Brent VanFossen, Engineer with a View

Want to talk on your cell phone during the flight? Well, you can’t. Cell phone users on airplanes are considered annoying. So how do you stay in touch while in flight? You’ll have to let your fingers do your communicating.

I’m currently working on development and installation of wireless broadband Internet on international airplances while watching the United States, FAA, and other organizations battle this issue out. It seems that cell phones are bad, WIFI is great.

Opposition to a federal proposal to allow wireless phone calls on U.S. airline flights has air carriers and federal regulators considering a less controversial alternative that could still help busy executives turn idle travel time into productive work time: wireless internet connections, reports Washington Watch.

In December, the Federal Communications Commission proposed relaxing its nearly 15-year ban on wireless phone use during U.S. flights. Since then, the agency has received thousands of messages opposing the idea. Travelers, as well as flight attendant groups, claim cell phone use on airplanes would cause fights between passengers talking on the phone and those annoyed by the conversations. Members of Congress have also objected.

As a result, airlines and wireless carriers are testing Wi-Fi networks. In June, the Federal Aviation Administration gave Verizon Airfone and UnitedAirlines approval to test Wi-Fi equipment for use in flight after demonstrating that it would not interfere with airline instrumentation. Meanwhile, Cingular Wireless wrote to the FAA saying passengers should be encouraged to “tap, not talk” during flights.
U.S. Airlines to Allow In-flight Internet Connections

According to a new report, the FAA mulls changing insulation standards, amending its controversial rule upgrading flammability standards for thermal and acoustic insulation. There is worry that the unexpected scope of the new ruling, effective on September 2, 2005, would put too much burden on business aircraft owners and operators.

At about the same time the rule was going into effect, representatives from several associations met with the FAA to discuss the new regulations, believing they pose “a serious threat to continued operation after September 2 of many in-service Part 25 [certified] aircraft.” The meeting, attended by representatives from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), NBAA and several other trade groups, raised concerns that the application of new rule is “broader than originally intended.â€?

The associations explained, “It has long been understood that the requirements of the final rules would apply solely to thermal and acoustic blankets installed in Part 25 airplanes.” However, they continued, in corresponding guidance material released June 24 “it became clear that the rule was being applied to every insulating material in the fuselage of every Part 25 airplane (both old and new) and every piece of installed equipment with insulation.”

Based on the feedback the associations received from business aircraft operators, the FAA has developed an “action plan” to ease the burden of the requirements of the rule for the “immediate short term,” said a GAMA official. The FAA sent Flight Standards Airworthiness (FSAW) Bulletins 05-09 and 05-10 (September 1 and 7, respectively) to field inspectors to guide them in the application of the retroactive portion of the rule– Part 91.613(b)(1) and 135.170(c)(1). The bulletins “give inspectors a better understanding of the rule and provide clarification on the scope,” according to the GAMA official.

First, the bulletins make it clear that the new flammability requirements for thermal and acoustic insulation apply only to material “installed in the fuselage of transport-category airplanes.” The rule applies only when insulation is being replaced, but “the insulation that is inaccessible in flight is what should be the focus of compliance.” The FAA determined that insulation accessible in flight “can be readily extinguished and therefore this insulation material does not have to meet Part 25.856″â€? (the new flammability certification standards).

According to the bulletin, insulation on specific items covered by the rule include insulation inside ovens, carts, refrigerator meal boxes and coffee makers. It goes on to say “Insulation ‘visible in the cabin’ is considered compliant. Insulation not in the fuselage is not covered by the rule. Such areas ‘include the empennage, wheel wells and wing-to-body fairings.’”

Much of my career has been spent figuring out which “screw” will work to hold parts and pieces together in an airplance. Airplanes don’t use screws but hi-locks and other “riveting fasteners”. My personal life has also featured many long hours spent in hardware stores looking for the right screw, nail, and fastener to hold more parts and pieces together. So imagine my thrill at the announcement of a reinvented screw.

For centuries now the screw has held things together, and for almost as long it has been frustratingly inept at its central purpose. Concrete cracks when it is punctured by a screw. Plastic creeps away from the pressure, sliding down the threads so that even a tightened screw loosens almost instantly. Carmakers have to mold brass inserts into plastic parts to accept screws; otherwise they might loosen and cause a dreaded rattle.

Kenneth LeVey has a better idea…he has reinvented what the company dubs the threaded fastener in a way that lets it grip tight where it used to let loose–and compete with cheaper screws made by offshore rivals…

…He was flabbergasted by how archaic screw design was. On rare occasions when a new screw length or width was needed, an engineer would consult a 300-page manual dating from 1936 that explains the relationships between certain heights and pitches of threads and the lengths and widths of the resulting screws. “They would go do math for a couple of days and come back with an answer,”LeVey says–to how the grooved dies should look, how much pressure should be applied to the blank, and what the diameter of the blank should be….

…Last year ITW introduced a plastic fastener that it calls the BosScrew. Its threads have tiny notches on their upper surfaces that grab the plastic before it can slide down the helix. Carmakers no longer have to mold a dozen or so brass inserts into their plastic intake manifolds to accept screws, at six cents per fastener. A BosScrew costing a penny will go directly into the plastic–and save money by cutting out the inserts.
The Taming of the Screw by Forbes Magazine

Currently, I’m working on development and installation of broadband WIFI Internet in conjuction with Star Aviation and Boeing’s Connexion, so I’m excited to see that IT World Canada announce Broadband set for Australian flights early next year.

Cheap broadband satellite services could be available on Australian domestic and international airline flights by the end of next year.

A combination of cheaper satellite access terminals, along with the launch of two new high-powered satellites to service the entire globe prompted traditional military, aviation and maritime satellite vendor Inmarsat’s aim at the consumer telecommunications market.

Inmarsat now has one, geostationary satellite covering the Indian Ocean region connecting Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. The second satellite, due to be launched November 5 will cover the Atlantic Ocean and include both North and South America and the third will be launched in 2006 - with the view to providing complete global services by 2007.

…The move is part of a global trend with almost half the world’s airlines planning to offer some form of in-flight communications for passengers by the end of 2007, with most favoring Internet access, e-mail and SMS (short messaging service).

According to a new study released this week more than a third of airlines surveyed said they expect to let passengers use mobile phones on planes by that time.

CNN reports “Japan launches supersonic test flight” about a test in Australia of the a new model of supersonic jet under development by the Japanese and French.

Japan conducted a successful test flight of a supersonic jet in the Australian outback on Monday, taking a step closer to its goal of developing a successor to the Concorde.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the prototype supersonic jet was launched on the back of a rocket from the remote Woomera rocket range in the South Australian desert and completed a 15-minute flight.

Japanese developers hope that a new supersonic jet could some day make the trip from Tokyo to New York in just under six hours — less than half the current time.

“We were able to conduct a test flight and to gather data as planned. We think we have marked a major step in the development of (supersonic flight) technology,” Kimio Sakata, executive director of JAXA, told reporters in Tokyo via audio link from Australia.

Since the Concorde was shut down, dreams of supersonic flight continue to develop. This test saw the jet climbed to about 20 km (12 miles) above the Earth on the back of the rocket and then detached. It reached around twice the speed of sound and glided back to Earth using parachutes, returning fairly unharmed. It will be studied as part of the ongoing research.

Estimates are that this new supersonic jet would travel at Mach 2 and carry 300 passengers, which is 3 times as many as the Concorde.