Flying’s new gear A quieter, more economical jet engine (geared turbofan) is about to arrive

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21684775-quieter-more-economical-jet-engine-fitted-gearbox-about?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/flyingsnewgear

Geared turbofans, as their name suggests, include a gearbox as part of the mechanism. Those on the A320neo are the brainchildren of engineers at Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies, an American conglomerate. Designing and building geared turbofans, which Pratt & Whitney brands “PurePower”, is a gamble. The firm has spent two decades and more than $10 billion developing them. Connecting an engine’s inlet fan to the compressor and turbine in its core through a gearbox should give better fuel economy and make the thing quieter—both desirable outcomes. But the bigger the engine the bigger the forces on the gearbox and the more likely it is that something will go wrong. So, though gearboxes are found in turboprops (jet engines that turn a propeller) and in a few executive jets, no one had until now managed to scale one up to cope with the 30,000 horsepower delivered by the core of an airliner’s engine.

Brazil's Embraer announces end of drone-making JV - La prensa [feedly]

Brazil's Embraer announces end of drone-making JV
La prensa
Brazilian plane maker Embraer announced its decision to close down the operations of Harpia Sistemas S.A., its drone-making joint venture with Brazil's Avibras and AEL Sistemas, the Brazilian unit of Israel's Elbit Systems. "The decision for ...
Brazil UAS JV winds upShephard Media

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Germany deploys four additional Tornado jets to Turkey to support fight against ISIS [feedly]

Germany deploys four Tornado jets to Turkey to support fight against ISIS
http://www.airforce-technology.com/news/newsgermany-deploys-four-tornado-jets-to-turkey-to-support-fight-against-isis-4770173

Germany has deployed four additional Tornado reconnaissance jets to the Turkish air base at Incirlik, in a bid to support Operation Inherent Resolve carried out by the US-led coalition forces.

Sri Lanka denies reports of purchase of JF-17 fighters from Pakistan [feedly]

Sri Lanka denies reports of purchase of JF-17 fighters from Pakistan
http://www.airforce-technology.com/news/newssri-lanka-denies-reports-jf-17-fighters-pakistan-4770201

Sri Lanka denies reports of purchase of JF-17 fighters from Pakistan

Air Force Technology News Press Releases 3d  //  keep unread  //  hide  //  preview

The Sri Lankan government has refuted media reports that the country has entered a defence co-operation agreement with Pakistan to purchase JF-17 fighters.

Ehang 184 drone could carry you away one day [feedly]

http://www.gizmag.com/ehang-184-aav-passenger-drone/41213/

As might be expected, there are a lot of drones on display this week at CES. Almost all of them have one thing in common, however: people can't ride in them. We say "almost all," as there is one exception. Ehang's 184 AAV (Autonomous Aerial Vehicle) is designed to carry a single human passenger, autonomously flying them from one location to another.

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SpaceX to try another Falcon 9 sea-barge landing [feedly]

http://www.gizmag.com/spacex-falcon-9-sea-barge-landing/41255/

Now that SpaceX has managed to land a space rocket at Cape Canaveral, the company is taking another shot at landing on a barge. NBC News says that SpaceX has confirmed a report tweeted today by space journalist Charles Lurio stating that SpaceX will attempt to land a Falcon 9 booster on a drone barge in the Pacific Ocean as part of the Jason 3 mission launch on January 17.

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