Aviation Systems: Core Concepts (Part 2)

In late July, an excursion into the aggregation of the core aviation systems concepts had begun. The intention: to get a better understanding of the discipline. And to get a firm grasp of what pitotic static systems are and what they are for, a basic, rudimentary knowledge of the relevant concepts is necessary. Terms such as air data test systems and RVSM test equipment cannot be understood from the get-go.

Civil aviation

Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying that represents non-military aviation, both private and commercial. The majority of countries around the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), working together to establish a consistent and universal set of standards and recommended practices for civil aviation through that agency. The two major categories encompassing cival aviation are:

• Scheduled air transport. This includes every passenger and every cargo flight operating on regularly scheduled paths and routes.
• General aviation (or GA for short). This includes all other civil flights, either commercial or private.

Even though scheduled air transport is the bigger operation in terms of the number of passengers, General Aviation is greater in terms of the actual number of flights in the United States of America. In the United States of America, General Aviation carries over 166 million passengers every single year - more than any individual airline, though far less than every single airline combined.
A good number of countries also make a regulatory distinction. This is based on whether or not the aircraft are flown for hire like:

• Commercial aviation includes almost all flying that is done for hire, particularly scheduled service on airlines.
• Private aviation includes pilots that fly for their own purposes (recreation, business related reasons, etc.) without receiving pay.

International Civil Aviation Organization

The International Civil Aviation Organization is a United Nations agency that serves to codify and develop the principles and strictures that best ensure safe and orderly growth in the domain of air navigation. These recommended principles and areas of focus include but are not limited to: flight inspection, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation. The International Civil Aviation Organization was founded in 1947. Its headquarters are located in Quebec, Canada.

Aircraft

An aircraft is a machine that has the capacity to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity either by using static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil. In a few cases, though, an aircraft counters the force of gravity with the help of the downard thrust from jet engines.

Lift (force)

A fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a force on it. Lift is the component of this force which is perpindicular to the flow coming from the opposite direction. In contrast, draft force is the component of the surface force that is actually parallel to the flow direction. if the fluid is air, the force is known as an aerodynamic force. In water, hydrodynamic force.
Lift is the force that's generated by propellers and wings to get an aircraft in the air and keep it there. Animals such as birds, bats and instects have exploited lift for millions and millions of years. The manmade flying machines are an extraction and application of many of the same laws and principles used by said animals.

Pitot-Static Systems: Core Concepts (Part 1)

It is common knowledge that the field of discipline that Laversab deals with is abstruse to the layman – with such specialized knowledge being too much for an individual to comprehend all at once. For this, it's believed that it would be of great value to take the time to explicate and define some of the main core concepts involved in Laversab's line of work. Below is listed a set of definitions for terms and concepts that must be known by those working in the industry. To develop a certain degree of competence, one must start from the base – to first introduce the main, rudimentary concepts – and then build up to the more technical, complex concepts afterward. Please, do not expect to get through every single term today. These core concept articles are going to broken down into small, bite-sized chunks. That may indeed be a good thing, as listing them all at once may be information overload.

Aeuronautics

What is aeronautics? A nominal definition, based on the Greek root words, would tell us that aeronautics has something to do with the “navigation of the air.” And why? Because in ancient Greek, the term āēr means “air” and the term nautikē means “navigation.” Now, a more formal definition would go something like this: the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets with the atmosphere. Sounds like a mouthful, doesn't it? Well, if you're looking for a simpler definition, “the science or practice of travel through the air,” should suffice.

The term “aeronautics” is often used interchangeably with "aviation", but one must be technical here in making one distinction between the two. “Aeronautics” includes lighter-than-air craft – like airships, as well as ballistic vehicles. “Aviation,” on the other hand, does not. To grok what apitot static tester is, both terms should be firmly understood first.

Aviation

So if you've got the concept of aeronautics well understood, then chances are you would be able to define “aviation” with little effort. But for those who would still like to flesh out the concept – to make sure that they have it down to the tee – one must take the time to define the term.

“Aviation” is the practical aspect or art of aeronautics, being the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft (heavier than-air aircraft). The word actually comes from the Latin word “avis,” meaning “bird.”

Okay, so chances are you already were aware thatLaversab aviation was in the Aviation Systems industry. If you didn't know what aviation meant, now you know. But where to go from here? What other concepts must one familiarize himself with in order to better understand what Laversab is all about? The number of directions that one can go from here are limitless.

Pitot-static System

A pitot-static system is a system of pressure-sensitive instruments that is most often used in aviation for the purposes of determining an aircraft's velocity, Mach number, altitude, and altitude trend. The main parts that make up a pitot-static system are: the pitot tube, the static port and the pitot-static instruments. This equipment measures the forces that act on a vehicle as a function of the temperature, density and pressure. It also measures the viscosity of the fluid in which it is operating – something that is incredibly important and must not be overlooked. Laversab has its own set of pitot-static system equipment – cream of the crop stuff; the highest quality systems out there at the moment.

Airspeed Indicator

This instrument is connected to both the static and the pitot pressure sources. There is a difference between the pitot pressure and the static pressure. That difference is called dynamic pressure. When there is more dynamic pressure, the airspeed reported will be higher. A traditional mechanical airspeed indicator has something known as the pressure diaphragm. The pressure diaphragm is connected to the pitot tube. The case that surrounds the diaphragm is actually airtight. This is crucial; it has to be airtight for everything to function properly. As the speed increases, the ram pressure also increases. This causes for more pressure to be exerted on the diaphragm - which will require larger needle movement through the mechanical linkage.

Pitot-Static Systems: A Briefing

The pitot-static system supplies power to three basic aircraft instruments: The airspeed indicator, altimeter and vertical speed indicator.

Components

Pitot Tube and Line: The pitot tube is an L-shaped device located on the exterior of the aircraft that is used to measure airspeed. It has a small opening in the front of the tube where ram air pressure (dynamic pressure) enters the tube and a drain hole on the back of the tube. Some types or pitot tubes have an electronic heating element inside of the tube that prevents ice from blocking the air inlet or drain hole.

Static Port(s) and Lines: The static port is a small air inlet, usually located on the side of the aircraft, flush against the fuselage. The static port measures static (non-moving) air pressure, which is also known as ambient pressure or barometric pressure. Some aircraft have more than one static port and some aircraft have an alternate static port in case one or more of the ports becomes blocked.

Instruments: The pitot-static system involves three instruments: The airspeed indicator, altimeter and vertical speed indicator. Static lines connect to all three instruments and ram air pressure form the pitot tube connects to only the airspeed indicator.

Alternate Static Port (if installed): A lever in the cockpit of some aircraft operates alternate static port in the event that the main static port experiences a blockage. Using the alternate static system can cause slightly inaccurate readings on the instruments, since pressure in cabin can is usually higher than the main static ports measure at altitude.

Normal Operation

The pitot static system works by measuring and comparing static pressures and in the case of the airspeed indicator, dynamic pressure.

The airspeed indicator is a sealed case with an aneroid diaphragm inside of it. The case surrounding the diaphragm is fed static pressure and the diaphragm is supplied with both static and dynamic pressure to it. When airspeed increases, the dynamic pressure inside of the diaphragm increases as well, causing the diaphragm to expand. Through mechanical linkage and gears, the airspeed is depicted by a needle pointer on the instrument face.

The altimeter acts as a barometer and also supplied with static pressure from the static ports. The altimer is a sealed instrument case with a stack of sealed aneroid wafers inside. The wafers are sealed with an internal pressure calibrated to 29.92" Hg, or standard atmospheric pressure. They expand and contract as the pressure rises and falls in the surrounding instrument case. A Kollsman window inside of the cockpit allows the pilot to calibrate the instrument to the local altimeter setting to account for nonstandard atmospheric pressure.

The vertical speed indicator has a thin sealed diaphragm connected to the static port. The surrounding instrument case is also sealed and supplied static air pressure with a metered leak at the back of the case. This metered leak measures pressure change more gradually, which means that if the airplane continues to climb, the pressure will never quite catch up to each other, allowing for rate information to be measured on the instrument face. Once the aircraft levels off, the pressures from both the metered leak and the static pressure from inside the diaphragm equalize, and the VSI dial returns to zero to show level flight.

Errors and Abnormal Operation

The most common problem with the pitot-static system is a blockage of the pitot tube, static ports, or both.

If the pitot tube becomes blocked, and its drain hole remains clear, the airspeed will read zero.

If the pitot tube and its drain hole is blocked, the airspeed indicator will act like an altimeter, reading higher airspeeds with an increase in altitude. This situation can be dangerous if not recognized immediately.

If the static port(s) become blocked and the pitot tube remains operable, the airspeed indicator will barely work and indications will be inaccurate. The altimeter will freeze in place where the blockage occurred and the VSI will indicate zero.

Another problem with the pitot static tester system includes metal fatigue, which can deteriorate the elasticity of the diaphragms. Additionally, turbulence or abrupt maneuvers can cause erroneous static pressure measurements.

The Future of Aviation

Last month, the Airbus invited the press to get an insight into the new ideas the manufacturer is developing for future aircraft types. All of them are brilliant, but the most surprising aspect was that none of them seemed to deal with increasing the cruise speed of aircraft.

Manufacturers are focusing their efforts on saving fuel, and they all proudly claim a fuel save improvement against their competitors. There has been a huge improvement in this in the past 50 years. The fuel consumption of aircraft has decreased dramatically, but the cruise speed of a Comet 4 (one of the first production jet airliners, in the 1950s) was mach 0.78, the same as the current generation of aircraft.

The new generation promises about 15% of fuel savings compared with current models. So, assuming that carriers spend, on average, 30% on fuel, the potential savings for a carrier are 5.25% (0.35 times 0.15).

However, the impact of the aircraft on the operating costs of a carrier is about 15%, and the extra cost of the new-generation aircraft should be deducted: about 10% more according to list prices; either leased or financed, which means that they are going to see their costs increased by 1.5%.

The new generation of aircraft should give carriers savings of 3.75% of total costs.

Flying next-generation aircraft is profitable. The savings in fuel justify the price increase, so why don't they consider a 180-seat turboprop? They burn less fuel, and for short distances the speed is not a big concern. The answer is obvious: it is a step back in terms of technology. Most passengers associate propellers with a lack of safety, and airlines would struggle to sell tickets.

The economical advantages of super fast aircraft are solid for long routes - a notable increase in available seat kilometres with the same fleet, fewer crew and lower inflight costs. The traditional concern about speed is that it is not fuel efficient, but the latest technology in supersonic airliners is from more than 30 years ago.

The record for a transatlantic flight from New York to London is just under two hours, and it was achieved in 1974. We should not forget that this happened before the massive application of the microchip, so the technology available nowadays is completely different.

A flight from London to New York takes about eight hours on a normal jet, adding about two hours for each cycle (landing, taking off, on-ground operations, etc), meaning that each flight takes about 10 hours on average. Developing an aircraft capable of doing the same trip in half the time means the cycle could be made in about six hours, 40% less. It is clear that the longer the route, the bigger the savings, so it would make sense for routes of more than five or six hours.

Carriers spend, on average, about 15% on aircraft and 10% on crew. Cutting the duration of the flight by two and burning the same fuel per mile, the savings would increase by up to 10%, which is more than 5.25% of fuel savings.

The main advantage is, however, that carriers cannot justify a dramatic increase in fares just because they are flying on a more fuel-efficient aircraft, whereas there is a reason for increasing the speed - people will pay more. It happened in Europe with highspeed train services - not only do passengers pay more, but also in some cases the new rolling stock completely replaces the traditional train service.

Tickets for long distances are often more expensive per mile than for short distances, and customers assume that they have to pay more for them - business travellers would demand this service.

The big question is: would you pay more to travel faster?

At times, it is perplexing, but pleasantly so, that as technology advances and becomes more complex, prices drop. The same can be said, in the aviations industry. Companies such as Laversab Aviation Systems are on churning out cutting-edge technology in the aviations systems industry. Their Pitot Static test equipment is incredibly sophisticated - placing in the top echelon of their respective marketplace as a leading supplier of: air data testers, pitot static testers, and RVSM test sets. Laversab Aviation is continually pushing the boundaries. The innovations are not stopping. Their ingenuity and gumption is helping the aeronautics and aviation world become even more and more sophisticated.

The Basics Of Aircraft Maintenance

Proper aircraft maintenance is essential for keeping aircraft and aircraft parts in optimal condition, and ensuring the safety of pilots, crew, and passengers.

Repair stations and maintenance technicians perform maintenance and inspections on aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration is responsible for certifying the repair stations and aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs).

Repair stations are certified under FAR Part 145. AMTs are certified under FAR Part 65.

FAR Part 43 details the standards regarding the maintenance, preventative maintenance, and alterations of aircraft and aircraft articles and systems.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is responsible for certifying repair stations in the European Union and member states.

AMTs maintain specific areas of aircraft depending on their certification and rating.

The different aircraft ratings are airframe (the aircraft body, such as the tail, fuselage, wings, and landing gear), power plant (engines and propellers), and avionics (electrical systems and instruments).

Most AMTs hold a dual airframe and powerplant FAA certification, and are referred to as A&P mechanics.

Maintenance Of Aircraft and the Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT)

Maintenance of aircraft is a comprehensive, ongoing process. The entire aircraft needs to be examined, maintained, and have the necessary parts replaced to uphold the safety standards mandated by the FAA.

Aircraft are required to be maintained after a certain period of calender time or flight hours or flight cycles.

Also, some aircraft articles have a specific life (flight cycle) limit, and need to be replaced immediately upon reaching the maximum use requirements.

Besides the aircraft articles that are due for replacement, all other parts need to be checked for faults or faulty performance.

Because of the noise of testing different systems, working long hours, and the expectations of maintaining high safety standards, being an AMT can be a stressful job.

Here are just some of the routine maintenance tasks performed by an AMT:

• cleaning aircraft and components
• application of corrosion prevention compound
• lubricating parts
• draining and trouble shooting fuel systems
• checking and servicing hydraulics and pneumatic sytems
• replacing components
• inspecting for general wear and tear

A newer field of aircraft maintenance is working in avionics, which deals with electronic systems. These parts are vital for navigation and communications, and include radar, instruments, computer systems, radio communications, and global positions systems (GPS). A strong knowledge of wiring and technical skills is required for working in avionics maintenance.

Laversab Aviation Systems is a global aviation systems corporation. Airplanes are incredibly sophisticated machines. For one to function properly, it relies on hundreds of sophisticated component parts; some of them include: pitot static test equipment, air data test sets, RVSM test equipment.

What Is Airplane Turbulence?

Laversab Aviation Systems is a leading supplier of Air Data Test Sets and Pitot Static Testers to the Aviation Industry. Together, their team has not only a profundity of knowledge in the area of pitot static testers, but a depth of knowledge about the aviation industry as a whole.

Airplane Turbulence

When an airplane flies through irregular and violent waves of air, it bounces around and yaws. It’s like two seas meeting, causing waves and current. A boat passing by those meeting seas would bounce on the water. Airplane turbulence is the invisible incidence of the same.

The irregular and rapid movement of air that causes airplane turbulence can be formed by any number of different conditions including thunderstorms, jet streams, mountain waves, warm or cold fronts, microbursts or atmospheric pressures. In other words, airplane turbulence is caused by the irregular movement of air created by the collision of different pressures or streams of air.

Many of us have who have traveled by an airplane have experienced turbulence. It’s always disconcerting when an airplane starts to toss around, but really there is little to fear.

Different Intensities Of Air Turbulence

Airplane turbulence is of different intensities and each level has a slightly different impact on the airplane. The following are different intensities of airplane turbulence:

Light turbulence: Causes slight, variable changes in an airplane’s altitude. Light chop: Slight and rapid bumpiness without obviousairplane turbulence changes in altitude.

Moderate turbulence: Causes intense and irregular changes in altitude but the airplane remains in control at all times.

Moderate chop: Causes intense and rapid jolts or bumps without noticeable changes in altitude.

Severe turbulence: Causes large and rapid changes in altitude and the airplane may become temporarily out of control. Extreme turbulence: In extreme turbulence, the airplane is aggressively tossed about and goes out of control. The reactions inside an airplane during extreme turbulence vary from unsecured items being displaced and passengers feeling strain against their seat belts through to unsecured items being tossed about and passengers being forced fiercely against seat belts.

Clear Air Turbulence

Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) is a type of turbulence that occurs when the sky is clear of clouds. It is usually encountered at heights where a cruising airplane suddenly enters dangerous turbulent areas.

Airplanes have very sophisticated and advanced radars for weather forecast, but they can not detect Clear Air Turbulence. When it occurs, it is usually mild on the flight desk and more severe in the rear, so pilots can’t physically measure its actual intensity.

Although pilots can’t foreknow or see CAT, scrutiny of the forecasted turbulence factor or the weather charts could warn them of possible turbulent areas on the route.

Injury Prevention

Airplane turbulence is one of the main causes of in-flight injuries. There are numerous reports of passengers who were badly hurt while moving in the cabin when air turbulence is encountered. Recently, the FAA reported that among non-fatal air accidents that happen in the USA each year, about 58 passengers are injured by turbulence while not wearing seat belts.

Passengers often ignore the advice to keep seat belts fastened even when the seat belt signs aren’t illuminated. They can certainly move around the cabin to use toilets or exercise on long-haul flights, but seat belts must be fastened at all times when seated to avoid injury from unexpected airplane turbulence.

Innovation In Aeronautics (Part 2)

In case of aeronautics, it is necessary that the end user must know the basic concepts of mathematics and fundamentals of engineering theory in order to have the ability of conducting the designing, manufacturing, maintenance and repairing aircraft and engine. In specific higher mathematics, engineering mechanics, fluid mechanics, engineering thermodynamics, mechanical principles and design, design of aircraft, aero engine, design of aircraft controlling system, the basic and application of finite mega, aeronautical manufacturing technology are the primary concerns. But, on the other hand, the secondary disciplines are advanced connectivity technology, high efficiency NC machining technology in aeronautical industries, precision forming technology for aeronautical components, reliability test and evaluation technology for welding structure, welding equipment and quality control and preparation technology of metal based composite materials. Progressive works are still being carried out to solve the challenges that still exist in air transportation system such as air traffic congestion, safety and environmental impacts. Solutions to these problems really need innovative technical concepts, and dedicated research and development which include enabling fuel-efficient flight planning, and reduce aircraft fuel consumption, emissions and noise. For instance, aeronautics integrated service routers (ISR) video image processing design exploits high end digital signal processing hardware and algorithms, broad range of real time automatic image processing features, which enables any end user of still and video images to increase its ISR productivity dramatically. Aeronautics ISR video image processing capabilities can be easily integrated to any existing image source for real time and offline processing. Some of the aeronautics image processing features includes motion detection, video footprint using geographical registration on reference image, digital stabilizer, zoom and rotation, mosaicking, ISR video image compression, real time annotation on image (i.e. high resolution and update rate) and real time ISR video enhancements such as spatial filters, contrast, brightness etc.

Some of the best recent innovations in aerospace engineering include the Pilotless Cargo Chopper, Red Bull Stratos Pressure Suite, NASA Gravity Recovery and Interior Lab, Boeing PhanthomEye, Nano Quadroto Robots, Solazyme Solajet, Asteroid Anchors, Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle, NASA PhoneSat, Mars Curiosity Sky Crane etc. With the largest direct impacts on the lives, advancements in aeronautics are the key to make flight more affordable and efficient. These advancements decrease pollutants and make flight faster, quieter, and safer for all. Research work on everything from biomedical science and space exploration to software simulation and satellites are carried out to attain its maximum efficiency. In near future, by providing a comprehensive experience and up to date information on technological developments in aeronautical engineering leads to latest innovations in diversified areas such as aeroacoustics, aircraft design, fluid dynamics, advanced materials / composites, aerodynamics, avionics, aircraft systems, aircraft structures, risk & reliability, noise control, aircraft propulsion, reliable energy propulsion, heat transfer flight mechanics, computational aerodynamics and helicopter aerodynamics etc.

This Laversab Aviation article was brought to you by Laversab Aviation Systems. At Laversab, a deep understanding of aeronautics is a must; and the team at Laversab is among the most knowledgeable about the discipline. Aeronautics is indeed an incredibly sophisticated discipline. For one to become well-versed in the discipline, it takes the understanding of hundreds of sophisticated concepts; some of them include: pitot static test equipment, air data test sets, RVSM test equipment.