Aviation Weekly Newsletter - Monday, August 31, 2015

Aviation newsletter

Top new questions this week: What are these boxes built into the tails of some fighters? In looking at European-designed fighters of the 4th and 4.5 generation, I keep seeing a common design feature; a box-like structure built into the tail, often in the top half or third. Some examples: ... fighter-jet avionics   asked by KeithS 16 votes answered by aeroalias 15 votes What is the working principle of gravel kits? In this answer gravel kits are mentioned. I then looked at the wikipedia page and I noticed that they are quite different from what I was expecting: I was expecting some kind of "shield", plate or ... gravel-kit   asked by Federico 15 votes answered by dotancohen 14 votes What is this pattern on the A350 front window? The image is extracted from this video (at 3m40s, when taking off) I circled in purple the strange pattern formed by few black straight lines. I'm quite puzzled as I have no idea of what it is or ... cockpit airbus-a350   asked by Manu H 14 votes How heavy is too heavy to land on a grass strip? This is actually a tricky question, because it's not just about gross weight, but about how much weight each individual tire imparts into the ground. This, of course, depends on the design of the ... aircraft-design landing runways grass-field   asked by Jay Carr 13 votes answered by voretaq7 14 votes How are modern jets modified to takeoff/land on a dirt runway? I've been reading a lot about the Soviet and Russian military aircraft, and it seems a lot of them are built to work on dirt runways, or modified to do so. How is this accomplished? Is it a simple ... aircraft-design military landing-gear   asked by DrZ214 12 votes answered by KeithS 28 votes What will happen if satellite navigation fails? My understanding is that aircraft use GPS systems for navigation (maybe not the only way to navigate). I would like to understand what would happen if the GPS system fails. Are there any other ... navigation gps   asked by KurioZ7 11 votes answered by Dave 22 votes What is the difference between centre of pressure, aerodynamic centre and neutral point? I have just started learning some aerospace concepts, and I am not able to understand the difference between the three terms centre of pressure, aerodynamic centre and neutral point. What are their ... aerodynamics terminology   asked by Tarun Mohandas 8 votes answered by aeroalias 4 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: Why is the landing area of an aircraft carrier angled to port side, not starboard? On a modern aircraft carrier, the landing area is not aligned with the axis of the ship. Given this part of the ship needs to be asymmetric, why do most (if not all) angled flight decks point to the ... aircraft-carrier   asked by Manu H 17 votes answered by KeithS 28 votes Why are the cockpit controls of airplanes so complicated? For a layman like myself, the cockpit of every single modern airplane that I've laid my eyes on seems like a complex, intimidating mess with knobs, buttons, screens and levers literally covering every ... aircraft-design flight-controls cockpit   asked by Speldosa 50 votes answered by Lnafziger 89 votes Can you answer these? Rear Twin-jet Throttle Oscillation on Descent I rode a smaller twin-tail-engined jetliner for a few short hops last month, and I noticed that their airport approaches are much rougher than the widebody airliners I am used to. I believe that it ... commercial-aviation jet-engine approach commercial-operations   asked by Kurt Tank 2 votes What happens with RNAV procedures on the way from AIP publication to FMS database I'm particularly interested in Approach procedures, but I guess it applies for RNAV procedures in general. On one side, the national Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) is responsible for the ... instrument-procedures   asked by rgolcz 2 votes Holdings at or below 14,000 feet When holding, at or below 14,000 feet, the time for each leg is 1 minute, however, above that altitude, the legs are flown for 2 minutes, and the turns, for 1 minute and half. Are these differences ... holding   asked by Eduardo Guilherme 5 votes

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