Is Flying a Light Aircraft Easier Than Driving a Car?
With all the high-tech stuff big airplanes have, like autopilot and autothrottle systems, you might be thinking that flying couldn’t be that hard. Well, there may be some truth to that, but saying that it is easy discredits all the training pilots had to go through to properly fly a plane and bring it back safely to the ground consistently. In reality, there’s much more to flying than you may think. Steering: Flying vs Driving First, if by flying, you mean just being already in the air and steering the plane, it’s probably easier. Almost all ...
How Flight Simulator Taught an Aspiring Pilot How To Fly
With the advancements in flight simulation technology, is it now possible to learn how to fly in through video games? Well, there are some stories about how people actually learned to fly through simulators. The History of Flight Simulators Flight simulators have been around for decades. They recreate aircraft flight in different conditions and environments. These software are used to supplement pilot training, expanding the knowledge and experience of trainee pilots without the risks and costs of an actual flight. They make training safer and more practical. Flight simulators can imitate various real-world variables pilots may face during ...
Emerging technologies that may transform the aviation industry in 2021
To cope with the pandemic's damage to the aviation industry, new technologies that aim to improve passenger security and confidence are currently under study and development. The whole aviation industry would probably want to forget 2020. It was the worst year in aviation history, according to the IATA. The overall volume of passengers and number of flights dropped so much that it would take years before the industry fully recovered from the hit. Of course, the problem was the pandemic caused by COVID-19. Government-imposed travel bans and lockdowns prevented people from going anywhere. However, even as the regulations became less strict, ...
How close are we now to achieving carbon-neutral aviation?
Researchers from Oxford University found a new way to turn CO2 into jet fuel. Is this the future for air travel? Climate change is a serious problem all the world is currently facing. Different industries are coming up with ways to mitigate the effects of climate change and slow it down before it’s too late. The aviation industry, in particular, has been trying to achieve carbon-neutrality for many years already. But are we coming close to this goal already? Last December 2020, a team of researchers from Oxford University, including Benzhen Yao, Tiancun Xiao, and led by Professor ...
What do I need to know about the Edgley Optica EA-7?
Once you have seen an Edgley Optica EA-7 before, you will never forget its iconic silhouette. This plane looks like it came straight out of a James Bond movie. Made in 1979, this British light aircraft still looks futuristic today. It was designed specifically for low-speed observation work as a cheaper alternative to helicopters. John Edgley, the Optica designer, was a postgraduate student at the Imperial College of Science & Technology in London when he started working with the plane. The final aerodynamic design was completed in 1974 and was wind-tunnel tested in the following year. The first prototype was constructed ...