Aeroworld

Recaps of the CSeries

2013-09-21T17:40:00.000-04:00

Here's a short recap of the first flight of the CSeries.

And here's a full broadcast :)

Have fun!

CSeries Takes Flight!

2013-09-16T21:30:00.000-04:00

There we've got take off! :)

Click here for a News Article released by Bombardier. And here for some fun facts.

Have fun and enjoy!

Formation Flying for the CSeries First Flight

2013-09-16T07:05:00.000-04:00

While waiting for the CSeries, we found this video showing how the first flight will work out. Enjoy!

Almost Finished!

2013-09-15T12:40:00.000-04:00

We all know that delays are frustrating. We had to work on building the essential documents to keep AeroWorld in place, and other things in general. Like we said in our sidebar, the site should be up and running by September 27th 2013. This will really frustrate some of you who really want coverage on the first flight of the Bombardier CSeries. But, we are very happy to say that we will have coverage the day of the flight, scheduled tomorrow September 16th. So, we're on schedule with building the site and we will still have coverage of the CSeries. So, thats a double win!

Hope you have fun! :)
-Aeroworld

First Flight of Bombardier CS100

2013-09-14T20:45:00.000-04:00

It's something all of us have been waiting for a very long time. But, finally, yesterday on the website of the Bombardier CSeries, they've announced the maiden flight to be on September 16th, or Monday. While we've been watching things on the ground this whole time, we finally get to watch what an airplane is supposed to do, and designed to do: Fly!

So, one of the planes that we have seen that is really eager to fly, and can't way to get up into the air, is ready. Fitted with new technology, and the new Pratt & Whitney PurePower 1500G engines, this is one of the best. So, what are we waiting for, a live webcast is on cseriesfirstflight.bombardier.com

I know you and us can't wait, so let's look forward to this amazing, historic event in Canadian history. So, on September 16th, let's watch Flight Test Vehicle 1 (or FTV1) take off!

The image has the following Creative Commons License. Click here to view.

Bombardier CSeries Starts Shimmy Testing

2013-09-13T21:20:00.000-04:00

Bombardier has released on their website that they have started the shimmy testing on their CS100 aircraft. The aircraft went at 60, 80, 100 and 120 knots during the tests.

“Although we’ve had some weather challenges over the last week, we managed to find a window to commence the landing gear tests – all of which are performing very well as we validate that the landing gear is behaving in the expected manner. We continue with the last batch of shimmy tests and additional high-speed taxi test as the flight crew moves towards final clearance for the CSeries aircraft’s maiden flight on September 16,” said Rob Dewar, Vice President and General Manager for the CSeries program.

Shimmy testing involves rolling the aircraft down the runway while going over a plate bolted to the runway. It's like a speed bump but it only effects one tire in the landing gear system. This gives a torsion effect like twisting, turning and unbalancing the aircraft correctly. For more on what shimmy testing is all about, and to see the aircraft in action, watch the video below:

Enjoy!

Bombardier Runs High-Speed Taxi Tests

2013-09-10T16:15:00.000-04:00

Well, Bombardier just completed tests of high-speed taxiing earlier. Lots of fun to watch, check out the video below :)

And it continues...

Enjoy!

Looking at Making the CSeries Ready for Flight

2013-09-01T11:50:00.000-04:00

A little more than a week ago, the Bombardier CS100 just came out of the paint shop. It went from brown and white, to a shiny gleaming blue and white. So, its one of our indications that we are getting close to the big event. Here's the video and a link to some pictures of our new CSeries.

Click here for the pictures right after it came out of the paint shop.

Here's a video:

And then we'll follow Jim Brown, who talks to us about the last preparations that are to be made before the inaugural flight.

Enjoy!

Picture of the Week - May 5th 2013

2013-05-05T16:15:00.000-04:00

Another amazing shot of a Scandinavian Airlines plane, this time by Flickr user Niklas Morberg. Amazing night shot!

Put your comments!

The image has the following Creative Commons License: Click here to view.

Picture of the Week - April 28th 2013

2013-04-28T16:10:00.000-04:00

Take a look at this amazing shot by Flickr user viZZZual.com! Here is what appears to be a Boeing 737 taxing at the Vienna International Airport. Special thanks for this amazing photo!

The image has the following Creative Commons License: Click here to view.

How does a Jet Engine work?

2013-04-28T16:00:00.000-04:00

Jet Engines are all around us. They can be big or small. Powerful or not so powerful. But they power almost every plane that you will probably ride on in your lifetime. There are many different jet engines out there, powering a range of aircraft, from the 70 seater Bombardier CRJ-700 and the massive Airbus A380 that can seat more than 550 people in 3 classes. Some engine are very big in diameter such as the GE90 that power the Boeing 777-300ER and the much smaller Pratt & Whitney PW6000 that powers some Airbus A318s. So how do these massive jetliners fly? Because of jet engines of course. And here's how they fly:

First off, a jet engine is a gas turbine. But why use a gas turbine instead of a diesel engine? The first reason is because gas turbines are much smaller than diesel engines. A ginormous engine on an airplane would just cause a lot of drag. Also, gas turbines are much lighter, and they have a very good power-to-weight ratio than other engines. For example, if you get 500 N of power for a 50 Kilogram engine, you have a 500 N to 50 Kilograms or 10 N for every kilogram. Gas turbines can achieve a ratio of 56 N for every Kilogram, which is very good. That's the gas turbine advantage.

The most common jet engine is the turbofan. The turbofan has three main parts. First, there's the compressor at the front of the engine. Then, the combustion chambers. And finally, the turbines at the back of the engine. These parts make the airplane capable of flying with massive loads, long distances and it also achieves excellent fuel efficiency.

When you first look at the jet engine, you see these massive titanium fan blades that sucks the air into the engine. This fan can bring more than 2500 lbs of air into the engine per second.
Let's look at the first part of the jet engine: The compressors. The compressors are basically second set of smaller fan blades inside the front of the engine core that compresses the air a little bit.The compressors start by sucking in mass amounts of air and throws some of it into the main core of the engine, while the rest of the air becomes accelerated and bypasses the engine core. This can be called bypass thrust, bypass air or cold thrust.

Unlike the bypass thrust that bypasses the engine core, the air goes into the next stage, or the combustion chamber. The combustion chamber includes a set of fuel nozzles that burn and compress the air. The air can be compressed to that of 100 times more than atmospheric pressure. Inside the combustion chamber at the ends of the fuel nozzles are "flame holders" or "flame cans." These make sure that the compressed air traveling at more than 500 miles/hour does not make the flame blow out. Once the air goes through the combustion chamber, it then goes through its final stage.

The last major stage of a jet engine, or the turbines, are at the back of the jet engine. When the hot, compressed air leaves the combustion chamber, it goes through the turbines. The hot air from the core of the engine has so much energy that it turns the turbines while escaping the engine. The turbines don't do much, but they do play a critical role in the engines' operation.

The question comes, where comes the energy that turns the engine compressor and fan? The hot energy that comes from the combustion chamber turns the turbines while escaping the engine. The compressors and the turbines are connected by a shaft. This means that the moving turbines move the compressor and the fan blades at the front of the engine.

Sources: Civil Aerospace: Power Around the World, Rolls Royce
How gas turbines engines work, howstuffworks.com

Picture of the Week

2013-04-21T17:30:00.000-04:00

About a week ago, there would be a new weekly post, just for the amazing pictures people take. These can be pictures of airplanes flying, landing or taking off. It can also be pictures of an airport (like below) inside outside or from on top. Or a lego plane that you built. Or a sketch of an airport or airplane. It can be a collage of pictures: airports and airplanes together! So send us your pictures! You can do that by clicking here.


An Air France, Pakistan International Airlines and British Airways aircraft are seen at the gate.

Here are some examples of pictures that you can post.

A Lufthansa Airbus A340 seen landing at Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport

A KLM Airbus A330 seen landing on Runway 15L

An Aerial View of Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport

Terminal 1 Seen from an Airbus A320

The Interior of Terminal 1 at Pearson.

Send in a collection of your lego planes!

Or send in a sketch for an airport!

A made-from-scratch lego plane! (Bombardier Q400)

All First 6 pictures are Creative Commons Licensed for commercial reuse. The last 3 pictures are from the author's collection. These pictures are under copyright. For reuse, please contact the author directly. You can submit a claim by clicking here.

How does an Afterburner work?

2013-04-14T15:07:00.001-04:00


Animation of a 2-spool, high-bypass turbofan. A. Low pressure spool B. High pressure spool C. Stationary components 1. Nacelle 2. Fan 3. Low pressure compressor 4. High pressure compressor 5. Combustion chamber 6. High pressure turbine 7. Low pressure turbine 8. Core nozzle 9. Fan nozzle

Many military jets, like the F-18 and the SR-71 take off from short airstrips and aircraft carriers to aid with special missions. But, how do they gather enough speed in such a short distance? How do they fly without stalling? This is all thanks to the afterburner. So, here comes the real question: How does an afterburner work?

First off, a jet engine, like many other engines, is a reactor engine. It works by absorbing air, compressing the air in a combustion chamber where the air expands greatly and then it is shot back out at the back of the engine as air and exhaust at about Mach 2 or about 1500 miles/hour. This is known as thrust. An engine absorbs air and shoots it out as a hot gas.

Modern jet engines use a turbine to improve the fuel efficiency of a jet engine. This allows the jet engine to work at lower speeds and therefore lower temperatures. The turbine compresses the air before fuel is injected in the combustion chamber. This modern engine is extremely efficient. For example, on a Boeing 747-400, the aircraft can earn up to 19 miles per passenger gallon.

An afterburner is a part of an engine that acts like a booster. The afterburner is another stage fitted on only a certain amount of their engines like that of a Rolls Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 fitted on the Supersonic Concorde. The afterburner injects fuel directly into the exaust stream expanding the air even more and creating nearly 50% more thrust to the engines' thrust.

The advantage of an afterburner is it can significantly add more thrust without adding weight, complexity and higher speeds and temperature to the engine. An afterburner is basically just a number of fuel injectors to compress the air further and increase the thrust of an engine.

The disadvantage of the afterburner is that it uses a lot of fuel to generate its power.

The afterburner was an amazing design for the 1970s to 1990s but now has come out of commercial service due to the retirement of the Concorde. Military aircraft like the F-18 and the SR-71 still has afterburner to aid with special missions or to take-off from a short airstrip.

To look at a much more thorough article, look at the article from HowStuffWorks. You can go there by clicking here.

Sources: HowStuffWorks, How does an afterburner work?, HowStuffWorks, How Jet Engines Work?

This was originally posted on Thursday, October 27th 2011 on Aerospot. The animation and photo that are part of this post are protected by the Creative Commons License. Click here for more details.

Welcome to Aeroworld!

2013-04-06T12:00:00.004-04:00

Welcome To Aeroworld!

Started up as a school blog known as Aerospot, Aerospot was the blog for many school assignments and leisure with many blog posts about aviation. Little did I know that people from around the world, including the United States, France, United Kingdom, Australia and many more countries came to Aerospot to find and learn new things. Our most popular blog post was How Does an Afterburner Work? And that was an assigned weekly blog post for school. Soon, Aerospot had more than 5000 views, a significant milestone for us, especially considering it wasn't intended to be an encyclopedia like Wikipedia. As the school year came to an end, and a good bye to our teachers and peers, I finally figured that people shouldn't go looking for information on a non-sophisticated school blog, but instead a professional aviation blog. That marked the birth of Aeroworld. After more than 8 months of individual coding, creating of many forms and survey and a Privacy Policy (which we really tried to make very simple and comprehensible, unlike thousands of other policies) and the hardest thing, figuring out what our first post should be aside from this one. We'll figure it out eventually, that's for sure. We promise that all the information on this site is true and reliable. And it's a real promise. You can use us as a reliable resource for any of your work, whether it may be looking for things casually, or find information for a school project, you can use Aeroworld for anything.

This place is perfect for professionals looking for a little something, students trying to find information or what the case may be.

Subscribe to our blog with your e-mail to get a weekly digest of our blog!
Search our blog to find something or ask a question in our survey!
Find the number of hits we have!
All of that is to our right!

We will hopefully have a weekly post about an interesting topic, and hopefully a photo of the week on Aeroworld. And a monthly survey :) that will be on the sidebar of our page.

We're 100% Canadian. Eh!

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P.S. If you are looking for one of the articles that used to be on Aerospot, click here to go to the Archived Posts page and you should be able to find Aerospot's old posts. :D