concept for a high-altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, designed by AeroVironment (AV) to operate as a stratospheric geosynchronous satellite system with regional coverage.

Two Global Observer aircraft, each flying for up to a week at an altitude of 55,000 to 65,000 feet (17,000 to 20,000 m), could alternate coverage over any area on the earth, providing a platform for communications relays, remote sensing, or long-term surveillance.

In addition to flying above weather and above other conventional aircraft, operation at this altitude permits communications and sensor payloads on the aircraft to service an area on the surface of the earth up to 600 miles (970 km) in diameter, equivalent to more than 280,000 square miles (730,000 km²) of coverage. Global Observer may offer greater flexibility than a satellite and longer duration than conventional manned and unmanned aircraft.

The Global Observer is currently in development; its first flight was in August 2010, and the first hydrogen-fueled flight was in January 2011. The prototype crashed on its ninth test flight in 2011.

 

 

The Pentagon spent millions developing a humongous hydrogen-fueled drone that, it hoped, could fly at soaring altitudes for a week at a time. Now the drone is all on its lonesome, because no one wants to buy it.

Built by drone manufacturer AeroVironment, the Global Observer is a 70-foot-long jumbo drone with a wingspan nearly as long as one of the Air Force’s B-52 bombers. Powered by liquid-hydrogen fuel cells, it was billed as a persistent eye-in-the-sky capable of loitering at 65,000 feet for a week a time without spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The Pentagon also envisioned many missions. The drone’s 380-pound payload of spy cameras and sensors could stare at a diameter of 600 miles of earth at once, while doubling as a communications relay. It could patrol the oceans and possibly track hurricanes — the Department of Homeland Security was interested in it too.

But now no one wants the giant drone. “Currently, no service or defense agency has advocated for it to be a program,” Pentagon spokeswoman Maureen Schumann told InsideDefense (subscription only) in April. This was after spending $27.9 million developing the drone since 2007, which came to an end in December when the Pentagon closed down its development contract, the trade journal reports.

When emailed by Danger Room, the Pentagon didn’t elaborate on the reasons why. “Global Observer was a technology demonstration, not a program,” spokesperson Maureen Schumann wrote. But the Global Observer had run into danger before.

The first prototype, the GO-1, was destroyed in a crash during a test flight — its ninth test — at Edwards Air Force Base in April 2011. (The cause hasn’t been revealed.) The Pentagon had also ordered a second prototype called the GO-2 before the first prototype’s crash, but then renegotiated with the company to buy back the drone before it was completed. It also had a litany of now-former sponsors: the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and U.S. Special Operations Command — and the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Strategic Command and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

So AeroVironment is stuck with it. “Our production facility has the ability to produce up to five air vehicles per year, our core team is intact and our strategic supply chain ready to move forward when we secure the commitment to do so,” company spokesman Steven Gitlin told InsideDefense in a statement. If all else fails, another option would be for the company itself to fly the GO-2 and “sell the information or service it provides.” But that’s an open question.

Nor is the Global Observer the only giant hydrogen-powered spy drone on the market.

Boeing wants to sell the military on its Phantom Eye drone, which has similar specs and size to the Global Observer. In April, the company took a scale model of its competitor to the Navy’s Sea Air Space Convention, marketing it as a flying communications relay hub for a Navy that’s been trying to better network its warships together. But Boeing’s drone has to overcome a checkered history as well, including a failed attempt by the Missile Defense Agency to stick a laser on it, and technical problems that delayed its first test flight. When it did take to the skies, a landing accident broke the Phantom Eye’s nose landing gear.

A recent flight test for Phantom Eye — it’s third — on April 20 at Edwards Air Force Base had better results. “Phantom Eye climbed to 10,000 feet and remained aloft for 2 hours and 15 minutes –- a dramatic increase from the Feb. 25, flight test when the demonstrator aircraft reached 8,000 feet during that 67-minute flight,” Deborah VanNierop, a spokesperson with the Boeing Phantom Works division tells Danger Room. “We do not have a date scheduled at this time for the next flight, but our goal is to continue routine flight testing until Phantom Eye reaches its maximum planned altitude of up to 65,000 feet.”

Both of these giant drones were also going up against Northrop Grumman’s unarmed Global Hawk, which has already flown thousands of hours of missions for the Air Force over Afghanistan to Libya. Though it’s not certain whether the Air Force will keep the Global Hawk over long term, as it recently sliced off more than $100 million in research spending for the program, and has stopped buying more of them.

It’ll be a tougher job convincing the military to buy a whole other new surveillance drone. Which means the Global Observer’s fate looks like a glum and lonely one.

 

Cats that pester for food could be suffering from psychological condition

 

Cat owners see it as a sign of hunger and affection — their pet miaowing and rubbing against their ankles as dinner time approaches.

 

 

But according to a group of vets, it is a sign of a creature whose obsession with food has driven it to the edge of insanity.

They claimed that cats that show too much eagerness to be fed could be suffering from the newly-diagnosed condition of “psychogenic abnormal feeding behaviour”.

And the attention-seeking behaviour is a symptom called “excessive solicitation of interspecific interactions”.

According to the researchers, who set out their findings in the Journal of Veterinary Behaviour, other symptoms can include “food-related aggressiveness” — taking food from other cats’ bowls — and “context-specific excessive appetite” — jumping on the table to eat from the owner’s plate.

One suggested treatment is to ban your cats from watching you eat. Gradually, they can be reintroduced at mealtimes, but should never be fed titbits from the table.

 

 

 

Angela Bassett gets my vote. 

 

Many airliners fly over Winnipeg.  I ascertain they are coming from Chicago or Minneapolis going to the Orient?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction on Assiniboine Avenue of the 25 story Heritage Landing Apartment/Condo building.

The Assiniboine River.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week the George W. Bush Presidential Library was opened in Dallas.  Every former President gets a library.  But George W. just doesn’t seem to be a library kind of guy.  I doubt if this guy has read any book.  He was the most ignorant President to ever get elected.  George W. didn’t even know there were two religious groups in Iraq, the Shia Muslims and the Sunni Muslims.  And that the two groups hate each other with suicide bomber intensity. 

George W. was manipulated by his inner circle of war hawks into invading Iraq.  Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld persuaded the gullible W. that Saddam Hussein needed to be taken out, after all he tried to kill W.’s Dad, George Bush the 1st.  So George W. fell for Osama Bin Laden’s plan, lure the U.S. into an extremely costly war in the Middle East. So now W. has his library.  I wonder if W. knows how to check out a book?

Q: Why can George W Bush run for a third term as president?
A: Because the Supreme Court said if you count his vacation time, he’s barely served one.”

 

Q: What did George W. Bush do when he heard about the devastation of Katrina?
A: Out of force of habit he got out a copy of ‘My Pet Goat’ and started reading it.

 

Q: How do you know George W Bush is not planning on invading Iran?
A: Hmm….he might very well invade Iran, but there won’t be any planning involved.

 

Q: Why did President Bush’s second inaugural celebration cost $40 million?
A: Because his twin daughters insisted on an open bar.

 

Q:Why did Bin Ladin stop having sex with his wife?
A: Because everytime he would spread her legs he saw Bush!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sukhoi Su-34 (Russian: Сухой Су-34) (export designation: Su-32, NATO reporting name: Fullback) is a Russian twin-seat fighter-bomber. It is intended to replace the Sukhoi Su-24. The jet has a different look to it as it has a duck-billed nose.

 

 

 

 

Role	Fighter-bomber
Manufacturer	Sukhoi
First flight	13 April 1990
Introduction	2012 (plan)
Status	In production
Primary user	Russian Air Force
Produced	2006–present
Number built	32 of which 25 series 7 prototypes
Unit cost	US$36 million
Developed from	Sukhoi Su-27

 

 

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 23.34 m (72 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 14.7 m (48 ft 3 in)
• Height: 6.09 m (19 ft 5 in)
• Loaded weight: 39,000 kg (85,980 lb)
• Useful load: 8,000 kg (17,600 lb)
• Max. takeoff weight: 45,100 kg (99,425 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Lyulka AL-31F1 turbofans, 13,500 kgf (132 kN, 29,762 lbf) with afterburner each

Performance

• Maximum speed:
  • High altitude: Mach 1.8 (2,200 km/h, 1,375 mph)
  • Low altitude: Mach 1.2 (1,400 km/h, 870 mph) at sea level
• Range: 1,100 km (680 mi) at low level altitude
• Ferry range: 4,000 km (2,490 mi)
• Service ceiling: 15,000 m (49,200 ft)
• Wing loading: 629 kg/m² (129 lb/ft²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.68

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Winnipeg Jets season came to an end last night. The Jets just missed making the playoffs which is the bad news.  But the good news is the Jets improved immensely from last year.  The Jets have a young talented team that will only get better in the years to come.  Jets captain Andrew Ladd had a great year.  Ladd improved immensely from last year.  He creates many opportunities and is always a threat out there.  Blake Wheeler has proven to be a real force.  And the third member of the first line, Bryan Little, is a solid and talented centreman.  Evander Kane is going to be a superstar in the NHL.  At 22 years old this guy is already an amazing player.  He is big and physical, and he has talent like no other Jet.  He is a very fast skater and has one of the hardest shots in the league.  Watch out for Kane in the years to come.  Back on defence Zach Bogosian and Dustin Byfuglien are top of the line NHL players.  And there are a couple young prospects coming up next year.  Jacob Trouba and Mark Scheifele will be dominant players.  And we have the coach with the best sound bites in the league. Claude Noel appears to be a very competent coach. And his lines are hilarious. So thank-you Jets on a great year and can’t wait for next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claude Noel Soundbites

 

So far 2013 crime rates in Winnipeg have declined from previous years.  The reasons for this is unknown.  A guess would be the freezing cold winter and non-spring, which kept the hoodlums inside.  Also maybe the citizens are entranced by the very good year the Jets are having. Other reasons could be the ever increasing addiction to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

 

 

 

The Chambers Brothers are a soul-music group, best known for its 1968 hit record, the 11-minute long song “Time Has Come Today”. The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions with modern psychedelic and rock elements. Based on their Southern roots, the brothers brought a raw authenticity to their recordings and live performances that was missing from many other acts of that era. Their music has been kept alive through heavy use in film soundtracks.

 

Time Has Come Today by The Chambers Brothers
Time has come today
Young hearts can go their way
Can’t put it off another day
I don’t care what others say
They say we don’t listen anyway
Time has come today
(Hey)

Oh
The rules have changed today (Hey)
I have no place to stay (Hey)
I’m thinking about the subway (Hey)
My love has flown away (Hey)
My tears have come and gone (Hey)
Oh my Lord, I have to roam (Hey)
I have no home (Hey)
I have no home (Hey)

Now the time has come (Time)
There’s no place to run (Time)
I might get burned up by the sun (Time)
But I had my fun (Time)
I’ve been loved and put aside (Time)
I’ve been crushed by the tumbling tide (Time)
And my soul has been psychedelicized (Time)

(Time)
Now the time has come (Time)
There are things to realize (Time)
Time has come today (Time)
Time has come today (Time)

Time [x11]

Oh
Now the time has come (Time)
There’s no place to run (Time)
I might get burned up by the sun (Time)
But I had my fun (Time)
I’ve been loved and put aside (Time)
I’ve been crushed by tumbling tide (Time)
And my soul has been psychedelicized (Time)

(Time)
Now the time has come (Time)
There are things to realize (Time)
Time has come today (Time)
Time has come today (Time)

Time [x4]
Yeah