17 Ways to Keep Safe and Secure When Flying

Here are 17 ways to keep safe and
secure when flying domestic or
abroad. Air travelers need to keep a
sharp eye and an ever present focus
on what's going on around them.
Even though it has been a few years since the September 11th 2001
hijackings, the threat of terrorist
actions against air travelers is still ever
present. Not to mention with the
hustle and bustle of a busy airport.
This is a prime place to be potentially burglarized by a professional thief or
criminal. 1. Keep Your Photo Identification
Handy. If you do not have photo
identification, make sure you have two
pieces of some other form of
identification, one of which must be
issued by a government authority.
Minors are not obligated to have identification. Failure to have proper
identification may result in additional
security inspection and search. Some
airlines may also prohibit you from
boarding without proper ID. For
international flights, airlines are required to collect your full name and
ask you for a contact name and phone
number. 2. Give Yourself Some Extra Time
During busy hours, or when traveling. With elderly or disabled passengers,
young children or infants, give
yourself more than enough time to
maneuver through a busy airport or to
make necessary arrangements with
airport personnel. 3. Do Not Park Your Vehicle and Left
Unattended in Front of the Terminal. The airport parking rules are being
strictly enforced and your vehicle may
be very swiftly ticketed and towed. So
make sure to park in well-lit,
designated areas. Find a parking
garage or lot you are comfortable with and is well populated.

AirAsia X orders more A330s

AirAsia X, the long haul low fare affiliate of the Malaysia-based AirAsia Group, has placed a firm order with Airbus for three
A330-200s. Scheduled for
delivery from 2014, the aircraft
will be operated on the carrier' s expanding network, offering low fare service to destinations in Europe, Asia and the Pacific. The latest contract brings AirAsia X ' s total number of A330s ordered
to 28. AirAsia X has ordered the 238
tonne increased take-off weight
version of the A330-200, which
is capable of flying non-stop from Kuala Lumpur to Europe. The
airline will configure the aircraft
in a two class layout with a total
of 288 seats. "

New Indian training centre boosts Airbus ’ regional facilities

Working in partnership with CAE
of Canada, Airbus Training India
has inaugurated its flight training facility in Bangalore, India – further underscoring the
company' s increased presence in one of the world' s fastest- growing aviation markets. " India is going to require more than 1,000 aircraft in the coming
years, and our training centre will
help meet the demand for pilots
and aircraft maintenance engineers" said Didier Lafrique, general manager of Airbus
Training India. The new facility provides training
for local customers, and also
supports other regional airlines from the Middle East to Southeast
Asia. Located within easy reach of
Bangalore' s Bengaluru International Airport, the facility – with fully-equipped, state-of-the-
art classrooms and screening
facilities – eventually will be able to train up to 1,000 pilots and
maintenance engineers annually. Airbus ' industrial cooperation with India began in 1988, when
an agreement was reached with
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL) to manufacture passenger
doors for the best-selling A320.
In recognition of the country' s strategic importance, Airbus has
made a long-term pledge to play
a major role in the development
of its aviation sector. Today, Indian companies contribute to
virtually all Airbus aircraft programmes.

China to launch first space lab by 2016

A Chinese senior space
technology expert said Thursday
that China is expected to launch
its first space laboratory before 2016. " With the technological program ready, the lab' s research and development are going
smoothly," Qi Faren, former chief designer of Shenzhou
spaceships. As the second phase of China ' s manned space program, the lab, likely to be named Tiangong-2,
will gradually be developed into
the core module or experiment
module, said Qi. China is to launch its first
unmanned space module,
Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace,
in the second half of 2011,
serving as a platform for spacecraft to rendezvous and dock – allowing for the building of the space station. China will have its own space station before 2020, said Qi, a member of the 11th National
Committee of the Chinese
People' s Political Consultative Conference, before the annual
session of the country' s top political advisory body, which is
scheduled to open Thursday.

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.