Halloween at The Progress-Index

Today The Progress-Index celebrated halloween early.  Here are a couple of portraits from the day.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Well both, sort of…

As a chilly wind whipped across his company’s 1,000-plus acres of property in Prince George, Rolls-Royce North America CEO and president, admitted he had nightmares about the weekend rain continuing through Monday. Why, exactly?
This is why.

A U.S. Marine Corps V-22 Osprey , powered by a pair of 6,000-horsepower Rolls-Royce engines, made a fly-in from MCAS New River, NC, for their big groundbreaking. It was flown in by Col. Steven P. Brodfuehrer, commander of the Marine Tiltrotor Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron VMX-22. They are the guys leading the way for this technology, which allows for vertical takeoff like a helicopter but cruising speed and efficiency like a plane.

The Crosspointe Facility, tucked in between U.S. 460 and Interstate 295, will manufacture engine parts including blisks, or bladed disks, like this one below. They will go into commercial airlines and the F-35 Lighting II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter.

We’ll have plenty of coverage tomorrow in The P-I.

What a drag! Catching up with Antron Brown

Antron Brown has been speeding through life since throwing a leg over a tiny 50cc Honda dirt bike as a four-year-old. Today, he drives the fastest-accelerating machines on Earth – a Top Fuel dragster. We caught up with Brown, now 33, at an NHRA lunch at Lemaire Restaurant in Richmond and talked about his job. You can see Brown and the other top ten racers in the Top Fuel and Funny Car series this weekend at Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie. Events started this morning and wrap up Sunday afternoon.

VIDEO: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid31673785001?bclid=1716500255&bctid=44256302001

Best Warrior III

One last post  from the Best Warrior week! Sgt. Major of the Army Ken Preston, the highest-ranking enlisted man in the U.S. Army, shared thoughts on the importance of the competition with reporter F.M. Wiggins.

VIDEO: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid31673785001?bclid=1716500255&bctid=43159380001

We’ll have more on the competition in Tuesday’s Military Section.

Best Warrior 2009: II

The action didn’t stop at Warrior Tasks. PI journalists also went out into a mock-up Afghani village, where soldiers had to perform various tasks including taking a wanted man into custody; watched as soldiers disassembled a variety of weapons; and watched them speed through a two-mile run around Williams Stadium at Fort Lee.

VIDEO: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid31673785001?bclid=1716500255&bctid=43150914001

At the conclusion of all the events, two winners were selected, one junior enlisted and one non-commissioned officer. Congratulations to Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Beckman, Aaron, C Co., 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy, Grafenwoehr, Germany; and Spc. Clancey Henderson,  193rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo!

Best Warrior 2009

Journalists from The P-I were up long before the crack of dawn last week for the U.S. Army’s Best Warrior Competition, held at Fort Lee. Wednesday, soldiers had to ride through a mock-up of an Iraqi village with a surprise awaiting: an improvised explosive device attack! With two competitors per convoy, they had to respond and aid two soldiers in the vehicle behind them. The exercise was based on experiences of the competition staff in the Global War on Terror.

VIDEO: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid31673785001?bclid=1716500255&bctid=43158433001

Hello, Tri-Cities!

We’re getting our new photo and video-oriented blog up and running today! We’re excited to use this new tool to share our favorite photos, audio slideshows and video with you.

An afternoon on the Appomattox