brainwagon

National Geographic reports that a group of model airplane builders are about to attempt the first transatlantic crossing with a true model airplane. A model airplane must weigh less than 11 lbs, and displace no more than 10cc.
Pretty damned amazing feat if they can pull it off. They have built four copies of their plane, and were supposed to launch beginning on August 7, but have delayed due to fog. You can watch the progress reports as they come in. The plane should transmit position and speed information every minute using an onboard GPS and transmitter.

The experimenters are all members of STAR, the Society for Technical Aeromodel Research, lead by Maynard Hill, who holds 23 different world records for model airplane
flight, including:

• Altitude: 26,990 feet
• Duration: 33.67 hours
• Closed course distance: 1301km
• Speed in a closed circuit: 167mph

The trans-Atlantic flight should smash several of these records, as the trip is 1950 miles, and is expected to take
45 hours.