Wow that’s impressive. Way back in 2003.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3145577.stm
I said:
“Back in the mid-2000’s some guy flew his little model plane from Ireland to the US using GPS!”
nascarnation reports:
“Wow that’s impressive. Way back in 2003.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3145577.stm
Apparently my memory is not so impressive. Ireland was involved and I got the right decade and the right ocean, but not the right direction of flight and the model was pretty big as models go, not little!
From the BBC article at the link:
An international team of model aeroplane enthusiasts say they have managed the first successful flight by a lightweight remote-controlled plane across the Atlantic.
US, Canadian and Irish engineers worked together to ensure “The Spirit of Butts Farm” - named after its testing site - landed safely in County Galway, Ireland on Monday 11 August, some 38 hours after it took off from Canada.
The balsa wood and mylar plane flew 3,039 kilometres (1,888 miles) using satellite navigation and an autopilot system overseen by engineers and radio operators using laptop computers.
If the flight is certified by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, it will break world records for distance travelled by a model aeroplane as well as duration of flight.
In order for the records to be broken, the plane had to weigh less than five kilograms, including its “camping lantern” fuel.
Dave Brown, president of the American Academy of Model Aeronautics, told BBC News Online it had been “pins and needles” waiting for the plane to come into view over the Irish coast.