Last week, PC-Aero displayed several of their electric aircraft at the 2012 Aero-Expo (the global show for general aviation) in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Present at the event were the Elektra One Solar (flying with solar cells on the wing surface), Elektra Two Standard (a twin-seat electric aircraft with solar cells for flight), Elektra Two Record (a lightweight aircraft designed for record flights), and Elektra Observer LT (an unmanned very light electric aircraft with solar cells for civil surveillance).

Last year the PC-Aero Elektra One won the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize during EAA AirVenture 2011 at Oshkosh. For more environmentally friendly electric aircraft, click here.

Flight Design Launches New Electric Aircraft - the CTLSi	NASA Puffin: Cool Concept, Shame it Never Flew
10 Electric Aircraft that Help Keep the Environment Clean	Elektra One Wins Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize at Oshkosh

It was an exciting and emotional moment as the Space Shuttle Discovery, the most well known and well travelled of NASA’s orbiters, crossed the Potomac River and flew down the National Mall of Washington, DC, mounted atop the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.  Storm Climb correspondent Camille M was on the scene near Dulles Airport, communicating information about Discovery’s final flight plan to our intrepid reporter in Arlington, VA.

For many spectators, this was their first glimpse of the famous shuttle which, along with NASA’s specially modified 747, forms an iconic image that has been reproduced in pictures on the walls of space enthusiasts across the world.  After passing over the Capitol Building, Discovery circled the DC metro area and made several more passes before landing at Dulles Airport at 11am today.

This series of images marks the shuttle’s eastern flight path down the National Mall.  In the last image, spectators gather to watch Discovery bank to the north beyond the iconic Washington Monument.  The shuttle was to make one more pass before heading south east towards Maryland and finally back to Dulles – the end of an era, but a fantastic addition to the National Air and Space Museum.

Keep reading – browse these rare and historic images of Space Shuttles Discovery and Endeavour photographed nose to nose for the first time ever at Kennedy Space Center.

Part of Joint Base San Antonio, Randolph AFB in Texas is one of the most architecturally appealing and arguably the most symmetrical of all US military installations. Arising soon after the Air Corps Act of 1926, Randolph Air Force Base is bound by two large runways, with a central approach road leading to the Randolph Field Historic District – a National Historic Landmark.

(Image: Shane.torgerson, cc-sa-3.0)

Military facilities are steeped in history, but it’s not often that a serving base is also considered a historic landmark.  In the case of Randolph AFB, the district includes 350 contributing buildings and 47 non-contributing buildings in a 405 acre area.  The majority of the structures – including a historic control tower – date from 1929 to 1932.

This image by Lightningboy2000 brilliantly captures a model Hawker Hurricane crash diorama, set in the Pacific theatre during World War Two.  The model, which appeared at the Hornchurch Southern Expo in 2010, reflects the level of realism and detail that can be achieved even in 1/72 scale.  If you’re into model making and historic recreation, there really are no limits to the imagination, as stirring wartime scenes can be recreated in less space than is taken up by a computer keyboard.

Keep reading – if you enjoyed this 1/72 scale model, check out these full scale replica Hurricanes and Spitfires, as well as these mock-up aircraft used as film props.

This black and white photo shows the aftermath of an incident that took place on March 14, 1986 at Gulfport, Mississippi, in which an F-4 Phantom sustained damage during an emergency landing and ended up in a field not far from the main runway.

The jet, serial number 66-7675, which belonged to the 170th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Illinois Air National Guard, was returning from a training mission at the time.  The Phantom remained largely intact and, although the crew was forced to eject, nobody was injured during the incident.

Keep reading – dive the submerged F-4 Phantom of Subic Bay and visit the crashed Phantom at the Hanoi Aviation Museum.

(All images by NASA, public domain)

If you plan to push an air vehicle beyond mach 7, you’re going to need a pretty impressive thermal protection coating to keep the overall temperature of the airframe to manageable – and survivable – levels.  These historic images show the second X-15 emerging from the paint shop sporting the thick white coating engineers hoped would fulfill that task.

As they were to soon discover, the second flight of the newly coated (formerly black) X-15, on October 3, 1967,  was to be the fastest the type would ever undertake, as well as one of the most eventful.  When test pilot Major William J. “Pete” Knight landed back at Edwards AFB, the aircraft’s special ablative coating was said to resemble burnt firewood – you can read the full account here.

It’s an exciting time in Washington, DC as the city prepares for the arrival of the Space Shuttle Discovery, the best known and most travelled of the NASA orbiters.  The space agency has announced that Discovery will fly over the DC metro area mounted atop the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft between 10 – 11am EDT on April 17.  Check out the flyer below, and read the NASA announcement here.

German plane manufacturer Flight Design has launched a new electric aircraft that builds on its well established CT (Composite Technology) series. The CTLSi, which comes with an additional $12,800 on the price tag due to a new Rotax 912iS engine, flew for the first time this week.

The announcement was made during a news conference at Sun ‘n Fun. The new engine is expected to deliver fuel savings of 21% at altitude and includes electric trim and a lithium ion battery.

(Image: Image: Agentblank, cc-sa-3.0)

Flight Design also told AVweb that the company’s C4 project, launched about a year ago, was also moving forward. “Our next big decision is to nail down the avionics,” said marketing director John Doman. “We need to get everything to come together to meet our $250,000 target.”

(The aircraft used for illustration purposes in the lower image is the CTLS Like, introduced in 2010.)

Aircraft enthusiasts who frequent Edwards Air Force Base in California will likely be familiar with a Boeing NB-52B nicknamed Balls 8, either for its history as NASA’s longstanding “mothership” or for its more recent position on display by the airfield’s north gate.  Less well known are two derelict B-52 bombers located south of the dry lake bed – one relatively complete minus its tail fin, the other chopped into several large pieces.

(Images: JACoulter, cc-nd-2.0; Google Earth)

The wrecked B-52s are among several retired airframes dotted across the Edwards radar range.  With security so high at the base, it’s surprising that photographers have managed to get close enough to take these photos.  Is the range still active or is it abandoned?

Scrapping a B-52 Stratofortress at AMARG Boneyard	Have Aircraft Numbers Declined at AMARG, U.S. Military's Vast Plane Graveyard?
Out of the Wild: Consolidated Catalinas Salvaged in Alaska	Kosovo War: MQ-1 Predator Drone and MiG-29 Wrecks

Seen here at AirVenture 2005, Corsair Bu. No. 04634 is a rare example of a surviving F3A-1 variant built by Brewster Aeronautical Corporation.  Operating from MCAS Cherry Point in North Carolina, the aircraft’s flying days ended when it crashed into a swamp killing the pilot.  The Brewster-built Corsairs allegedly had a reputation for poor build quality and none reached front line units.  But No. 04634 has become the subject of an ongoing restoration campaign and even boasts its own website.