Trends in aircraft design
The rise of air travel started when people took to the skies in hot air balloons. And over two centuries later, air travel has become the world’s fastest way of going to and from places across the globe. Aircraft designs have a come a long way since then and continue to improve as more advanced technologies are being developed. History of aviation It was in the 1780s when man first displayed his ingenuity in air travel through ballooning and aviation. Several flights using hot air balloon were first demonstrated in 1783, which launched ballooning as a major rage in Europe ...
Aerospace Tech Startup on a Mission to Build The World’s Fastest Commercial Aircraft
The race to provide the world with next-generation supersonic commercial air travel is now on. Aerospace tech startup Hermeus had unveiled last month its plans to build a new aircraft that can travel at speeds of up to Mach 5-- five times the speed of sound. According to Ars Technica, Hermeus was able to raise an initial round of funding led by Khosla Ventures, allowing it to move forward in its development of a propulsion demonstrator and other initial technologies needed to make the supersonic prototype aircraft. Such an aircraft would cut travel time from New York to Paris from ...
What Happens When Airplanes Dump Fuel?
You've probably seen it in the news, or maybe even on a TV show or a film feature: an airline pilot requesting to dump fuel just before attempting an emergency landing. Which now begs the question: what happens when airplanes dump fuel? And why do pilots have to do so when trying to land the plane? The real reason why planes dump fuel is that the plane is too heavy to land and dumping fuel is the quickest way to lose weight. See, aircraft have two major types of weight limits: The maximum takeoff weight, which is the heaviest weight ...