A brief history of flight Home to Air Canada, Bombardier and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Montreal has placed itself among the world’s leading aerospace and aviation hubs. In 1856, the first aircraft ever constructed in Canada was a balloon that carried three passengers from Montreal to Pointe-Olivier, Quebec. Flown[Read More…]
Tag: Flight
Gliding, bat-winged dinosaurs surprise scientists
When most people picture flying dinosaurs, they picture beasts like pterodactyls and the pterosaurs. Although iconic to fossils of the Jurassic period, these flying reptiles were not dinosaurs at all, but instead a distant dinosaur cousin called archosaurs that flapped their forelimbs to achieve flight. However, scientists have recently found[Read More…]
Science capsule: The first hot air balloon flight
Nov. 21, 2019 marked the 236th anniversary of the first untethered, manned hot air balloon flight. The flight was the result of the work of Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier, brothers from the small town of Vandalon, France. Their father’s lucrative paper company enabled them to fund their scientific endeavours and[Read More…]
Engineering students to develop solar-powered drone
For their required MECH 463D1 Design 3 Mechanical Engineering Project course, four U3 Mechanical Engineering students aspire to build a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that will exceed the continuous flight time of agriculture UAVs currently on the market. A Design 3 course, commonly referred to as a “capstone project,”[Read More…]
Know Your Athlete: Marty the Martlet
McGill is known for fostering success stories in academia and athletics alike and, proof that birds of a feather flock together, Marty the Martlet is no exception. Marty is just like most McGill students: He juggles the rigour of school with having fun and a full-time job—one that isdesigned to entertain us loyal McGill sports fans. But Marty wasn’t always a silly goose; he used to chicken out every time he was in the spotlight.