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Making the Brazilian ATR-72 Spin
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Note: This story was corrected on August 10th at 10:23 am, thanks to the help of a sharp-eyed reader.
Making an ATR-72 Spin
I wasn’t in Brazil on Friday afternoon, but I saw the post on Twitter or X (or whatever you call it) showing a Brazil ATR-72, Voepass Airlines flight 2283, rotating in a spin as it plunged to the ground near Sao Paulo from its 17,000-foot cruising altitude. All 61 people aboard perished in the ensuing crash and fire. A timeline from FlightRadar 24 indicates that the fall only lasted about a minute, so the aircraft was clearly out of control. Industry research shows Loss of Control in Flight (LOCI) continues to be responsible for more fatalities worldwide than any other kind of aircraft accident.
The big question is why the crew lost control of this airplane. The ADS-B data from FlightRadar 24 does offer a couple of possible clues. The ATR’s speed declined during the descent rather than increased, which means the aircraft’s wing was probably stalled. The ATR’s airfoil had exceeded its critical angle of attack and lacked sufficient lift to remain airborne. Add to this the rotation observed, and the only answer is a spin.
Can a Large Airplane Spin?
The simple answer is yes. If you induce rotation to almost any aircraft while the wing is stalled, it can spin, even an aircraft as large as the ATR-72. By the way, the largest of the ATR models, the 600, weighs nearly 51,000 pounds.
Of course, investigators will ask why the ATR’s wing was stalled. It could have been related to a failed engine or ice on the wings or tailplane. (more…)
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How the FAA Let Remote Tower Technology Slip Right Through Its Fingers
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In June 2023, the FAA published a 167-page document outlining the agency’s desire to replace dozens of 40-year-old airport control towers with new environmentally friendly brick-and-mortar structures. These towers are, of course, where hundreds of air traffic controllers ply their trade … ensuring the aircraft within their local airspace are safely separated from each other during landing and takeoff.
The FAA’s report was part of President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act enacted on November 15, 2021. That bill set aside a whopping $25 billion spread across five years to cover the cost of replacing those aging towers. The agency said it considered a number of alternatives about how to spend that $5 billion each year, rather than on brick and mortar buildings.
One alternative addressed only briefly before rejecting it was a relatively new concept called a Remote Tower, originally created by Saab in Europe in partnership with the Virginia-based VSATSLab Inc. The European technology giant has been successfully running Remote Towers in place of the traditional buildings in Europe for almost 10 years. One of Saab’s more well-known Remote Tower sites is at London City Airport. London also plans to create a virtual backup ATC facility at London Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe.
A remote tower and its associated technology replace the traditional 60-70 foot glass domed control tower building you might see at your local airport, but it doesn’t eliminate any human air traffic controllers or their roles in keeping aircraft separated.
Max Trescott photo Inside a Remote Tower Operation
In place of a normal control tower building, the airport erects a small steel tower or even an 8-inch diameter pole perhaps 20-40 feet high, similar to a radio or cell phone tower. Dozens of high-definition cameras are attached to the new Remote Tower’s structure, each aimed at an arrival or departure path, as well as various ramps around the airport.
Using HD cameras, controllers can zoom in on any given point within the camera’s range, say an aircraft on final approach. The only way to accomplish that in a control tower today is if the controller picks up a pair of binoculars. The HD cameras also offer infrared capabilities to allow for better-than-human visuals, especially during bad weather or at night.
The next step in constructing a remote tower is locating the control room where the video feeds will terminate. Instead of the round glass room perched atop a standard control tower, imagine a semi-circular room located at ground level. Inside that room, the walls are lined with 14, 55-inch high-definition video screens hung next to each other with the wider portion of the screen running top to bottom.
After connecting the video feeds, the compression technology manages to consolidate 360 degrees of viewing area into a 220-degree spread across the video screens. That creates essentially the same view of the entire airport that a controller would normally see out the windows of the tower cab without the need to move their head more than 220 degrees. Another Remote Tower benefit is that each aircraft within visual range can be tagged with that aircraft’s tail number, just as it might if the controller were looking at a radar screen. (more…)
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Aluminum’s Hidden Benefits for Aerospace
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Thierry Dubois and I have known each other for many years although I can’t even recall how we met any longer. I just recall that we became friends years ago once we realized we were both hardcore aviation journalists. But in addition to his European-based perspective, Thierry’s also a science guy as you’ll read here. I’m happy to offer him an opportunity to share this great story about why just about everything is worth recycling. — Rob
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My friend Emmanuel the photographer and I left our Peugeot Partner just behind the gate and walked to the factory’s security post, dwarfed by huge power lines. We traded our driving licenses for visitor badges and were given the directions to the meeting room. On the map, here at Constellium’s Issoire, France factory, conspicuous was a brand-new building labeled “Airware.”
Airware is the family name Constellium (formerly known as Alcan Engineered Products) is using for its new aluminum alloys being developing for aerospace. I expected us to spend time visiting the Airware building. We did not even get close to it. Yet, Airware technologies for improving alloys and recycling them were the topic of the visit.
The Issoire foundry site is full of secret recipes for the metal alloys aircraft manufacturers use to make fuselages, landing gear beams, wing skins etc. During the press tour, Emmanuel and his colleague photographers could do their job but within strict limits, even in the facility that houses a rolling mill that looks like a 1960s’ heavy-industry machine. Maybe a competing aluminum product developer would have easily spotted some high-tech details.
At stake is reducing the amount of wasted metal offcuts and turnings. In other words, economical and ecologic motivations meet in Issoire, maybe more intensely than in other parts of the aerospace world. If you recycle one pound of aluminum alloy, instead of producing one pound of “new” metal, you save 11.4 pounds of CO2. (more…)
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FAA Takes a Fresh Look at GA Airports
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Taking “A fresh look at the many roles General Aviation Airport play in the National Air Transportation System,” the FAA recently released the 34-page report of its in-depth, 18-month study of roughly 3,000 airports, General Aviation Airports: A National Asset.
By activity level, the study groups GA airports into four categories: national, regional, local, and basic. Each more clearly defines an airport’s functions and economic contribution to its hometown, and the nation as a whole.
The FAA undertook the study because it’s been 40 years since it last reviewed them. Noting that a lot has changed during that time is an obvious understatement. But one thing that has not changed is that most people who live in communities served by a GA airport don’t have a clue what goes on there, let alone what contributions they make to the community.
At the same time, most people who do know what’s going on at the airport, and what contributions its makes, aren’t very good at either articulating or sharing what they know with others. This study should help airport boosters who suffer from both afflictions.