Aerospace Unlimited Blog - By Page 3

Aircraft are defined by their wings. The shape, size, and configuration will affect all aspects of an aircraft’s performance and specifications. Wings are airfoils, shapes designed to create lift when moving rapidly through the air. This lift, combined with the thrust generated by the aircraft’s engine or engines, is what allows an aircraft to fly.

RC helicopters have been a fairly popular hobby for many for a long time. They allow many to simulate what it is like to fly a real helicopter and can provide much enjoyment. While the complexities of an RC helicopter may be much less than their real counterpart, there are similar components and controls. For the purpose of an RC helicopter, there are five main components which are the main and tail rotors, swashplates, cyclical control, and collective control.

A helicopter is a type of rotary aircraft in which thrust and lift are achieved through the use of spinning rotors. This allows the aircraft to take off and land vertically and hover at a fixed altitude. Despite helicopters being far smaller than most airplanes, the rapidly-spinning rotors make it very hard to control. Each helicopter is made of five main parts: the cockpit, main rotor, tail rotor, landing gear, and engine. This blog will explain each of the five main parts in further detail.

A rough look at history will show you that it took humanity more than 10,000 years to invent flying machinery. Yet it was only 66 years later in 1969 that humanity accomplished aeronautical aviation and landed a human on the moon. This goes to show that the more we discover and create, the faster it enables our world to grow. You need only look at these recent years to see that technology is advancing at a rapid pace and the next years are sure to unveil amazing advancements in flight. Read on below for some new concepts emerging in the aviation industry.

Every airport, from the largest international to the smallest regional, needs ground service equipment to support and operate fleets of aircraft flying in and out of it. Ground service equipment needs to be regulated, however, so that crews always know what they are dealing with, no matter where in the world they are. Over four decades, standards for GSE have evolved, culminating in the international standards that are applied worldwide.

The NSN system can be dated back to the WWII era when the military would use a specific component that had several different names depending on who supplied or manufactured the component. This made it difficult for the military to locate suppliers, or share items between the different organizational branches. An item could be in short supply in one location, but in surplus in another. To overcome this sourcing issue, the Department of Defense created the NSN system. National Stock Numbers or NSNs, are 13-digit serial numbers assigned to all standardized items within the federal supply chain. All components that are used by the U.S Department of Defense are required to have an NSN, the purpose of which is to provide a standardized naming of components.

Exciting news from Honeywell about the iconic T55 turboshaft engine surfaced in mid-April. A pair of T55 engines powered a Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 DEFIANT in a Vertical Lift demonstration intending to revolutionize the U.S. Army Aviation branch.

After a plane has been decommissioned it ends up in a dusty parking lot known as a “boneyard.” A boneyard is a massive field that houses aircraft that can no longer fly, where the parts that are still functioning are recycled, or often times, resold. A plane that has been deemed too old to fly can still have a large amount of value. These boneyards may not be spectacular, but they are a heavy contributor into the industry that comprises an “after life” ecosystem. One that spans from hedge funds to specialized recycling firms.  

Aching legs, weird humming noises, squeezing past other people to get to the restroom— these discomforts describe the features of a bad aircraft seat, and rest assured, we’ve all been there. So, where is the best place to sit on an airplane? Is it worth it to pay for your seat, or to sit by your device 24 hours after booking your flight to get that “A” boarding pass? We’ll lay out all the facts using the example of a widebody aircraft so that you can make your decision with ease.

Have you ever wondered why some aircraft have a structure at the end of the wing that stick up? They may seem counterintuitive when comparing it to the lift to the force produced by a vertical wing. However, they make a lot more sense than you think. These wing structures reduce weight and drag, and increase lift and efficiency. They were created after fuel costs started skyrocketing in the 1970s and have been one of the most effective technologies to increase fuel-efficiency since.

“Aircraft engine failure” is one of the most unsettling phrases in the aviation community. Failures of aircraft engine can be caused by a multitude of different parts malfunctions, and/or pilot error. The statistics on the frequency of aircraft engine failures are sparse and convoluted. However, for commercial air travel, most modern twin engine passenger jets are designed to function safely even if one engine fails. Engine failure as a result of part malfunction seems to differ between the type of engine. So, let’s take a look at an industry standard—turbine engine failure.

A printed circuit board electronically and mechanically connects electrical components using special conductive tracks. These features are etched into copper and laminated onto or in between sheet layers of nonconductive substrates. Printed circuit board layouts are extremely important in circuit design processes because the layout determines how a circuit will work— including its reliability and performance. 

The Rolls Royce Trent 500 engine is a complex piece of machinery that is the operating force behind Airbus’ A340, -500, and -600.  Its design was based off the RB211 line of three-shaft engines, which has consistently proven to be a reliable engine model.

The Airbus Group A380 production is a massive undertaking, assembled in Jean Luc Lagardere Plant, which is in at Toulouse Blagnac Airport located in France. The parts are shipped from all over Europe to be assembles at the plant and sent for orders. The aircraft wings are made in Wales, the rear fuselage is made in Hamburg along with the vertical tail fin, the forward and center fuselage are made in France, the horizontal tail is made in Spain.

Owners and operators of the Bombardier Challenger 300 and 600 series business jets, along with the new Challenger 350 and 650 aircraft, may have the pleasure of looking forward to Gogo AVACE L5 4G Wi-Fi on these aircrafts. The availability of this wi-fi connectivity is due to a recent collaboration between Bombardier (located in Montreal), and Duncan Aviation (located in Lincoln, Nebraska). Both companies were recent recipients of STC (Supplemental Type Certificates) for the Gogo system on the 360 and 650 aircrafts, as well as a component option for in-service 300 and 600 aircraft.

Garmin is a premier GPS technology firm headquartered out of Olathe, Kansas.  Garmin believes safety is paramount when operating Part 27 helicopters.  Garmin is constantly innovating and providing better solutions for helicopter pilots and users.  Garmin Aviation has years of experience specializing in display components and helicopter parts.  Technology is constantly evolving and being able to integrate new Garmin aviation parts into existing airframes is a core task of Garmin.  The new G3000H seamlessly allows the operator to have Helicopter Synthetic Vision Technology(HSVT), Hover Display, Connext, Telligence Voice Command, HTAWS, Helicopter route charts, Reduced Protection, Wire Aware, HSI mapping, Visual approach, Terran profile view, ADS-B IN/Out.

All those aircrafts you see sitting in aircraft graveyards rusting away hold more value than the average individual would think.  The moment an aircraft reaches the end of its life cycle it instantly becomes a treasure to several different parties. The decision to retire an aircraft is based upon airplane parts cost versus airplane flight cost. Once a planes’ parts have become of more value than the plane flying, the aircraft is deemed “retired”. In most cases, it takes an aircraft close to two decades to even be considered for retirement, although some could be retired before reaching half a decade.

Boeing aircraft company has hit yet another milestone in its company history as well as the great Book of Guinness World Records.  With its great accomplishments that has created the brand name, Boeings Washington facility, commemorates it’s the completed 10,000^TH 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The aircraft that marked such as significant place in time was dedicated for their renown customer Southwest Airlines. Over the years the 737 aircraft have become one of the most popular aircrafts to be distributed throughout the globe to different airlines for its maximum efficiency.

Much like other automotive devices and machinery, along with aircrafts alike are all susceptible to failure. Airplanes suffer for a higher risk of accidents as they descend from thousands of feet high at an alarming rate. Much more often than the average person is aware of, failing landing gear is a common problem with aircrafts throughout the industry.

It was originally a military part made in 1959 completely from scratch. It was the first Honeywell Aerospace Turboprop Engine, but the series has now expanded to 18 different engine models with 106 different configurations. Their engines have completed a total of 122 million flight hours combined with their 13,000 engine that have been sold since they opened. It remains one of the most reliable engines today. Few aircraft or engines can say they have been at the top of the market for as long as the Garrett/ Honeywell TPE331.