Friday, July 31, 2020

Boeing to slack output, sees 19000 lost jobs!

With the Coronavirus impinging the entire aviation industry, Boeing Inc. delayed the debut of its novice aircraft and slackened its production as the company burned more cash.
The company intends to lacerate its commercial aircraft and service business with total job losses reaching 19000 this year which is 3000 more than it said before.

Apart from that, the new Boeing 777X aircraft won't carry passengers until 2022 instead of next year.
Unfortunately, Boeing again had to defer its production plans for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as a saturated market left the company with a stockpile of undelivered jets.

As a consequence of reduction of manufacturing rates, Boeing is thinking on the terms of consolidating the assembly at a single site instead of building the model in Washington state and South Carolina.
Moreover, executives are trying to resize operations for a market slashed by the pandemic.
What ameliorates the worries of Boeing Inc. is the grounding of its best selling jet: The Boeing 737MAX.
Boeing 737 MAX
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_737_MAX_(23326959580).jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Credit: Aka The Beav | Photographer





















Check out here to find out why Boeing 737MAX was grounded: The-Real-Reason-why-Boeing-737MAX-crashed

Nevertheless, Boeing will also ramp up work at its 737 Max factory more gradually than initially planned due to the virus.

"This is a true business transformation effort," Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith said on a call with analysts to discuss Boeing's earnings.


With such impacts on Boeing, its shares fell 3% to $165.68 at 12:45 p.m. in New York, the biggest drop on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Boeing tumbled 48% this year through Tuesday, also the most on the Dow.

Although the analyst had predicted a drain of $6.57 billion as the company cut costs and slowed work on key aircraft programs to save cash while demand crumbled, the company saw a loss of $5.63 billion in the second quarter.
Investors had braced for an awful quarter after Boeing delivered just 20 commercial jets in the three-month period, down from 149 a year earlier.
Sales plunged 25% to $11.8 billion, compared with the $13 billion average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Total debt soared to $61.4 billion from $38.9 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Ultimately, their best bet is the 737MAX and they are making progress toward certifying the 737 Max, which in normal times would be the company's biggest cash generator.
But the virus has further delayed Boeing's plans to gain regulatory approval to return the jet to service, a milestone anticipated for later this year.

"Not only do you have to get the Max through certification -- and I feel like they're well on their way -- but they have to shepherd a bunch of airlines through taking deliveries," Ferguson said in an interview.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

SpiceJet to Lease Hi-Fly Airbus A330NEO for repatriating operations!

SpiceJet boeing 737
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SpiceJet_aircraft_at_Varanasi_Airport.jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
Credit: Ramón | Photographer





















Indian low cost airline SpiceJet announced on 27th July about its plans to lease a Hi-Fly Airbus A330NEO for repatriating Indian nationals stranded in Europe.
According to a tweet released by the airline, the charter flight will be SpiceJet’s first long-haul flight and will depart from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) on August 1.

The flight will be a wet lease charter which means that the Portuguese operator's crew will fly it on behalf of SpiceJet.
The flight is supposed to depart from Amsterdam at 14:30 hours and arrive at Bengaluru at 03:00 hours the following day. It will then fly on to Hyderabad, arriving at 05:30 hours.

A spokesperson for the airline said:
“This A330-900 can do India-US non-stop. We plan to utilize it initially for charters to wherever the demand is for.
Later it may be used for scheduled flights under the travel bubbles India is forming with some countries.
That is an option. For now, it will be used for charters that can be booked by any organization or NGO.”

Although given the current circumstances, SpiceJet is operating for bring back stranded Indian nationals, it is intended to offer low-cost flights to Europe and North America in the future.

Nevertheless, SpiceJet has been granted persmission to fly to the United States and the United Kingdom last week and looks forward to perform repatriating operations starting 1st August.

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Aviation Fact-5: You don't need both engines to fly!

Boeing 777 Engine - GE90
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GE90-115B_(27958314752).jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
Credit: Maxime | Photographer





















You're flying in an aircraft cruising at 36000ft, enjoying the services provided to you by the airline and looking at the mesmerizing views of nature from the aircraft.
Suddenly, you hear a huge bang and intense vibrations begin to occur. Few minutes after, you come to realize that an engine has failed.

Although anyone would be appalled from this frightening situation, but here's a thing to contemplate before freaking out:
Firstly, the passengers must have faith in their pilots. Pilots are appropriately trained to handle such situations and have undergone extensive sessions and tests involving convoluted actions from them.

All pilots are taught to abide by rudimentary aviation rules regardless of the severity of any airborne event. This includes the following three acronyms - Aviate, Navigate, Communicate.
The gist of this is to ensure that pilots prioritize flying the aircraft first, ensuring its full controllability (Aviate) before verifying or correcting its navigational path.

Once the pilots ascertain the controllability of the aircraft, they can go for the next step i.e. Navigate followed by communicating the relevant information to the concerned personnel in this case the Air Traffic Control.
It is their successful completion of such sessions and rigorous tests, when they receive their licenses and certifications.

Secondly, engineers have made sure that all airplanes are designed in such a way that even if one engine fails, the airplane can still operate safely which is the crux of this article.

Yes, that's true! In-fact, it can even continue the take-off and then safely land with just one engine.
Although, when operating with half the engine power, it can make the airplane less-fuel efficient and reduce its range effectively, they are designed and tested for such critical situations.

Apart from that any aircraft which is intended to fly on long-haul routes, especially those that fly over oceans or through uninhabited areas like the Arctic must be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Extended-Range Twin Operations (ETOPS) which basically tells how far an aircraft can fly with one engine operative.
For example, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is certified for ETOPS-330. This signifies that Boeing 787 can fly for 330 minutes which is effectively five and a half hours with just one engine.
In informal aviation circles, ETOPS means “Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim”.

Nevertheless, there have been instances where-in all engines failed and still the plane was able to land safely.
So next time when you're flying in an aircraft just trust the engineers and pilots!

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Emirates A380 returns to skies!

After a crucial 4 month span, when in the month of March Emirates was forced to ground its entire fleet of 115 Airbus A380s, it finally made a comeback and have returned to the skies.
Flight EK001 took off from Dubai International Airport for London Heathrow on Wednesday at 7:45A.M, closely followed by EK073 at 8:20A.M, bound for Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris.

Interestingly, EK073 received a warm welcome in Paris Charles De Gaulle on occasion of commencement of operating the first A380 since the Coronavirus pandemic began.

Emirates Airbus A380
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A6-EDG_Emirates_A380_12.JPG
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Credit: J. Patrick Fischer | Photographer


















Emirates although grounded its entire fleet in late March, some flights were resumed on 6th April. Typically the Boeing 777s took the skies while Airbus A380s still remained grounded.
And now Emirates has unveiled plans to deploy its iconic Airbus A380 on its quotidian Amsterdam service, and add a second quotidian A380 service to London Heathrow starting from 1st August, 2020.

Apart from that, the airline resumed regular flights from Dubai to seven additional cities namely Athens, Barcelona, Geneva, Glasgow, Larnaca, Munich and Rome.
Today, the airline will resume flights to Malé and Washington DC, whilst Brussels flights will recommence tomorrow i.e. 17 July.

A noteworthy point was made by Emirates stating that travellers will only be accepted on flights if they comply with the eligibility and entry criteria requirements of their destination countries.
Also before buying a ticket, passengers should check they have whatever insurance they need, and also verify very carefully with the relevant authorities for all the latest required regulations of not only their final destination, but also the airport they will fly from, return to, and any they may need to transit in.

What are your opinions regarding this commencement by Emirates? Also, what other points a passenger must contemplate for ensuring his/her safety as well as implementation of standard protocol amid this pandemic?
Would love to know in the comments!

Monday, July 13, 2020

Air France Boeing 777-300 returns to Réunion due to smoke in cockpit

Air France Boeing 777-300
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_777-300_Air_France_(AFR)_F-GZNG_-_MSN_32968_795_(9231088733).jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
Credit: Laurent ERRERA | Photographer





















Air France Boeing 777-300 had to turn around and head back to Réunion after the crew reported smoke in the cockpit.
This event occured on Saturday 11th July when the flight was heading from Saint-Denis de La Réunion to Paris Charles de Gaulle.
With 468 souls on board, Air France flight AF671 fortunately landed back safely in Réunion at 4:45 hours after departure, and ultimately the flight was deferred until the next day.

The flight was en route to Paris when at an altitude of 32000ft and about 1,160 nautical miles northeast of Réunion, the issue came into picture.
The plane had no choice but to turn around and head back to its origin. Local media reported that the crew had reported smoke in the cockpit.

The plane was able to land in Réunion safely, and the flight was postponed for 24 hours.
The airline reported that the plane returned due to a technical problem, but no further information has been released.

Nevertheless, smoke can be fatal especially when it comes from the cockpit. It is usually the electrical failure or typical short circuits which lead to such events.
Moreover, the cause of the smoke has the ability to vandalize vital systems and instruments. If this happens there is absolutely no way of going back.
Air France flight AF671 was lucky enough to get out of this situation by taking corrective actions at the right time.

What are your opinions on this incident? Would love to know in the comments!

Sunday, July 12, 2020

The real reason why Boeing 737MAX crashed! Engine Placement and MCAS explained!

March 2019, the time when Boeing's fast selling aircraft; the 737MAX was grounded owing to two catastrophic crashes killing over 346 souls.
These crashes were not merely due to any pilot errors or miscommunication. The real reason behind them involves far more convoluted details.

In order to understand the real reason of these crashes, it is necessary to roll back in time (in 2010) when Airbus was planning to upgrade their A320 aircraft.
Jet fuel is expensive and is one of the major contributing factors in terms of cost incurred to the airline.
Thus, improving fuel efficiency is one aspect which the aircraft manufacturers look forward to and make it their unique selling point.
This was the case with Airbus back in 2010. Therefore, Airbus came out with an updated version of the A320 family which came to be known as A320 NEO where NEO stands for "New Engine Option".

The updated version - Airbus installed new engines which had a larger diameter compared to its predecessors thus improving the fuel efficiency of the aircraft by 15%.
Interestingly, the engines could be installed on what was basically the same airframe because the ground clearance was sufficient enough to accommodate an engine with a larger diameter.

As a result airliners switched to buying A320 NEO airplanes more than any variant of Boeing 737.
Therefore, Boeing was forced to do some similar modifications to its single-aisle 737 as well to give competition. But there was a problem!
Unlike the Airbus A320, the ground clearance of Boeing 737 was much smaller. As a result, incorporating an engine of a larger diameter was not feasible.
The possible solution for incorporating a larger diameter engine would be to jack up the aircraft, but that will involve huge costs which Boeing did not wanted to incur.
Moreover, this process would also reduce the commonality with its current fleet which in-turn will result in high costs incurred by the airlines.

Nevertheless, in a March 2011 interview with Aircraft Technology, Mike Bair, then the head of 737 product development, said that re-engineering was possible.
“There’s been fairly extensive engineering work on it,” he said. “We figured out a way to get a big enough engine under the wing.”

So the engineers mounted the engines of larger diameter by installing them at a higher vertical level compared to its predecessors and shifted the engine in the forward direction.
By doing so, the aerodynamics of the aircraft changed significantly compared to the previous ones.

The problems associated with this modification:
1. Because of shift in the placement of engines in vertical direction, the thrust centreline changed as well.
2. Also because of this shift of engine nacelle in the front direction, when the power was increased, it resulted in lift generation by the engine nacelles as well particularly at high angle of attack.

As a consequence, the engines started developing a pitch up moment (clockwise direction), and allowed the 737MAX aircraft at an angle of attack to go to an even higher angle of attack.

Although the correct step here for Boeing would be to modify the airframe so as to compensate for the this erratic pitch up behavior, they in-turn decided to develop a system which could bring the nose back to level position as the former step would again have involved huge costs.
So, Boeing decided to create what is known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) which would certainly have been less expensive.
Boeing 737MAX with explaination of MCAS
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dirkpons/48010786076
License URL:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Credit: Dirk Pons

























Function of MCAS?
MCAS is responsible for pushing the nose of the plane down when the system thinks that the aircraft might exceed the critical angle of attack and go in what is known as aerodynamic stall (sudden loss of lift).
So it commands the aircraft's trim system to lower the nose as well as pushes the pilot's control columns (these are the things which helps pilot control the aircraft manually).

The MCAS is directly connected to what is called as the Angle-Of-Attack (AOA) Sensor which is responsible for giving pilots the information regarding what angle of attack the aircraft is flying at.

In both the crashes, it was first the angle of attack sensor which gave wrong readings (due to in-servisibility) to the MCAS. The system when it senses a reasonably high angle of attack prompted the aircraft to nose down along with pushing the control columns forward.
This resulted in plane going in a nose dive and since it achieved high velocities as a consequence, the pressure on the control surface (elevator) was too large which was nearly impossible for the pilots to overcome it by taking manual control.

But this manual control in the first place can be gained only when the pilot knows how to disengage the MCAS.
It was found out that pilots were not given any information that the new 737MAX incorporated a MCAS.
Apart from that even though the AOA sensor was faulty, the MCAS system too had numerous errors in its algorithm.

A potential solution could have been the pilots taking over the plane when AOA sensor gives faulty readings and keep MCAS as a redundant system instead of AOA sensor directly reporting to the MCAS.

In conclusion, had the AOA sensors were serviced along with the pilots having the knowledge on MCAS and how to disengage in case it activates, the situation would have been much different.
It is these chain of events which contributes to a bigger event.

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Vistara to delay some of its aircraft deliveries!

Vistara A320
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vistara_A320_at_Bangalore_Airport_(38764401165).jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
Credit: Venkat Mangudi | Photographer


















Indian airline - Vistara is in talks with the planemakers and leasing companies to delay some of its aircraft deliveries taking into consideration the current market situation and production delays.
Vistara had placed an order for 13 A320-neo family aircraft from Airbus in 2018 and would take another 37 Airbus planes from leasing companies - all due for delivery between 2019 and 2023.

Apart from that, it also has six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner widebody planes on order, primarily for international flights, due to be delivered in 2020 and 2021.

"We are looking to see how we can push back some of the deliveries not just because of the delays in production but also from a commercial perspective," said Vinod Kannan (Chief Commercial Officer).

Due to current restrictions imposed as a result of covid-19 pandemic, the airline is flying only a handful of routes with around 1/3rd of its fleet (around 13 aircraft out of 41).
Moreover, Vistara is seeing an average of 50-60% passenger load since domestic flights resumed.
With restrictions imposed on international flights, Vistara has been unable to deploy its brand-new Dreamliner on any long-haul routes, rather uses it a few times for high-demand domestic flights.

As a consequence of pandemic, Vistara has significantly scaled back the number of planes it will add to its fleet.
Nevertheless, the airline will add three more aircraft to their fleet (one 787 dreamliner and two A320s) this year.

The precarious nature of covid-19 pandemic has ultimately put the airline's long term goals on hold.
The airline planned to double its international destinations this year and induct a large mix of widebodies and narrowbodies.
The delay could mean current aircraft deliveries extend into 2024.

What are your opinions on Vistara's delayed aircraft deliveries? Would love to know in the comments!

Monday, July 6, 2020

Qantas to retire its last remaining Boeing 747: Farewell flights to begin in mid-July!

Qantas Boeing 747-400
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Qantas_747-400_VH-OJD_Sydney.jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
Credit: Brian | Photographer



















CEO of Qantas - Alan Joyce who flagged 6000 jobs as a consequence of ongoing Coronavirus pandemic announced retirement of its last remaining Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
The airline also announced that this iconic aircraft which served Qantas for nearly 50 years will still get a send-off; with three joy flights over Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra in mid-July.
Although, the outbreak of COVID-19 in Victoria has seen Melbourne miss out on a similar event.
The one-hour flights will be open to public to bid a farewell and expected to go on sale at midday on Wednesday.

Details of Farewell Flights
The Sydney farewell flights will take place on Monday, July 13. Brisbane's will follow on Wednesday, July 15, with Canberra's on Friday July 17.
While premium economy seats will be reserved for Qantas' staff, for the public - economy and business class seats will prevail.
Apart from that, the airline will also hold celebratory events for staff at the airports following the flights.

Most importantly, the tickets are priced at $747 for business class and $400 for economy (representing the 747-400 jumbo jet series).
Seats will be limited for allowing passengers to enjoy the view and extra space on-board.

The scintillating fact about these farewell flights is their operation on a "cost recovery" basis and the profits donated to HARS Aviation Museum near Woollongong and the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach.
Nevertheless, one could never forget the providential year of 1971 when Qantas' first ever jumbo jet took the skies.

From that year, there was no stopping for Qantas. The jumbo jet's long range capability and four engines made it perfect for long-haul flights, covering vast tracts of ocean allowing Qantas to fly unusual and occasionally record-breaking routes.

Some of the past routes of Qantas' Boeing 747
1. Qantas flew its 747 from Australia to South Africa via a southern route allowing passengers to have a visual of mesmerizing icebergs from the airplane windows.

2. Qantas' 747 served for scenic flights from Australia to Antarctica, operated by Antarctica Flights leasing the Qantas jumbos and using the airline's pilots and cabin crew.

3. In 2011, Qantas used its jumbo-jet to launch its non-stop flight from Sydney to Dallas, which for a time became the longest route in world.

At last, Qantas 747 Fleet Captain Owen Weaver said the 747 has a special place in the hearts of many Australians.
"The 747 has been a magnificent aircraft and it's fitting that we celebrate the end of five decades of history-making moments for the national carrier and aviation in Australia," Captain Weaver said.

What are your views on the retirement of Qantas' 747 jumbo-jet?

Saturday, July 4, 2020

Aircraft Wing Configurations Explained! (Part-1)

Aircraft wings are meant to generate lift to counter its own weight. If you're unclear on the physics of how an aircraft generates lift, it is first recommended to read that over here: How-does-an-aircraft-generate-lift

Every aircraft is designed and manufactured for a specific purpose defined by a lucid set of requirements.
Based on the specific purpose and mission profile (what needs to be done by an aircraft) will give the designer the authority to design an aircraft which will aim to meet the requirements.
For example the purpose could be to design an aircraft for transporting passengers from point A to point B or could be to design an aircraft for achieving air superiority over other fighter jets.

Whatever the case maybe, one thing is for sure, for a specific purpose there exist a specific aircraft and one of the difference in them is their Wing Configuration.

Wing Configurations vary for providing different flight characteristics.
The amount of lift an aircraft generates, control at different speeds, stability etc. changes with change in wing configuration.
Moreover, the wing configuration for any aircraft depends on numerous factors including desired speed at take-off, cruise and landing, rate of climb, use of the plane etc.

Aircraft wings often employ the cantilever design (one end is fixed and other end is free) and do not require external bracing.
If you're unclear on the structural aspect of wings, it is recommended to read that over here: Aircraft-Wing-Structure

Following are the different types of wing employed on different aircraft: These are based on the how shape of the wings look like when viewed from top (Planform Shape).

Categories of Aircraft Wing (Based on Planform Shape)
1. Rectangular Wing
As the name suggests, when viewed from the top, the wing is rectangular in shape. Following is a figure of an aircraft given below employing a rectangular wing.

Piper PA-38
Piper PA-38
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piper_PA-38-112_Tomahawk_F-GOFC_in_flight.jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Credit: Simon Schoeters | Photographer





















Although the rectangular wings are not a headache when it comes to manufacturing them (they are the simplest to manufacture), the aerodynamic efficiency of rectangular wings is somewhat less compared to any other type.
The reason for its aerodynamic inefficiency is because rectangular wings contribute to more drag (induced drag - occurs due to airflow leaking from the tips of a wing) and more drag means increase in fuel consumption.
Because of aerodynamic inefficiency, rectangular wings are typically used for low-performance airplanes.

2. Tapered Wing
As the name suggests, the wings are tapered i.e the chord length (distance between leading edge and trailing edge of aerofoil) varies along the span of the wing.
One can simply say, tapered wings are a modification of the rectangular wing.
Following is a figure of an aircraft employing a tapered wing.

P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P51_Mustang_-_CHino_Airshow_2014_(14349568311).jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
Credit: Airwolfhound | Photographer





















In contrast to a rectangular wing, when the tips aerofoil gets smaller compared to the root aerofoil, the drag reduces.
The reason for reduction in drag is due to less leakage of airflow from the tips of a tapered wing hence reducing the induced drag.
Although, with benefits of drag reduction, the tip aerfoils tend to stall first (sudden loss of lift). Ailerons (control surface on wing) thus loose their control effectiveness since they are placed outboard of the wing which can be catastrophic.
In order to prevent loss of control effectiveness, Washout is employed (the angle of attack of aerfoil decreases from root to tip). In layman language, the wing is twisted.

3. Elliptical Wing
As the name suggests, the shape of the wing when viewed from top is an ellipse. Following is a figure of an aircraft given below employing an elliptical wing.

Spitfire
Spitfire
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Supermarine_Spitfire_Mk_XVI.jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en
Credit: Chowells | Photographer



















Elliptical wing is considered to be the most aerodynamically efficient owing to an elliptical spanwise lift distribution.
This means that variation of lift along the span will be in the shape of an ellipse. What it does is, the induced drag is reduced significantly (minimum for a given aspect ratio) compared to any planform shape hence the most aerodynamically efficient wing.
Although it is aerodynamically efficient, the manufacturing of elliptical wings is a complicated task since the wing skin needs to be curved in all directions and is much heavier than a tapered wing.
Moreover, elliptical wings are also susceptible to loss of control effectiveness as a consequence of wing stalling.

Further information on wing configurations will be discussed in part-2.



Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Airbus to Cut 15,000 jobs - Expects long halt in Air Travel!

Airbus A320
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Airbus_A320-214,_Airbus_Industrie_JP7617615.jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Credit: Pedro Aragão | Photographer



















With the Coronavirus pandemic still residing all over the globe, it continues to exacerbate the aviation industry and as a consequence, aerospace giant Airbus announced on Tuesday that it would cut nearly 15,000 jobs across its global work force, the largest downsizing in the company’s history.
A 40 percent decline in commercial aircraft business activity, Airbus said it would slash around 10 percent of its jobs worldwide, with layoffs hitting operations in France, Germany, Spain and Britain.

“Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced,” Mr. Guillaume Faury (Chief Executive) said in a statement on Tuesday.
“We must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader, adjusting to the overwhelming challenges of our customers.”

Following the unprecedented crisis, the company said on Tuesday that it didn’t expect air travel to return to pre-virus levels before 2023 and potentially not until 2025.
Around the globe, air travel operations has literally ceased tumbling Airbus' fortunes with the rest of the aviation industry.
Since airlines are now expecting a reduced passenger demand in the future, they won't require new airplanes as well.

The company is shedding 5,000 of its 49,000 employees in France, 5,100 of 45,500 positions in Germany, 900 of 12,500 workers in Spain and 1,700 of 11,000 positions in Britain.
Another 1,300 will be cut at other Airbus sites around the world, and about 900 are part of a previously planned restructuring.


Moreover, Airbus had already begun cutting production of its most selling A320 single-aisle aircraft and A350 long-range aircraft in April by around a third, when quarantines to contain the pandemic were in effect across Europe.
Although the French government introduced an enormous aid program for the aviation industry in June featuring a 15 billion-euro support package (almost $17 billion) to bolster Airbus, Air France and various other French parts suppliers, the magnitude of crisis is extremely massive that Airbus is having troubles figuring out remedies.

Nevertheless, “Airbus is grateful for the government support that has enabled the company to limit these necessary adaptation measures,” Airbus said.
“However, with air traffic not expected to recover to pre-Covid levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025,” the statement continued, “Airbus now needs to take additional measures to reflect the post-Covid-19 industry outlook.”

What do you think what will be the future of Aviation Industry? Would love to know in the comments!

Monday, June 29, 2020

Boeing 737MAX's three-day certification tests to begin this Monday!

Boeing witnessed the grounding of its fast selling Boeing 737MAX in March 2019 as a consequence of two catastrophic crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia killing over 346 souls.
Almost an year after, pilots and test crew members from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing Co are slated to begin a three-day certification test campaign for the Boeing 737MAX starting this Monday.

Accompanying the novel Coronavirus pandemic that has exacerbated the air travel demand, the complication with Boeing 737MAX is one of the worst-ever corporate crisis.
Grounded Boeing 737MAX airplanes
Source URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_737_MAX_grounded_aircraft_near_Boeing_Field,_April_2019.jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Credit: SounderBruce | Photographer

















These crashes provoked triggering lawsuits, investigations by Congress and the Department of Justice and led to cutting off Boeing's revenue generation process.
The FAA confirmed to US lawmakers on Sunday regarding the review completion of Boeing's safety system assessment for the 737MAX performed by an agency board "clearing the way for flight certification testing to begin. Flights with FAA test pilots could begin as early as tomorrow, evaluating Boeing’s proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the 737 MAX."

"After a pre-flight briefing over several hours, the crew will board a 737 MAX 7 outfitted with test equipment at Boeing Field near Seattle", one of the people said.

The crew will be expected to run methodically scripted mid-air scenarios such as steep-banking turns, progressing to more extreme maneuvers on a route primarily over Washington state.
Three day plan includes touch-and-go landings at the eastern Washington airport in Moses Lake, and a path over the Pacific Ocean coastline, adjusting the flight plan and timing as needed for weather and other factors.

The FAA email said the testing will last several days and "will include a wide array of flight maneuvers and emergency procedures to enable the agency to assess whether the changes meet FAA certification standards."
It added the "FAA has not made a decision on return to service" and has a number of additional steps before it can clear the plane to to do so.

Nevertheless these tests will ensure whether the new protections Boeing added to MCAS are robust enough to prevent a likelihood of the same scenario pilots encountered before the crash.

Once the data is analyzed after a while, probably FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, a former F-15 fighter pilot who has promised the 737 MAX will not be approved until he has personally signed off on it, will board the same plane to make his assessments, two of the people said.
If all goes well, the FAA would then need to approve new pilot training procedures, among other reviews, and would not likely approve the plane's ungrounding until September, the people said.

Do you think the 737MAX will pass this three-day certification tests?

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Aviation Fact-4: Why do airplanes dim the lights during take-off and landing? The real reason explained!

You're boarding your aircraft at dark hours and as soon as the aircraft commence its departure, the cabin lights are turned down.
If you think the purpose of dimming the lights is to let you sleep, then you're probably in the wrong ballpark.
Air India Boeing 777 business class mood lighting
Source URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Air_India_Boeing_777_business_class_blue_mood_lighting.JPG
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
Credit: Prateek Karandikar | Photographer
















If you're a nervous flyer, its probably not the answer you would like to hear.
The reason for dimming the lights out during take-off or when the aircraft is coming in for a landing (most crucial phases of flight) is to get your eyes adjusted to the darkness.
In case of an emergency event, it is required to disembark the aircraft as quickly as possible.
If your eyes are adjusted to the dark, you'll be able to figure out the path for emergency exists (the emergency exit lights) and the emergency exits itself easily should the need arise.

Generally, it can take about 10-30 minutes to fully adjust to dark setting which implies that dimming the lights can aid eyes to pre-adjust to lower light.
So when a situation arises to evacuate your aircraft, time is one important factor where-in few seconds here and there can make all the difference.
If your eyes are pre-adjusted you'll atleast have an upperhand and ultimately evacuation process becomes less tedious.

“You want your eyes acclimated,” says Jon Lewis, a senior pilot with a major U.S. airline. “During nighttime takeoffs and landings, you dim the lights so that you have some night vision going on.”

So next time when you travel during night hours, don't just simply doze off as the crew dims the light!

What are your opinions about this interesting aviation fact? Would love to know in the comments!

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Aircraft Fuselage Structure and its Types: Longerons, Bulkheads, Stringers, Frames explained!

Much like the wings were analogous to human skeleton, the fuselage can also be interpreted likewise the only difference being in case of wing, Aerodynamic loads were prominent whereas in fuselage aerodynamic loads are relatively low but undergo large concentrated loads such as wing reactions, tailplane reactions etc.
Fuselage is responsible for providing space for crew, passengers, cargo, controls and other numerous items along with holding major components together including wings, powerplants, tail-surfaces, and landing gear.
The fuselage thus must have attachment points for the wing, tail-surfaces, landing-gear etc for providing sufficient support whilst inspecting, repairing, and replacing the parts without performing strenuous efforts.

Types of Fuselage
Based on the method by which stresses are transmitted to the structure, the fuselage can be categorized into three principle types namely the Truss, Semimonocoque and Monocoque.

Truss
Trusses can be defined as the framework or an assemblage of members forming a rigid framework which consists of bars, beams, rods, tubes etc.
These trusses can be further classified into two namely the Pratt Truss and Warren Truss.

These trusses are mainly supported by four long beams which in aviation is commonly known as Longerons.
Longerons can be defined as the principle longitudinal member which run through the length of fuselage responsible for carrying and transmitting the loads imposed on the fuselage to various sub-components like frames, stringers, bulkheads etc which are discussed in subsequent paragraphs.
Longerons can be made analogous to the main structural member of the wing running along its span i.e. Spar.
Nevertheless, the only difference between a Pratt truss and a Warren truss is the incorporation of rigid vertical members in Pratt Truss known as struts.

Semimonocoque
Semimonocoque structure includes a framework of vertical and horizontal members covered by a skin that carries a large percentage of stresses imposed.
It is these vertical and horizontal members to which the Longerons transmit the loads acting on the structure namely the frames, bulkheads, stringers etc.


The Bulkheads are the primary circumferential members whose purpose is to first give a shape to the fuselage just like the ribs in case of wing and secondly disperse concentrated loads and support the whole fuselage structure.
Bulkheads basically are utilized to divide the whole fuselage into sections namely the front fuselage, center fuselage and aft fuselage. Corresponding to that there are 2-3 bulkheads in an a commercial aircraft.

Similar to Bulkheads are the Formers also known as Frames which are placed at regular intervals for refining the shape of the fuselage and maintain its uniformity as well as support the stringers and the skin to which the loads are imposed.
Stringers just like in the wing serve to stiffen the metal skin and prevent it from bulging or buckling under severe stresses.
These are also the longitudinal members but are placed circumferentially at regular intervals as can be seen in the figure and used for transmitting skin loads to body frames.
It is because of these stringers that aircraft designers were able to use aluminum skins as light as 0.020 inch thickness for primary structure on airplanes.


Monocoque
Monocoque structure is one in which the fuselage skin is only responsible for carrying all the structural stresses.
This implies that this structure doesn't possess internal members but involves construction of a tube or cone for giving an adequate shape to the fuselage.
But in some cases, it becomes necessary to incorporate formers for maintaining the shape of fuselage although they do not carry the principle stresses imposed upon the structure.
The monocoque structure is effective and can withstand loads imposed when the diameter of the fuselage is small. As diameter increases, the weight to strength ratio becomes inefficient and it is because of this reason why longitudinal stiffeners, longerons come into picture for bigger airplanes.

In earlier airplanes, mechanical fasteners were incorporated for joining various parts of an aircraft.
The issues with mechanical fasteners include:
  1. While drilling holes, it lead to a number of minor cracks which resulted in stress concentration which in turn proliferated the growth of cracks.
  2. The fasteners contributed to an increase in drag (parasite drag).
  3. It fastened the process of corrosion near the circumference of a fastener.
As a result of these complications, Bonded fuselages came into picture where-in adhesives were used for joining parts which allowed distribution of structural loads evenly thereby solving the issue of stress concentration.
Moreover, bonding agents can incorporate corrosion-inhibiting materials in their mixture thus reducing the probability of corrosion occurring.

Nowadays, composites are being extensively used for primary structures of an aircraft owing to high specific strength, excellent corrosion and fatigue resistance, its design flexibility etc.
All these factors make composites ideally suited for numerous primary and secondary structures of an aircraft.

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Qatar Airways to phase out all of its Boeing 777 fleet within three to four years

Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER
Source URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Qatar_Airways_Boeing_777-300ER;_A7-BAF@FRA;16.07.2011_609gt_(6190539010).jpg
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/46423105@N03/6190539010/
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Credit: Aero Icarus | Photographer





















Doha-based airline Qatar Airways proposed to phase out its 57-strong fleet of Boeing 777s within three to four years according airline's chief executive Akbar Al Baker who revealed the plans in a recent interview.
As of now, Qatar Airways operates a fleet of 48 Boeing 777-300ER jets and 9 Boeing 777-200LR jets.

The airline aims to replace its current fleet with more fuel-efficient airplanes which are likely to arrive in the aviation market typically the Boeing 777X series aircraft as a part of "green modernization".

“We are very conscious about our emissions and we are very keen to keep on introducing fuel-efficient aeroplanes,” Qatar Airways Group CEO His Excellency Akbar Al Baker tells Executive Traveller.

Baker also revealed that the airline’s fleet of Airbus A330’s, some of which are over 15-years-old, were already being decommissioned and that 29 single-aisle Airbus A320 aircraft are likely to be retired in the next few years.
These aircraft will also be replaced by new and more fuel-efficient aircraft.

Al Baker also said that the new-for-old swap would see its Boeing 787-9s eventually “replace the 787-8s”. “We plan to to reduce our emissions and have carbon-neutral growth over a period of time.” he added.

These replacements aim to serve a like-for-like swap.
For example:


The fleet of 48 Boeing 777-300ER will be replaced by 50-strong order of Boeing 777-9.
The fleet of 9 Boeing 777-200LR will be replaced by 10 extended range Boeing 777-8.
An unfilled order of 23 Dreamliner 787-9s may replace some of the airline’s older 787-8 aircraft.
Finally, 50 A321neo aircraft from Airbus will replace the airline’s current single-aisle fleet i.e the A320s.

Moreover, the Boeing 777X jets is said to feature a second generation of the airline’s highly-regarded business class Qsuite, with Al Akbar confirming “we are developing new seats for the 777s.”
In addition, some of the 777-9s may also incorporate “a very exclusive first class cabin of just four seats,” Al Baker says, describing the under-development suites as a deliberately “very niche product” for well-heeled Qatari travellers.

“We have huge demand here in Qatar to two or three European destinations” such as London and Paris, “so we may introduce a very small first class cabin for our local passengers who want a very exclusive first class product.” he added.

What are your opinions on their modifications and replacements with the current fleet?

Monday, June 22, 2020

Airbus' five-bladed H145 Helicopter receives EASA Certification

The Aerospace and Defense Company Airbus has secured European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for its five-bladed H145 Helicopter.
The certification includes a full range of capabilities consisting of single-pilot and instrument flight rules (IFR) and single-engine operations (Cat.A/VTOL) and night vision goggle capability.

With this certification, Airbus will be able to deliver its H145 Helicopter to customers toward the end of mid-2020.

Airbus Helicopters' CEO Bruno Even said:
“Our new five-bladed H145 is an excellent example of our quest for continuous improvement and providing incremental innovation that responds to our customers’ requirements."
“This helicopter combines value-added features with the robustness and the reliability of a tried-and-tested bestseller, making it very competitive in the light twin-engine market.”
 
About the five-bladed H145 Helicopter:

Powered by two Safran Arriel 2E engines, this new upgrade of H145 family with five blades has an increased useful load (load carried by an aircraft in addition to its own weight) by 150kg (330lbs).
The simplicity of the new bearingless main rotor design will ease out maintenance operations further improving the benchmark serviceability and reliability of the H145, while improving ride comfort for both passengers and crew.

The H145 is equipped with full authority digital engine control (FADEC).
It is a system which is used for managing the aircraft (helicopter) ignition and engine control along with controlling all aspects of engine performance digitally displacing the obsolete analog electronic controls.

Apart from that H145 utilize the Helionix digital avionics suite for greater mission flexibility and enhanced safety.

It also includes a high performance 4-axis autopilot, increasing safety and reducing pilot workload.
Its particularly low acoustic footprint makes the H145 the quietest helicopter in its class.
Nevertheless, for securing this certification the new H145 conducted several test campaigns including in Spain at medium altitudes and Finland for cold weather.

What are your thoughts about the new five-bladed H145 Helicopter?

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Aviation Fact-3: Why in-flight meals are bland?

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_meal_in_flight.JPG
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Credit: Dharmadhyaksha | Photographer






















You're cruising at over 30000ft and your much awaited inflight-meal comes on your tray-table. Being a quality airline, you expect the food to be satisfactory as well.
When you take your first bite, much to the horrors, the food seems completely bland.
Before suing the airlines or blaming the chef here is a fact on why the inflight-meals become unappetizing.

Its not the chef who is at fault. The food and beverages really taste different when in the air compared to on the ground.
There are potential reasons for the same which include: less humidity, low air pressure, and background noise.

At cruising altitudes, as a consequence of low air pressure and lack of humidity, your sense of smell and taste starts to drift.
Studies have shown that at over 30000ft, the humidity is less than 12% which is even drier than most deserts.

According to a 2010 study conducted by Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, commissioned by German airline Lufthansa, the combination of lack of humidity and low air pressure reduces the sensitivity of your taste buds to salty and sweet foods by about 30%.
Contrary to that, foods that are spicy, bitter and sour don't seem to get much affected by such circumstances.
What adds to the taste buds getting numb is the improper functioning of our odour receptors (we need evaporating nasal mucus to smell) in the parched air contributing to more blandness in food.

Therefore, airlines have to make sure of sprinkling more salts and spices with respect to on ground.
“Proper seasoning is key to ensure food tastes good in the air,” says Brown at American Airlines.

Moreover, noise levels could also be influencing your taste. A study found that people eating to the sound of loud background noise rated food as being less salty and sweet than those who ate in silence.
Also the food surprisingly appeared to sound much crunchier with background noise.

So next time when your inflight-meal comes on your tray-table, be sure to add more salt!

How was your experience with inflight-meals? Would love to know in the comments below!

Thursday, June 18, 2020

How does an aircraft generates lift? False theories and real scenario explained!

The principle of how an aircraft generates lift can be explained by digging deep into some valid theories. But over the years false theories have developed and as a consequence, it has mislead people on how an aircraft actually generates lift. These theories are big nightmares for an Aerospace Engineer.

First False Theory - Longer Path Theory also known as the ‘Equal Transit Theory’.

This theory tells us that the aerofoils which are the cross section of the wing are shaped with its upper surface longer than the lower surface. So when the air strikes the leading edge it gets separated, and the air molecules above needs to travel a longer distance compared to the air molecules which are below.

This implies that the air molecules above must travel faster than the air molecules below in order to meet at the trailing edge of the wing. And from the Bernoulli’s Principle we know that faster velocity means lower pressure and lower velocity means higher pressure provided there are no gravitational effects.

This results in a lower pressure above and high pressure below the aerofoil. This difference in pressure causes a net force upward and guess what, that force is LIFT.

The reason why this is a false theory is because air molecules above the aerofoil cannot just magically meet the air molecules below the aerofoil at the trailing edge.

In fact studies suggest that the air molecules which belong to the upper surface of the aerofoil leave the trailing edge way before the air molecules which belong to the lower surface of the aerofoil.

Although the above theory is wrong, one thing is surely valid that a difference in pressure is required for generating lift. To create this pressure difference any one or both of these things should be met i.e.

1.      Aerofoil should be cambered

2.      Aerofoil should be inclined at positive angle relative to flow direction.

The Real Scenario

Viscosity which is the friction between adjacent layers of fluid plays a crucial role in generating lift.

This viscosity leads to the formation of a starting vortex which is nothing but a whirling mass of air in counter-clockwise direction.

Formation of Starting Vortex
Formation of Starting Vortex

For conservation of the angular momentum, there is an equivalent motion around the aerofoil in clockwise direction. This takes a form of what is known as circulation around the aerofoil.

Direction of Circulation and Starting Vortex
Direction of Circulation and Starting Vortex

So when a vector addition of velocity vectors of this circulation is performed on the freestream air velocity vectors, we get a higher magnitude of velocity above the wing and lower magnitude of velocity below the wing.

Vector Addition of Freestream air and Circulation
Vector Addition of Freestream Air and Circulation resulting in high velocity above and low velocity below the aerofoil

From the Bernoulli’s Principle again, faster velocity means lower pressure and lower velocity means higher pressure.

As a consequence the wing has low pressure on the upper surface of aerofoil and a high pressure on the lower surface of the aerofoil resulting in LIFT.

Second False Theory – Skipping Stone Theory

This theory says that the Lift force is simply a reaction force as a result of the air molecules striking the lower surface of the aerofoil as it moves through the air. This case is similar to that of a flat rock when thrown at a shallow angle across a body of water, hence the name “Skipping Stone Theory”.

The reason why this is a false theory is because it does not talk about what’s happening on the upper surface and only considers the bottom surface.

The Real Scenario

We know that lift is a force. From Newton’s second law, force equals mass times acceleration and acceleration is defined as time rate of change of velocity. So we see that force is responsible for change in velocity and likewise a change in velocity generates a force.

Keeping this in mind, when both the surfaces of the aerofoil deflect or turn the air, the local velocity of the air is changed in magnitude, direction or both. The bottom surface deflects it or we can say the air bounces of the wing and the upper surface bends the air around or we can say the air sticks to the upper surface and is guided down by the Coanda Effect.

Air sticking to upper surface and guided down by Coanda Effect
Air sticking to upper surface and guided down

Coanda Effect can be thought of as a love effect between the air molecules and the surface. Air molecules have a tendency to stay attached to the convex surface, in this case the upper surface of aerofoil.

So the combined effect is that the air pushes the aerofoil up and back, which is nothing but Lift and Drag. This whole scenario can be also thought as a result from Newton’s Third Law. This correct theory is known as Newtonian theory of flow turning.

Why two explanations for explaining how an aircraft generates lift?

Both the explanations are correct in their own way, it’s just two different ways of looking at the same thing i.e. how an aircraft generates lift.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

NASA to develop truss-braced X-plane for transformed narrowbody aircraft

NASA is looking to develop a test aircraft (X-plane) for evaluating next-generation, efficiency-improving technologies which can be incorporated into the next single-aisle commercial aircraft, which manufacturers will be likely to bring in market in the 2030s.

One such technology is the incorporation of Truss-Braced Wings.
A simple definition of a truss can be thought of as a framework consisting of numerous members commonly known as struts.
These struts or beams are assembled in such a way that the whole structure becomes rigid.

NASA X-planes now in development include the X-59, a supersonic aircraft with a quieter sonic boom, and the electric-powered X-57.

Technologies under review by NASA include a subsonic narrow-body aircraft with a truss-braced wing that could cruise at about Mach 0.8, says Bridenstine.
Those studies fall under NASA’s Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research programme.

Boeing revealed its conceptualized truss-braced wing narrow-body aircraft in January 2019 which received funding under this programme itself.
Their conceptualized design is an aircrat with a wing span of 170ft (52m) folding wing. The wing will be on the top of fuselage supported by a truss composed of four struts.
By comparison, the 737 Max has a wing span of 117ft.

The reason why NASA is interested in truss-braced wings is its ability to support longer wings, which have high aspect ratios (the ratio of square of wing span to planform area of the wing).
High aspect ratio wings in-turn will result in less drag and 5-10% less fuel burn. NASA has tested the truss design at its Ames Research Center in California.

Moreover, NASA is also focusing on small-core turbofans and advanced electric systems.
NASA thinks small-core turbofans with improved thermal efficiency (how well an engine converts its chemical energy to mechanical energy) can also deliver 5-10% efficiency gains.

If we can shrink the core of the engine without actually increasing the diameter of the fan, engineers can therefore increase the engine's Bypass Ratio and therefore its efficiency without any increase in drag or weight.

The agency has also studied advanced electrical systems and hybrid-electric propulsion technologies which predicts to deliver another 5% fuel efficiency.

Lastly, composites cannot be ruled out. NASA is studying on how to increase the production of composite aircraft components as well.

With all these researches taking place, one thing can be sure that by 2030s we might be able to witness a transformed commercial transportation.

What are your thoughts about the researches being conducted by NASA and various other aerospace organizations for transforming the way we travel around the globe?

Monday, June 15, 2020

Singapore MPA partners with Airbus to conduct 5G trials for Urban Air Mobility Operations

Recently, M1 limited ("M1"), The Infocomm Media Development Authority ("IMDA") and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore ("MPA") have partnered with Airbus for conducting coastal 5G standalone ("SA") network trials at Singapore Maritime Drone Estate.

The primary objective for conducting the 5G SA trials in real-world environment is to ensure whether UAVs can operate safely and efficiently throughout its flight and most importantly abstain them in designated drone-fly zones.

The trial aims invigorate confidence and examining potential security issues whilst stimulating the industry to adopt 5G for maritime domain.
As a result, Singapore’s day-to-day port operations, incident management and response, and work productivity will benefit.

Apart from that, M1 will provide 4G and 5G network planning, collection of data like coverage analysis and performance of mobile network in the operating areas, network parameter optimization and implementation of interference minimization methods.

Currently, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are implemented which provide positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services on a global or regional basis.
M1 will assess the use of 4G and 5G technologies to provide enhanced geo-location positioning information for all the phases of UAS flight using network-based information, which is more precise than the GNSS.

Airbus will provide a fleet of UAS for safe flight testing and will take responsibility in the integration of unmanned aircraft for the trials thus ensuring their safety and specific regulatory requirements.

Furthermore, these trials will make us better understand about evolving 5G standards, their feasibility and requirements for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) applications.
This will open up the possibility for safe adoption of 5G as a core technology used in unmanned aircraft designs and operations.

In addition to the coastal trials, M1 and Airbus have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to conduct connectivity trials for in-land areas thus enabling M1 and Airbus to address the growing interest in UAS for UAM for other industries.

How do you think these trials will shape Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations? Would love to know in the comments!

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Aviation Fact-2: The 21 million-mile-man!

People do air travel for a variety of pursuits be it for leisure, business etc and most of them don't even like travelling as it entails endless queing, delays, unsatisfactory meals and possibly many more reasons.
But have you ever heard about someone who is breaking records with his frequent flying activities?
That's true! Tom Stuker has taken flying to a whole new level. 

Here are some of his flying statistics:
Apparently, he has made more than 10,000 flights and effectively circled the Equator nearly 844 times.
On an average he spends about 200-250 days a year on an airplane which is like being for 6 months inside an aircraft.
In January 2019, he became the first passenger to fly 20 million miles which prompted United Airlines (the airline he flies with) to throw celebrations including a mid-air champagne toast and a welcome reception when he arrived in Los Angeles.
In July 2019, he broke his own record and crossed the 21 million mark.
An interesting point which comes over here is, till now he's flown only in First class that too with United Airlines only.
Moreover, he has flown transatlantic to London more than 100 times.

Mr Stuker admits he is very competitive and likes breaking records, even if they are his own.

As strange as it sounds, United Airlines even named a B777 after him.
He has his own special check-in station, with a back door to the front of the security queue, as well as VIP airport lounges providing free fine dining, spa treatments and even sleeping quarters.

What do you think about Mr.Stuker and his flying statistics? Would love to know in the comments!

Friday, June 12, 2020

Third BelugaXL emerged with a smiling whale-face

The BelugaXL having a length of 63.1 meters and a payload capacity of about 50,500kg has rolled out of its paint shop in Toulouse.
This is the third of its kind and is expected to join the service in early 2021. A total of 6 BelugaXL has to be manufactured out of which 3 have been completed.
The third BelugaXL was seen leaving the hanger in Toulouse in May and has finally emerged with a smiling whale face.

About BelugaXL
Successor of the Beluga, this is a huge transporter aircraft based on Airbus A330-200 freighter powered by Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines which derived its name from Beluga Whale.
It has the largest cargo bay cross section than any of the transporter aircraft till date.

The modification with respect to its predecessor was the further lowering of its flight deck allowing the Beluga XL to have 30% more capacity than the original Beluga.
Apart from transporting basic components, BelugaXL is responsible for transporting huge aircraft parts for example the A350XWB wings.

BelugaXL can accommodate two A350XWB wings compared to one wing by Beluga making BelugaXL more efficient.

Airbus BelugaXL maiden flight
Source URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Beluga_XL%22_A330-743L.jpg
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Credit: Julien Jeany | Photographer





















As can be seen clearly in the picture above, its the bubble which gives the BelugaXL its distinct shape which contains an upward opening hatch for loading and unloading of huge aircraft parts like wing, fuselage sections etc.
It is because of the whale-like nose that this aircraft is able to achieve aerodynamic efficiency despite a huge front cross section.

A true engineering marvel not just because of its distinctive design but also how it is able to transport such giant aircraft parts with just two RR Trent 700 engines.

What do you think about BelugaXL? Would love to know in the comments!

Thursday, June 11, 2020

How Artificial Intelligence will shape the Aviation Industry

Imagine yourself in the future! You are required to take a flight to New York the next morning and have made arrangements for the cab on your internet-enabled device.
The cab arrives at your pick-up point and you see that there's no driver but a voice saying "Good Morning Mr/Mrs.X, please enter your destination point on the screen in front of you".

You enter the name of airport and the computer analyses the shortest route having least traffic and finally gets you to the entry gate of the airport.
The computer automatically generates the charges based on the distance and you pay directly to the cab provider via the internet-enabled device and as soon as the correct payment is received the voice says "Thank you for travelling Mr/Mrs.X!"

Next you go to the entry gate, take out your personal identity card and e-boarding pass and show it to a screen which scans your ID and boarding pass and does a face recognition for authentication.
Upon verification, the doors open and you enter the airport. With check-in done online already, you just drop your main luggage at the desired point and immediately proceed for security check and visa authentication.

Security check is done by a robot and your hand bag scanned by using artificial intelligence which can detect and alert if it scans any inappropriate object.
Passports are no longer required and visa authentication is done online then and there.

Upon completing with all the formalities you then proceed to terminal gate and via the smartphone you can track your location and exactly get hold of where the terminal is.
You reach the terminal gate, board the aircraft, arrive at your destination and same sequence of events follow up till your destination point.

Believe it or not this can really be our future of air travel where-in from beginning to destination everything is fully autonomous.
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics have already taken place in aviation industry and has brought about significant changes.
One of the best example is the generation of the e-Boarding pass and online check-in system which is being implemented by various airlines across world.
Another example is the Schiphol's concierge robots that greet passengers with a fixed smile whenever a person enters the Dutch airport.

Apart from that few of the airlines now use AI for predictive analytics, auto scheduling, pattern recognition, targeted advertising, customer feedback analysis etc showing promising results for better flight experience.

Artificial Intelligence is not restricted to cater to passenger experience only. AI has a lot of potential to simplify the ways of handling problems faced by the aviation industry.
For Example:

The Use of AI in Aircraft Maintenance
AI based predictive maintenance is now slowly becoming a trend. By using AI the engineers can actually predict when the maintenance of the in-service component has to be performed.
This is done by analyzing the condition of the in-service component based on which the life of the component can be predicted. In current scenario, the maintenance is usually done when the component loses its performance thus adding to high maintenance costs.
If we can somehow predict when the maintenance is to be performed, we can reduce the maintenance costs which will profit the airline and also save time.

The Use of AI in inspection of Aircraft
Currently, labour is required to inspect the aircraft for any damages as and when an aircraft lands. Now this inspection takes lot of time when done manually and there have been numerous instances when flights have got delayed.
Using AI to inspect the aircraft can significantly reduce the time of operations. Think about a software which can scan the whole aircraft for any damages whether external or internal.
This not only would reduce the time of inspection but also improve accuracy of the inspection provided the system is made that way.

The Use of AI in simplifying communications
There have been instances where there has been confusion between the pilots and the Air Traffic Control regarding their statements.
Apart from that communication channels of ATC can be noisy thus interpreting the statements can be tedious. AI can help eliminate the noise thus reducing the chance of any confusion between the pilots and ATC.
Also, whatever the pilot or ATC says, a transcript version of it can be made thus making the statements clear.

Conclusion
Artificial Intelligence has a wide scope in the aviation industry from e-Boarding pass generation to Predictive maintenance although it is still in its initial stages.
One can find out numerous ways to use Artificial Intelligence in aviation industry. But at the same time, one has to be extremely careful about safety of the passengers because this is a field where scope of error is nearly zero.
Any issue with the system of AI can be catastrophic to the industry. Hence, reliability is something which must be worked upon.

Nevertheless, a day can come when one might not even interact with a human being. It will just be an interaction between the Humans and Computers.

How do you think will Artificial Intelligence shape the Aviation Industry? Would love to know in the comments!