Aeronautics

Call them a bunch of intellectual lightweights.

Researchers at HRL Laboratories, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of California at Irvine have created what they say is the lowest-density material, a lattice of hollow tubes of the metal nickel.

Its volume is 99.99 percent air, and its density is 0.9 milligram per cubic centimeter--not including the air in or between its tubes. That density is less than one-thousandth that of water.

The metallic microlattice, as the researchers call it, could be useful for absorbing sound, vibration, and shock. Other possibilities, according to HRL: electrodes that could … Read more

After years of waiting, Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is finally flying passengers.

With an All Nippon Airways charter flight yesterday from Tokyo to Hong Kong the Dreamliner commercial era began, and not a moment too soon.

As anyone who follows aviation knows, the new airplane is one of the most anticipated in history, largely because it is made from composite materials and promises airline customers better fuel efficiency than almost any other plane in the sky. But while excitement for the aircraft is high, there is also a lot of eyes on it because of the fact that it has … Read more

Northrop Grumman's X-47B unmanned stealth plane achieved cruise mode flight for the first time recently, a major step toward using the bomber aboard aircraft carriers.

During a flight at Edwards Air Force Base on September 30, the robo-plane retracted its landing gear and flew in cruise configuration for the first time. The test helped prove its navigation hardware and software.

The flight was part of the X-47B's "envelope expansion" under the Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. Northrop has produced two X-47Bs for the Navy and the aircraft is slated to begin carrier trials in 2013. … Read more

Who among us hasn't once pushed a wrong button, leading to embarrassment, pain or a very damp shirt at 7-Eleven?

However, who among us has been an airline pilot?

This question shivers through what remain of my timbers after discovering, thanks to the flighty crew at Gizmodo, that a Japanese pilot made such a vast error that he managed to nearly flip his Boeing 737-700.

Yes, the plane was flying 117 passengers at the time.

The Japanese Economic Newswire, which first reported this startling affair, explained that Flight 140 from Naha to Haneda rolled a little to the right … Read more

EVERETT, Wash.--At long last, Boeing has handed off what may be the most important commercial airplane in its history, the 787 Dreamliner.

Heralded for years as the biggest technological leap forward in aviation in decades, the Dreamliner has represented both Boeing's greatest promise--an all-new energy-efficient plane made from composite materials--and the biggest thorn in its side.

Despite being beset by myriad delays, the Dreamliner has engendered passionate excitement and interest, and this morning, Boeing finally reached a milestone it, and the world, has been awaiting for at least three years: the delivery of the first 787 to its … Read more

The iPad might be winning the tablet battle on the ground, but Android is on its way to owning the air. Boeing has chosen the Android platform for in-flight entertainment for its new 787 Dreamliner airplane. Once integrated, passengers will be able to play games, listen to music, watch video, and more from the comfort of their seat.

Mark Larson, the technical manager at Boeing's Dreamliner Gallery, told the Australian Businss Traveler that all current 787s will see touch displays built into seats, giving the airliner's passengers something to do on those long flights. Economy seats will see … Read more

Passenger jets seem designed to waste time, what with people trying to stuff oversized carry-on bags into undersized luggage bins, aisles clogged with people, and a billion other factors that delay your flight.

A few years ago, Fermilab astrophysicist Jason Steffen observed this while flying to a conference and got to thinking: is there a way to have passengers board a plane more efficiently?

Steffen considered various methods, such as boarding people in blocks, at random, and in window seats first. He set up a model using an algorithm based on the Monte Carlo optimization method used in statistics and mathematics.

He found that the most efficient boarding method is to board alternate rows at a time, beginning with the window seats on one side, then the other, minimizing aisle interference. The window seats are followed by alternate rows of middle seats, then aisle seats. He also found that boarding at random is faster that boarding by blocks. … Read more

The best thing I saw at CES in 2010 was the Parrot AR Drone, an iPhone-controlled quadcopter. It was a really fun toy, but an expensive one, and not that reliable either, as I learned when my demo unit dropped out of the sky. But this platform, the quadcopter, can be a serious player in solving real-world problems. Aeryon, which I covered in 2009, played an important part in the Libyan rebellion: one of its flying bots helped the rebels see over their heads to where their opposition was gathering.

And at the graduation ceremony of the Singularity University this week, I was introduced to another real-world, save-the-world company that's applying quadcopter technology: Matternet.

This particular class of S.U. was focused on solving problems for "the next billion people," those without access to modern technology. Matternet tackled the problem of getting drugs and diagnostic or test materials to people in rural areas in developing countries that don't have access to passable roads during rainy seasons.

The company proposed building a network of robotic drones to deliver medication quickly and very cost-effectively--even less than a guy on a dirt bike costs.

… Read more

And all the engineers breathed out.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last week gave Boeing certification for its 787 Dreamliner, saying that the company's years-in-the-making aircraft is finally safe for passengers. The announcement came after the aircraft completed its final flight tests on August 17.

The green-lighting will allow Boeing to make its first delivery to Japan's All Nippon Airways on September 28, at Tokyo's Haneda airport.

The Dreamliner is in many ways the aircraft on which the aerospace giant has staked its future. Constructed with composite materials, the 787 is supposed to be more fuel … Read more