The flight of a quadcopter drone, readily available as a toy, is analyzed using simple physics concepts. A smartphone with built-in accelerometer and gyroscope was attached to the drone to register the accelerations and angular velocities along the three spatial axis while the drone is taking off, landing or rotating. The vertical speed, the…

We measure the vertical velocities of elevators, pedestrians climbing stairs, and drones (flying unmanned aerial vehicles), by means of smartphone pressure sensors. The barometric pressure obtained with the smartphone is related to the altitude of the device via the hydrostatic approximation. From the altitude values, vertical velocities are…

Presents data on aircraft take off and landing, including measurements of turning speeds, triangle of velocities method, fuel consumption, air pressure differences, air turbulence, maintenance inspection, and airborne radar. Indicates the materials can serve as relevant physics examples in teaching sixth and seventh form pupils. (CC)

Many people believe that NASA could have faked the evidence showing that man landed on the Moon in 1969. Some opinion polls suggest that as many as 10-25% of the United States population also agree that there is the possibility that this could have happened. Numerous magazines, journals, websites and TV programmes now present the facts as…