More A.I. for the Police!

 Robotic K-9's and Robotic assisted car drivers?

Tech is now moving very fast across the globe in relation to security, military and the police and within the next twenty-five years we will see the introduction of the robot K9 and the police robot driver, as well as a host of tech in the vehicles that is connected to drones and other flying devices!

This is to be a revolution in its own right, as the helicopter may become obsolete over the next 75 years for a drone and robotic model? 

With the expansion into Mars and other mining colonies across our solar system the helicopter may be an essential craft, for transporting people and machinery, if not rescue and the possibilities are to be endless with A.I!

Cymru/Wales Airshow 5th-6th July 2025.

 The annual Swansea Bay/Bai Abertawe 2025.

Its more of the same, but there will be what can make it and its free, drawing some 250,000 people to the city of Swansea and there is plenty more to see on the ground as well as food and a funfair I think?

The Rad Arrows will probably be the high point of the weekend, with many modern and classic aircraft also appearing, entertainment from the sky walkers and parachute team will be exciting too!

One hopes that the weather will be good and not to hot and that people keep their bags safe from light fingered folk, while not lighting and leaving barbecues on the beach, taking home rubbish and just having a good time?

Tecnam P2012T Traveller.

 Electric powered testing Halted.

This new Italian and U.S. based innovation P-Volt technical aircraft based on the successful P2012T, traveller has been halted after the power capability of the two new electro engines has run in to issues of loss of power or cut off in mid-flight with not being enabled to control the aircraft.

Last year many believed we were on the beginning of a electric revolution. but now we know that much of what was thought possible is not going to work, as well as land and sea and so conventional power will be staying for some time yet.

Helicopters may see that possibility and many concepts are coming to the fore, but the reality is that the drone is to replace the need for some helicopters since they are more versatile in how they can be deployed.

Gas Powered Aviation = The Future!

 Hydrogen is now a Fact?

Many aircraft manufacturers say, 'That they are now planning for hydrogen powered design along with the wing concepts that will prove to be more economical!

Already there is a push in Europe for such a concept, while Embraer is looking at battery powered helicopter flight with many others?

Airbus is now promoting the A220-100 as a business jet to counter new arrivals from Japan and the far east that will do very well.

Boeing has certified its MAX series into service, after the two tragic losses, Ryanair will be the biggest operator of the type in Europe and outside of the U.S. Many new adaptions are being added to the Boeing 777-10 series and Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, while Airbus has been busy with its popular A330 and EWB A350-900/1000 series.

No Air shows this Year!

COVID-19 cancels large Crowds?

This new crown virus is ending social interaction for us humans, unless one is ignorant and risks catching it or just does not believe that it is really real!

Sometimes one finds that over the years here in Swansea since 2007 the Wales National Air Show has become a bit boring with nearly the same aircraft and displays showing up or not?

But then it is free and when events are free, one does not get to see the best of aviation on the ground and in the air! Making these shows more of a recruiting ground for the armed forces wither you like that or not?

Warships? Part-Two.

Aircraft Carriers, Helicopter cruisers and Other.

The world of war shipping is very extensive in the last one hundred years we have moved from big guns to missiles defence systems and the role to mine the seas and have torpedo tubes have all been incorporated into several designs large and small!

The aircraft carrier one would like to think came with the arrival of the aeroplane, but new data has revealed that ships fitted with hot air balloons though limited were prevalent in the 19th Century.

Today there has been a need to save money and to multitask war ships with helicopters, jump jets and now drones both aircraft and rotor and as we move on this is much cheaper and safer in the long term with the microchip and satellite communications?

The U.S. perhaps leads the world in nuclear powered vessels followed by Russia, the U.K., France, China, Japan, Australia, India, Thailand, Italy, Spain and Brazil?

Warships Part-One.

Design and concepts not much changed?

The modern warship has one advantage over all past designs and concepts and that it is now invisible on sonar, this major advance is known as stealth and it has been around since the 1980's but now it is the norm for most of the rich nations of the world!

History shows us that armour had always been part of a key element, from ancient times with shield and metal bands to having a battering ram. Through history the cannon replaced crossbows and catapults of various types and that was over four hundred years to the development of the ironclads and modern metal ships.

The layout of all current vessels is almost the same guns being now replaced by rocket and missile systems, with the addition of the helicopter deck for one or two craft! Prior to this was the extra boats needed for exploration or pillage? 

EASTER is still On!

More Air Freighters?

Most of the aircraft now flying across Europe and the Atlantic are air freighters, carrying essential equipment to combat COVID-19 which is a new plague for the 21st Century! Compared to one hundred and one years ago air travel is now far more complicated than those flimsy light bi-planes that could only carry two people and a bag of mail?

The jet engine in commercial airlines from the 1950's revolutionised air travel world-wide and with various military conversions, such as the Boeing 707 made dedicated air freight big business until the arrival of the of the 747 Jumbo in 1967-71!

Today a whole host of older aircraft fly postal and for Amazon supplies, some airlines as mentioned last time are civilian contractors for the U.S. military or Israel/N.A.T.O! Russia has its own dedicated fleets too built up from the now defunct TU-154M that had a chequered history and the newer Ilyushin Il-76 and its many newer developments!

Meanwhile many smaller propeller air craft are deployed daily, both civil and military to carry medications, sick people and other essential supplies. Helicopters are now an essential in rescue, air ambulance and police work, some may be replaced by drones and despite much promises we are not quite yet there with the big stuff?

Easter blessings to one and all!

Helicopters 75 Years! Part-One.

Come a long Way!

The day of the helicopter is not yet over, despite many new drones are cheaper than keeping an helicopter in the sky? The helicopter derived from gyro-dynamics in aircraft to act like an early form of the Boeing-Vertol Osprey BV-22, which still occupies U.S. military research into the development and deployment of much newer and stable platform, which is changing the battlefield from science-fiction to reality!

Today nearly anyone can go up in a helicopter from pleasure flying to search and rescue? The small machines are in the Robinson family, while Bell and Sikorsky have held both the military and commercial market, go to any horse racing event and there are more helicopters between the tracks now parked up since riders cover more than one meeting a day?

The largest machines are still dominated by the Russians and Ukrainians with the Mil Mi-26 capable of carrying three tracked vehicles and one hundred and twenty-five combat troops! This helicopter was a development of the Mi-6 well known is Russia as the Cow because it was slow and vulnerable to ground rocket fire?

Mid range giants are the Chinook, Boeing-Vertol CH-47, which has been around since the Vietnam wars of the 1960s and the Sikorsky CH-53 Super stallion, S-92 SAR after that is the successful Westland-Leonardo EH-101 and the various derivatives of the Puma SA-330 to the H332 Super Puma that dominates the North Sea oil and gas supply rigs and wind turbines.

Europe has also taken the lead of the world market with the H-135/145 helicopter in Air Ambulance and police, electric line work along with several other smaller types?

Wales National Airshow 2019.

July 6th/7th. Swansea Bay, S-Wales. U.K.

One is expecting another marvellous airshow and much more as this event seems to be getting better by the year?

The Red Arrows will be one of highlights of the flying displays with that of other Jets, but there is really something here at it for everyone! Many military vehicles representing the current British armed forces and others events combined.

Hopefully all will be safe from any sick people who wish us harm and that everyone will enjoy what is on offer with stunt flying, helicopters, parachuting and this year evening lit up balloons on Saturday.

One will have to get the app to find out what aircraft might be coming in relation to Historical aviation and one hopes that the weather will hold to make it a most enjoyable event for the spectator and all us avid movie makers and photographers?

Chernobyl?

The worlds worst (Known) nuclear Accident?

When we see documentary evidence of the clean up operation that followed this incident back in the mid 1980's we lack information on the many types of vehicles that were employed? We see that helicopter pilots had to sacrifice their lives to drop concrete on what was technically a mini Sun revealed within the casing of the collapsed reactor!

Mil Mi-6, 26 and 8's were used in various overflights and many were lost or overpowered be the intense heat and radiation that would have caused sickness. Much has been written about this leak, which was caused by lack of care and an attempt by slack Ukrainians administrators to meet Soviet documented requirements?

Recently the European Union (France) has finished placing a new concrete shell on to the plant to again cut the amount of Gamma rays leaking, but despite this enormous work and achievement another crack has is reported by the Ukrainians to have developed!

We do not really know how much radioactive exposure our atmosphere is suffering with a second year of mass heatwaves across Europe! Governments will not report on this situation because there is no real alternative to nuclear power to cut down on the burning of fossil fuels?

Research Ships?

A plastic and Nuclear Ocean!

Nearly every nation that has access to the Sea or to large bodies of water will have their own fleet of survey vessels and research ships. But what they are used for remains ''hush, hush'' in most cases apart from the obvious?

Nuclear dumping and plastic waste in the oceans needs regular monitoring, but there is also concern as to why the crust under the oceans is warming up! This has been a sudden change in recent years and is part of the climate change debate, rather than smog an the established facts of the Sun?

Much research is also made in relation to mining and the discovery of oil and gas fields, now that we are running out of fossil fuels on the land masses! These vessels come in all sizes and shapes and some are equipped with helicopter decks for re-supply and also work in the Polar regions!

Data collected can be sent via the Internet back to their respective countries for collation and analyses.

Christmas Appraoches!

Where is Rudolph?

It Santa upgrading as the adds for toys claim this year to something more mechanical?

I don't think so, Rudolf  would not be happy with that since all of them operate in the Spiritual realm and have no need of our self-achieving technology!

But on the serious side the sleigh remains and essential piece of kit for travel on the ice, in many polar regions, with both helicopters and aircraft being fitted with them! 

We have progressed from wood to steel and many newer metals to improve stability and speed, the skiing sports industry has helped along with military requirements! Much more has actually been developed in Antarctica than on our more populated North-Pole.

One last word for you boring people out there who don't believe in Santa or Christmas, nothing for you this year????

African Technology. Two.

Licence building and improvisation?

These already exist and they will continue, but their are many lesser known homegrown models of adapted vehicles? While Nigeria, RSA and Kenya have developed their own drones for field reconnaissance work and helicopters play a key role in anti-terrorism, pouching and other criminal activities!

Money remains an issue and many continue to try to do their best with what they have, keeping it flying for as long as possible or buying second hand! China is todays largest supplier of trucks, trains and other equipment and it has so many mining interest that this looks like it will continue for some time yet?

Technology is now all over the continent of Africa, through computing, solar panels and mobile telephones! So it will not be hard to improve avionics on all types of aircraft and helicopters with night-vision and other? Many nations have also developed their own missiles and rockets, but from all this has come some good ideas to improve living standards, transport, road and rail!

RAF 100th and the WNAS18. One.

A bit Disappointing?

This year of all years one was expecting much more than was on offer at the now annual Wales National Air Show? But it was Llandudno in North-Wales that got the armed forces day and not us?

The promised PBY Catalina flying boat was cancelled and instead we got the Hawker Sea Fury, many of the usual's where here, but we were limited to only the Boeing-Vertol CH-47 Chinook helicopter and the gyro-copter.

Friday and Saturday was spent up at Swansea airport taking in both the arrivals of Biggles, the Chinook and then their various take-offs and some returns from the Air Show in Swansea Bay, this combined with my love of birds paid off!

Later down the Mumbles one got the see the Red Arrows in a better light as their display filled the bay!

Search and Rescue! Part-One.

Helicopters, Hovercraft, 4 X 4 vehicles, Lifeboats and Cutters?

Nearly every nation has a rescue service of some type and these are made up of the above mentioned and a few more items! 

One of the new tools in searching for injured people and animals is the drone cameras, as technology moves on these may get larger to deal with severe wind gusts and have longer ranges especially over lakes and the sea?

When looking at this one can only take from the well organised and trained members of the RNLI and Coastguards operated across the British Isles. 

The Augusta-Westland AW-139 and the Sikorsky S-92 are the mainstay helicopters of the Coastguard, but both Irish and British military helicopters may be called up in a national disaster such as flood rescue?

HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Too much complaining?

The British Royal Navy are not hanging about to get their real estate commissioned and deployed to sea in these worrying times? The U.S. F-35 V/STOL (Vertical and short take-off landing) fighter jets continue to have teething problems, but this is true with all new technology?

It is better to find the problems now and not in the middle of any conflict or war? Perhaps the option of a temporary fix with any left over Harriers might compensate if needed, but it looks like helicopters will be the mainstay for the moment?

This carrier and the largest vessel the British Royal Navy has ever built has more internally than on the outside, splitting the bridges shows that missile command and defence may be with control on one tower, while the other tower will deal with aircraft movements and drone deployment?

Sonar and defence measures one hopes will be improved before she sails and that she will be effective within her up to date support, frigates and submarines? Meanwhile we await the Prince of Wales, her sister ship!

Aircraft carriers Viability. Two.

Smaller Vessels.

HMS Ocean and Albion are in the class of the smaller carrier, equiptted with more helicopters and drones than actual aircraft? The Spanish proposed Matador class carriers gave the option of both V/STOL (Vertical and short take-off and landing) aircraft in conflict and helicopters in the peace role, but one does not know if this is what the British Royal Navy would do with it ships?

There is always value in good design and it has been found that smaller targets do better in wars than the larger ones that are more vulnerable to being hit? Large carriers need more defensive weapons systems to counteract incoming missiles, where as the small targets are actually more likely to avoid being hit!

One of the big problems with smaller carriers is their limitations in aircraft availability and many studies have been made for their role not just as a carrier of six to eight own jets. But that of buddy refueling systems for larger fighters to give them extended flight over returning to their own carriers?

These smaller carriers also have the advantage as the U.S. navy has found of shock attack missions with their seals on unsuspecting targets? These operations again take advantage of modern technology such as the Predator drones doing reconnaissance and pin-point target hitting, while helicopter gunships can back up boat landing craft and transport helicopters in and out quickly!

Aircraft Carriers Viability. One.

Real estate at Sea.

The United States today posses the largest fleet of Nuclear powered aircraft carriers in the Nimitz class, these ships carry several hundred aircraft of various types from fighter jets, to ELINT and AWACS. They also carry a host of different helicopters from Anti-Submarine warfare ASW to medium transport and the CH-47J the latest version of the Boeing-Vertol Chinook to the CH-53.

Many other nations have smaller carriers such as Brazil, France, China, Russia, Britain, Australia and India, Spain and Italy. Some are nearly as big and nuclear, while the others are conventional diesel and have to be replenished at sea.

These ship carry up to 5000 crew, combing air arms, marines, seals, commando's with their military equipment  and vehicles than can be landed by landing craft or large transport helicopter's?

The military philosophy one would think is the same, but every nation has their own take on how to deal with the foe and these ideas have been developed over the last one-hundred years from the first British one decker's right up to the mini carrier six aircraft VTOL jump jets and six rotary wing.

 

Defence is provided by sophisticated missile systems both anti-aircraft, missile and ship to land such as the Tomahawks. Raptor and Predator drones along with others such as Helli star and Scout/rangers are also used to cut the risk of loosing valuable pilots in hostile territory

Sea power in the Med. Part-Two.

HDMS Absalon Visits Swansea Bay.

This Danish (Denmark) Command Vessel L-16 came to Swansea Bay southern-Wales, United Kingdom on the Queen Elizabeth's 90th Birthday. She is one of a number of European Warships that are tasked with working in the Mediterranian sea to pick up immigrints fleeing current conflicts in North-Africa and Syria. 

Her other role within the N.A.T.O. and the E.U. Armed forces is to protect International shipping, as it passes through the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Arabian sea. 

Shipping here face daily Somali Pirate attacks, mostly for kiddnapping and ransome demands.

The HDMS Absalon is quite a modern vessel with the capability to carry more than two medium transport helicopters and an array of other weaponary, from guns to missiles. She is based at Frederikshavn in Denmark and arrived in Swansea Bay from Glasgow, Alba-Scotland.