Passenger Airliners Research Articles

Specifics of the requirements for the interior layout of long-haul aircraft

The plane has become a convenient method of transportation. The main idea of aviation in the 21st century is the safety of passengers and crew. But the human is always inclined towards comfort. The structural and parametric analysis of the long-haul aircraft development made it possible to form the concept of the fuselage layout with capsule accommodation of passengers. The proposed variant of the capsule accommodation, designed for the Boeing 777-200LR, can be installed in other passenger airliners with a ceiling height of at least 2.1 m. Analysis of alternative options for the layout of the passenger compartment allows us to state: with a flight range of more than 8 hours, the flight is comfortable only in business or first classes; the proposed two-story capsule placement allows to provide the layout with first-class seats in a given cabin.

Influence of Passenger Comfort Requirements on the Interior Layout of Long-Haul Aircraft

The plane has become a convenient method of transportation. The main idea of aviation in the 21st century is the safety of passengers and crew, but the human is always inclined towards comfort. The structural and parametric analysis of the long-haul aircraft development made it possible to form the concept of the fuselage layout with capsule accommodation of passengers. By adding the third axis to the dimension of the aircraft expressed in take-off mass, it clearly showed the ultimate dimension of the aircraft, expressed by modern infrastructural constraints. The histogram of the distribution of flights between the largest airports in the world that can operate with long-haul aircraft was showed. The distribution of large airports was characterised by the demographic factor. The proposed variant of the capsule accommodation, designed for the Boeing 777-200LR, can be installed in other passenger airliners with a ceiling height of at least 2.1 m. Analysis of alternative options for the layout of the passenger compartment allows us to state: with a flight range of more than 8 hours, the flight is comfortable only in business or first classes. The proposed two-story capsule placement allows providing the layout with first-class seats in a given cabin.

Air Terrorism as a Threat to the Safety of Air Transport

The author of this article addresses the issue of the threat posed to air transport security by air terrorism. The main goal of this article is to identify the specific threats arising from air terrorism and examine their implications for the functioning of air transport as a whole. The dangers posed by attacks using hijacked light aircraft as well as large passenger airliners are highlighted. The article is based on the literature study and the author’s own analyses of the issue.

Применение метода параметрической оптимизации в задачах проектирования пассажирских авиалайнеров

The paper describes current trends in the design of load-bearing structural elements of modern airliners made using polymer composite materials. In modern passenger airliners, polymer composite materials are used to ensure mass perfection of both lightly loaded elements and critical units, including wing and fin boxes. By means of the finite element method, a box model was created using shell finite elements. Parametric optimization was carried out with account for the anisotropic properties of structural materials. The purpose of the work is to develop a methodology for calculating the structural strength elements of the box and justify the required thicknesses with restrictions on compressive / tensile deformations and loss of stability. The developed methodology makes it possible to obtain a box structure with a minimum mass, while maintaining the necessary stiffness and strength characteristics at the stage of preliminary design.

Анализ парка воздушных судов ведущих авиакомпаний Российской Федерации: тенденции и перспективы развития в условиях макроэкономической нестабильности

Цель: фундаментальной основой проводимого исследования является анализ парка воздушных судов российских авиакомпаний с целью определения содержания рынка пассажирских авиалайнеров. Важным элементом в этом является определение структуры ключевых производителей, а также установление доли рынка российских производителей авиационной техники. Обсуждение: в условиях макроэкономической нестабильности, вызванной пандемией COVID-19, авиакомпании демонстрируют значительное снижение пассажиропотока, составляющее от 45% до 95% (по итогам показателей за май 2020 года). Кризисное положение авиакомпаний окажет существенное негативное влияние на рынок пассажирских авиалайнеров. В условиях макроэкономической нестабильности отечественные производители авиалайнеров «SSJ-100» и «МС-21» имеют все основания для усиления позиций на национальном рынке пассажирских авиалайнеров ввиду более низкой стоимости по сравнению с ведущими зарубежными аналогами, удобства обслуживания и снижения финансовых рисков, обусловленных курсовой разницей валюты. Результаты: результатом проведенного исследования является выделение основных принципов российского рынка пассажирских авиалайнеров. Средний возраст авиационного парка 15 крупнейших авиакомпаний составляет около 15 лет. Средний возраст авиапарка до 10 лет демонстрируют только 2 национальные авиакомпании «Аэрофлот» и «Победа». Воздушный парк значительного количества национальных авиакомпаний является крайне возрастным, что обуславливает потребность рынка в введении в эксплуатацию новых воздушных судов. При осуществлении эффективных мер государственной поддержки российские авиапроизводители могут составить конкуренцию западным авиастроительным корпорациям в условиях макроэкономической нестабильности.

Selection and justification of polymer composite wing load-bearing elements design parameters with material anisotropy and airload

The rapidly developing aviation industry is looking for new design solutions in the field of designing modern passenger airliners. To ensure reliability and increase the service life of developed products can help polymer composite materials, which are already successfully used in the construction of a number of aircraft. This work is devoted to the urgent task of determining and optimizing the structural parameters of the carbon fiber wing load-bearing elements, taking into account rational reinforcement schemes. The wall thicknesses, layup patterns of unidirectional layers, the safety margins of the wing structural elements, taking into account the current operational loads for several angles of attack corresponding to different flight modes. The work is part of the methodology for designing a wing of polymer composite materials.

Aviation Human Factors Related Industry News

Aviation Human Factors Related Industry News

Analysis of factors that may be essential in the decision to fly on fully autonomous passenger airliners

SummaryThis research investigates factors that influence opinion in the decision to fly on fully autonomous passenger airliners primarily from the perspective of aviation and technology professionals. Bayesian statistical inference and a two‐level fractional factorial survey are used to sample passengers' views on fully autonomous airliners. Eight trust, safety, and cost factors are incorporated into a vignette set in the future. Factors include automation levels, safety records, liability guarantees, airline integrity, and service disruptions. Dependent variables exist in five post‐vignette questions and essentially ask “Would you” or “Would you not” be willing to fly on a fully autonomous airliner? Sixteen versions of the vignette, each with unique trust, safety, and cost levels, present varying (unknown) degrees of influence to the survey respondents. For every demographic, the research shows a 99% statistically significant difference between the “prior” and “posterior” sampled population proportions willing to fly. The most significant positive influence involves integrity characteristics of the airline, while the most negative influence relates to life insurance liability guarantees. Research from 2003 suggested that this mode of travel would be acceptable to only 10.5% of respondents. When the 2003 research is used as a Bayesian prior probability, the resulting posterior probability for the demographics sampled can be modeled as a beta distribution, indicating 95% probability that the sampled proportion of the population willing to fly is between 33.2% and 36.4%. After adjusting for age and profession demographics to match the US population, the 95% probability bounds on the proportion willing to fly are 31.35% and 34.15%. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The backscatter cloud probe – a compact low-profile autonomous optical spectrometer

Abstract. A compact (500 cm3), lightweight (500 g), near-field, single particle backscattering optical spectrometer is described that mounts flush with the skin of an aircraft and measures the concentration and optical equivalent diameter of particles from 5 to 75 μm. The backscatter cloud probe (BCP) was designed as a real-time qualitative cloud detector primarily for data quality control of trace gas instruments developed for the climate monitoring instrument packages that are being installed on commercial passenger aircraft as part of the European Union In-Service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS) program (http://www.iagos.org/). Subsequent evaluations of the BCP measurements on a number of research aircraft, however, have revealed it capable of delivering quantitative particle data products including size distributions, liquid-water content and other information on cloud properties. We demonstrate the instrument's capability for delivering useful long-term climatological, as well as aviation performance information, across a wide range of environmental conditions. The BCP has been evaluated by comparing its measurements with those from other cloud particle spectrometers on research aircraft and several BCPs are currently flying on commercial A340/A330 Airbus passenger airliners. The design and calibration of the BCP is described in this article, along with an evaluation of measurements made on the research and commercial aircraft. Preliminary results from more than 7000 h of airborne measurements by the BCP on two Airbus A340s operating on routine global traffic routes (one Lufthansa, the other China Airlines) show that more than 340 h of cloud data have been recorded at normal cruise altitudes (> 10 km) and more than 40% of the > 1200 flights were through clouds at some point between takeoff and landing. These data are a valuable contribution to databases of cloud properties, including sub-visible cirrus, in the upper troposphere and useful for validating satellite retrievals of cloud water and effective radius; in addition, providing a broader, geographically and climatologically relevant view of cloud microphysical variability that is useful for improving parameterizations of clouds in climate models. Moreover, they are also useful for monitoring the vertical climatology of clouds over airports, especially those over megacities where pollution emissions may be impacting local and regional climate.

Investigation of lateral-directional aerodynamic parameters identification method for fly-by-wire passenger airliners

A new identification method is proposed to solve the problem of the influence on the loaded excitation signals brought by high feedback gain augmentation in lateral-directional aerodynamic parameters identification of fly-by-wire (FBW) passenger airliners. Taking for example an FBW passenger airliner model with directional relaxed-static-stability, through analysis of its signal energy distribution and airframe frequency response, a new method is proposed for signal type selection, signal parameters design, and the appropriate frequency relationship between the aileron and rudder excitation signals. A simulation validation is presented of the FBW passenger airliner’s lateral-directional aerodynamic parameters identification. The validation result demonstrates that the designed signal can excite the lateral-directional motion mode of the FBW passenger airliner adequately and persistently. Meanwhile, the relative errors of aerodynamic parameters are less than 5%.

Investigation of longitudinal aerodynamic parameters identification method for fly-by-wire passenger airliners

The flight control system of a fly-by-wire (FBW) passenger airliner with a complex framework and high feedback gain augmentation would change the original characteristic of a loaded signal and suppress the excitation of an airplane’s pertinent motion modes. Taking a research example of an FBW passenger airliner model with longitudinal relaxed-static-stability, a new method of signal type selection and signal parameter design is proposed, through analysis of signal energy distribution and plane body’s frequency response. According to CCAR60—the Appraisal and Use Regulation of Flight Simulator Device, the simulation validation of the FBW passenger airliner’s longitudinal aerodynamic parameters identification is put forward. The validation result indicates that the designed signal could excite the longitudinal motion mode of the FBW passenger airliner adequately and the multiparameter comparison in simulation meets the objective test request of CCAR60. Meanwhile, the relative errors of aerodynamic parameters are less than 10%.

WITHDRAWN: Investigation of longitudinal aerodynamic parameters identification method for fly-by-wire passenger airliners

WITHDRAWN: Investigation of longitudinal aerodynamic parameters identification method for fly-by-wire passenger airliners

Flight Test of a Polarisation Compass Integrated into an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Autopilot

We report on the first successful development and implementation of an automatic polarisation compass as the primary heading sensor for a UAV. Polarisation compassing is the primary navigation sense of many flying and walking insects, including bees, ants and crickets. Manually operated polarisation astrolabes were fitted in passenger airliners operating over the arctic prior to the implementation of the global positioning system, to compensate for the overall degradation of navigation sensors in polar regions. The device we developed demonstrated accurate determination of the direction of the Sun, with repeatability of better than 0.2 degrees. These figures are comparable to any solid state magnetic compass, including flux gate based devices. Flight trials were undertaken in which the output of the polarimeter was the only heading reference used by the aircraft as it flew GPS waypoints and fixed heading commands without GPS.

Aviation Security, Risk Assessment, and Risk Aversion for Public Decisionmaking

This paper estimates risk reductions for each layer of security designed to prevent commercial passenger airliners from being commandeered by terrorists, kept under control for some time, and then crashed into specific targets. Probabilistic methods are used to characterize the uncertainty of rates of deterrence, detection, and disruption, as well as losses. Since homeland security decisionmakers tend to be risk-averse because of the catastrophic or dire nature of the hazard or event, utility theory and Monte Carlo simulation methods are used to propagate uncertainties in calculations of net present value, expected utility, and probabilities of net benefit. We employ a “break-even” cost-benefit analysis to determine the minimum probability of an otherwise successful attack that is required for the benefit of security measures to equal their cost. In this context, we examine specific policy options: including Improvised Physical Secondary Barriers (IPSBs) in the array of aircraft security measures, including the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), and including them both. Attack probabilities need to exceed 260 percent or 2.6 attacks per year to be 90 percent sure that FAMS is cost-effective, whereas IPSBs have more than 90 percent chance of being cost-effective even if attack probabilities are as low as 6 percent per year. A risk-neutral analysis finds a policy option of adding IPSBs but not FAMS to the other measures to be preferred for all attack probabilities. However, a very risk-averse decisionmaker is 48 percent likely to prefer to retain FAMS even if the attack probability is as low as 1 percent per year—a level of risk aversion exhibited by few, if any, government agencies. Overall, it seems that, even in an analysis that biases the consideration toward the opposite conclusion, far too much may currently be spent on security measures to address the problem of airline hijacking, and many spending reductions could likely be made with little or no consequent reduction of security.

A Focus on Fire Fundamentals Including Emergency Response Training at the National Fire Agency in Taiwan

This article reflects on process safety fundamentals of fires and explosions for the benefit of new professionals entering the field. It provides a brief review of fire fundamentals such as the fire triangle and the respect that must be paid to the unknown ignition source. Various control methods are reviewed at the elementary level, including the reminder that the ignition source is always free. After a review of fire fundamentals, an emergency response training exercise is presented for a burning propane fire witnessed at a training facility in Taiwan. The National Fire Agency of Taiwan has built the third largest emergency response‐training center in the world. The 270 acres facility is located in central Taiwan near Taichung, Taiwan. The site has 49 separate emergency response training scenarios. Scenario pads include training for fire attack on mock‐ups of chemical storage facilities, tanker trucks, power transformers, passenger airliners, and shipping vessels. Overall, this article serves as a reminder of the safe guards used in fire safety and the importance of training beforehand in the event of an emergency. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 32: 2–7, 2013

Modelling and simulation of a fuel cell powered electric drivetrain for wide body passenger aircraft

With each passing day, new and more stringent emissions regulations are being introduced in all transportation sectors. The present day commercial airline sector is no stranger to that as exemplified by ICAO agreements signed in 2010; therefore reducing ground pollutant gas and noise emissions has become more important to a point where it has grown into the subject area of many new technological developments. One such development is the recent demonstration of electrical taxi drivetrains for wide body passenger airliners powered by a modified APU turbine electrical power generation system. To further understand the full potential of electric taxi drivetrains, work has been carried out to simulate replacing a regular APU by using PEM fuel cells to generate all the electrical power required by the aircraft and drivetrain. Simulation results will bring more light into the possible requirements, implications and benefits of the new architectures.

THE IMPACT OF THE UKRAINIAN AIRLINES’ FLEET MODERNIZATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DOMESTIC AVIATION INDUSTRY

Aviation industry is one of the main in Ukrainian economy, and for its development, the number of factors is needed along with literacy of government support. One of such factors it directly depends on, is demand for the domestically manufactured equipment. Today, the domestically manufactured equipment is oriented mainly on the issue of transport and passenger airliners. The most profitable in modern world’s economy is exactly the manufacturing of passenger planes. A domestic market of passenger air transportations analysis is shown by permanent and stable growth of demand on services of airlines which carry out these transportations. From the one side, growth of demand, and with an arc – the new norms of ICAO and hard competition from the side of foreign airlines compel Ukrainian air carrier thoughtful about the update of the fleet. But despite the development of aviation industry of Ukraine, domestic airlines order the technique of foreign producers mainly, though not always new. One of the ways to stimulate the fleet update for domestic air carriers with the use of the Ukrainian manufactured technique is the aviation leasing and crediting Ukrainian air industry. This mechanism will allow expansion of the fleet of airlines by new Ukrainian airliners, that in its turn will support and provide development of domestic aviation production.

Preliminary Sizing of an Hypersonic Airbreathing Airliner

The purpose of this paper is to identify, for given technology levels (TRL) and mission requirements, those parameters that are critical for preliminary sizing of a hypersonic airbreathing airliner. Mission requirements will dictate a solution space of possible vehicle architecture capable of meeting cruise conditions as well as of taking-off (TO) and landing. In practice, once defined a range of cruise vehicle architectures, constraints are imposed (as to all passenger airliners), such as: 1. take off (=TO) and landing distance (so-called field length, FL): FL no longer than for the B-747-400, or 10000 ft; 2. completing TO with one engine off; 3. max acceleration at TO and climb-out (CO) = 0.4 g; 4. Hydrogen fuel (Meeting NOx emission limits (EINOx) is a further constraint not discussed in this paper). These constraints enable focusing on a realistic design out of the broad range of vehicles capable of performing the given mission. Thus a realistic vehicle must not only integrate aerodynamics and propulsion system; in fact, it is the result of many iterations in the design space, until performance and constraints are successfully achieved and met. The Gross Weight at Take Off (TOGW) was deliberately discarded as a constraint, based on Previous studies by Czysz. Typically, limiting from the beginning the TOGW leads to a vicious spiral where weight and propulsion system requirements keep growing, eventually denying convergence. In designing passenger airliners, in fact, it is the payload that is assumed fixed from the start, not the total weight. A parametric analysis of the hypersonic vehicle architecture is presented: in particular, optimal size, weight and geometrical shape are defined for different mission requirements. This analysis has shown that, it is possible to define a range of possible successful solutions for the European LAPCAT II project.

Radicalization and Subversion: Al Qaeda and the 7 July 2005 Bombings and the 2006 Airline Bombing Plot

This article analyzes the suicide bomb attacks on four London transportation targets on 7 July 2005 and the plot to bomb simultaneously at least seven American and Canadian passenger airliners as they departed from London's Heathrow Airport. American, British, and Pakistani authorities thwarted this planned attack in August 2006. Both incidents are among the most important Al Qaeda operations in recent years. Initially, they were dismissed by the authorities, pundits, and the media alike as the work of amateur terrorists—untrained “bunches of guys” acting entirely on their own with no links to Al Qaeda. Subsequent evidence, however, has come to light, which reveals clear links to senior Al Qaeda commanders operating in Pakistan's lawless frontier border area with Afghanistan.

Measurement of ozone and water vapor by Airbus in‐service aircraft: The MOZAIC airborne program, an overview

Tentative estimates, using three‐dimensional chemistry and transport models, have suggested small ozone increases in the upper troposphere resulting from current aircraft emissions, but have also concluded to significant deficiencies in today's models and to the need to improve them through comparison with extended data sets. The Measurement of Ozone and Water Vapor by Airbus In‐Service Aircraft (MOZAIC) program was initiated in 1993 by European scientists, aircraft manufacturers, and airlines to collect experimental data. Its goal is to help understand the atmosphere and how it is changing under the influence of human activity, with particular interest in the effects of aircraft. MOZAIC consists of automatic and regular measurements of ozone and water vapor by five long range passenger airliners flying all over the world. The aim is not to detect direct effects of aircraft emissions on the ozone budget inside the air traffic corridors but to build a large database of measurements to allow studies of chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere, and hence to validate global chemistry transport models. MOZAIC data provide, in particular, detailed ozone and water vapor climatologies at 9–12 km where subsonic aircraft emit most of their exhaust and which is a very critical domain (e.g., radiatively and stratosphere/troposphere exchanges) still imperfectly described in existing models. This will be valuable to improve knowledge about the processes occuring in the upper troposphere and the lowermost stratosphere, and the model treatment of near tropopause chemistry and transport. During MOZAIC I (January 1993–September 1996), fully automatic devices were developed, installed aboard five commercial Airbus A340s, and flown in normal airline service. A second phase, MOZAIC II, started in October 1996 with the aim of continuing the O3 and H2O measurements and doing a feasibility study of new airborne devices (CO, NOy). Between September 1994 and December 1997, 7500 flights, representing 54,000 flight hours, were made over the continents (Europe, North America, Asia, South America, and Africa) and the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the measurements (90%) correspond to cruise altitudes (9–12 km), the remaining being obtained during ascents and descents near the 50 cities frequented by MOZAIC operations. This paper reports the main characteristics of the program and the flights, with a brief summary of the general content and focus of papers already published and companion papers of this special issue. These deal with the following: description and validation of the ozone and water vapor measurement methods; presentation of an accurate ozone climatology at 9–12 km altitude, over the Northern Hemisphere (130°W–140°E; 0°–80°N), and down to 30°S over South America and Africa; comparison between a 2‐year MOZAIC ozone climatology (1994–1996; 0–12 km) and a long series of older measurements made since the 1980s at 8 stations of the Ozone Sounding Network; study of ozone‐rich transients, up to 500 ppbv on a horizontal scale of 5–80 km, in the upper tropical troposphere; and comparison between MOZAIC ozone data and output from the global chemistry and transport model (CTM) TOMCAT.