http://morphing.mae.cornell.edu/Papers/%5BManzo%5D%20HECS%20MS%20Thesis%20Master.pdf

http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=406&gTable=mtgpaper&gID=65912

I created a wiki page to katix gforge for link collection.

I hope you like it. It is not sorted in any sense, but it contains lots of interesting links. A friend of mine has been sending these to me a quite long time and I thought that I could share the collection with you.

http://gforge.katix.org/gf/project/twinzygger/wiki/?pagename=MiscTechPapers

New idea:
- A body that comprises of a laminar body and wing blended together
- There is a V-tail in a blended boom
- Rear of the center section has suction slot on top side
- The boom contains a electric fan that is used for suction and additional thrust
- There are two turbocharged Rotax 912UL engines in the wings which are hidden in blended pods that continue the airfoil shape of the wing without interruption
- Both engines turn additional turbochargers which drive generators which generate electricity for the rear fan of the aircraft

Items that need to be studied:
- does pressure thrust work with this kind of shape, or does it require axisymmetric body?
- compare the drag of minimum axisymmetric body with non-blended wings to a blended wing body which has larger cross sectional area, but potentially lower wetted area.
- wing incidence relative to the center section - center section has a lower aspect ratio than the wings and what it requires to achieve optimal lift distribution in this combined case
- the achievable gain from the lack of interference drag or very small interference drag
- optimal wing loading for a combined blended wing body compared to a pod+boom+wings solution
- shark fin shape on the outer wing sections, the gain and the issues

Youtube video about Burt Rutan Ares

 Aviation Scholarships in India

The Skyline Aviation Club, Mumbai scholarship schemes: The Skyline Aviation Club was established in 1987, under the name of The Indian Aviation Academy. Since inception the Club was involved in Aviation Educational Activities such as aero modeling, Aviation Awareness Programs, Private Pilot license (Hobby) Ground Training Course, Ham Radio, etc. for the benefits of students of Schools and Colleges. This aviation club provides various Scholarships for those who belong to the SC/ ST categories.

Scheme for award of Scholarship/Stipends to the SC/ST candidates for flying training up to Private Pilot's License in various Flying Clubs/Institutes in India by Director General of Civil Aviation, Government of India, New Delhi.

Total Number of Scholarship available per year: 40

Scholarship for Commercial Pilot's License Training for SC/ST students holding Private Pilot's License through Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) under Ministry Of Civil Aviation, Government of India. Every batch 3 full Scholarships are offered by IGRUA. Apart from this, those students joining IGRUA are also eligible for following Scholarships mentioned below:

    Two full scholarship by Indian Airlines: Two scholarships of Rs 4, 00,000, each given on merit-cum-means basis per batch
    Two full scholarship by Air India: Two scholarships of Rs 4, 00,000, each given on merit-cum-means basis per batch.
    Two full Scholarships to girl students by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation: Amounting to 75% of the training fees. For two women pilots on merit-cum-means to the extent of Rs 3, 00,000 each per batch.
    Scholarship by JRD Tata Trust amounting not less than 1 lakh may be available. For four students, of an amount not less than Rs 1, 00,000 on merit-cum-means basis. The JRD Tata Trust offers up to Rs 10 lakhs per year to trainees as decided by its Board of Directors.
    Scholarship / Loan for Commercial Pilot's License Training for SC/ST students (Maharashtra State) through Mahatma Phule Backward Class Development Corporation. (State Government of Maharashtra Undertaking).
    Scholarship / Loan for Commercial Pilot's License Training for SC/ST students (Gujarat State) through Ministry of Social Welfare
    Centrally sponsored Scheme of Post Matric Scholarship for SC/ST students for Commercial Pilot's License Course. Total number of scholarship available per year is 20. With the provision for these Scholarships your dream to be a pilot is not far anymore.

Time you grab this kind of opportunities and fly high.

I was looking Parson's high transition length body in a book and thought that maybe if I modify my body shape also so that the nose becomes sharper. By sacrificing some interior space, the flow acceleration can be kept for high transition length according the book I was reading this. My modified body looks like this.



Despite the QFLR5 algorithm is not maybe designed for simulating NLF bodies (it is designed for simulating wings), the pressure distribution looks like the same as the wind tunnel data for the Parson's body which makes me think that it might not be that much wrong.

Ever wanted a Star Trek's computer? It is here today:

http://www.wolframalpha.com/

For starters, try out for example: integrate x+y^2
This service is superb.

Top entrance exams and their eligibility criteria to get admission in engineering colleges:-

Best colleges for Aeronautical Engineering and Eligible for what entrance exams to become Aeronautical engineering after completing 12th class?

1. IIT-JEE :-

-for the admission in India Institute of technology(IIT's)
-eligibility criteria:- 50% aggregate in 12th(GEN) 45% aggregate in12th(reserved category)

2. AIEEE :-

-for all the NIT's(National Institute of technology) & few other private and Government colleges.
-eligibility criteria:- 50% aggregate in 12th(GEN)
45% aggregate in12th(reserved category)

3. BITSAT :-

-for all the BIT's colleges(Birla institute of technology)
-eligibility criteria:- 80% aggregate in 12th class

4. VIT :-

-for the VIT university, Vellore
-55% aggregate in 12th class
70% aggregate in PCM

5. COMEDK :-

-private engineering and medical colleges of Karnataka.
-50% aggregate in 12th(GEN)
45% aggregate in12th(reserved category)

6. TNPCEE(Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examinations):-

-government/private colleges of Tamil Nadu.
-for gen category-70% aggregate in 12th class
60% aggregate in PCM
& for SC/ST-12th class pass.

7. KCET(Karnataka common entrance test):- 

-for all the government colleges in Karnataka and all the private colleges affiliated to Visveswaraiah Technological University.

-50% aggregate in PCM.
40% for SC/ST

Best Colleges for Aeronautical Engineering in South India:-

1. IIT, Chennai
2. Madras Institute of technology, Chennai
3. Hindustan institute of engineering technology, Chennai
4. Nehru College of aeronautical and applied sciences, Coimbatore
5. VSM institute of aerospace engineering and technology, Bangalore
6. Hindustan Electronics academy, Bangalore

I have been thinking this topic for quite a long time and my old conclusion was that it is not feasible. However, there is very little information about pressure suits out there, but looking at the very little there is about the old Mercury suits etc., I have got indications that actually fabrication of a partial pressure suit might be feasible. Buying one might not be feasible because of lack of availability and insane pricing.

I would like to learn more about the topic, but in the Internet at least, there is very little or nothing. If someone has some insight, please leave some comments.

A major portion of aircraft drag (in addition to the wing) is generated by the fuselage. The poor aircraft has to drag the draggy fuselage forwards. It is justified to target for reducing the fuselage drag in addition to the drag of the wings to achieve high L/D ratio and thus high efficiency and exceptional miles per gallon figure.

The idea comprises of the following claims:
- a laminar body with optimal fineness ratio for minimum drag
- a tail boom behind the optimal fineness ratio laminar pod
- electric motor (or couple of electric motors in cascade) turn
one or many ducted fans that are in cascade inside the rear of the fuselage.
The fan(s) take their air intake from the boundary layer of the fuselage.
- the fans are driven with batteries on takeoff.
- the fans are driven in cruise with electricity generated from the exhaust gas of the two gasoline engines which are mounted in wings.
- there is an additional turbine mounted in the exhaust that turns a generator rather than compressing air for the gasoline engine.
- the exhaust for the air is either in the tail boom prior to the tail or after the tail, whichever is found to provide best results.
- the fans provide suction for the fuselage boundary layer and also additional thrust for the aircraft. This configuration however, does not cause additional drag for the aircraft but reduces it.
- additional generators can be mounted to wing tip vortices so that the wing tip vortex turns the turbine blades and thus generates electricity for the fans located in the rear of the fuselage.
- the generators, battery charging and fans are computer controlled.
- the fans utilize all power that can be drawn from the exhaust gas and the wing tip turbines and thus runs at full power available to it continuously. On takeoff batteries are used to ensure high centerline thrust for the hypothetical situation where one of the gasoline engines would fail.

I found these some time ago, but now got reminded about it also on one comment to a previous post. Therefore I decided to open a new topic for it:

Goldschmied drag reduction tech papers:
http://cafefoundation.org/v2/pav_enablingtech_dragreduction.php

Interesting reading for anyone interested in achieving major breakthroughs in the fuselage drag.

Aviation Opportunities

Position: Maintenance / Bell Certified Helicopter Mechanics

Company: Heliqwest Fax Number: (303) 466-3522
Address: 11915 Airport Way Broomfield
Colorado80021, USA

 

Web Address: www.heliqwest.com
Company Info: We are full a service utility operator specializing in external load operations, siesmic exploration, oil and gas field support and government contracting. We also have an on demand charter operation that handles everything from real estate surveys, to executive transport, to aerial photography.
Supported Manufacturers:
Job Title: Bell Certified Helicopter Mechanics
Location: BROOMFIELD Colorado USA
Salary Range: Neg-Neg
Email: mechanics@heliqwest.com

Job Description:

HeliQwest International is currently seeking resumes for Bell 204/205 Certified Helicopter Mechanics for the USA. We are located in Denver Colorado and offer health benefits, per diems, flight pay bonuses with minimum guarantees and an extremely competitive daily rate. Contact us today to see how you can join the team!

Candidates must have:
•Bell 204/205 experience mandatory
•2 years MINIMUM field experience on Bell 205A-1
•Clean driving record
•Ability to travel outside of the USA if necessary
•Class C CDL with Hazmat

Preferred qualifications:
•Type endorsement courses (full 3 week training course) given preference
•Seasonal and full time positions available immediately
•AS350 endorsement is beneficial

Email mechanics@heliqwest.com to submit your resume. Apologize but only successful candidates will be contacted.

Remote-Controlled Car Transformer

 Zak Sawa (site ZakLab) great amateur roboticist, alerted a project "Made in Japan" which seems to have finally turned into reality the dream of all fans of 

Transformers: a remote-controlled robot that can turn into a car. 

This amazing little roadster switches from sports car to dancing robot in a few seconds and it can even walk while in robot mode. The creator of this masterpiece is that Kenji Ishida has used as many as 22 servants to move her child. What we can see in the video is the eighth "release" of this project started about 4 years ago and the creator is expecting to make more over the next year. It is, in short, amazing..

The original video was posted a couple of days ago the Japanese video-sharing site NicoNico.

via HobbyMedia

New iteration of laminar body fuselage shape:

One interesting aircraft in the historical data:

Lancair Evolution

P/W Power to weight ratio 7.54 kg/kW, 12.28 lbs/hp.
W/S Wing loading 142 kg/m^2, 29.05 lbs/sqft
Stall speed 61 kts
Empty weight to gross weight ratio: 0.55
Fuel to gross weight ratio: 0.2
Aspect ratio: 10.3

Aircraft with 12.28 lbs/hp power loading and 29.05 lbs/sqft wing loading in other words can
be made to climb, and it can also meet FAR 23 in stall speed requirement (61 kts). According to an article, the LC Evolution demonstrated glide ratio of 1:22 which is amazing compared to the competition, especially achieving this with only AR=10.3.

With these parameters, a smaller Rotax powered twin aircraft would be sized as follows:
Engines: 2 x Rotax 912UL, each turbocharged at 100 hp
Gross weight: 1116 kg
Empty weight: 0.55 * 1116 kg = 613 kg
Fuel weight: 0.2 * 1116 kg = 223 kg
Fuel volume: 314 l
Wing area: 1116 kg / 142 kg/m2 = 7.75 m2
Useful load (including fuel): 503 kg
Useful load full fuel: 280 kg
Endurance: 10.4 hours

Challenges:
- achieving the stall speed of 61 kts, requires very high Clmax for the flapped airfoil
- achieving > 20 glide ratio with lower Re, requires higher AR most likely
- achieving positive climb rate with single engine
- achieve the Clmax with wings that carry two engine pods on them (blanketing potentially flap and part of the wing).
- The fuel potentially does not fit inside the wing of this low wing area.

What it shows:
- Still with this high wing loading, it would be possible to fit three adults on the plane with full fuel. The result is not at all bad compared to any production aircraft.
- Empty weight looks realistic taking in account there are two Rotax engines on the craft. It is higher than it would be if it was relatively as lightweight as a Dynaero.

Bottom line: The parameters of the Lancair Evolution are very impressive and inspiring.

Realism hits:

Reduce the wing loading to 120 kg/m2
Wing area becomes: 1116 kg / 120 kg/m2 = 9.3 m2

-> It ends up in the magic 9.3 m2 wing area I have ended up from many directions already several times before.

I have in our svn by the way a OpenOffice.org spreadsheet about historical data about the basic design parameters for aircraft. There are just couple of aircraft currently in the list, but I will add more later and also you can help, you can send me more lines to the sheet, just take the sheet as a template and fill your lines and send it to me karoliina dot t dot salminen at gmail dot com. I will copy-paste your additions to the table. I am particularly interested in fast composite aircraft and not so interested in the parameters of tube and fabric aircraft or metal aircraft (except interesting ones, like RV). All data even for fabric and tube, is welcome of course, but I wanted to let you know what I am interested in the most.

Here is the spreadsheet in OpenOffice.org format:
WeightAndBasicParametersHistoricalStatistics.ods

Here is the current version of the spreadsheet in PDF-format for quick viewing:
WeightAndBasicParametersHistoricalStatistics.pdf

I decided to do svn up for QFLR5 and was delighted that it has progressed further. I decided to try out fuselage shapes this time because it turned out that QFLR5 now allows larger airfoil thicknesses than 20%. Therefore here is a 26% fuselage shape I created today.

Here is how I started it:
1. I took NLF414F airfoil which I know to have very low drag value at 10 million reynolds number.
2. I decambered to it to zero camber
3. I changed thickness to 26%
4. I changed leading edge radius: 30% from leading edge, 0.8 ratio.



The simulation result gives very low Cd-value. The problem in reality is that because of all intersections, and a hatch where one has to enter the craft, the transition point is not that great as predicted by the program most likely.

Here is another simulation, transition forced at 40% chord. The Reynolds number is the same, 41 million with mach 0.29:



I further adjusted the leading edge radius, from the above, I reduced it to 0.8 again.

Here is the result KSNLFFUSELAGE3:



The simulated polar for the NLFFUSELAGE3:



Obviously the fuselage is supposed to be flown at zero angle of attack on cruise flight, but for slight side slip situations it is good to know how the drag rises on the fuselage. It also affects to the stability negatively (for example because the lift slope is not at all linear).

Potential improvement idea for use in non-steady flight: widen the low drag bucket a bit.

The airfoil shape as a axisymmetric fuselage (or as a generic pod, this works also as a engine pod), 3D illustration:



And this is how it looks from inside:



Structurally the pod requires thicker boom than the optimum and unfortunately the drag will be larger than the simulated one for the pod alone.

William M. Fanning Maintenance Scholarship

NBAA annually awards $2,500 to each of two applicants pursuing careers as maintenance technicians. One award will benefit a student who currently is enrolled in an accredited airframe and powerplant (A&P) program at an approved FAR Part 147 school. The second award will benefit an individual who currently is not enrolled but has been accepted for enrollment in an A&P program.

The scholarship is named in honor of retired NBAA staff member William M. Fanning, who was active in maintenance issues during his nearly 20-year tenure at the Association.

Awards will be made to U.S. citizens without regard to sex, race, religion or national origin. Scholarships will be awarded in the fall of 2020, and checks will be made payable to the school. Scholarship recipients must use the funds by December 31, 2020, or risk forfeit of the award.

A completed and signed application form must be accompanied by an essay, official transcript or acceptance letter, resume and letter of recommendation. See application form for details.

Completed and signed applications and required documents must be postmarked no later than July 31, 2020, to be considered for the scholarship.

For all NBAA scholarships, applicants are limited to receiving one award per person, per year. Direct all questions about this application to NBAA at (202) 783-9250 or info@nbaa.org.

Alan H. Conklin Business Aviation Management Scholarship

Conklin & de Decker, in coordination with NBAA, established the Alan H. Conklin Business Aviation Management Scholarship in 2007 to benefit undergraduates pursuing careers in business aviation management.

The scholarship was created to honor the memory of Al Conklin, a U.S. Air Force veteran and business aviation leader for more than 60 years. Conklin’s experience as a business aircraft salesman in the early decades of his career informed his later work in proving the economic value of aircraft to business. With Bill de Decker, he first published the Aircraft Cost Evaluator in the 1970s and later founded Conklin & de Decker, an aviation information company that provides aircraft operating cost and performance data.

NBAA and Conklin & de Decker annually award $5,000 to an undergraduate student who is officially enrolled in an aviation management program at a University Aviation Association (UAA) member school. Scholarships will be awarded for the 2020–2020 academic year, and checks will be made payable to the school. Awards will be made to U.S. citizens or permanent residents without regard to sex, race, religion or national origin. Scholarship recipients must use the funds by October 31, 2020, or risk forfeit of the award. See application form for details.

Completed and signed applications and required documents must be postmarked no later than July 31, 2020, to be considered for the scholarship.

For all NBAA scholarships, applicants are limited to receiving one award per person, per year. Direct all questions about this application to NBAA at (202) 783-9250 or info@nbaa.org.