Industrial Strength Internet

Air Transport World and ARINC are sponsoring a webcast November 30 titled "Industrial Strength Internet: Can Mission Critical be Agile?"

Adoption of Internet-based technology in the aviation industry has been hampered by the prevalence of legacy applications and requirements for higher levels of security, reliability and performance than the Internet has provided in the past. While the Internet is a part of consumer-facing services and used heavily on the distribution side of the business, adoption for applications that support operations has been slower.

Increasing momentum in the migration from legacy infrastructure, trends toward broader outsourcing of IT applications and development of new applications—such as eTicketing, eFreight, and advanced passenger information reporting—have created a perfect storm for increased adoption of Internet technology.

This Webcast will focus on how the highly integrated, mission-critical, communications-intensive air transport industry can benefit from the lower cost, ubiquity and increased agility that Internet technology can deliver. The focus will be on how broadband Internet and XML-based application technologies like Web Services are changing the landscape for networking and applications.

For more information and to sign up for this event, click here.

A Silent Aircraft

The Silent Aircraft Initiative was launched in November 2003 by Cambridge University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to find a way to reduce aircraft noise. Not just a little - a lot. To the point where you could hardly notice it outside the airport.

They've just unveiled a design that is not only quiet, but projected to have a 25% reduction in fuel consumption.

The design is intended for the generation after next of aircraft for entry into service in 2030. The design looked at improving the airframe as well as the engines as half of the noise from a landing plane comes from the airframe. Some of the key design features employed are:

• the overall shape of the aircraft which is a single flying wing – this allows the body to provide lift as well as the wings allowing a slower approach which reduces noise and the shape improves fuel efficiency in cruise
• flaps and slats have been eliminated – these are a major source of airframe noise when a plane is landing
• the undercarriage has been simplified and its aerodynamics improved
• the engines are mounted on the top of the aircraft which screens much of the noise from the ground
• novel ultra-high bypass engines, which have variable size jet nozzles to allow slower jet propulsion during takeoff and climb for low noise, and be optimized for maximum efficiency during cruise which requires higher jet speeds.

A number of aerospace companies participated, including: British Airways, BAA, Boeing, Brüel & Kjær, the Civil Aviation Authority, Cranfield University, DHL, easyJet, Eurocontrol, HACAN Clearskies, Lochard, London Luton Airport, Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace, National Air Traffic Services (NATS), Nottingham East Midlands Airport, the Royal Aeronautical Society and Rolls-Royce.

In the press:

'Silent Jet' Could Ease Airport Noise

Research team releases design for 'silent aircraft'

Sharing your location with friends

The site MyVector was recently submitted to the Thirty Thousand Feet - Aviation Directory. The basic idea is simple: with an online locator map, you can share your itinerary and contact details, find buddies around the world, and store your travel history.

It targets frequent travellers, pilots, cabin crew, etc. and it's free. From the Learn More page:

We all like our privacy... but sometimes, we just have to let people know where we are. In a world where we’re all traveling more... that’s becoming increasingly difficult to do. Friends, family, clients, colleagues, management... they all need, at times, to get in touch with us. But if you’re a business traveller, an innocent call from your golf buddies asking if you can make a 10:30 tee on Saturday can easily wake you up at 03:45 before your big meeting in Tokyo. OK, you can turn your mobile off... but then your important messages can’t get to you... and all of us forget - now and then - to turn it off, or worse still back on again.

Calling everyone to keep them updated on your travel itinerary is just not practical. It’s time consuming, and there will always be some people who don’t get your message. That’s why we created MyVector.

MyVector is an easily updateable way for you to let the people you want to know where you are, and it also lets them see clearly what that means in global terms - whether it’s day or night where you are, and if (and how) they can get in touch with you. And it’s only the people you WANT to see this information that can...

It's an interesting concept.