SESSION 4 AT SOAR BY AVEMBSYS

               The 4^th session was on 7^th Jan 2011 which was very interesting and enthusiastic.The class was started with discussing of the projects.Then we started our session with the 'AIRCRAFT EVOLUTION' beginning with the time,the people tied bird’s wings to their hands and attempted to fly.

Some of the initial tecniques used for flying are,

1. Ornithopter by Leonardo Da Vinci 1500
2. Lighter than Aircraft by Francesco De Lana-Terzi 1867
3. Airplane by George cayley's model 1804 which flew sucessfully
4. Glider by Lilienthal 1896

              Next came the actual invention by the Orville and wilbur wright,the flyer first to develop a fully aerodynamic control system coupled to a powered aeroplane which was both flyable and maneuverable.

CLASSIFICATION OF AIRCRAFT'S

1)Based on the space they operate in:

                 The aircraft's fly up to tropopause with maximum height of 11km for commercial planes and some planes can fly up-to 35km height.Then our SME gave basic difference between an aircraft and a spacecraft. An aircraft flies within the planet with a particular height whereas a spacecraft is deigned to fly from one planet to other with special characteristics of

1.    Ability to generate huge thrust and instantaneous high speed
2.    Ability to withstand adverse temperature
3.    No atmospheric support to lift  and 
4.    Ability togreat escape velocity unlike aircrafts. 

               Space shuttles are reusable launch system and orbital spacecrafts developed for human spaceflight missions. They are launched like spacecrafts and land like planes.

2)Based on propulsion:
      It is categorized into 

i) Propelled-which operate with the help of an engine. Eg. Airplanes.

       ii)Unpropelled- It is driven by wind.Eg.airships and gliders.


Characteristics of unpropelled

1.    Amateur and primitive craft 
2.    No propulsion 
3.    Driven by winds(low cost) 
4.    Weather monitoring. 

3)Based on crew:

      It is categorized into 

            i)Manned- Airplanes

            ii)Unmanned-UAV/RPVwhose characteristics are small             size,light weights,low speeds,evades radar

4)Based on wings:

       The design of the wings is of 2 types

             i)Fixed wing-The one used in aircrafts to fly the flight

             ii)Rotary wing-The used in helicopters which uses the                            technique of VTOL and it can land anywhere.

Characteristics of Rotary wing

1.    Highly flexible and agile 
2.    Limited speed,operating range,load carrying,capacity and altitude. 
3.    Air ambulance,relief operations,VIP transportation

5)Based on the number of wings:

    These are categorized into

           i)Monoplane

          ii)Biplane

         iii)Tri-plane

6)Based on landing mod:

       The different landing modes that are presently adopted are

          i) Sea

         ii)Land

        iii)Amphibian-Ability to take off and landing in both land                                     and water

7)Based on engines: 

        The various categories under this are

            i)Propeller

           ii)Turbofan

          iii)Turbo pop 

8)Based on the number of engines:

           i)Single

          ii)Twin

         iii)Multiple engines.

9)Based on function:

           These aircrafts are designed to perform a particular tasks.They are categories as
           i)Fighter aircraft's-Usually used for military purpose                         Eg:F16,MIG29,F35 JSF,F/A-22 Raptor,Rafale C etc.
          ii)Bomber aircraft's-Jaguar,Saab Gripen,EurofighterTyphoon
         iii)Transport aircraft's-IL-76

Special types of aircraft:

           These types are used specially designed for the specific purpose with advanced technologies.


Reconnaisiance- SR 71 Blackbirds
AWACS-E-3 Sentry
Micro-plane
Aerial Refueling-KC-135 Stratotanker
Vertical Takeoff-Tilt-rotor aircraft
Stealth-stealth bomber B2(it is difficult to detect by any radar in the world).


            We were then told in brief about fly cars, Bermuda triangle and nuclear powered aircraft's.


            Later we saw the case study done on the Video of the Air Crash Investigation of Avianca Flight 052 that was scheduled to travel from Medellin, Colombia to New York, USA in 1990.  The crash happened due to lack of fuel at the end of a misunderstanding of the situation by the ATC at New York and the ATCs that were transferring the flight’s control from one ATC to another which made to lose the 40 precious mins.This case study made us understand the importance of specific words that must be used in Aviation and the unusual lack of efficiency in the manual air traffic scheduling systems in case of emergencies that led to a disaster.


           After the video,our Tech-lead, told about emergency landing should be told by the pilot instead of priority.
 In case of  emergency the pilot should report to the ATC like "I DECLARE EMERGENCY" or the pilot should say "MAYDAY" 3times...

       The case study was explained to us in detail by our tech-lead, with some description of the Holding Pattern that the flight was required to follow and also the TOGA (Take-Off and Go Around). The Discussion was ended with a brief on the ILS (Instrument Landing System) that uses two frequencies  of  90hz and 150hz to align the aircraft with the LOCALIZER and GLIDESLOPE.

      This session was very interesting and we learnt a lot about the aircraft's  and it helped us understand the importance of the air traffic scheduling systems and also gave an idea to think about the automation of aircraft scheduling to avoid th air crash.........

Have a nice day friends.........