Heads Up Display (HUD)

Situational awareness at a single point of focus - that is the purpose of an heads up display (HUD). It's a cool tech.

Situational awareness is one hell of a trick. It is knowing, everything, now. It's a power actually - just like in the movie "Limitless":

We make decisions based on information. We process information and decide our next move. If any information is missing; it will affect our decision. That is the reason why quality of your decision increases as we grow. Of course, there are some who get tangled in emotional cobwebs and refuse to see the truth. 

As you know, these HUD's are used in fighter aircraft. Since military situations develop on split-second decisions; integrating lot of essential information to a single focus can be the factor of life and death. 

The heads up display used in F-35 is the most advanced type made by Rockwell Collins. They are heads up display mounted in helmet. Check out the video below:

This technology, is being transferred down to cars and motorbikes. Check out this good video from cnet:

As told in the video, by 2020 you will know someone who owns an heads up display - or if you are an early adapter you can own one. 

Future is awesome. 

Thank You for reading guys.

CK

Folding Wings

Short Brothers, the first company to manufacture aircraft, was also the first one to patent fold-able wings in 1913. Folding wings was kind of a necessity because of the constraints in the space and to be frank, we hadn't achieved reliable building techniques to create large hangers. 

Aircraft design is agreement of compromise. You can have a faster aircraft but it won't be efficient. Each aircraft are designed based on very basic purpose. The designers will know what they want before even they start to design it. (It is also a life principal. Know what you want from your life and then do it. Stuff that aviation teach us :D ).

So in the pursuit of fulfilling the purpose, the aircraft gets big. Maybe it is the wing, or its tail. In an environment where space isn't a luxury, designers has to improvise. They cannot reduce the length of wing because it will effect the aerodynamics of the aircraft. But what they can do is to fold the wings.

Folding wings are quite complex in mechanics. It effects the electrical, fuel,mechanical, aerodynamic and structural systems. (Ref: Wikipedia)

Folding wings are quite common with carrier based aircraft. It is because of the carrier operations. The free vertical space is used by folding the horizontal wing as shown below. Even F-35 has folding wings.

Many world war aircraft that was carrier based  had this technology implemented in them. 

This technology is rare with land aircraft. One notable example is B-50 Superfortress. This aircraft had huge rudders and tails to stabilize the whooping 30.18 meters fuselage. The tails were fold-able with this Boeing aircraft to fit in hangers.

The latest Boeing 777 9X also uses this technology. Liebherr-Aerospace is the company that is building and integrating this technology deep into the new 777's wing. The requirement from Boeing was to make it flawless,  shouldn't make any cranky sound, reliable, safe and fast. 

Liebherr-Aerospace designed this in such a way that it takes just 20 seconds to fold the wing from taxiway to runaway and vice versa. The operational requirement of having a sizable wing starts from taxiway. Check out my article about the new 777 9X here.

Although we aviators strive to make everything streamline, there are indeed times where we step into raw mechanical elements. 

Aviation is about finding the right spot where efficiency and effective is intertwined. 

Thank You for reading guys.

CK

F-35 Entering Service For The first Time

Well the time has come. The famed F-35 Lightning II is entering service for the first time in the history of aviation. I say, it's about time. 

Ten F-35's will be deployed at Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) based at Yuma, Arizona.

We grow up hearing about it. And  it was a mystery why these aircraft are not yet in service. They were always going through design changes, budget overruns, schedule slips. But as we all know, great things can all be achieved by hard work and it will take time - otherwise everyone would have had it.   

It's been 14 years now. When the news first came out - that they are designing a "Stealth" aircraft that could take off vertically; it was bizarre! 

But when I saw the first vertical take off in Lockheed's website - I said to myself " She was the one".

The threatening condition of the world is filled with terrorism and mindless attacks. People who threatens peace. When a country spend trillions of dollars to fight for peace and serenity, they look out to a machine that can fly invisible and hit hard. Those machines can end war even before it begins. 

With F-35's entering the service we can be glad that elite soldiers will make sure of our peace and serenity. 

Until Next time.

CK  

F-35: The most expensive weapon system in World history.

F-35 program which began 15 years ago is one of the most expensive weapon system in the world.

The entire F-35 program cost $200 billion. That is the amount it takes to make "quantum leap" technology. 

With F-35 rolling out soon, defense forces are meeting out a new frontier in military tactics. 

Even when the political pressure is mounting up, aviation enthusiasts are looking forward to see F-35 in action. They are the sentinel of security for the years to come.

Cheers

CK