[FARC] from ARRL NewsLetter...

[Eric Gammeter]

FYI:  Maynard, W3FQF addressed our club several years ago introducing this
project...


==>HAM-LED TEAM ATTEMPTING TRANSATLANTIC MODEL AIRPLANE FLIGHT

A team of model airplane enthusiasts led by Maynard Hill, W3FQF, is
attempting a record-breaking crossing of the Atlantic by a model aircraft.
A model plane dubbed "The Spirit of Butts Farm" was launched August 20 and
was on its way to Ireland. Monitoring the flight, TAM-3, the third in a
series, from Newfoundland, Canada, Hill's team reports the plane was last
heard from August 21 at 0428 UTC. "We are still uncertain what happened,"
said a terse announcement on the team's Web site.

The Transatlantic Model Aircraft--or TAM--project is Hill's brainchild as
the president of the Society for Technical Aeromodel Research. Hill and
his design team have spent four years on the ambitious project. The TAM
aircraft are hand-launched and guided to an altitude of 1500 feet by radio
remote control. Upon reaching that altitude, a sophisticated GPS-based
autopilot system takes over. The aircraft sends periodic position reports
to the flight team, and these are posted on the TAM Web site
<http://tam.plannet21.com/index.html>.

The first two TAMs failed soon after launch. The last position report for
TAM-3 indicated that it had completed better than one-fourth of its
journey before contact with the airplane was lost. TAM-4 will be the final
attempt--at least for now.

A successful flight would mark the first transatlantic crossing by a true
model airplane--an aircraft weighing 11 pounds or less with an engine with
no more than 10 cc displacement, as specified by the Federation
Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) <http://www.fai.org/>. It would also set
a new world record for straight-line distance by a radio-controlled,
piston-powered model airplane.

More information on this historic effort is available on the TAM Web site
<http://tam.plannet21.com/index.html>. An article on the flight appeared
in the on-line edition of National Geographic
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0805_020805_transatlantic
.html>
----------------------
Material from The ARRL Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole or
in part in any form without additional permission. Credit must be given to
The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.