Currently viewing the category: "General Aerospace"

The Evolution of Airplanes

On December 9, 2014 · In Bio-mimicry, General Aerospace, History

Adrian Bejan is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University and as an offshoot from his thermodynamics research he has pondered the question why evolution exists in natural i.e. biological and geophysical, and man-made i.e. technological realms. To account for the progress of design in evolution Prof. Bejan conceived the constructal […]

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Human Fallibility in Aviation II: Case Study

On October 15, 2014 · In Case Studies, General Aerospace, History

Vanity Fair recently featured an excellent article on Air France Flight 447 that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009. It is a long read, but if you have 30 min to spare it will be a great educational investment.

The author, William Langewiesche, does a good job at weaving multiple aspects of […]

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Human Fallibility in Aviation

On September 6, 2014 · In General Aerospace

This blog has focused much on the technical side of aviation. One of the biggest drivers in civil aviation is passenger safety and the last 40 years have brought tremendous advances on this front, with aviation now being the safest mode of transport. A lot of this has to […]

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Antifragility and Aircraft Design

On June 21, 2014 · In General Aerospace, History

Nassim Nicholas Taleb coined the term “Antifragility” in his book of the same name. Antifragility describes objects that gain from random perturbations, i.e. disorder. Taleb writes,

Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure , risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the […]

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Loads Acting on Aircraft

On February 2, 2014 · In General Aerospace

The flight envelope of an aeroplane can be divided into two regimes. The first is rectilinear flight in a straight line, i.e. the aircraft does not accelerate normal to the direction of flight. The second is curvilinear flight, which, as the name suggests, involves flight in a curved path with acceleration normal to tangential flight […]

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Operational Requirements

On January 26, 2014 · In Aerodynamics, General Aerospace

Every aircraft has a certain operational environment, including aspects of flight and ground operations, that it is designed to serve in throughout its lifetime. For example the operational requirements of a fighter jet are much more strenuous than those of a commercial airliner. The flight regime is broadly defined by the range of different flight […]

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The Atmosphere

On January 18, 2014 · In Aerodynamics, General Aerospace

Understanding the details of the atmosphere is critical for manned flight since it provides the medium through which the aircraft moves. The lift provided by the wings and drag experienced by the aircraft vary greatly with different altitudes. In fact Sir Frank Whittle was largely motivated to design a jet engine due to his insight […]

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Developments in Composite Materials

On August 18, 2013 · In Bio-mimicry, Case Studies, Composite Materials, General Aerospace, Technology

I have just returned from the International Conference for Composite Materials (ICCM) in Montreal, Canada and would like to share a few observations and key points about the developments in the composite world that may not be so easily accessible to a broader audience.

1) The Great Advance – Applications

ICCM is the biggest conference […]

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