For over 3 decades now, the Cirrus aircraft company has produced some of the most luxurious propeller planes in the world. Their aircraft are some of the fastest and safest aircraft in the skies. Their current best seller, the Cirrus SR-22 has a built in parachute that will catch the whole aircraft if any critical component fails. The Cirrus reputation has been a good one in the last few years and they have decided to start competing with companies like Learjet and Cessna to create a new luxury private jet. Their new jet, the Cirrus Vision will be one of the lightest and most efficient private jets in the world.
The new Cirrus jet is known as a "Very Light Jet". This style of jet is produced to combat high fuel prices and large fuel guzzling engines. It's simple, if the plane is lighter, it will burn less fuel. So the Cirrus Jet uses it's light weigh design, along with an efficient small engine to create an extremely efficient and fast private jet.
The Cirrus jet first flew in 2008; since then, 3 prototypes have been created and almost 2,000 hours of flight time have been logged in them. The Jet is expected to start production very soon. The starting cost for a Vision will be $2,000,000 and there have already been 550 people who have made deposits to guarantee their aircraft.
Since WWII, Mitsubishi has produced more than cars and UTV's. Mitsubishi has been a famed producer of planes since WWII. In the war, Mitsubishi was most famous for their "Zero" fighter. This is the kind of fighter that attacked Pearl Harbor. In modern times, the manufacturer is planning on releasing the first major Japanese jet in 50 years. The newest jet will be produced for Regional Airlines like Allegiant, and American Eagle.
MRJ Before It Receives It's Paint Job
The MRJ is considered by many to be the most advanced regional jet ever produced. The jet produced by Mitsubishi has 4, large computer displays in the cockpit, and a heads up display (HUD) in front of each pilot in the cockpit. The jet also integrates new turbine technology. The engines have larger blades, and fewer of them, cause for reduced noise, and efficient thrust quantities. The new engines produced by Pratt and Whitney produce far more thrust to the amount of weight than most current regional jets.
The Cockpit of the MRJ Is Very Technology Based
The new jet is scheduled to take it's first test flight in the second quarter of 2015. Mitsubishi hopes to have the jet in the airlines by 2017, Since almost all of the regional airlines jets are nearing the end of their service, Mitsubishi has already had 400 orders.
Since the 1970's the Virgin Group founded by Richard Branson has been making technological advancements and amazing feats of engineering. The Virgin Group owns many companies including Virgin Atlantic (airline service) Virgin Mobile (cellular service) and recently Virgin Galactic (spacecrafts). Founded in 2004, Virgin Galactic has been creating and designing new spacecraft including the Spaceship One, and the new Space Ship Two. Their newest spacecraft is supposedly going to offer the chance for people to buy tickets to take a ride into space.
The space ship called "Space Ship Two" is carried into the lower atmosphere by a twin boom, four engine aircraft called "White Knight Two" built specifically for the challenge. Once the craft arrives at a set altitude, the smaller spacecraft is released from the belly and a large rocked sends it into the lower altitude of space. This design reduces cost and makes the journey easier for the smaller craft by giving it a piggy back ride half way there.
The Smaller Shuttle Hangs Between the Wing of the Large Carrier Aircraft
This space craft is capable of flying into the lower extents of the upper atmosphere. This is technically going into space and passengers will feel reduced gravity effects. People who desire to go to space will actually be able to pay for a ticket for a ride into space. Virgin Galactic is currently building a second spacecraft since their first was for research only. Hopefully in the upcoming years, all of their research goes as planned and they can start taking passengers up for the ride of their lives.
Since the origins of aviation, people have always looked for a cheaper alternative to actually flying. In the last twenty years, the aviation hobby community has grown exponentially and the technology has become amazing. Though this technology seems to have an unlimited amount of usefulness and endless possibilities, the FAA has recently pulled in the reigns on the hobby and really limited it's use.
The above video was taken on a GoPro mounted on one of my home created planes. This is the activity that the FAA has recently outlawed. The act of shooting live stream video from an unmanned aerial aircraft is called FPV (First Person View). Thousands of hobbyists around the world have recently taken up FPV for it's amazing feeling of virtually flying a plane. The pilot wears video goggles that display a live stream video from the camera mounted on the plane. Though some people buy already created planes, many hobbyists like myself, create their own planes from various foam and composite materials. Though FPV has many uses like search and rescue in dangerous areas, and filming agriculture for farmers, the FAA has decided FPV is too dangerous and too much of a cause for concern.
My Quadcopter That Can be Used for FPV
Although the FAA has only allowed Hollywood production companies to use FPV for now, many hobbyist organizations are suing the FAA for their quickly made law. One organization called "FliteTest" told everyone who saw their post to put a bad review on the FAA's Facebook page. Since they made that statement, the FAA now has a very low review and most are complaints about the FPV ban. Although this technology has continued to advance for years, the recent law has put the hobby to a standstill and is taking us into the past.
On July 10, 2014 the Sonex JSX-2 took flight for the first time. This revolutionary jet takes the home building market to the next level as a kit plane that the customer purchases and builds at their home or shop. This small-single-seat-jet is relatively cheap for it's class and will provide the owner with a whole new home built plane experience. This jet is capable of speeds in excess of 240 mph with a maximum weight of only 1,000 pounds.
Sonex has been creating planes for aviation enthusiasts for many years with 5 models currently produced. Until the JSX arrived on the market, Sonex only produced small piston powered planes. Most of their planes were in the $20,000-$60,000 range until the JSX was released. Though Sonex originally expected the new jet to cost only $60,000, the price was released mid-August at a staggering $130,000. Though the price was quite a bit off Sonex's original estimate, many people are still excitedly pre-ordering the kit for it's 2015 release.
The reason for everyone's excitement on the release of this new toy is it's similarity to the old BD-5J jet that was created in 1971. The BD-5J is the record holder for the World's Smallest Jet. Since only a few BD-5J's remain in existence, their value has gone way higher than almost anyone can afford, that is why the new JSX-2 that is relatively cheap is so appealing to pilots. Both aircraft use the same engine and have similar size and weight characteristics, the key difference on the two is the way their engines are mounted. On the BD-5J, the engine is tucked away under the skin out of site, on the JSX-2, the engine is mounted on top of the fuselage.
Although the Sonex jet takes thousands of hours of work and hundreds of thousands of dollars, many future jet pilots are ready to give Sonex their money in exchange for the fun jet. Many people who want to be commercial jet pilots in the future will also show interest in this jet. In order for many airliners to hire pilots, they have to have a certain amount of jet flying time to get the job. Since this jet is about the cheapest jet currently around, pilots might think about investing in this jet to get their required jet flying time.
