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Posts Tagged ‘aircraft’

Successful aircraft design incorporates a finely balanced blend of high-tech materials, structural advances, and traditional design know-how. Aircraft shape is now optimized for all airframe components using computational fluid dynamics. Computational fluid dynamics can cut drag by several percent.

The Airbus A380, for example, with its sheer scale, its double-decker configuration and a wealth of new materials, such as GLARE and reinforced thermoplastics. The aircraft also features carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic frames in the tail cone section and, never used in aircraft design before, welded stringers in the lower fuselage.

A design service goal is often set in advance. Advanced aluminium alloys form the semi-monocoque structure of the fuselage, while the skins are chemically milled or machined to reduce weight. GLARE, “GLAss-REinforced” Fibre Metal Laminate FML, is used for the upper and lateral fuselage skins of the forward and aft section above the main-deck level. Welded stringer panels are used in the lower fuselage sections below the main deck floor.

This article discusses how to buy used helicopters at helicopter sales to take advantage of he conveniences of this rapid mode of transportation at a more affordable price. Although a private jet is much faster than a helicopter, the latter type of vehicle has the advantage of convenience in terms of not requiring as much as space as an airplane so that you can even land it on the company parking space. For those who have a private pilot license with helicopter rating, they may even land the aircraft on the lawn, if the lawn is big enough and there are no neighbors close by who might complain, of course. With these in mind, you can look for possible helicopter sales on the Internet.

Airframe structures can be made light, yet strong and stiff, and the aircraft skin contributes to the overall strength of the structure.

All airframes, whatever the aircraft, are designed using the same principles. The smooth exterior provides a streamlined shape, with extra supporting structure underneath to provide the strength and stiffness needed to operate effectively. In many modern aircraft, the covering and part of the framework are made from a single piece of material. The outer skin, then, hides a complex piece of structure that must be strong, stiff and reliable.

Struts, ties, beams and webs.

The structure of most airframe components is made up of four main types of structural member. Ties are members subject purely to tension (pulling). Because tension will not cause the tie to buckle, it does not need to be rigid, although it often is. Ties can be made from rigid items, such as tubes, or simply from wire, like the bracing wires on a biplane.

Since times got tough, there has been a debate, held in public, about whether private jets are just expensive trifles or whether they really contribute to business success. For some companies, selling their jet was a necessary piece of PR for their company image during the downturn, for other companies, ownership of a corporate jet has genuinely become an unaffordable expense – and the owners have had to part with their jets. Selling the company aircraft cuts costs. But at what price? Even though the talking heads on the TV paint a bleak picture, the reality is that many businesses are still alive. Getting the right people to the right places at urgent notice is one way they can help to make sure they do survive.