Posts

9-2 Weather Hazard (Low-Level Wind Shear)

Image
  Wind shear is dangerous to an aircraft. It can rapidly change the performance of the aircraft and disrupt the normal flight attitude. Wind shear is a sudden, drastic change in wind speed and/or direction over a very small area. Wind shear can subject an aircraft to violent updrafts and downdrafts, as well as abrupt changes to the horizontal movement of the aircraft. While wind shear can occur at any altitude, low-level wind shear is especially hazardous due to the proximity of an aircraft to the ground. Low-level wind shear is commonly associated with passing frontal systems, thunderstorms, temperature inversions, and strong upper-level winds greater than 25 knots. The most severe type of low-level wind shear, a microburst, is associated with convective precipitation into dry air at cloud base. Microburst activity may be indicated by an intense rain shaft at the surface but virga at cloud base and a ring of blowing dust is often the only visible clue. The FAA has made a substanti
Post a Comment
Read more

8.2 Air Traffic Control Entities

Image
  The ground controller is responsible for all ground traffic, which includes aircraft taxiing from the gates to takeoff runways and from landing runways to the gates. When the ground controller determines that it is safe, the ground controller directs the pilot to push the plane back from the gate. Airline personnel operate the tugs that push the aircraft back and direct the plane out of the gate area. As the plane taxis to the runway, the ground controller watches all the airport's taxiways and uses ground radar to track all the aircrafts, especially during bad weather, ensuring the plane does not cross any active runway or interfere with ground vehicles. The ground controller talks with the pilot by radio and gives the pilot instructions, such as which way to taxi and which runway to go to for takeoff. Once the plane reaches the designated takeoff runway, the ground controller passes the strip to the local controller. The local controller in the tower watches the skies above t
Post a Comment
Read more

7.2 The Airport and the Environment

Image
Noise pollution in my opinion is one the largest environmental impact airports are facing today. Airports surrounding environment such as residences, schools, and hospitals are affected by noise pollution. Aircraft flight paths also expose communities to aviation noise, and airspace redesign efforts, which are intended to improve aviation safety and efficiency may expose previously unaffected communities to raising concerns in those communities about higher noise levels. For example, the Schiphol Airport, located near Amsterdam in The Netherlands is one of the most noise sensitive major airports in Europe. For the past few decades, proposals for new infrastructure developments or expansion operations have consistently met with community opposition due to noise pollution. The noise nuisance problem at Schiphol airport has been elevated to a major political issue in The Netherlands. One strategy the airports are using during the actual day-to-day operation are having the air traffic co
Post a Comment
Read more

6.2 Legislative Acts

Image
Birth of Federal Aviation Agency       Although the Civil Aeronautic Authority(CAA) was doing it's best to conduct accident investigations and recommend ways to prevent accidents, t he aviation world of technology was rapidly growing. The British overseas aircraft corporation introduced the first commercial jet service in 1952. The 36-seat comet flew at 480 mph. In comparison, the top cruising speed up the DC-3 piston aircraft was only flying 180 mph. By the mid 1950s U.S. companies begin designing and building their own jet airliners.       The straw that broke the camel’s back struck on June 30th 1956, a Transworld Airlines Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 collided over the Grand Canyon, Arizona, killing all 128 occupants of the two aircraft. This tragic accident dramatized the fact that even though U S air traffic add more than doubled since the end of World War Two little had been done to mitigate the risk of midair collisions.          On August 23, 1958, U.S. Pr
Post a Comment
Read more

Human Factors in Aviation

Image
            Despite all the changes in technology to improve flight safety, one factor remains the same, human factor which leads to errors and accidents. It is estimated that approximately 80 percent of all aviation accidents are related to human factors.  Fatigue, complacency and stress are some of the human conditions in aviation directly cause or contribute to aviation accidents. Human factor accidents and incidents are associated with flight operations but over the years aviation maintenance and air traffic management have become a major concern as well.  Human factors science is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research, and anthropometry. It is a term that covers the science of understanding the properties of human capability, the application of this understanding to the design, development and deployment of systems and services, and the art of ensuring successful application of human fa
Post a Comment
Read more

Aviation Security (cyberterrorism)

Image
      Innovative security solutions to improve airport's flow efficiencies and security feature more and more digital aspects introduce new cyber risks to the airport.  As cyberterrorism is becoming a growing risk to large infrastructure organizations such as airports, these assets may become more vulnerable than ever before. There is an increase of connectivity and integration of screening equipment with wider airport security systems. Once-isolated equipment is now being connected to larger airport networks. Screening systems use more and more standard IT technologies such as operating systems. This exposes them to external threats, such as malware and hackers, which they were never expected to encounter. Airports are also increasingly relying on cloud-based computing services, delivered via the internet. When using this off-premises computing solution, airports no longer have the same level of physical control over the security of their data and systems.      The intelligence
Post a Comment
Read more

Engine Oil System

Image
     The engine of an aircraft, one of the most important component that is designed and build with many moving parts. In order to keep the engine operating  at peak performs, the oil system serve a vital role. The engine oil system performs several important functions such as lubrication of the engine's moving parts, cool the engine by reducing friction, removal of heat from the cylinders and carrying away debris and contaminants. There are two type of oil system in the reciprocating engines, the dry-sump and the wet-sump oil system. In the dry-sump system, the oil is contained in a separate tank and uses a pump to circulate the oil throughout the engine. In the wet-sump system, the oil is located in a sump that is an integral part of the engine.      The oil pressure gauge provides a direct indication of the oil system operation. it ensures the pressure of the oil supplied to the engine. Green indicates the normal operating range, while red indicates the minimum and maximum press
Post a Comment
Read more