The situation is really pathetic. Recently a friend of mine had been to an interview conducted for a by a low cost airline having only Airbus 320 s based in New Delhi. He had applied for the post of Aircraft technician, he has a bamel in HA, JE and LA... the poor guy even took the trouble of self financing a type rated course on Airbus 320.
The fine folks over there on seeing his  profile with  prejudice had told him that since he would become an AME and leave the company after getting recent experience in 6 months, they would not consider him for the post of technician.
Consequently they would would not consider him for the post of Trainee AME because he didnt have the recent experience to begin with. Even after listening to all what they had to say, the guy was ready ready to work 8000 bucks.
If this is a situation, then why must we take the trouble of passing papers and getting a bamel if its going to hinder the development of a person. From my point of view he was very well qualified for the post. I dont see what was his mistake. Something has to changed otherwise there no use of freshers graduating from the booming AME college business, where it is impossible to get OJT.... but thats a whole new ball game.


 

Are you tired of the same mode of transportation and want something exciting, then look out for The- Jet by Cirrus. This jet is unique and cannot be compared with other light weight jets like Cessna and eclipse 500. The jet has created its own category in terms of style and comfort. The best thing about this futuristic innovative jet is that this jet sets its own standards, this jet is powered by one engine only.

This jet, crafted out of alloys and composite materials can accommodate seven people and can provide an additional seat in case the limit is exceeded. The eighth seat can be opted between the second and the third row. The special features ofthe jet include 2 door facility along with a parachute located in what you call the nose of the plane, in case if there is an emergency situation. The cockpit is made of glass and is ahead of all other cockpits in terms of technology.

Aircraft Tire Selection and Maintenance

 

Maintenance

An aircraft tire is a sophisticated, computer-designed, multi-component product consisting of three major materials: steel, rubber and fabric. Taking this down a level, there are multiple types of nylon and rubber compounds in tire construction, each with its own special properties designed to complete the task assigned. The only thing they have in common with auto tires is that they are round.

Tires are available in tubeless and radial construction for the heavy iron, but by and large light twins and single-engine, piston-prop aircraft have a choice limited to tube-type, bias-ply tire brands and subsets within brands. Your choice is nominally an economical model, a mid-price version, a high-end model or a retread. Retreads are particularly popular with flying schools.

Aircraft tires are approved under the FAA's Technical Standard Order system (TSO). All TSO-C62b-qualified tires with a speed rating of 160 mph or less -- as well as TSO-C62c-qualified tires -- do not require re-qualification to TSO-C62d unless the tire is changed.

Tire Selection

Tires are marked with lots of information you need when you're ready to replace them.

When selecting a tire, check your POH for the requirements for your aircraft. It will include both a size, such as 6.00-6, and a ply rating, and sometimes a brand and model recommendation. The ply rating determines the load-carrying capability of the tire. Stick to the POH on both size and ply, because you can end up with unexpected results if you elect to experiment with unapproved tires or ply ratings. If there is an STC for specialty tires, such as flotation types as may be used on a bush plane, that's fine. You, of course, will pay an airspeed penalty in that case.

Note that the term "ply" is used to identify the maximum-rated, static-load capability and corresponding inflation pressure applicable to specific operational requirements. The ply rating is an indication of tire strength and does not specify the actual number of carcass plies within that tire.

Want to be a pilot? Think twice, then think again!

The desire to fly high is in all of us whatever field we may choose. However, when it comes to becoming a pilot in India , the road is a very bumpy one.

Darius Moose* graduated in science and then decided to become a pilot. He wanted to go to the USA and learn to fly. So he applied to one of the many pilot training schools there and they sent him a letter stating that he had been admitted. He filled in an I-20 form for which he paid $500 (approx Rs 23,000).

He paid $43,000 (approx Rs 20 lakh) as school fees for the entire course. He was told that accommodation, travel from school to the hostel and food was included in this fee. And so he left for the States, confident that he would return after the six-month course qualified to fly. But things weren't as simple as they seemed.

The first shock he received was when he reached the States and the promised transport was not available. The distance from his hostel to the air field was 4 km. "Public transport in that part of the States is pathetic and so I had to rent a car for $500 a month. The legal formalities to buy a car there are too many," he says.

AIRBUS STUDIES FUTURE AIRLINER CONCEPTS

EADS Airbus's appearance at the SITEF transport fair in Toulouse was quite spectacular, as development engineers who had previously belonged to Aérospatiale-Matra presented their design visions for the future. Their latest studies, be it of an ecological version of the Airbus, a flying wing or a successor to Concorde, have produced development suggestions with unusual aircraft designs aimed at increasing efficiency and environmental acceptability. Today these ideas are little more than intellectual exercises. But soon they could form the basis of future Airbus types. These the European manufacturer needs if it is to maintain its image as an innovator of high technology solutions in the decades to come.

In an exclusive interview with FLUG REVUE, Jean-Jacques Mirat, chief engineer for new ideas in the subsonic area from the Future Projects Department at EADS Airbus, talked through the designs.

A whole family of new Airbus concepts - the Low Noise Aircraft (LNA) - is concerned with the goal of noise reduction. Here the development engineers are using relatively conventional fuselage-wing structures from the existing Airbus range as the starting point. However, the unusual feature is the positioning of the jet engines, which have been moved from their traditional position underneath the wings to locations above the wings or even above the fuselage where less noise is deflected downwards.

The first Airbus LNA, substructure type "Rear Fuselage Nacelles", uses in the "tandem fin" configuration an engine layout which is already familiar from the American A-10 military aircraft. However, in the "wart-hog" the primary concern is not so much engine noise but to conceal the thermal signature of the engines against the threat of heat-seeking missiles. On the other hand if the Airbus LNA were designed so that the elevator unit was directly below the jet orifice, this would reduce the deflection of noise towards the ground. Another advantage of such a design is that the engines are very close to each other. In the event of an engine failure, the equalising yawing moments about the normal axis would be relatively low, so that the two-part split rudder unit only needs to be small. Again, a wing without engine struts and their associated services is easier to design.

The disadvantages of this design are that the engines are more difficult for maintenance engineers to access and there is the possibility of "uncontained engine failures", i.e. where pieces of debris become detached from a failed engine, causing damage to the fuselage which is very close. Again, the entire tail structure needs to be strengthened to accommodate the additional mass and engine vibration. A further drawback is that the heavy engines are a long way from the aircraft's centre of gravity.

The next variant of the Low Noise Aircraft utilises a similar layout, in which once again the fuselage and tail assembly shield the nozzle exit, thereby reducing the downward deflection of noise. However, on the "LNA V-Tail" there are only two control surfaces at the rear as the tail assembly is designed in a V shape. This means that not only is one control surface with its associated drag and weight eliminated, but the tail assembly structure can have a simpler design. This is because the structural joining assemblies between the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces, of which, in the first version there would need to be two, are completely dispensed with. Although there have been a few attempts to build aircraft with a V-shaped tail assembly - the most well-known examples are the Fouga Magister and the original Beech Bonanza - in practice the V-tail has not yet caught on. However, Mirat is hoping to obtain a significant improvement in the control characteristics of his 20% lighter V-shaped tail assembly using electronic fly-by-wire systems.

As the final variant in the series of noise-reducing LNA's, Airbus is studying a layout which in some respects is reminiscent of the German VFW-614 jet transport. This time the two engines have been positioned above the wing so that the wing structure itself shields the engine noise deflected towards the ground. But in the "LNA OWN" (On-Wing-Nacelles), the engines would be mounted a little further forward. This position has the advantages that the wing is protected against uncontained engine failures and the engines are also easier to access for maintenance. The most significant benefit, however, is probably the positioning of the jet engines close to the centre of gravity, compared with the rear-powered LNA variants, although the latter do provide slightly better noise insulation. In the OWN concept, a T-tail is used in order to avoid the exhaust gas streams from the high-positioned engines flowing onto the elevator unit, as would be the case with this nozzle layout in a conventional Airbus tail assembly.

The next Airbus design, designated the "Joined Wing Concept", whose aerodynamics are particularly complex, is concerned with a quite different primary objective, to achieve a significant reduction in the weight and structure of the wing. A "joined wing" would be able to manage with a small wing span and space requirement due to the relatively short, butnow double design of its wings. However, the double wing could result in an increase in drag. Airbus is hoping with this modern variant of an idea that was first developed in the 1930s to achieve a significant reduction in fuel consumption. Moreover, the altered and significantly taller fuselage cross-section is not necessarily aimed at later holding hydrogen tanks, but at preventing unwanted interference between the pairs of wings through their spatial separation.

The Embraer ERJ-170/175/190/195

Country of origin  Brazil

Powerplants       

ERJ-170 - Two 62.3kN (14,000lb) General Electric CF34-8E turbofans.

ERJ-190 - Two 82.3kN (18,500lb) CF34-10Es.

 

Performance      

ERJ-170 - Max cruising speed Mach 0.82 or 890km/h (481kt). Standard range with max passengers at long range cruising speed 3334km (1800nm), LR range at same conditions 3889km (2100nm).

Fatigue and flight operations

Fatigue is a threat to aviation safety because of the impairments in alertness and performance it creates. "Fatigue" is defined as "a non-pathologic state resulting in a decreased ability to maintain function or workload due to mental or physical stress." The term used to describe a range of experiences from sleepy, or tired, to exhausted. There are two major physiological phenomena that have been demonstrated to create fatigue: sleep loss and circadian rhythm disruption. Fatigue is a normal response to many conditions common to flight operations because of sleep loss, shift work, and long duty cycles. It has significant physiological and performance consequences because it is essential that all flight crew members remain alert and contribute to flight safety by their actions, observations and communications. The only effective treatment for fatigue is adequate sleep (1).

In a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) safety study of US major carrier accidents involving flight crew from 1978 to 1990, one finding directly addressed the concern about fatigue. It stated: "Half the captains for whom data were available had been awake for more than 12 hours prior to their accidents. Half the first officers had been awake for more than 11 hours. Crews comprising captains and first officers whose time since awake was above the median for their crew position made more errors overall, and significantly more procedural and tactical decision errors (2)."

Have you ever flown on a vacation to Hong Kong or on business to Europe and wondered why youÕre ready for bed at noon or hungry at 3 AM? If so, you've experienced what many people call "Jet Lag."

Jet lag is caused by travelling at great speeds over many time zones. This unbalances the "circadian rhythms," or biological lock, which is set by the pineal gland (a tiny organ in the brain). Eye cells send light and darkness messages to this gland, which releases melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone) in response to darkness. Thus, abrupt changes in time zones can upset melatonin production, which ultimately unbalances the body's sleep-wake cycle. These biological functions, combined with travel-related physical and emotional stress, cause jet lag.

Common symptoms of jet lag include headaches, irritability, upset stomach, sleeplessness, gastric discomfort, chills and inability to concentrate. Symptoms may be worse if you are travelling west to east (away from the sun), because light helps to preserve the body's equilibrium. Travel from east to west (to an earlier time zone) results in fewer jet lag symptoms, and travelling northward or southward does not affect the body's circadian rhythms at all.

Alternative Sources of Energy for Aircraft

Due to increasing fuel costs, a lot of organizations in the aircraft industry are researching and investigating ways to come up with a solution.
There are many major airlines around the world that reportedly incurred net losses already in the first quarter of the year 2008 compared to their previous revenues last year.
The use of alternative sources of energy may be the answer. Different companies are trying to develop alternative fuels to address its rapid rate of increase, which is a major problem globally.
The following might just be the answers:
a.. Hydrogen Fuel
b.. Biofuel
c.. Liquid Fuel Oil (GTL)
d.. Electric Power
e.. Fuel Cell

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift (as with balloons, blimps and dirigibles) or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil (as with vehicles that plane the air with wings in a straight manner, such as airplanes and gliders, or vehicles that generate lift with wings in a rotary manner, such as helicopters or gyrocopters)

Although rockets and missiles also travel through the atmosphere, most are not considered aircraft because they use rocket thrust instead of aerodynamics as the primary means of lift (A cruise missile may be considered to be an aircraft because it relies on a lifting wing).

The human activity which surrounds aircraft is called aviation. Manned aircraft are flown by an onboard pilot. Unmanned aerial vehicles may be remotely controlled or self-controlled by onboard computers. Target drones are an example of UAVs.