Aeronautical Science

Supercell thunderstorms are intense and violent thunderstorms. They are intense because of the strong vertical wind shear included in the storm. Vertical windshear is the change in wind velocity and direction with altitude. For example, the wind aloft may blow a North at 60 mph while the wind at the surface may blow East at 30 mph. This strong vertical windshear creates what is known as a mesocyclone, which creates that iconic supercell bell shape shown below. Supercells are extremely dangerous for aircraft because there is an intense updraft at its core, and downdraft around the core. This change in horizontal wind shear can cause an aircraft to have extreme turbulence. Additionally, the mesocyclone within the supercell may create a tornado which can result in very high winds. Finally, the creation of hail is common due to the tall structure of the storm allowing for hail to accumulate as it travels between up and down drafts. The image below shows a supercell cut in half to ...

TRACON, or Terminal Radar Approach  Control, is the air traffic controller which is not commonly known for as they air in a building only looking at radar screens. They typically range from 30-50 miles outside of airport and below 10,000 feet. They are in charge of guiding aircraft to airports and once they are within 5 miles they hand over the aircraft to the air traffic controller in the airport tower. However, before aircraft are handed off to TRACON, ARTCC is in charge of them. ARTCC, or Air Route Traffic Control Center, are in charge of en-route aircraft and are typically divided by two sectors, high-level (above 24,000 feet) and low-level (below 24,000 feet). There are 21 different ARTCC across the United States, each covering a specific area as shown below. As you can see both controllers must work together to ensure there is no loss in communications with aircraft nor confusion. It is vital that the aircraft copy the correct radio frequency when transferring between sec...

Hello everybody, one common overlooked environmental impact that airports give off are known as the third party risk. According to Visser and Wijnen, the third party risk is where risk is calculated based on the aircraft crashing in populated areas within the range of the airport (Visser & Wijnen, 2008). As metropolitan locations grow in popularity, they begin to reach near airports. This has an adverse effect for airports as their third party risks increases. The likelihood of an aircraft crashing is low, however 70% of crashes do occur close to airports, therefore they want to minimize this risk of causing catastrophic damage and fatalities on the ground (Visser & Wijnen, 2008). In order for this to occur the airport must be far from densely populated areas. Unfortunately in 2005, a Mandala Air Lines failed to lift off due to incorrect configurations and consequently ran into the ground striking a building and busy road, killing 49 civilians (Ranter, 2005). I believe to furth...

Hello everybody, Have you ever wondered why aircraft windows are circular and no other shape? Round windows were put in place of square windows due to the fatigue cracks that were present around square windows. Unfortunately, 3 air disasters, all de Havilland Comet aircraft, exploded mid-fight and the only reason was because it had square windows (FAA, 2020). The square windows allowed the aircraft to endure more stress during pressurization due to the sharper edges. The illustration below shows that with square windows the expansion and contraction of the skin of the aircraft during pressurization produces targeted stress on the edges of square windows. Due to the increased stress, the skin cracked and led to the disintegration of the aircraft in flight at high altitudes. Following the incident, an Airworthiness Directive was issues, as well as, a new FAR stating the requirements for windows to withstand high pressurization differences in flight. According to the e-CFR t...