Posts

Destructive Wind

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      Weather is a very powerful and destructive force that has a huge effect on aviation. Not only can wind damage aircraft when flying they can do major damage on the ground as well. Pilots as well as ground crew have to follow certain protocols to keep the aircraft safe.      These high winds are formed when there is uneven heating of the earth from the sun (Kirmayer, 2019). As the sun heats the earth air will rise and lower (Kirmayer, 2019). By doing this it creates high and low pressure areas that surrounding air must move into, which results into what we call wind (Kirmayer, 2019). With high wind forces it creates turbulence which is a change in pressure and velocity flow. This makes an aircraft difficult to fly and even worse land.   While an aircraft is on the ground high winds can lift an aircraft right off the ground. There are a few things that ground crew can do to help prevent structural damage from high winds. The first is mooring of the aircraft. This will help prevent t

Air Traffic Control Provisions

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      Have you ever wondered who controls the traffic in the air when you fly? Just like traffic lights and signs when you drive there must be some way to direct traffic in the air. The way this happens is through Air Traffic Controllers (ATC). These individuals are usually in towers so they can see the whole airport to direct traffic on the ground as well in the nearby airspace (ATC, 2021).      The way they communicate with each other is through radio devices on the aircraft. There are usually two different types that are commonly used, known as Ultra High Frequency (UHF) or Very High Frequency (UHF, 2002). These two different types of communication help them translate information to manage the traffic on the sky and ground.     There are many different ATC entities, the two I will go over will be The North Atlantic Track system (NAT) and North Pacific Route System (NOPAC). Both ATC's control different airspaces. The NAT controls the busiest airspace which links Europe to North A

Pollution in Aviation

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    Whenever you hear the word pollution and aircraft in the same sentence you might think of burning fuel. However, this is just one of the many different types of pollution found at airports. I believe that there should be four main category's when discussing aircraft pollution.  Air pollution (fuel consumption) Noise pollution (sound) Water pollution (liquid contaminants) Solid Pollution (Solid Waste)     These are the four main categories that come with running an airport. Even though air pollution has the biggest impact on the overall environment due to the hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel burned a day, the category that is hardest to control as an airport manager would be water pollution. Whenever an aircraft forms ice around any part of the structure it will need to be deiced before take off. This de-ice fluid consists of glycol which is very bad for the environment. As the World Health Organization states " Laboratory tests exposing aquatic organisms to stream

Aviation and Transportation Security Act 2001

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      There are many different laws and regulations that coincide with aviation. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 affected us in many ways. First we need to understand why congress created this law. The main reason is because of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Towers September 11, 2001. If you are old enough to remember this event, you can understand why there needed to be immediate action.      The first course of action that was implemented was the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001. One of the major changes can be found in section 104, which prohibits anyone from entering the flight deck who is not on a authorized personnel list (Security 2001). According to this section it also requires a rigid door between the cock pit and passenger section (Security 2001). The door must be locked at all times during flight, this prevents the aircraft from being hijacked by terrorists (Security 2001). Section 105 also implements protection of passengers wh

Human Factors in Aviation

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      Human factors play a large role in almost every job, especially in the aviation industry. I would define human factors as the concept that none of us are perfect. We all make mistakes, this is what makes us human and we categorize that as human factors.      There are many different elements that make up human factors. Some of these elements could be the workload, skill level, policies and even communication (SNYN, 2020). Having problems in one category can lead to a mistake, but when all of these happen at once things can go wrong. Lets make a team based activity to further show how one or more of these things can affect a job.      Lets say that there are four engine mechanics that are tasked to install an engine on the wing. First we must look at what the workload is like. The lead mechanic who has the most experience must decide how to put the other 3 mechanics in each position for the optimum result. Just because one mechanic has less skill than another, does not mean he nee

The Layers of Security to Protect our Airports

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    When most people go to an airport and think about security, usually the first thought to cross their mind is making it through the metal detector and the baggage x-ray machine. But, this is not the only form of security that is in place. There are what is called the 20 layers that make up an airports security. It first begins when purchasing your ticket. When buying your ticket you are at the first layer, which is intelligence. They insure that you are not a known terrorist and you are permitted to travel on an airplane. They also protect your personal information.            There is also a canine team that walks around the airport throughout the day. These trained dogs will seek out anyone who made it into the compound with any type of illegal substance. The canine team can even detect a person who is carrying a bomb in a closed bag or suitcase. Sometimes the canine team even put decoys out with explosives to keep the dogs in practice.     One of the most important and in depth l

Landing Gear Emergencies

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  Landing Gear Emergencies     A lot of problems can occur when flying an aircraft, and one of the most problematic would be having an issue lowering the landing gear. When most people fly the most tense time is usually upon landing. This is when the aircraft touches down on the ground at a high speed. Now imagine not having any wheels to make contact with the runway. This is where the landing gear comes into play.     Most modern aircraft landing gear will tuck up into the aircraft to help reduce interference drag and form drag. Most aircrafts use hydraulic systems to operate the landing gear. For example, the C-130 has a hydraulically retractable tricycle type (Janes 2020). Each main unit has two wheels in tandem, retracting into fairings built on the sides of the fuselage (Janes 2020). This means that the main landing gear has two tires one forward and one aft on each side. Two tires assist the nose steering and tuck into the fuselage when flying.      https://www.aircraftsystemstec