Capt. Lyndsey Goodman, a C-17 Globemaster III reserve pilot with the 317th Airlift Squadron at Charleston Air Force Base, auditioned for “American Idol” last January 23. Capt. Goodman has flown the half-million pound airlifter into combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, also sings at local nightclubs.Capt. Goodman decided to go to the Air Force because her dad was an Air Force pilot in Vietnam and she just grew around airplanes her whole life. The C-17 pilot added that she wanted to try out for ‘American Idol’ because she has singing since she was a little and just grabbed this opportunity when “American Idol” came to their city.

The captain already has a career handling America’s premier airlifter, but her passion for singing gave her the chance to sing for America’s toughest, and most popular judges — Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.

Capt. Goodman said, “Auditioning in front of Randy, Paula and Simon, I was probably more nervous than I have been in my entire life. It was really hard to concentrate because of all the cameras. It was a lot tougher than any check ride I have ever had.”

Captain Goodman is one of only two military contestants featured on the show this season, according to “American Idol” producers. After the audition process, she was eliminated by Mr. Cowell, who said he liked her singing but jazz might not be the right format for the show. Captain Goodman didn’t make it to Hollywood but she would still continue flying with the Air Force Reserve.

Yet another thing has been labeled with the three words that we are all too familiar with: “Made in China”. This time, it’s an ARJ21 jet named “Xiang Feng”.

China’s first home-grown regional jet rolled off the production line in Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory last month, along with its name being unveiled at the roll-out ceremony. “Xiang Feng”, which means “flying phoenix”, was chosen in a global competition via the Internet.

Designed and produced by China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), the ARJ21-700 jet can carry 90 passengers with a maximum range of 2,000 nautical miles. Its maiden flight is scheduled to take place in March 2008, and it is expected to be delivered to the first customers in the third quarter of 2009 after it receives its airworthiness certification in the first half of the same year.

According to vice chief designer Chen Yong, the jet will have to go through more than 170 tests before it gets the certification. He also stated that the ARJ21 focuses on comfort, with a passenger cabin 123 inches wide and seats 0.9 inch wider than that of the Boeing 737, calling the plane’s cabin one of the amplest of any regional plane in the world.

AVIC I has already received orders for “Xiang Feng” aircraft from a Laotian airline company and domestic airline companies, some of which are Shenzhen Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. A source with AVIC I said that the company expects to receive more overseas orders in the first half of 2008.

ARJ21, short for “Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century”, is the first regional jet fully developed by China alone. Currently, China uses foreign-made Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier planes on domestic air routes. AVIC I sees the ARJ21 taking up to 60 percent of the domestic market for mid-size regional airliners over the next 20 years.

A small UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) weighing 4.2 pounds which entered service in late 2003, gained extreme popularity and rave reviews from the U.S. military, the RQ-11A Raven.  The Raven is a compact, lightweight, hand-launched Small UAV (SUAV) that can be prepared and launched in minutes for conducting aerial Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions during infantry combat operations, including urban warfare operations/MOUT. 

The Raven is battery powered and carries a color day vidcam or a two color infrared camera and it costs $25,000.  The Raven can go as fast as 90 kilometers an hour, but usually cruises between 40 and 50.  It can go as far as 15 kilometers from its controller on the ground, using GPS for navigation.  Each Raven unit consists of three UAVs and one ground control station and is launched by turning on the motor and throwing it to midair, just like throwing a paper-made plane.  The Raven only requires three soldiers to operate it and doesn’t require an airfield to launch, since it’s throw-launched.    

The Raven is basically a scaled down version of an earlier, nine pound UAV, the Pointer (FQM-151), which also became popular with the Special Forces.  But the Special Forces wanted something even smaller and lighter, as they often had to travel very light.  There was an even lighter (less than a 1/2 pound) vidcams developed, making it possible to use even smaller UAVs. 

The Special Forces army employs 200 Ravens and they are the most enthusiastic users, since the Raven is so small and discreet that most people on the ground won’t notice it even at night. The most common cause of loss is that when a Raven has been shot down, it could lose its communications link or a software/hardware failure on the aircraft.  But that’s the only downside since SUAVs like Raven can be used for both daytime and night operations, anytime there’s a requirement for immediate, short range/low-cost real-time intelligence without risking human assets, hence, it minimizes infantry casualties.          

Virgin Galactic introduces their new space craft to travel to suborbital space and back.

Developed from Rutan’s SpaceShipOne, a piloted and reusable spacecraft that won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for suborbital spaceflight in 2004, SpaceShipTwo is an air launched vehicle designed to carry six passengers.

The SpaceShipTwo will drop from a twin-cabin high-altitude jet that can double as a space tourist training craft. WhiteKnightTwo carries four engines and a wingspan of about 140 feet, rivaling a B-29 bomber. The WhiteKnightTwo is built to handle unmanned rockets capable of launching small satellites into orbit.

Virgin Galactic now offers ticket aboard SpaceShipTwo for an initial price of $200,000. The ticket cost is expected to drop after the first five years of operations. The space tourism firm plans to eventual launch flights out of a terminal at New Mexico’s Spaceport America, with additional trips through the aurora borealis to be staged from Kiruna, Sweden.

If traveling around the world is not enough, it is now possible to travel to outer space and back to the earth.