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mmcclellan
,
FL
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Cessna Skycatcher: The New Classroom in the Sky
from mmcclellan
wrote 2 years 11 weeks ago
To solve the agrivated spin issue Cessna extended the rudder and installed a dorsal fin. It also changed the gearing on the ailerons so that they do not displace the same amount up and down. These are all fairly common and well understood "fixes" for recovery from abused spin entires.
Bests,
Mac McClellan, Flying
Gulfstream Monitors for Safety
from mmcclellan
wrote 2 years 2 weeks ago
Safetypilot is correct. I didn't put the Eclipse program in the same category as Gulfstream or the airlines because it was operated by the manufacturer, Eclipse.
Gulfstream offers the equipment and analysis service for its FORMS program, but each operator, like each airline, does what it feels is best with the information.
Eclipse is--or was--unique in many ways in terms of certification. For example, the specific required training was built into the airplane certification process, a first, and maybe a last. And the FOQA was part of that certification and training required by the airplane type certificate, or at least that's the way I understood what was going on.
Who knows? The Eclipse FOQA would probably have been a great aid to safety.
Mac Mc
Sustain This
from mmcclellan
wrote 2 years 2 weeks ago
Actually, airplane piston engines have excellent specific fuel consumption (SFC). That is a measure of pounds of fuel consumed per hour per horsepower produced. In cruise a typical airplane engine has an SFC of just over 0.4. Automotive engines do not do as well.
The reasons are a different duty cycle. The airplane engine sits there and produces a constant power output with a mixture optimized by the pilot for the conditions of air pressure and temperature. In contrast the auto engine has a duty cycle of constantly changing power demands even in cruise where the road is never entirely level and the drag of air loads is constantly changing by the wind or presence of other vehicles.
So, lead is an environmental issue, but efficiency is not. The SFC of airplane piston engines is already as good or better than any piston engine except maybe a stationary engine that runs a water pump, or some other device.
Mac Mc
It's All About Density
from mmcclellan
wrote 1 year 44 weeks ago
It's not avgas
I'm not sure how this discussion got off onto to avgas when only a few percent of all aviation fuel is gasoline. I know that I won't live to see a battery powered 747, or event Gulfstream. It's jet fuel that dominates.
Mac Mc
