The field of aviation is one of the most technology intensive industries on the planet.
NASA’s Quest to Cut Down on Flight Time
Traveling by air does wonders. It transforms long, grueling drives into manageable flights and allows people to go places impossible to reach by car. The convenience is unparalleled. However, like anything, flying does not come without frustrating features for both passengers and those on the ground. Passengers sometimes undergo lengthy commercial flights (in addition to [...]
Are Pilotless Planes in Our Future?
Utopia: a place of ideal perfection. Tall, bright buildings between smooth highways surrounded by green grass. Driverless cars making seamless lane changes. Computers performing jobs better than humans ever could. Appealing as this may sound, real life is a bit more… messy. Pilotless planes seem like something taken out of a Utopian society that will [...]
The world’s first corn-fueled air fleet: Alaska Airlines
Earlier this year, Alaska Airlines operated the first successful commercial flights using a blend of traditional jet fuel and biofuels. The idea of renewable jet fuel is not often given too much consideration among the world’s airlines – while most are aware of the excessive amounts of fuels burned every day in aircraft engines, there [...]
Air-to-Air | the efficient yet dangerous refueling process of American jets
It's a dangerous process -- but a necessary one. The refueling of jet planes around the globe are constantly looking to improve the technology behind air-to-air refueling. For the United States Armed Forces, there are two different methods used for this specific process: one more primarily used by the US Navy, and the other by [...]
Elon Musk plans to take us where no man has gone before
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/776939304140414976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Well, you heard it from the man, himself. Elon Musk is an ambitious man. Merely days after Falcon 9 went up in flames, the genius billionaire is at it again, asserting his lofty aspirations for the future of the Space X program. Initially designed to take upwards of a hundred humans to Mars in [...]
The mesmerizing flight patterns of maple seeds have inspired a drone prototype
When we were kids, everything was fun. What happened? Enjoying the simple things is a luxury not many of us “adults” can afford, most times. We fill our lives with careers, meetings, cell phones, bills, exercise, cooking, cleaning, ‘The Voice’ re-runs, etc. You know, all the boring stuff. For a second we’d like you to [...]
Elon Musk’s next invention is an VTOL supersonic jet!
Elon Musk is no stranger to The Flight Blog. However, amid all of the commotion regarding his involvement in SpaceX, the Hyperloop, Tesla Motors, OpenAI, and the Death Star, we’ve somehow managed to overlook Musk’s subtle plan to change the way we travel by air. Musk has already developed an automobile company that has changed [...]
SPIDER: The Answer for Lockheed Martin Airship Repair
A Robotic SPIDER may hold the answer to furthering hybrid airship efficiency While the airship industry certainly isn't "huge" compared to other methods of [aviation] transportation technology, it is seeing a resurgence--especially with Lockheed Martin's P-791 Hybrid Airship. Hybrid Airships, Lockheed Martin claim, offer the benefits of "large cargo capacities with significant reductions in fuel [...]
CMCs: The Future of Jet Engine Parts
Things are really heating up in the world of jet engine parts Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) are exacly what you might expect them to be: they are composite materials made from ceramic fibers embedded in a ceramic matrix. Simple enough, right? But what does ceramic have to do with jet engines? Sure, you might not think about [...]
US Military Propose Autonomous Robot System for Aircraft
The Air Force wants autonomous aircraft Autonomous aircraft might not generate quite as many conversations as their autonomous car counterparts, though they are far from unheard of; in fact, advances in aviation technology and automation systems already lend to most modern planes being highly automated. Pilots spend considerably less time at the controls now during [...]