Aviation Geeks unite?! Anybody else care about planes here?

ETOPS - engines turning or passengers swimming

QANTAS has been tooting it's horn about long distance flights but has official announced it's getting 12 A350s that will Sydney-London non-stop which is a 19 hour flight.

I suspect there's also big cost saving to do non-stop
* savings on fuel from take-off/landings/reverse thrust on landing
* landing fee costs when the aircraft has to touch for refueling and all the issues there
* saves cycles on the airframes
* allows more direct routing which increases fuel savings.
* aircraft can't stuck throwing out schedules.

On an Air Canada back flight when they used the 767s between Canada and Australia we were late out of Vancouver which made us late in Honolulul for refuel and crew change. Upon re-boarding the pilot announced we had to hustle or we'd be stuck due to curfew and we made it just in time. Had the plane been stuck it would have caused issues as it was due to fly back to Canada 4 hours after landing in Sydney.

Eliminating having to route further north to land in Hawaii, descent, ascent and time on the ground going direct saves over 2 hours on total trip time.

Oh and the biggest plus? Not having to do U.S customs.

 

Aren't you glad ETOPS got updated, now everybody is in the 2x engine club.

Direct flights are the future.

Spoke & Hub model is breaking down thanks to new aircraft, extended ranges of aircraft, etc.

 

I think it will take awhile for electric aircraft to make a huge dent, but they will also affect the way people fly. United already made a buy on some 19 seat Heart Aerospace aircraft before they have even flown, much less been certified. This is not to say I think Heart Aerospace will be successful, but someone will be.

Combined with Essential Air Service subsidies for rural airports, and the lower maintenance costs of these new electrical planes, I could imagine a lot more of them coming into service and lowering the prices of access short haul flights, and eventually air-taxi service which would be more short-range point to point.

 

Electric Aircraft will take over the Ultra Short Haul routes that weren't profitable and turn them into a profitable service.

I saw a video on the economics of it, and Utlra Short Haul routes have a history of not being profitable, that's where Electric Aircraft will come in and Medium to Long Haul routes will be for traditional Aircraft.



Traditional Aircraft will take over the flying range that exceeds Electric Aircraft and everybody will be happy.

 

What could have been:
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/a-bunch-of-concept-art-in-video-form.39374/


The Spanloaders
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/lockheed-georgia-spanloader-aircraft-studies.8474/

One 747 was used in a Bond film as a "Skyfleet:"
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/th...nd-unusual-boeing-747s.523/page-8#post-455643

The air yacht
https://wonderfulengineering.com/this-new-hybrid-flying-yacht-can-even-land-on-dry-ground/

French TSTO concepts
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/french-tsto-studies-of-the-60s.4096/

Stronger metals
https://phys.org/news/2022-05-unveil-secret-stronger-metals.html

Anti-frost coating
https://sciencex.com/news/2022-05-slippery-coating-fends-frost-kind.html

Looks like there is a rigid waterproof coating for paper for those who like paper airplanes
https://phys.org/news/2022-05-paper-plastic-rigid-waterproof-coating.html

The flying sub-drone
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-05-quadcopter-air-underwater-suction-cup.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/w6f47a/these_model_airplane_skills_make_me_question_all/
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/th...ider-kit-for-mk-54-torpedo.19363/#post-547914


Last but not least…Branson at Palms…by the seat of his pants:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-486997/Branson-takes-leap-flies-seat-pants--rips-them.html

Dedicated to all the suborbital investors who feel themselves ripped…Penn’s response was deliciously wicked.

 

Boeing is truly tone deaf.

No data to support changing Boeing 737 MAX 10 cockpit alerting -executive (msn.com)

How many people have to die before they get the clue and stop putting profits before people.

Doesn't matter if there's no evidence, it won't cost them that much (if anything extra) but they should see it as a marketing point to restore people's confidence in the -Max range of aircraft (and in Boeing in general).

 

Boeing is run by Bean Counters.

 

Stratolaunch’s Talon-A revealed
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...alon-a-separation-test-vehicle-301556154.html

Shades of Starship
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/refex-reusability-flight-experiment.39710/#post-542580

New fighter
https://wonderfulengineering.com/th...on-fighter-jet-has-entered-development-phase/

The state of stealth
http://images.link.pentonaviation.com/Web/PentonAv/{228918bb-c980-4679-9bc8-be8e5ed9b346}_State_of_Stealth_FINAL_121317.pdf

Modern Airships
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=27151.msg2374284#msg2374284
https://lynceans.org/all-posts/modern-airships-part-1/

Robot drones
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-06-robotic-lightning-bugs-flight.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-06-recipe-autonomous-robotic.html

light fighters
https://hushkit.net/2022/05/09/light-fighters-are-they-worth-the-effort/

The Phantom Cruiser
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/th...supersonic-aircraft-of-1950s.5743/#post-46324

Saucer-wing
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/guido-tallei-projects.27920/#post-536783

 

I knew of the Avro Shackleton and it's use as maritime patrol aircraft but never knew it was used to stop massive oil spill 50 years ago though I'm not sure about fixing the problem by sinking the tanker with depth charges was just making an environment mess.

Avro Shackleton: Bombers used to save the environment during an oil spill (interestingengineering.com)

 

There are better ways to do that on the horizon--There is a 3D print option that uses sound instead of light

https://techxplore.com/news/2022-05-potential-game-changer-3d.html

Aerospace engineering and repair can also benefit from DSP, as ultrasound waves penetrate opaque surfaces like metallic shells. This can allow maintenance crews to service parts located deep within an aircraft's fuselage that would be inaccessible to printing techniques reliant on photoactivated reactions. DSP could even have medical applications for remote in-body printing for humans and other animals.

"We proved that we can print multiple materials, including polymers and ceramics," Packirisamy says. "We are going to try polymer-metal composites next, and eventually we want to get to printing metal using this method."

Cool new tool
https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringPorn/comments/vkh2jq/microwire_and_plasma_laser_pointer/

Sonic booms? Don't blame the plane.
https://phys.org/news/2022-06-urban-canyons-prolong-sonic-booms.html

 

On tailless flight…a humorous tale
https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/departments/stay-tuned-for-the-june-aeropuzzler/

The early MiG-25 was to have skids
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/mig-25-projects.6537/#post-536996

Boeing design
https://up-ship.com/blog/?p=49755

Zeppelin model
https://www.horieusa.com/oddgoods/zeppelin.htm

Early craft


China spaceplanes (first few min.)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...ra-fast-SPACE-PLANE-fly-2-600-miles-hour.html

Stratolaunch--best image so far
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=27520.0;attach=2108160;image

Darkstar


Flying boat come-back


Space fighters
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/th...ystems-space-fighters.3189/page-3#post-538865

Green hydrogen breakthrough
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-07-breakthrough-gas-storage-fast-track-shift.html
In our study published in Materials Today, we found a highly efficient and entirely novel way to separate, purify, store and transport huge amounts of gas safely, with no waste.

 

Despite the high cost of fuel, the A380 is making a suprise return to the sky.

Return of the superjumbo: A380 makes comeback despite high oil prices (msn.com)

There are combination of factors including delays on the delivery of new aircraft, the level of passenger demand not high enough for multiple flights on a variety of routes and in the case of one airline, a legal dispute relating the A350s.

 

Dark Star looks awesome.

 

Stargazer concept
https://www.space.com/venus-aerospace-hypersonic-plane-design
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/venus-aerospace-hypersonic-plane-concept.39623/#post-539871

There was an odd bomber concept that looks a bit like Starship mixed with Fireball XL5

The Fairchild M-121
https://raigap.livejournal.com/927663.html
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/th...nd-contending-designs-to-the-b-52.5757/page-6

The jet exhaust was annular. I wonder if a jet Starship could evolve towards this a bit.

Interesting fighter
https://ia601302.us.archive.org/9/items/PopularMechanics1984/Popular_Mechanics_06_1984.pdf

Other Firefox models from the late Greg Jein--scroll down
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0244.shtml

 

The ultimate video game.

 

Okay hands up who held their breath there.

Also the narrator's voice is familiar but can't quite place it and can't find the show's name - I'm thinking Zoe Wannamaker.

 

It's from Fighter Pilot: The Real Top Gun which was broadcast on ITV a few years ago and is about a team of trainees hoping to be assigned to fly the F-35 Lightening. I also thought it was the delightful Zoe Wannamaker but from what limited info I can find on the series the narrator is Samantha Bond. I even thought it could be Judi Dench.

Yep, it's Samantha Bond.

 

Knew it wasn't Dame Judi and now you say Samantha Bond it clicks.

Don't know if was an ITV or BBC but can remember one from years ago that was the same for of formula about a group training to fly a Lancaster Bomber which their grandfathers had flown.

 

Dreamchaser Tenacity coming together. time-lapse