Page 43 - World Airnews Magazine April 2020 Edition

FEATURE FEATURE

move the plane, it has several other func- while nowadays: modern commercial air- discover things about aviation without hav-

tions - its main job is to provide the power craft cruise at around 900 km/h. ing any background in it. Many facts and

that is necessary to start the main engine The Concorde had seating for 92 to 128 explanations do not require you to have

from the cockpit. passengers with an average round trip tick- knowledge in engineering or science. Don’t

In addition, the APU has an electric et price from New York to London of nearly limit yourself, dive in and explore the world

generator, which creates power for the €12,000, meaning only the wealthiest could of aviation! Q

electronics of the airplane while it is parked afford to fly with it.

at the gate. It can also be used as an emer- You might ask why it stopped flying and
gency electrical power source while the why don’t we have something like this today. ABOUT GEDIMINAS ZIEMELIS
airplane is in the air. Well, there were several reasons, but limit- Gediminas Ziemelis is an internation-

HOW LONG DO AIRPLANES LAST? ed flight routes, high maintenance costs and ally well-known aviation expert, twice

falling sales of tickets were the main factors
awarded as one of the most talented
What is the average lifespan of a commer- behind the retirement of the Concorde. young leaders in the global aerospace

cial airplane? To begin with, it is always industry underage of 40. In 2016,
determined by the manufacturer. Usually it CAN BAD WEATHER BENEFIT A Gediminas Ziemelis was acknowledged

is somewhere around 20 years, 51000 flight FLIGHT? for his visionary and business
hours and 75000 pressurisation cycles. While bad weather is usually not good for air- management and development skills

These readings show the amount of time planes as it makes take-offs, landings and being by the prestigious European Business

that the aircraft is kept under pressure airborne more difficult and more dangerous, Award jury comprised of EU leaders in

during a flight. The fuselage (main body of sometimes they can benefit the flights. economics, education, business and

the airplane) and wings suffer from stress On February 10th, 2020, three aircraft politics. Avia Solutions Group, led by

during pressurisation, which wears the broke flying records for subsonic flights, Gediminas has become a national public

SEVEN FACTS THAT WILL metal out and generates cracks in them getting from New York to London in less champion in the entrepreneurship

overtime. These are the main determinants
category, earning a spot between top
than five hours, when the previous record

in the lifespan of an airplane. was over five hours. The reason for this was 110 European businesses.

OPEN YOUR EYES THE FASTEST COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT. Storm Ciara causing extreme tailwinds, thus companies to IPO, supported and
During his career he has lea three
speeding up the plane towards the United

Did you know that one time there was a
commercial airplane that could fly from New Kingdom. It was reported that the winds consulted with Chinese banks and led

reached over 300 km/h, allowing the plane
a team of experts in the establishment
By Gediminas Ziemelis York to London in under three hours? It was to reach a top speed of almost 1300 km/h. of a joint venture between the Henan
called the Concorde and was in service from Airplanes and aviation trigger peoples’ province and the China Aviation Agency.

1976 to 2003. It is considered one of only

long answer would involve an in-depth Avoiding traffic and other hazards are other two supersonic transport aircraft to have interest even when they have nothing in Today Gediminas manages a private

explanation, terms and formulas, but reasons. Usually this traffic consists of light ever been operated commercially. common with the industry. Unfortunately, equity fund, which has assets with a net

viation is amongst the greatest there is a simplified answer. As the plane aircraft, helicopters, drones and even birds. many of them often shy away from digging worth of 300 million Euros in aviation,

Aachievements in the modern flies, fast-moving air enters the jet turbine All of which can be avoided by flying higher. Its maximum speed was twice the speed deeper, thinking that it is too complicated. real estate, IT and pharmaceuticals.

human history. It connects the world and engines located on the wings of the plane. Moreover, flying at that high level pro- of sound with a cruise speed of 2180 km/h, However, these facts show that anyone can

pushes globalisation by allowing people The air is compressed as it passes through vides pilots with time in the case of emer-

to travel around the world and delivering the blades of the engine, however, at this gencies, where they might need to find a

cargo in short periods of time. stage, the temperature of the air could solution for a certain situation or prepare
Airplanes themselves are marvels of reach almost 100 degrees Celsius. There- for an emergency landing.
engineering, showing how far humanity has fore, it has to go through a heat exchang- AIRPLANE TYRES ARE NOT FILLED
come and how much it has achieved. There er, which cools it down to a comfortable WITH AIR

are countless facts about aviation and temperature for inhalation. Finally, the

airplanes themselves, most of which are cooled and filtered air is dispersed into the This might be a bit surprising and
related to the science and engineering of passenger cabin. unusual, but airplane tyres are inflated by

planes and the way they operate. However, Additionally, an outflow valve, which is nitrogen rather than oxygen to prevent
vast amounts of people are not really inter- usually located at the back of the cabin, them from catching fire and exploding

ested in that, instead they are keen to find makes sure that the used air is vented out, during landings.

answers to some common questions. and so the air in the cabin is always fresh. The tyres on an airplane face an
Here are seven statements of fact and HOW HIGH DO AIRPLANES FLY incredible amount of pressure during
common questions about aviation industry AND WHY? landings due to braking and high speed.

that you may have been wondering about. As a result, they reach incredibly high

As mentioned earlier, the optimal altitude temperatures, so the oxygen inside the

HOW DO WE GET BREATHABLE AIR ON or ‘sweet spot’ for commercial airplanes to tyres would react with the heat resulting
AN AIRPLANE? cruise at is between 10 and 12 kilometres in an explosive fire outburst. Nitrogen, on
Have you ever asked yourself where is the and there are several reasons for that. the other hand, is an inert gas and does

breathable air coming from when you are One of the main ones is fuel efficiency. not react with the rubber inside the tyre,

flying in an airplane? At that altitude the air in the atmosphere is making it much safer.

A modern commercial airplane cruises very thin, this means there is less resis- A SECRET: THIRD ENGINE ON AN
from approximately 10 to 12 kilometres, tance for the airplane to pass through. As AIRPLANE.

which is considered the ‘sweet spot’ or a result, the airplane needs less effort to

good level to fly at (more on that later). At maintain the speed, thus using less fuel. Commercial aircrafts usually have two engines

that altitude, the supply of air is not a prob- But what would happen if airplanes flew on each wing; bigger aircraft might have four

lem; there is actually enough of it. How- at a higher altitude would they get less engines. However, very few people know that
ever, the issue is that it is not a breathable resistance? At that point, it would create each airplane has one, much smaller engine
air as the pressure of the oxygen in it is too problems for the engines as they need oxy- in the tail of the airplane, which ensures the
low to be directly inhaled by humans. gen to work, which is very sparse at higher smooth running of the plane.

So, how do we actually get fresh, altitudes and there is not sufficient levels The engine is called the auxiliary power

breathable air when flying? Of course, the for the engines to operate properly. unit (APU). Even though it does not help to
World Airnews | April 2020 World Airnews | April 2020
— 40 — — 41 —