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.

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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?

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.

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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!

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.

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

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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?

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?

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

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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!

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

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

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 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

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.

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?

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!

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!

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.

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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!

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!

Boeing loses more 737MAX orders as Cargo demands increase

With the advent of Covid-19 pandemic, Boeing lost more orders of the its 737MAX series. In the month of May they encountered a cancellation of 14 737MAX jets.

Despite the fact that this series was grounded in March 2019 due to the two crashes, the cancellations came from plane-rental companies.

Although the company started its production again in late May, the aircraft will still remain grounded unless Boeing and Federal regulators have announced its air worthiness.

Nevertheless, the cancellations in the month of May added to more than 600 total cancellations for the year 2020.

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Boeing did not deliver any passenger jets in May but delivered two 777 cargo jets, a 767 freighter and a military version of 737 adding to a total of only 60 deliverable aircraft in the year 2020.
It is because of the demand of cargo aircraft during the pandemic that Boeing is able to atleast make up for the losses incurred.

Moreover, Boeing has three different kinds of cargo jets, and also they have been working to convert passenger jets into cargo ones for transporting various goods like medical supplies, protective equipments etc.
Although they have Cargo operations as backup, Boeing said recently that it plans to eliminate nearly 16000 jobs due to depressed demands of air travel.

In Conclusion, while the plane-maker faces a challenge with its passenger jets and specifically its issues with the 737MAX series, so far cargo jets have taken over the driver's seat and probably looks to for months to come.

India to see its new Air India One with state of the art defense systems

India is set to receive two Boeing 777-300ERs which will serve as "Air India One".

These aircraft are intended to fly the Prime Minister, President and other top dignitaries of India from July this year and will replace the current Air India One aircraft i.e Boeing 747.

Currently, Indian officials fly on an Indian Air Force plane for travelling within the country and Air India's Boeing 747 for travelling abroad.

The Boeing 777-300ERs with advanced defense systems will be piloted by none other than the Indian Air Force pilot as per the reports.

This aircraft is comparable to the aircraft used by the President of United States i.e. the Boeing 747-200B series which serve as "Air Force One".

Moreover, the 777s will have a state of the art technological systems in order to corroborate the safety of the aircraft and the officials inside it.

The new "Air India One" will have advanced military defense systems and a reconfigured cabin. Following are the systems embedded in the Boeing 777-300ER which will mark a new era of Air India One:

Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM)
The aircraft is fitted with a Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system whose purpose is to defeat the threat missile guidance system by directing a high intensity modulated laser into the missile seeker.
It consists of missile warning sensors (MWS), a laser transmitter assembly, control interface unit (CIU) and number of processors to track, detect, jam and counter incoming infrared missiles.

Self-Protection Suites(SPS)
This technology being a little bit similar to LAIRCM is basically used to effectively jam enemy radar frequencies and divert the heat-seeking missiles.
These suites will not only enable the aircraft to defend the aircraft but also utilize countermeasures during an attack.

These defence systems provided by the United states costed about $190 million.

Nevertheless the aircraft is expected to travel around the globe in one go and will be capable of refueling in mid air as well.

Truely the new Air India One will be an iconic aircraft to travel in.

What do you think about the new Air India One? Would love to know in the comments!

Aircraft Station Numbers and Zoning - How engineers locate numerous components of an aircraft?

An aircraft has millions of parts functioning simultaneously in a methodical manner. A Boeing 777 for that fact has almost 3 million parts.
It is this marvelous engineering which gets you from one point to the other.
Even if a single tiniest of the part fails to respond at any instant, it can have catastrophic consequences. Thus maintaining and repairing each and every part of the aircraft becomes crucial.
Lets assume a maintenance engineer has figured out which part has failed or which needs some sort of maintenance.

The question here arises how will he locate that specific part in this giant structure?

To answer this, engineers established a method of locating components and reference points on the aircraft.
This was accomplished by establishing reference lines and station numbers for various aircraft components like fuselage, empennage, wing, landing gear etc.
Moreover, the method of zoning was set forth for large aircraft by the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) in ATA-100 Specifications for Manufacturers' Technical Data.

The reference lines and station numbers can be categorized as following:

Fuselage Stations
These include the longitudinal points along the length of the fuselage of an aircraft and are determined by reference to a zero datum line which can be denoted as F.S.(Fuselage Station) 0.00.
This zero datum line is set based on the aircraft manufacturer. Some select the zero datum line ahead of the aircraft as shown below and some can use the wing, engine firewall etc. as the datum line.

These station numbering is given in inches aft or forward of the zero datum line and is negative for stations ahead of the zero datum line and positive for stations behind the zero datum line.

Wing Stations

These are the station points for locating components embedded in the wing hence the name wing stations (WS). These points are measured from the fuselage centre line which is also known as the Butt line (BL).
Similar to Fuselage stations the station numbering is given in inches either to left or right of the butt line.

Water Line
This is used for locating the stations on a vertical line. These station numberings are again given in inches and positive or negative depending upon whether the station is above the butt line or below the butt line.
These are typically used to locate positions of Vertical Stabilizer, Landing gear etc.

Butt Line
As mentioned, it is the fuselage centre line and are used to give locations on the Horizontal Stabilizer and elevator. Similar to wing stations, locations are given in inches either to left or right of the butt line as shown below.

Component Stations
Some components of aircraft have their own station numbering. These can include winglet stations, aileron stations, engine stations etc. and are measured in inches with reference to their own zero datum line.

With regard to Zoning, this is typically done for large aircraft and is indicated by either a major zone, major sub-zone or just zone.
Major Zones are identified as following:

Major Zone No.	Area
100	Lower half of the fuselage to the rear pressure bulkhead
200	Upper half of the fuselage to the rear pressure bulkhead
300	Empennage, including fuselage aft of the rear pressure bulkhead
400	Power Plants and pylons
500	Left Wing
600	Right Wing
700	Landing Gear and LG doors
800	Doors
900	Reserved for uncommon differences between aircraft types.

These major zones are subdivided into major sub zones by adding a non zero number to the tens digit. These are identified as follows:

Major sub-zone no.	Area
310	Fuselage aft of the pressure bulkhead
320	Vertical Stabilizer and Rudder
330	Left Horizontal stabilizer and elevator
340	Right Horizontal stabilizer and elevator

Major sub-zones are finally subdivided into just zones by adding a non zero number to the units digit. These are identified as follows:

Zones
321	Vertical Stabilizer leading edge
322	Vertical Stabilizer auxiliary spar to front spar
323	Front spar to rear spar
324	Rear spar to trailing edge
325	Lower rudder
326	Upper rudder
327	Vertical Stabilizer tip

Conclusion

By using the method of station numbering and zoning for the components of the aircraft it is easier for a Maintenance engineer to locate its position, do the required repair or maintenance and ultimately save time and money.

Boeing focus on lining 777X and 787 as it resells off the jets once designated for a Russian cargo carrier

A dispute arose between Boeing and a Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr over an order for a 747 jumbo freighter and three large 777 freighters having a total worth more than $600 million at standard pricing.

Volga-Dnepr filed a suit last week in Federal court in Seattle claiming that Boeing had not delivered the four jets and had intended to resell them to another buyer.

Volga-Dnepr alleges that Boeing has kept more than $146 million as advance payment while taking money from the new buyers too and thus seeks an injunction to stop Boeing from selling the planes.

Boeing 777 Freighter
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How this started?

This standoff between the two developed earlier this year when the Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr told Boeing that they couldn't secure financing for their orders due to Covid-19 pandemic.

On 17th January, Volga-Dnepr informed Boeing to rescind the purchase agreement and they sent another letter to Boeing on 22nd January notifying that they "could not fulfill its contractual obligations".
These letters conveyed to Boeing that the orders were definitively cancelled.

Later, Volga-Dnepr managed to secure financing for the four aircraft as the demand for large freight aircraft increased in early April.
They revoked their earlier statement and declared themselves ready to take delivery of 747 Freighter on 13th April.
But much to their horror, they realized that Boeing was reselling those aircraft to another buyer, for which Volga-Dnepr thus filed a suit last week in Federal court in Seattle.

In response to the allegation imposed, Boeing asserts that Volga-Dnepr “literally walked away from two purchase agreements with Boeing back in January and February of this year ― one for 747-8Fs and the other for 777Fs.”
Moreover Boeing said that a meeting in London was held on 11th February where-in Volga representative Tatiana Arslanova told Boeing and a leasing company to "re-market and re-sell the 777 Freighter because Volga will not be taking delivery."

It can be clearly seen that the letters sent earlier in the month and statement given by Tatiana Aslanova are two evidences which are against Volga-Dnepr.
Boeing is confident that Volga is using the pandemic as a cover for its financial failings, claiming that from 2016 onward, it had “repeated problems obtaining financing that prevented it from adhering to the contractual delivery schedules for airplanes under contract.”

Boeing finalized to resell the 747 Freighter which Volga-Dnepr refused and had scheduled delivery of the plane to UPS on 4th May.

On Tuesday, Chief Judge Ricardo Martinez denied the restraining order by Volga, giving Boeing an initial victory and noting that Volga “has not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of its breach of contract claim.”

While this situation continues to be a point of discussion, Boeing has novel customers to take the 777Xs and 787s.
As the aviation industry is hit severely due to pandemic, consequently Boeing's order backlog has grown by more than 500 planes. Hundreds of 737Max orders were cancelled amid Covid-19 and now a deal for 777Xs and 787s will surely boost the morales of the jet-maker.

What are your thoughts on the dispute between Boeing and Volga-Dnepr and how do you see the Boeing company going forward with its novel 777X?

Aviation Fact-1: Pilots eat different meals!

Believe it or not, the in-flight meals served to both the captain and co-pilot are different.
As strange as it sounds, this is done so as to prevent a situation where-in both the captain and co-pilot becomes sick possibly due to food poisoning.

With serving two different meals, there is an assurity that in case one of the meals cause food poisoning, the other pilot is safe and is able to fly the aircraft.

There is a possibility that either both pilots will receive altogether a different meal from the rest of passengers, or based on hierarchy. This means the captain will be served with first-class meal and the co-pilot will be served with business-class meal.

Nevertheless, this is not an incongruous step reason being, it assures safety of the passengers because if a situation arises where both pilots become sick then consequences can be catastrophic.

What are your thoughts about pilots have different meals?

Delta Airlines retire MD88 and MD90 amid Coronavirus

US based carrier, Delta Airlines retired one of their obsolete aircraft - the MD88 also known as the "Mad Dog" and MD90 of McDonnell Douglas on 2nd June.

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These aircraft served for nearly 34 years during their operation with Delta Airlines.

Initially the carrier had planned to retire the McDonnell Douglas MD88 by the end of this year and MD90 by end of 2022, they were forced to retire it now due to declining air travel amid Covid-19.

The final flights of MD88 and MD90 arrived at the carrier's hub of Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport on the morning of 2nd June which took off from Washington-Dulles International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston respectively.

Derivatives of the DC-9 developed in the 1960’s, the 149-seater MD-88 entered the carrier's fleet in 1987.
Its better variant, 158-seat MD-90 following seven years later came into service with Delta Airlines.

At the height of their usage, in 2014, MD88 and MD90 accounted for more than 50% of all departures from Atlanta.

With their retirement, came an end to the era of McDonnell Douglas name, the company that Boeing acquired in 1997.

Moreover, the pandemic also prompted the carrier to ground more than 600 planes and retire a number of its older jets early.
Delta Airlines is expected to retire its 18 Boeing 777 fleet by the end of this year as well.

Its true that amid the pandemic, with the passenger air transport industry severly hit, carriers across the globe were prompted to reassess their fleet requirements and shift to modern, fuel-efficient aircraft.

What are your thoughts on the retirement of McDonnell Douglas MD88 and MD90?

Airbus to trim down plane production further?

With the pandemic still residing around the globe, Airbus looks to trim down its plane production further as airlines face shortage of funds.

In the month of April, Airbus slashed its top selling A320-series production by as much as one-third for one or two quarters to cope with the negligible demand from airlines that have parked planes because of the virus.
Without a vaccine, the confidence in flying could remain depressed for sometime. Although, recently Airbus live streamed on Facebook explaining on how the air would be re-circulated every 2-3 minutes. A basic idea of how it works is that the air in cabin is made of two parts, half of which goes out of the aircraft and replaced by fresh air from outside and gets heated.
The other half undergoes re-circulation which goes through HEPA filters and through it fresh air (more than 99.9%) comes in the cabin. Further details can be seen on the Airbus' Facebook page.

Nevertheless, corporations are finding out ways and means to how things can get back to normal.

Coming back, despite the popular A320-series accounts for the bulk of production and inflow of funds, Airbus only managed to handover 12 models in the month of April.
Moreover, under wide-body category, one A350-900 and one A330CEO was delivered only.
Ultimately, the backlog of aircraft remaining to be delivered as of 30th April stood at 7,645, which comprised of 6,217 A320 Family aircraft, 529 A220s, 322 A330s, 568 A350 XWBs and nine A380s.

Looking at these numbers it is imminent that Airbus will have to trim their plane production further and as this happens the consequence will be the elimination of jobs further.

Its true this is the sharpest downturn ever in aviation industry. Although, looking at the current situation, it will take atleast an year for the aviation industry to get back to normal.
It can be expected by 2022, the manufacturers will be able to increase their production rates and clear their backlog. However, this is a very speculative assumption.

When do you think will the aviation industry get back to normal? Would love to know from you in the comments!