Red arrows tragedy. May the pilot rest in peace!

Today 20^th of August 2011 was confirmed the death of Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging of the Royal Air Force aerobatics team (The Red Arrows), by the Ministry of Defense of United Kingdom.

A full inquire is under way to in depth investigate the details and the causes of this crash. Flight Lieutenant Egging was killed when his Hawk T1 aircraft - Red 4 - crashed around 1km South East of Bournemouth Airport at 1350 on Saturday 20 August 2011, as it seems on final approach, though details are all but conclusive. Gossips and amateur videos played on air by BBC displaying the team executing aerobatics, but they are to be examined also.

Group Captain Simon Blake, the Commandant of the RAF's Central Flying School, stated at www.raf.mod.uk:

"Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, known as 'Eggman', joined the Team as Red in the Autumn of 2010. A gifted aviator, he was chosen to fly in the Red 4 slot, on the right hand outside of the famous Diamond Nine formation - an accolade in itself being the most demanding position allocated to a first year pilot. Throughout his winter training and the display season to date, his professionalism, skill and humility have shone through. A true team player, his good nature and constant smile will be sorely missed by all. In such a close knit team, this tragedy will be keenly felt by his fellow team members, the Reds and all of the engineering and support staff, the Blues”

Red Arrows Hawk T1 Aircraft

• Two-seater, single-engined advanced training aircraft
• Length: 38ft 11in (11.8m)
• Wingspan: 30ft 10in (9.5m)
• Thrust: 5,200lbs
• Max altitude: 48,000 ft (14,630 m)
• Max speed: 638 mph (1,025 km/h) in level flight and 915 mph (1,472 km/h) in a dive
• The Red Arrows are based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire
• Manufacturer: Hawker Siddeley/BAE Systems (United Kingdom)
• Used by the Red Arrows since 1979

The team gained their PDA (Public Display Authority) on Thursday 20 May 2011 just two days before their first planned public display in Crete.

• Red One: Squadron Leader Ben Murphy
• Red Two: Flight Lieutenant Chris Lyndon-Smith
• Red Three: Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham
• Red Four: Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging (died in an air accident on 20 August 2011)
• Red Five: Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore
• Red Six: Flight Lieutenant David Montenegro (Synchro Leader)
• Red Seven: Flight Lieutenant Ben Plank
• Red Eight (and executive officer): Flight Lieutenant Dave Davies
• Red Nine: Flight Lieutenant Zane Sennett
• Red Ten (Road Manager): Squadron Leader Graeme Bagnall

Havoc in Heraklion International airport

Russian speaking pilot reeks havoc in Heraklion International airport.

           A tragic  last year's dialogue between a pilot of fire fighter helicopter and the Air Traffic 
Controllers brings unrest in aviation community. It came to light today by Onalert.gr as it was confused with today's minor incident, when a Russian pilot took and wrong turn.In today’s case a pilot of a charter aircraft, according to Heraklion international airport head master, Mr.Damvouneli, simply turned the aircraft to the west side of the runway during taxi, instead of east. The misunderstanding was solved immediately, without any further problem.

As for the audio dialog it was a mishap that happened last summer, and not today. Never the less, this dialogue disturbs me deeply and make me thing what that idiot helicopter pilot was thinking. It is clear from the audio tape that that idiot pilot has almost no clue how to speak English. He took off with no clearance, while a clearance to take off was delivered to an Olympic airways (Now Olympic Air) airliner aircraft full with people. As the air traffic controller says in Greek the pilot in this incident was Russian, when she couldn`t any more hold her laughter and braked the transitions in Greek as did the Olympic airways pilot.

Voice document link

It is worth to mention that since then new regulations about pilot licensing came in force and now is mandatory to be tested and certified in English language proficiency, in order to fly in international airport and airspace. When I undertook my test I thought that it was all for nothing, just another that CAA made up in order to create revenue for the flight schools, but after that oh my god. I could not comprehend that something like that could happen. Of course some small mistakes are always understandably happening but to this extend and with that magnitude…UNACCEPTABLE

How aircraft fly-Gravity,drag,lift and thrust relations.

How aircraft fly?

                All fixed wing aircraft use the same principal to fly. They simply travel their wings through an air mass, trying to develop enough lift force to “defy” gravity. I mention gravity because gravity and the drag are the 2 prevailing forces that a flying machine has to overcome in order to attain and sustain controlled flight.

                In this picture is illustrated the lift creating process of the wing. Imagine 2 identical air molecules Alpha and Beta that must travel from the front side of the wing(leading edge) to the back side of the wing(trailing edge) tacking 2 totally deferent paths. Alpha must travel the upper surface of the wing, while Beta must travel along the bottom surface. Well here is where the magic starts. Both molecules are part of the same air mass, so they are forced to comply with the laws of hydrodynamics that dictate that both Alpha and Beta must meet at points A1 and B2 at almost the same time. But clearly the Alpha molecule has to travel a greater distance due to the curvature of the wing on the top side of it. So the alpha to make it in time for the appointment with Beta must travel with greater speed, thus creating a lower air pressure on top of the wing. Now comes the big thing, the lower air of the wing with the higher pressure, wants to travel to the upper side of the wing of lower pressure and tries to puss trough the wing surface from the lower surface to the upper surface. This force that is exerted on the bottom side of the wing directioned to the top, is called lift . The same principal is used also to the automobile industry in car spoilers, that use that principal in reverse to create downforce.
 

But that’s only the half of the story. The aircraft in order to attain and maintain speed has to overcome also the force called drag. Drag is and fluid drag (sometimes called air resistance or fluid resistance) refers to forces that oppose the relative motion of an object through a fluid. It takes many forms but in the aviation the most crucial are 3:

A)Friction drag-The drag of the tires and any surface of the aircraft to the ground and is only to be considered at takeoff and landing.

B) Induced drag- The drag generated as a result of lift, and is greater at lower speeds when higher angle of attack are required to maintain flight.

C) Parasite drag-This drag also called skin friction drag is the tenancy to the aircraft itself wanting to resist resist to fly through the airmass at any speed. As the airspeed over the aircraft is increased the parasite drag will increase, unless the aircraft changes shape(retraction of flaps,slats,landing gear,spoilers etc).

In order to overcome drag then the aircraft need a force. The name of the force?

                     THRUST

Thrust is a mechanical power , created by devices engines-motors in form of either horsepower that is applied to a propeller and create thrust by pusing/pulling air mass with its blades, or by jet propulsion, like turbofan engines do, pushing a pillar of air backwards thus propelling the engine forward. If the amount of thrust is equal to the amount of drag the aircraft can maintain horizontal and stable flight. If he total amount of the drag is greater than the thrust then the excessive drag will force the aircraft to slow down and lose lift. If the thrust is greater than total amount of drag, then the excessive thrust  can be used in order to increase air speed and increase lift in order to climb higher.

*Also in some advanced aircraft the thrust can be used in order to increase the drag of the aircraft and bring it to a halt or even go backward in the ground. Some aircraft that are not feeted with spoilers use reverse thrust in the air in order to slow down as the turboprops

 ATR 42/72 and the supersonic  passenger aircraft Concorde(using thrust reversers at engines 2/3)

IFR- Instrument flight rules for dummies

           IFR – Instrument flight rules.

          The IFR were created in order to overcome the basic limitations of military and civil aviation operations, the weather. Bad weather and particularly the low visibility dew to mist, fog , storm, snowstorms etc in the vicinity of an airport, confronted the flight  crews with unparallel challenges .When you and in an equation the problem they had to encounter you might be astonished that there were brave man to undertake that task. 

Primitive runways X Gusting X Rain,hail X limited visibility X Approaching Speed  = Problem

                       MONEY+SCEDULES+COSTS+UNRELAIBILITY+NIGHT

And not to forget that we don`t even take into consideration the ever present possibility of an emergency. That will drain even the last drops of airmanship of the flight crews and demand the best out of them. But luckily advances in aviation and radio beacons especially throughout the WWII gave humanity the knowhow, of making safe, useful and reliable navigation aids, both for the pilots and the Air traffic controllers.

                In IFR flights (Instrument Flight rules), the flight is contacted with sole reference to the aircraft instruments and under the full control of ATC(Air Traffic Control) units. During these procedures the pilots must take off-fly-land using standardized procedures published by the aviation authorities of the member state of the airspace or airdromes to be used, and with full harmony with the CAA regulations (Civil Aviation Authority).This standardized procedures are published in the AIP document (Aeronautical Information Publication) every 28 days and are called AIRAC(Aeronautical Information Regulation And Control). These consist of:

SID Chart plate 

Final Approach chart plate

     A)     Facilities-information-and taxi maps/charts for the airport to be used so that the aircraft can taxi safely to the runway and by fully aware of any difference or danger usually encountered in this particular airdrome.

     B)      Initial approach, final approach and go around charts(STAR) so that the pilot can be informed and navigate safely through any obstacles during his/her   attempt to get the aircraft  decent/approach/landing/go around

     C)      Departure charts(SID) that depict path and the minimum safe altitude after take off  and during the climb to, so the flight crew be safe of any obstacles or/and other traffic .

     D)     Enroute maps, in which there are depicted the airways safe altitudes and navaids,with which the aircraft must be navigated trough using navigation aids, advance avionics, and skill.

Cockpit view from Airbus A320 Passenger Jet. Airliners.net

    In order to contact a flight in IFR there must be 3 requirements met.

1)The aerodrome must be equipped and have in use the  appropriate facilities, equipment and navigation aids up and running, with published SID/STAR publications in effect.

2)The aircraft must be equipped and certified to undertake the task of IFR flights, and meet the minimum operational equipment requirements for the planned flight.

3)The flight crew must be trained, certified and current in IFR flights, be prepared by preflight preparation (Weather,NOTAM,Sigmet,Alternative airports,Fuel) equipped with the needed maps and charts and medically feet to execute the flight.
             But when it happens is never the less breathtaking,as illustrated in this video

Aviation… Pionnering todays life

Aviation…

 Never before in history had innovations on a particular field, changed the world we leave in as the aviation did. Along with the invention of Internet and the harvest of the electric power, the powered flight is has sculptured the world we leave in the 21^th century.The electricity enables you to work day and night, winter and summer to achieve your goal.The internet helps you to distribute and project your products and ideas,while making and maintaining easy contact with others,but the aviation brought all them together.People can travel to the other side of the globe in less than one day,mails and packages can be delivered globally in 1 working day, cargo can be freighted where nor car nor truck neither ship can even think to approach.But how all started?

 

In it`s infancy the aviation was clearly restricted to non powered wannabe flight machines, made by daredevil pioneers who were magested with the prospect of manned fight. Some mechanical propulsion had also some implications like steam engines and gear/spring motors but their power output in congestion with their excessive weight deemed them too heavy for any prospect of flight.

Technical illustration from 1818

 The breakthrough came at last at the end of the 18^th century. On Nov 21, 1783, in Paris,  the first untethered  manned flight became a reality  by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created on Dec 14, 1782 by the Montgolfier brothers.

The Hindenburg in March 1936.

 The next step and the first study of the air and aviation came at the 19th century with the perfection of the infamous rigid airship more known in our days as Zeppelins.Along with these flying vessels came the first attempts for military use manly as a bombing platform, and the first attempts of scheduled passenger commuting service. These flying devices dominated the skies for the air for the haul 19^th to the 20^th century and paved the way and built the infrastructure for the future breakthrough, the aircraft.

        

        In the very early 20^th century there were many attempts to create an aircraft, with some real misses and a very big death and injury listings. Never the less at 17th December 1903 at Kitty Hawk US of America the Wright Flyer I designed and built by Orville and Wilbur Wright materialized the dreams of countless people in history, achieving the first fixed wing powered aircraft take off/Sustained and controlled fight/and somewhat controlled landing in known history. The first flight lasted 12 seconds for a total distance of 120 ft (36.5 m), but it was more than enough to open the Pandoras box.

This photograph depicts The Flyer on its last flight of December 17, 1903