Air power is critical to military operations nowadays, but it’s hampered by the fact that you need a bunch of infrastructure. With a few exceptions, you need things like runways or aircraft carriers relatively nearby to allow aircraft to, you know, land.

Unless you’ve got one that can hover and land vertically, that is.

The F-35B, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, is the first practical airplane with the capability (in one variant) of making vertical landings since the Harrier Jump Jet, which first flew over 40 years ago and is still in active service today because it’s so useful. The F-35 performs the tricks that it does by rotating its engine nozzle downward, and then engaging a gigantic lift fan situated just behind the cockpit to produce enough balanced thrust to keep it from dropping like a brick. Like the Harrier, the F-35, while technically a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft is for all practical purposes a V/STOL (vertical/short takeoff and landing) aircraft. While capable of lifting itself vertically into the air, the F-35 can only do this if it’s not carrying much in the way of extra fuel or ordinance. So operationally, it won’t be using its vertical takeoff capability. In this context, “short takeoff” means that the F-35 can clear a 50 foot obstacle 1500 feet down the runway.

After the jump, we’ve got a NOVA special about the initial competition to build the X-35 that includes a whole bunch of detail about the lift system. It’s quite interesting, and a great way to waste a bunch of time on a Friday.

Click here to watch it on Hulu.

VIA [ Gizmag ]

By Evan Ackerman

Rather than being powered by a conventional engine, someone decided that it would be a good idea to install itty bitty rocket engines on the tips of the blades of this helicopter to power it. And the really scary part is that it works. Very well, in fact. The hydrogen peroxide rockets (the same things that power most jetpacks) produce no pollution and are supposed to be significantly more stable than their conventional counterparts due to the lack of, um, an engine. In fact, there’s really nothing to the helicopter at all apart from a seat and some big fuel tanks. Called the Dragonfly, it can stay aloft for 50 minutes and has a maximum speed of 40 mph. The Dragonfly has completed a successful series of flight tests and obtained its airworthiness certificate last November, so it’s currently on track to be for sale sometime this year.

This is actually not the craziest thing you can do with a rocket propelled airfoil. The craziest thing is to use model rocket engines, one blade, and then just forget the rest of the helicopter. Check that out along with an article on monocopter UAVs over on BotJunkie.

[ Dragonfly DF1 ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Evan Ackerman

When we posted our last update on the Martin Jetpack Ductedfanpack about a year ago, they were looking at producing around 10 units at $100,000 each. In that quantity and price, it didn’t seem like something that was particularly realistic. At the end of last month the Telegraph reported that Martin Aircraft Company had teamed up with an unnamed international aircraft company, and that the new partnership had secured enough capital to begin producing 500 jetpacks a year at a cost of around $75,000 each. Yes, it’s a lot, but come on, it’s a personal jetpack, and it may actually be a practical one too:

-No pilot’s license required
-Runs on premium gas from a gas station
-30 mile range at 60 mph, 8000 ft ceiling
-Includes low altitude ballistic parachute for safety

It’s certainly not the sexy sci-fi jetpack of the future yet, but I mean, it works, and you can actually buy one (quite soon, anyway) for a not entirely crazy amount of money.

[ Martin Jetpack ] VIA [ Telegraph ]

If you’re ever flying on South Africa’s kulula airline you’ll never have to worry about hearing an intercom announcement asking if there’s a pilot on board, because their recent rebranding will leave every passenger with a basic knowledge of aviation and aircraft. It’s rather clever and educational (I had no idea where the black box was stashed) though something tells me it would never fly in certain countries (no pun intended) because who knows how this knowledge could be used.

[ kulula ] VIA [ PSFK ]

A Cessna might be the affordable choice when it comes to personal aircraft, but if fun ranks high on your feature list you’re probably not going to do much better than this pair of Sukhoi Su-27 Flankers which can be yours for just $4.5 million a piece. They were brought to the U.S. by Pride Aircraft, who acquired them from a company doing high-altitude research that went bust, and each have been completely restored and now feature zero-time airframes and engines. (Minus test flights.)

Both aircraft are de-militarized, with all weapons and military hardware having been previously removed, and Pride Aircraft has gone to the trouble of relabeling all the dials and gauges in the cockpit in english, and adding updated IFR U.S. instrumentation and avionics. Now even though modern aircraft like the F-22 Raptor eclipse the Su-27 when it comes to capabilities, there’s still a lot of fun to be had here thanks its top-speed of over 1,300 mph and its 1:1+ thrust-to-weight ratio. And I particularly like that serious buyers can contact the seller, John Morgan, via his @aol.com email address.

[ Pride Aircraft - Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker - For Sale to Discriminating Owners - $4.95 million each ] VIA [ Wired ]

By Evan Ackerman

When the gigantihugenormous Airbus A380 was still in the prototype and demonstration phase, there were all kinds of wild ideas about what manifestations opulence would get stuffed inside its belly. The interior of the production A380 has been toned down a bit, of course, but that hasn’t stopped Emirates Airlines from including sleeper berths, showers, lounge areas, and wet bars (I say “bars” because there are two on the plane). More pics from some lucky sod who probably spent more money on that flight than I’ve made in, uh, ever, after the jump.

And coach? Still coach:

Because you can’t really enjoy your flight in first class without a bunch of unhappy people on the lower deck.

[ Sergey Dolya ]VIA [ English Russia ]

By Evan Ackerman

When it comes to the future, I don’t care that much about flying cars… Just get me a jetpack. We’ve been following Yves Rossy’s flying jet wing for about a year, and on Wednesday, he tried to fly from Europe to Africa across the straits of Gibraltar, a distance of about 23 miles.

He, um, didn’t quite make it, suffering a “wing malfunction” (whatever that means) just minutes into the flight (he himself was fine):

Yeah, so that last part kinda sucks, but the first part looks incredibly awesome. I still want one.

[ Telegraph ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Evan Ackerman

No flies were harmed in the making of these airplanes.

[ AirSpace ] VIA [ Neatorama ]

Now here’s another clever idea. VirtualHUD is an easy to install device that attaches to the windshield of a small plane and creates a virtual heads-up display for the pilot by projecting an image onto the aircraft’s spinning propeller. (A white strip of paint added to the back of the prop increases its visibility.) The VirtualHUD is able to project “all the standard flight instrumentation required for normal VFR and IFR navigation when equipped with or attached to your GPS” or it can be hooked to an external source like an infrared camera allowing the pilot to monitor a video feed while keeping their eyes on the sky.

Currently there’s a nighttime-only version of the product called the NightVu which sells for around $7,500, but the new ForwardVu model, which can be used in the day as well, should be available sometime in late July.

[ VirtualHUD ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

This office chair made from an authentic F-4 Phantom ejection seat is a fantastic way to exit a meeting where things aren’t going the way you’d like. Instead of storming out and slamming the door, you can simply pull the ejection lever and blast your way out. Although… I guess it would work best if the meeting was being held outside, or anywhere without a ceiling. And you’d probably want to wear a parachute just in case. Not to mention there’s a good chance the rockets used to propel the ejection seat upwards have probably been removed. Hmm… Well maybe the idea isn’t as solid as I first thought, but the chair’s still really cool.

(Image courtesy MotoArt)

[ MotoArt.com - F-4 Ejection Seat ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]