Archive for the ‘AIRCRAFT’ Category
Monday, February 23rd, 2009 |
Small piston engined airplanes are the most popular among enthusiasts who wish to own their own airplane. Flying as a hobby or just for pleasure is very popular all over the world mainly because they are safe and easy to fly and maintain. Such aircrafts are owned by people from all walks of life - bank employees, architects, engineers, doctors and lawyers.
Many pilots do not own an airplane, but they rent them from the local airports, paying only for the number of hours they fly. If a small plane is rented for day for a family outing, it would cost the pilot only about $100 per hour and the actual flying time may not exceed one to two hours at the most.
Most small airplanes cost about the same as an expensive car. Used aircraft for sale are much more economical. You will find such popular name brands as Cessna Aircraft, Mooney Aircraft, Beechcraft Aircraft, Commander Aircraft, Mitsubishi Aircraft, and many other names that so many people look for in helicopters for sale.
When it comes to larger aircraft, it is a different story. The smaller jets cost around $1.50 to $2.00 million making it beyond the reach of hobbyists and pleasure seekers. Typically such aircrafts are owned by Multinational and “Fortune 500″ companies, and of course film stars, top sportspeople and the like. Flying and maintaining these airplanes is expensive. A pilot needs to be permanently employed and the company needs to pay rental if the aircraft is parked in the local airport.
For a company with multi-million dollar turnover, this may be a necessity as they would be using the aircraft all the more frequently in the course of their business, flying quite a few hundred hours annually. But for smaller companies, although they can afford to buy such an aircraft, they need to think if such an additional expense is necessary considering their actual use.
A private jet can be chartered for an year’s use of around 30 hours of actual flight for about $100,000 and the aircraft of your choice will be at your beck and call till you complete the 30 hours of flight or one year, whichever is earlier. This works out very economical for companies that do not need the aircraft very often.
And then there is the Fractional ownership scheme where several companies join up and purchase an aircraft, and share the maintenance and other expenses equally, and paying for the actual flying hours at cost. This will work out economical for companies who may require using the aircraft more often.
To own or to charter a Private Jet depends entirely on the financial position and the actual need.
Posted in AIRCRAFT | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 |
Conceived in the 1940s, copied and replicated for half a century, general aviation is much the same as it has always been. A single-engine airplane for sale, or twin engine airplane for sale, goes about as fast as and as far today as it did back in 1957. Even with GPS and Weather Data Link, it takes just about as much skill, judgment and hard work to fly today’s Piper Saratoga as it did to operate a 1962 Beech Bonanza. And despite a gallant effort on the part of Learn-To-Fly books, publications and websites, many airports are not very newcomer friendly. Cover up your big watch, tuck your Ray Bans into your pocket and waltz into a strange FBO/Airports from the parking lot side.
A few positives: Glass cockpits are replacing steam gauges in everything from old King Airs to new light sport airplanes. It took nearly 20 years for EFIS to trickle down, but you can’t buy a new Cessna Skyhawk without it, and that’s good. EFIS, coupled with GPS and WX data link, will eventually make flying safer, easier and more accessible. Back to the light sport market, some of these airplanes only burn 5 gph. That means the ‘$100 hamburger’ would only be about $70 in my neighborhood.
Finally, Very Light Jets (VLJ Just as the single engine Cirrus for sale and Columbia have made 1950s technology appear obsolete, VLJs will rob some buyers from the pre-owned turboprop aircraft for sale and Business Jet for sale markets. It might be happening already. If they can get past the ‘size matters’ thing, a lot of cost-conscious buyers are going to take that very light road.
Posted in AIRCRAFT | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 |
JET engines are now so reliable that a pilot can go an entire career without seeing one fail. Autopilots are so good that some airlines have set up their cockpits to emit a loud beep every few minutes, to make sure the crew is still awake. And navigation is so accurate that landings can be timed to the second.
Jet fuel is now the largest expense for most airlines, and for American carriers each penny increase in price per gallon costs nearly $200 million a year. The industry is also becoming increasingly nervous about what happens when that fuel is burned. Aviation is responsible for about 2 percent of global emissions of greenhouse gases, and that share will rise as air travel continues to grow.
So the industry is scrambling to build greener airplanes — to save weight and improve engine efficiency, with an eye toward reducing operating costs and emissions.
Pratt & Whitney, the engine company based in East Hartford, Conn., is testing an engine with gears arranged so that the fan in front turns at just one-third the speed of the blades in back. The innovation allows the use of a very big fan in the front, which will move more air at a slightly slower speed. “You can either make thrust by moving more air, or taking air and putting more fuel in it, to accelerate the air,” said Robert J. Saia, vice president of Pratt for new engine models.
Mitsubishi has selected the engine for its new regional jet, and All Nippon Airways has agreed to buy 15 of them. Bombardier, in Montreal, has listed the geared turbofan as a choice for a new line of regional jets it will build.
Posted in AIRCRAFT | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 |
ear of flying, or aerophobia, can be a phobia in itself or it can be a symptom for other phobias such as claustrophobia or acrophobia. Aerophobia is also known as aviatophobia, aviophobia, or aeroanxiety. It is a condition that affects 40 percent of Americans and Europeans one way or another.
Since September 11, aerophobia is not just another anxious thought in individual minds, it affects people from all walks of life. Anybody can suffer from it, men and women, young and old in all professions. Nevertheless, the trigger can be unexpected, it can turn a veteran flier into a frightened passenger overnight.The fear associated with flying is not the same for every aerophobic individual. It can be a specific fear of heights, fear of being over the water, or fear of crashing. Aerophobia often prevents people from going on vacations or attending social events. But fear of flying receives increased attention because air travel is difficult to avoid these days.
It seems that commercial air travel continues to cause a significant proportion of the public’s anxiety. CNN reported lately that approximately 1200 people every year take a special course to help them overcome their aerophobia. Not surprisingly, most of them are business travelers.Experts indicate that, generally, the fear comes from the feeling of loosing control and fear of flying can seriously hurt companies if it prevents their employees from traveling on work-related business. In many cases, this feeling can be offset by executive jet charter or jet rental, it gives the executives a sense of security that cannot be achieved in commercial air travel.Therefore, many companies make strategic business decisions to charter a private jet or charter flights. As a result, aircraft sales, private jet rental, and private jet charter increased dramatically in the past few years. Private individuals who can charter private jets, corporate jets, or use any type of private jet charter flights, often do.Gadi Capela writes for “Luxury Air Jets”. Luxury Air Jets specializes in providing private jet charter flights with only four-hour notice. We are committed to meet any need you may have thus a full array of specialized in-flight services can be added to enhance your private jet rental experience, from security requirements to dietary observance - twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, all year rou
Posted in AIRCRAFT | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 |
he hot topic today, in the world of Aluminium recycling is Airplane recycling. More than 3500 airliners will reach their end-of-life between 2008 and 2025 at a rate of around 200 aircrafts per year. The major concern today is the disposal of these scarp aircrafts. Some of these old aircrafts are used for ground training purposes, while some of them are left to rot next to the runways. In an effort to address this problem many organizations have started environment friendly recycling programs. According to Boeing, the largest manufacturer of jet airliners, about 7200 commercial planes including Boeing 737, 747 and Airbus A320, A340 models will be scrapped. Boeing, in 2006 co-founded the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association, with an aim to expand the airplane recycling rate to 90 percent from about 60 percent today.
HUGE SOURCE OF ALUMINIUM
For decades, thousands of obsolete private, civil, and military aircraft have been lying in “graveyards,” while the demand for recycled aluminum continues to increase. The aircrafts provide an absolute source of the valuable metal, ‘Aluminium.’ Almost 80 percent of Aircraft parts are recyclable. Most of the fuselage and wings of jets such as Boeing 727 is made of Aluminium which can be sold as scrap. Once the engines, landing gear, avionics and components are removed from the aircraft, there is still value in the aluminium. This scrapped Aluminium will be later used to manufacture automobile parts including wheels and transmissions.
CHALLENGES IN ACHIEVING COST EFFECTIVE AIRCRAFT RECYCLINGThe principal challenge that must be dealt with in creating this ideal aircraft recycling scenario includes the following:
. Identifying decision options for dismantling aircraft to simplify recycling; Identifying and optimizing technologies for automated shredding, sorting, and re-melting.. Identifying the range of representative compositions likely to be obtained from recycling aircraft components.
. Identifying the combination of performance requirements and compositions that would make useful aircraft components from recycled metal, even though they may not achieve the highest achievable levels of toughness;
. Identifying useful byproducts to handle elemental residual unable to be used in recycled metal.
The lifespan of most commercial airliners is said to be around 30 years. Most of the airliners used today were born by 1970s and now there is a jump in the number of planes beyond use. So aircraft recycling will reach its peak through the next decade.
Posted in AIRCRAFT | No Comments »
