Top 10 Aviation Quotes

AIM-9 Sidewinder Missile

AIM-9 Sidewinder Missile is one of the oldest and most successful weapon of all time. 

They are heat seeking missiles with photovoltaic cell attached to them. 

Check out the video below:

Have a great day.

CK

Virgin Galactic unveils new Space Ship

Virgin Galactic officially unveiled their new space ship called "VSS Unity". It's the predecessor to previously crashed SpaceShip in 2014 (Read about it). 

The new ship is named VSS Unity by Prf. Stephen Hawkins. 

'We are entering a new space age, and I hope this will help to create a new unity,' he said, launching the craft via a video message of behalf of Virgin boss Richard Branson.

'If I am able to go & if Richard will still take me, I would be very proud to fly on this spaceship,' he said. (Ref: Dailymail)

The new ship is packed with many safety features, including a lock mechanism for "feathering unit". The last ship was crashed due to the early deployment of feathering (which is rotating the wings 65° to increase drag) at transonic speed. It was a pilot error. 

Since the crash there were only few cancellations. Majority of the passengers who signed up still wants to go. 

We will have to wait till end of the year to see how VSS Unity performs. 

In high school I once read an article in Popular Mechanics magazine. The article was about the most desirable jobs in the future. After seeing the first one, I was skeptical. I am not now. 

The first job was : Commercial Space Ship Pilots. 

Great age of space will commence soon. 

Good stuff Virgin. 

Cheers.

CK

A350-1000. Like a Boss.

Airbus has commenced its final assembly of A350 - 1000; the largest variant of A350 family. Its maiden flight is planned by end of 2016.  

Couple of years ago when I heard about A350 - a composite material aircraft, increased aerodynamic efficiency including many other features - I was curious to see what would happen to this aircraft. I was a huge fan of Boeing 787 Dreamliner by then. 787 had design attributes from Boeing's work with Northrop Grumman in the production of B-2 Spirit back in 1970's. 

787 was one of the pioneer airliner to use composite material as its primary material. It also had chevron nozzles which reduce noise and looks freaking awesome. 

When Airbus revealed its plan to produce a new airliner to compete with Boeing 787, I was happy. Back then new A350's cockpit, nose, front, wings, winglets and stabilizers - looked stuff from future. I also noticed it had 1000 series number, usual for an airline. Usually they use 3 digits. 

But after that initial hype, I slowly forgot about A350. There were so many incidents with 787, I just looked at it as the real deal. A350 was a flickering thought deep back. 

I was surprised to find out when Qatar Airways received its first A350. It was then I realized that Airbus had done it. 

For me, thinking of producing an entirely new aircraft from scratch, even by Boeing or Airbus - is an herculean incredulous complex task. The development cost itself would be crossing $10 billion. Different countries were involved in the manufacturing of 787. They met lot of delays. There was cost over run. 

On one hand, it's inspiring to see countries working together to produce an aircraft. It's a herculean task, but they do it anyway. That's faith and strength. But on the other hand, all of this for a cash flow proposition that would take years to break even. It's a risky business. 

Boeing successfully pulled it off. And now Airbus too. 

We have to give it to these companies. They're the bosses. Battle after battle they do the impossible. 

I am so happy and proud to see these aircrafts taking flight after all the hardships these companies went through. 

Good stuff. 

Cheers.

CK

Future changed with gravitational wave

You all heard about the gravitational wave. Google it if you don't. I am not going to explain what gravitational waves are ( I am not even sure if I'm qualified enough to do so). But I like to say what our future will be with a discovery like this.

Future will hold an ever greater eye towards space. We don't need powerful telescope satellites to wander around black holes or other universe. Most of the observation now are being done via spectrum analysis. Now, we have a new set of eyes called gravitational waves upon which we can pry on to the galaxy. 

Stuffs which are previously invisible will suddenly become visible. With the accurate study of these waves, we can see how bodies in universe works. This might eventually lead to answering our greatest questions about universe. 

Exciting.

Cheers.

CK

Can Commercial planes refuel in air?

Nope.

Commercial aircrafts like Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 cannot be refueled in air. Planes that can be refueled are strictly designed for military purposes.

Commercial aircrafts are designed for scheduled flights. It's a law by FAA to not let any aircraft up in the air unless they have a flight plan that was approved by airport authorities. 

Pre-determined fuel quantity is already calculated way ahead of any flight. In fact,airlines have to submit 6 months schedule ahead. 

The fundamental rule of commercial aircraft is to be safe. To make a system safe, we should be able to predict the system. To predict the system, we need to know the various parameters involved in it. Fuel is one of the parameter. 

To refuel in air means quantity of fuel is going to be unpredictable. And that's not safe. We can't allow that. FAA doesn't allow that. That's not how civil aviation works. 

Commercial flight doesn't tolerate unpredictability. Refueling in mid flight is just unpredictable.

Stay cool. 

CK

RC Planes

Building and flying RC planes was my hobby in college. I used to be in part of fun team and we used to participate in all these competitions in different colleges. 

RC plane building is complete fun. There was this website called RCPowers.com where they used to sell different RC plane plans. They also had a youtube channel were they used to demonstrate all varieties of planes they used to fly.

RC planes they built were modeled based on famous fighter aircraft. 

Check out their YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/RCSuperPowers

Thank You for reading.

CK

100th Post! Thank You All!

This is awesome. I am officially going to post the 100th post! Can't believe it's 100th one already! 

I just want to tell you that I'm profoundly thankful to you. For your support. For your faith.

Since this is special, I am dedicating this to my friends who has been there with me all along. 

My life wouldn't be colorful without them. Every day I am so glad to have such awesome people in my life. All of these wouldn't mean anything without them. 

Having friends and value of friendship is eternally priceless. 

We all have highs and lows in our life. We all have a little strength and little weakness in our life. Maybe our life is easy. Maybe it's hard. Whatever it may be, it's worth it! 

It doesn't matter how much you screwed up. It doesn't matter hoe unforgiving world can be. If you have friends in your life, you have everything. 

Believe in the best. Believe unwaveringly. Just believe.

Thank You for your support. 

Here's to next 100 and an awesome future!

-CK