Is the Airbus A380 really that different?

London, England (CNN) -- When Singapore Airlines first started flying
the Airbus A380 in 2007, it was still a
big question mark whether the aircraft
would be a hit with passengers. Early indications were that the plane
was a huge success in terms of
passenger comfort and after nearly
three years in service, routes that have
the A380 are at near capacity. Just last month, Emirates Airlines
placed a mammoth order for 32 more
Airbus A380s worth more than $10
billion -- the airline will have 90 super
jumbos in total. Other airlines like Qantas, Lufthansa
and Air France also fly the A380 on
some of their most lucrative routes. But, is the Airbus A380 really worth all
the fuss? Are passengers really willing
to switch airlines or choose different
routes just to be able to fly on the
super jumbo? On a flight onboard one of Singapore
Airlines' newest A380s from London
to Singapore, passengers would soon
find out. Noise There's been so much talk about the
A380's quiet interior, but until you
actually take a flight in one, it is nearly
impossible to get a sense of the
silence.

Measuring and Calculating Air Speed

Knowing how fast an aircraft is
traveling is just as important, if not
more so, than knowing how fast a car
is moving. However, the measurement
of an aircraft' s speed is a bit more complex than the speedometer on an
automobile. In this article we will
discuss the various types of air speed
and how they are measured. Pilots speak of several types of air
speed. When read directly off the air
speed indicator, the value is called
indicated air speed (IAS). Indicated air
speed has several factors that must be
corrected in order to determine the actual speed of an aircraft over the
ground. To determine the aircraft' s indicated air speed, two pressures are
measured. A pitot tube is positioned
on the exterior of the aircraft so that
the air molecules of the atmosphere
" ram" into it. The faster the aircraft is traveling, the greater the ram
pressure. As an aircraft climbs, the
atmospheric air pressure decreases, as
does the ram pressure. To account for
this, the aircraft has a static air
pressure port that is also connected to the air speed indicator. The greater the
difference between the ram and static
pressures, the greater the indicated air
speed.

Aerospace university may come up in Bangalore

Bangalore: It is not just giving a big push to the ambitious aerospace
industry in the state, the Aero India
show is promising to do much more,
for Bangalore, in particular. If all goes
well, Bangalore will get Asia ' s first aerospace university that could
catapult the city into the league of
global aerospace hubs.
The state government has set the ball
rolling to set up a university
exclusively for aerospace as part of its Aerospace Park project, in Devanahalli,
near Bangalore International Airport.
" We will face huge shortage of skilled human resources in realising the
ambitious plans in aerospace sector.
We do not have a holistic organisation
to provide trained manpower for this
high-tech industry," state chief secretary SV Ranganath said at a
conference with a delegation of US
India Business Council (USIBC),
chaired by chief minister BS
Yeddyurappa.
Ranganth appealed to aerospace industry giants of the US to look into
the issue and participate in a big way
in setting up this university.
Director of industries and commerce
department said, " We will hold discussions with major aerospace
industries like Boeing, Lockheed
Martin and Rolls Royce to seek their
participation in establishing the
university. Presently, only a few
countries including the US, UK, Canada and Australia have aerospace
universities. It is high time Bangalore
gets Asia ' s first aerospace university to emerge and join the big league."

Airlines may need to hire more staff under new safety norms

New Delhi: Indian carriers may soon have to hire more pilots and crew to
comply with a new rule that mandates
more rest for flight crew to prevent
fatigue, a reason cited for the decade' s worst plane crash in India last year
that killed 158 people.
" Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will issue the rules and put it
up for consultation anytime now. I
think it should be applicable in the
next three months, " civil aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi said, adding the
new directives will also tighten control
over airline managements. " It will address a number of issue like rest,
sleep inertia, fatigue and airline
management issues. " The civil aviation ministry has cleared
the proposal this month, he said.
The plan to reduce pilot fatigue comes
after investigations into the fatal crash
of Air India Express flight IX-812 in
Mangalore on 22 May revealed the flight commander slept through 30%
of the flight.
The move will also raise the cost of
running airlines as the carriers have to
increase the number of pilots and
cabin crew for each aircraft. DGCA is preparing the draft guidelines and the
details haven' t been made public.

International Regulatory Authorities to be Consulted on Mangalore Air Tragedy

The Court of Inquiry has submitted the draft final report to
the Government. International Civil
Aviation Regulations the regulatory
authorities of the State of Manufacture
and State of Design have to be
consulted for formal comments on the Draft Final Report before it is finalised.
Accordingly, the views of Federal
Aviation Administration of United
States in pursuance of America have
been sought. Action on the
recommendations will be taken after finalisation and acceptance of the
report by the Government.
The above information was given by
the Minister for Civil Aviation Shri
Vayalar Ravi in reply to a question in
the Lok Sabha on 23 February , 2011. The Minister also informed the House
that all the bodies at the crash site
have been identified.

Aviation industry saw strong recovery in 2010

New Delhi: The civil aviation industry,
which was hit hard by the global
financial meltdown and high fuel cost,
saw a strong recovery in 2010 with
the domestic passenger traffic rising
19 per cent to 51.53 million, the Economic Survey said today.
In 2009, the traffic was 43.3 million.
"The civil aviation sector in India has
resumed a higher trajectory of growth
after emerging from adverse impact of
global financial crisis. The potential for higher levels of growth in the future is
also very high," said the Economic
Survey 2010-11, tabled in Parliament.
It, however, cautioned that Indian
carriers operate in an exceptionally
high-cost environment and higher prices of air turbine fuel (ATF) can
derail the growth of the sector.

Boeing unveils new 747-8 passenger plane

Boeing has unveiled a new 747 passenger jet to rival the Airbus A380.The new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, which measures 250 feet in length, will be the world’s longest passenger jet.

The 747-8 has a capacity of 467 passengers, 51 more than the current 747. It was introduced to an audience of 10,000 in a factory in Everett, Washington, yesterday.

The 747-8 also has 16 percent less carbon emissions per passenger, and a noise footprint that is reduced by 30 percent from its predecessor the 747-400, according to Boeing.

The new 747-8 Intercontinental features the latest in innovative technologies -- applying many of the breakthroughs also found on the 787 Dreamliner," said Jim Albaugh, Boeing Commercial CEO, referring to the carbon-composite plane whose delivery has been delayed by three years.

On January 11, when IndiGo Airlines’ flight 6E 333 had a bumpy touchdown at Goa International Airport, it was a close brush with disaster for over 100 passengers aboard the A 320. The woman pilot in command landed the plane on its fragile nose wheel — an erroneous manoeuvre that could have even led to the flying machine disintegrating and catching fire.

Alarmingly, an inquiry conducted later by the Director General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) revealed that on 15 to 20 earlier occasions, Captain Parminder Kaur Gulati landed the aircraft at an angle indicating that the nose wheel may have touched the tarmac first. This is unheard of in aviation circles. Aircraft normally land on the main landing gear ( MLG), comprising the two sets of rear wheels. After these bigger — and sturdier — wheels touch the runway, the speed of the plane is reduced. This is followed by the already opened nose landing gear ( NLG) — the smaller front wheel just below the cockpit of the aircraft — coming in contact with the surface.

Flight 6E 333 took off from Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and was bound for Goa. Abhas Gupta was Gulati’s copilot aboard the aircraft. Captain Gulati appeared to have been so oblivious to the abnormal and highly risky touchdown at the Goa International Airport that she just reported the incident as a “rough landing”. Not only did the steep descent leave the passengers’ hearts in their mouths, it went against the recommendations of aircraft manufacturer Airbus, too. This was not the end of the matter.

After the rough landing in Goa, Gulati and the engineer concerned merely carried out an inspection of the aircraft and reported that everything was normal. The airbus was, therefore, cleared to fly back to Delhi. The Indigo flight 6E 332 — with passengers on board — started its return journey to Delhi. But midway through, the plane’s electronic systems signalled a problem in the landing gear. The warning related to the nose undercarriage being internally damaged.