Since I will be doing the manufacturing, the volume will still be low but there will be no one in the middle getting a cut of the profits. I am also planning to take advantage of CAM Computer Assisted Manufacturing for making duplicated parts.

I am in the idea design stages, so I still need to build a few prototype versions and do some testing before making anything public. When I have something that looks promising, I may “leak” a review of what’s coming just to see how it flies.

I am excited with my ideas, but unfortunately it may be some time before I have examples ready for sale. That means the THMStore will stay much the same as it is for now. I have only a limited supply of time to devote to product line development and I’d rather be handling my own product.

I have loved flying since a very small boy. I used to run outside and scan the skies every time I heard an aircraft motor in the air. I still look and identify when I hear one. I built flying model airplanes since I was 10 years old. All my allowance went into either buying electronic components for radio experiments or balsa and kits for building model airplanes.

In my 30’s I qualified for my private pilot license. A very federally controlled privilege (not a right) and this leads me into my story here about model aircraft.

To many folks, model aircraft are toys. Some toys are model airplanes, but the hobby of model aircraft is far more reaching than playing with a toy. It provides an affordable study of the science (and yes the fun) of flying small aircraft through the air that surrounds us. A hobby association with the fancy name of the Academy of Model Aeronautics hints at the flight knowledge gained by involvement in small sized aircraft.

Forever in the past up until now, there has never been the need for federal regulation of model aircraft flying. Local laws exist in some places because of noise and other social annoyance issues, but nothing controlling the use of airspace. There are rules about height flying near established airports, but they are not regulations or laws but are strongly accepted as best practice.

So the hobby has been mostly go have fun and when flying stay away from full size aircraft and any people you may endanger in your limited flying area. This is the “see and avoid” theory, which is the basis of VFR (Visual Flight Rules) for human carrying aircraft. This has worked extremely well for the self regulated flying of model aircraft.

Today, some radio controlled model aircraft sized flying machines have developed to the point where they are no longer recreational flying machines, operating in a limited area of airspace under total control of a human pilot. The RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle) is the outgrowth of the hobbyist radio controlled model airplane. These RPV aircraft may still be totally controlled by a human pilot visually observing by line of sight but also have developed to the point they are being called a UAV (Unmanned Aeronautical Vehicle) because they include video and computer controlled autonomous flight abilities far beyond visual line of sight control of the hobby model airplane.

We see this type of flying vehicle every week in the media presentation of the war against terrorist, as a glorious new tool of no-risk warfare. Someone in a room in the Pentagon (example only) can fly an unmanned war machine over a battle field half way around the world. The desire of the makers of these military machines is to also sell them for application to civilian and other non military needs. This is an emerging new market to exploit. The immediate problem is there are currently no federal civilian regulations in the USA for this use. These are definately NOT model aircraft.

Unfortunately UAV’s are currently clumped into the unregulated model airplane category. No other aviation group wants them, they deserve a regulated group of their own, with their own rules and yes, I definitely think they need to be very strict rules.

The recent fallout has been for the federal government to forbid ALL model aircraft operations (flying) not just UAV’s, in a 2,827 square mile area over three miles high right down to the dirt on the ground, surrounding an airport visited by the president of the USA; if only for a few hours… for now.

I consider this regulation an extremely gross, knee jerk, unenforceable, over reaction; Impacting a nearly harmless hobby activity, making potential lawbreakers out of innocent citizens. It clearly demonstrates the lack of total impact awareness of a bureaucratic government rulemaking which, because of its own complexity, cannot quickly or clearly identify the problem. I think this overt action was intended to gain such attention for regulation. It is a demonstration that the feds are at least doing something to protect us from ourselves. Sound familiar?*

“Hide the model fuel Jake! I see the revenooers a’ commin’!”

In the next year (yes, it should take that long) new rules will be made and sanity will return. It will be the citizen’s duty to make sure the correct issues get addressed and harmless freedoms escape unscathed. It won’t be easy. I glimpsed the “terminator” sent back in time to “regulate” the source of the problem.

*I’m referring to a regulation (Heck, it was a constitutional amendment!) which created a lot of unforeseen issues, not solving the intended problem of alcoholism.

Since the term “model airplane” is not defined in these notices, it includes ALL model aircraft, from a $1.00 balsa hand launch glider to a possible radio controlled terrorist flying bomb. Of course the terrorist is not going to abide by the rules. The plan is obviously make the Terrorist attempt more visible breaking the TFR rule. The old forest and the trees excuse. Cut down the forest so you can see the tree.

First, the rule is almost non-enforceable. The area included is (A=Pi *R²) 2827 square miles. The intent is that it could be enforced. If the hobbyist launches a battery powered back yard flyer in this 4.5 hour long temporary flight restriction period, that MAYBE flies in a dome radius of 400 feet (more like 100 feet), the pilot is in violation of a FAR (Federal Air Regulation). It is going to be the model pilot’s responsibility to know whenever one of these TFR’s is created and check if the intended model flight area is included. Maybe the hobbyist pilot will soon be required to file a flight plan with the FAA before going out into the back yard to hand toss a glider in the air above 0.0 inches off the ground because It may intercept AF1’s flight path.

Yes, I am being silly but so is this requirement for model airplanes. It IS an intentionally poorly defined restriction that takes freedom and privileges away from the law abiding American citizen. At minimum, it makes an innocent person, flying a model airplane into a convictible law breaker.  To micro define the intent is not the answer either. The problem and the intent is to leave interpretation open to the entity who desires to enforce the rule. So anyone including me can read this any way they see fit.

In reality this is probably a non event to model fliers. But ignorance is not an excuse. The AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) to which I am a long time member, has seen fit to make me aware of this issue.

Will we ever see an Air Force fighter jet strafe a R/C model flying field because someone didn’t know a TFR was in place? The sky’s the limit…

UPDATE 8/9/10: This is a MAJOR EVENT to model aviation. To date model aviation has been regulated by the FAA by not being regulated. This WILL change. The advent of autonomous amateur and comercial pilotless or actually Remote Piloted Vehicals (RPV’s) and Unmaned Air Vehicles (UAV’s) operating in controlled airspace has focused unwanted and up until now, un-needed attention on the recreational world of Model Aviation.

My spin (first impression) about terrorist creating the TFR because of the VIP safety issues may still be valid but perhaps not totally accurate. The implication of restrictions for model aviation is far broader because of the autonomous RPV and UAV issues.

 I will be posting more on this in the future.

The Air Conditioning at my home is running and the meter keeps slowly ticking over. Thankfully, I have replaced all my mechanical heat pump systems with the highest efficiency available (the original builder supplied units were not the best rated) and my home is SIP (Structured Insulated Panel) foam core external walls and roof. I have one of the best energy efficient homes being constructed today. I have been involved in the energy business for nearly 50 years, so I look for the best.

I now work for a company named Schneider Electric and my business is still energy management. I am very involved with large buildings indoor environment control and the reduction in cost to manage that kind of large space. Major cost contributors are the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems. Just like my home, this severe kind of hot weather really drives the building’s owners need for our (Schneider Electric) services to reduce the operating cost of their very large buildings.

Of course we do much more than just HVAC operation management in large buildings. We perform building management for everything from lighting to building security. Visit the SE corporate website to see all the things that Schneider Electric is doing for the world’s energy management, especially in my sector of Buildings Management. You will notice the company’s only color is green, a sign of the times. Click on the Schneider Electric logo (upper left corner) to start back at the home page.

If you think nothing major can or is being done about the cost of energy, that is the farthest thing from reality. It is happening today and it is happening in a grand scale. My credentials include CEM (Certified Energy Manager), BEP (Business Energy Professional) and CSDP (Certified Sustainable Development Professional). The last one, Sustainable Development is also a critical world environmental requirement we manage.

My point is if you or anyone you know (child, grandchild, friend) wants to be involved in the cutting, nay bleeding edge of real making-a-difference world energy use, Schneider Electric is the company for whom to go work. Check out the careers tab on the company web site. Anyone will be far more productive “saving the planet” working here than hugging a tree. (No offence intended.) We are not fanatics, just solid thinking engineers and energy managers making a huge real-world difference. Tell ‘em Dan sent ya’!

But it does take a lot of the tedious work away and the more I play with it the more I like it. It is definitely not the tool for the beginning novice but it is a wonderful shortcut to building dynamic web sites. I am already working with it for a commercial site which I am designing.

This blog and my other CMS blogs are similar to this structure or at least function. WordPress (the popular blogging program I use here) is a bit easier to learn and get running I think for a blogging purpose than Joomla. WordPress can also build conventional looking web sites depending on the template chosen.

Joomla is not perfect but I admit I am becoming a fan. It seems to have more options (therefore more difficult) than WordPress at creating other than a blog. That could be because it is a new experience for me, but so be it. I write about my experiences… I could concede it may be more like a 50/50 toss up.

So for now I’ll say Joomla is intended take the designer far beyond blogging.  See TEDatum.com. But Joomla is still a very capable blogging system. If any other bloggers out there what to try something different, grab a copy of Joomla, the dynamic portal engine and content management system. It’s free, except for your time and server space! Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor.

I read that somewhere…

Another problem is the CNC computers are not cooling well when shop temperatures are 100 -105 degrees drybulb. The computers are just not designed to run in these eleveated temperature environments. I did get some glitches in the HB2 computer after a 2 hour cutting run. I was already finished, thank goodness. I hadn’t realized how hot it was in the shop.

Today is Friday July 9^th and the humidity is still up. I am hoping we get a little break so I can spend the weekend in the shop. I have a lot of clean up I want to do and also map out a few projects to get back on the front burner.

Gloria is in Oregon for a few weeks so I want to take advantage of the “my time” I have available!