From the Wikipedia article: “Ukraine In August 2019, a Ukrainian military delegation visited Embraer’s military division in São Paulo and flew the Super Tucano.[153] In October 2019, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a meeting with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, informed that his country would buy the Super Tucano.[154] In December 2022, the Brazilian media reported a Ukrainian interest in the Super Tucano, to equip its air force for the Russo-Ukrainian War; however, the sale was blocked by the Bolsonaro administration.[155] A diplomatic effort by the United States to persuade the president-elect of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to unblock the deal, has been reported.[155]”

Which is why we should all hurry up and end the war and then turn our attention to making cool near future milsim video games instead of wasting our time with real war.

Also quadcopter racing and such is going to become a massive sport… I imagine if only because militaries around the world will start realizing how it is actually a liability not to have each generation of kids have a certain percentage of nerds who like to fly quadcopters like maniacs in FPV, and that it is best for everybody to keep those kids focused on sports, art and self expression through the power of their skill instead of refusing to see this potential as anything but a weapons system.

Understand that artillery is one of the most unrelenting devices of war and that because of the creativity Ukraine brought to flying small unmanned vehicles they were able to somehow simulate the impact of artillery long enough to get a genuine domestic 155mm artillery production going in their country. That is no small feat, and it is a testament to the ways in which younger humans can pick up a device and use it in ways that older humans would have never imagined. The thing about war is, the story it must tell is that this capacity is only ever an agent of violence when the truth is that it is simply most often identified as priceless by the violent agents of this world.

In the future Ukraine will have drone racing teams that do super cool inspiring fun drone racing stunts all around the world and inspire kids to want to learn to fly drones too, and of course there will be the reminder of the story of how that all was allowed to happen but the focus can be on the art and style with which each individual person finds themselves through flying and that is fundamentally not a message of war but of a peace you cannot deny.

Imagine a ceasefire proposal to Russia that was wrapped up in a PR blanket of the guise of it being a chance to demonstrate to the world which country has more superior quadcopter and drone pilots, so a series of challenges are proposed. Not of violence, but of feats that require agility, accuracy of flying, independence in navigation and competency and adapting to the situation to retain the initiative in the way only an athlete at the top of their game can. Make it a statement of power to prove you had drone pilots that were the best in the world at this and make it a high profile ask. The olympics but for unarmed manned/unmanned drones.

I have a feeling Ukranian pilots would do quite well.

I think that kind of message is starting to get closer to the kind of one an authoritarian strong man has to stop and at least listen to, because it points out how war is actually a weakness for us all but especially for the perpetrator of it, because there is always a periphery that is watching and learning but not wasting time killing.

how did those in the past express the radical potential of their flying machines without pointing straight at war, but instead to the broader raw capacity to elevate us all?

Further flying was ruled out by the weather until October 19, when Santos-Dumont took off from Saint-Cloud at 2:42 pm. With the wind behind him, he reached the Eiffel Tower in nine minutes, but on the return journey suffered an engine failure.

To restart the engine, he had to climb back over the gondola rail without a safety harness. The attempt was successful, and he reached the finish line after 29 minutes 30 seconds. However, there was a short delay before his mooring line was secured, and at first the adjudicating committee refused him the prize, despite de la Meurthe, who was present, declaring himself satisfied.

This caused a public outcry from the crowds watching the flight, as well as comment in the press. However a face-saving compromise was reached, and Santos-Dumont was awarded the prize. In a charitable gesture, he gave half the prize to his technicians and donated the other half to the poor of Paris.[7]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santos-Dumont_number_6

The Wind Rises Where My Heart Will Take Me?

NX-01 <3