Presentation: December 2013

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 9-Dec-2013
Subject: Video Night at Squadron 80
Description: Jeff took the easy way out on this occasion by showing a series of AE-related videos and images he had found through various sources on the Internet.  The items shown were:

• A picture of a Piper Cub (J-3) with a single-bladed propeller.  Yes, that's right - a single-bladed propeller.  The idea is that the single blade will always be passing through undisturbed air, rather than passing through the vortex caused by the previous blade's passage, and would therefore be more efficient.
• A video of aerial saw trimming.  This refers to a series of large saw blades connected in a long line through some sort of hollow bar, dangling from the underside of a helicopter, and used to trim trees along a high-voltage electrical line running through a very remote and very dense forest.  This method allowed trimming those trees that encroached on the electrical line far more quickly than sending work crews to trim them by hand.
• A video of some impressive aerobatic flying.  I'm not sure who the pilot is, although the file as I got it was named "Kirby".  Some of the procedures flown were absolutely jaw-dropping, such as flipping the plane over mid-flight, ending up with the tail ahead of the rest of the fuselage for a brief moment before recovering.
• Finally, a video taken of an airshow... in 1945!  The squadron had a lot of fun trying to identify the various aircraft on display, including a large number of captured German and other enemy planes.

Presentation: November 2013

This month's AE presenter: David
Date of presentation: 25-Nov-2013
Subject: Electric and Hybrid Aircraft
Description: Environmental concerns and associated legislation are forcing people to rethink aircraft propulsion systems. Last month, Jeff discussed alternatives to avgas. This month, David discussed alternatives to conventional internal combustion (reciprocating and gas turbine) engines. We are starting to see electric motors used for lightweight general aviation aircraft. Aircraft offered by Pipstrel and Greenwing for recreational flying are starting to approach the performance of some LSA. Gas-Eletric hybrid aircraft offer better performance since the internal combustion engine provide good power vs. weight for takeoff and climb.  Hybrids can be designed with motors in series or in parallel. Current limitations in battery technology and the weight associated with wiring prevents building heavier hybrid commercial airliners. Using electric and hybrid propulsion for larger transport aircraft is at least 20 years away.

Download PDF (3.4 MB)

Aerospace Minute by David

On 28 October, David talked about an electric airplane that EADS demonstrated at the Paris Airshow. EADs is the parent company of Airbus. The aircraft as dual ducted fans, 31ft wingspan, and weighs 1212 lbs. It can fly 1 hour at 110 mph, and carries two people in a tandem seating configuration. The interesting thing about the airplane is that it is fully aerobatic. It can fly for approximately 30 minutes when flying aerobatics. Although not yet a practical form of transportation, electric aircraft such as this are becoming more capable.

Presentation: October 2013

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 21-Oct-2013
Subject: Unleaded avgas - Ramifications for General Aviation
Description: This presentation was about the proposed elimination of lead compounds from avgas (aviation fuel), and what the ramifications of that would be for all of General Aviation (GA).  Jeff talked about proposed changes that would require unleaded fuel to become available, who would be affected by these changes and how, and what companies are working on "drop-in" replacements for 100LL and where their products stand in the development cycle.  A spirited discussion ensued and it seems that everyone learned something, which is of course the goal.

Download PDF (78KB)

Reid-Hillview Airport Day

David Hartman participated in the Reid-Hillview Airport Day on 19-October-2013.  Squadron 80 put N9483E on display and set up a booth. David assisted with giving people tours of the aircraft and letting kids sit in the left seat. This provided an opportunity to discuss the three missions of CAP with the parents. It gave a chance to show both kids and adults how the controls work and explain what makes an airplane fly. The show was a success, there was always a line, and many people went away with a new appreciation for aviation. Not only was this a chance to promote the mission of CAP, but allowed us to teach the general public about general aviation.

Bonus Aerospace Minute by Jeff

Also on 30-September, Jeff brought up the recent findings made by the Mars rover Curiosity and its mission regarding the discovery of significant quantities of water in the Martian soil.  These findings indicate that the soil consists of up to 2% water, which works out to roughly a quart of water in each cubic foot of soil.  This would make the extraction of enough water to meet the needs of future Martian explorers possible, providing a huge advantage over shipping enough water from Earth to meet those needs.

Interestingly, the water contained in the Martian soil is rich in deuterium, a so-called "heavy" hydrogen isotope with an extra neutron in its nucleus as compared to protium, the predominant isotope.  The percentage of deuterium in the soil is roughly the same as the percentage of deuterium in the Martian atmosphere, implying that the soil is absorbing the water directly from the air.

One source among many: a space.com article.

Aerospace Minute by David

On 30-September, David talked about a new radar system being developed by Russia. According to this week's Aviation Week and Space Technology, Russia is developing a radar capable of detecting modern stealth aircraft. The system consists of a 30m truck mounted VHF antenna, and multiple L and S band modules. The 1m-2m wavelength transmission from the VHF antenna is supposedly capable of detecting like-sized control surfaces on aircraft, and the shorter wavelength antennas can be used to pinpoint the target after it has been identified. There is no way to verify the effectiveness of the system.

Aerospace Minute by David

On 23-September, David talked about the new light attack jet proposed by Cessna Aircraft. The jet is designed for the Intelligence Reconnoissance Surveillance / Strike (IRS/S) mission. It carries a crew of two, top speed of 450 knots, with an empty weight of 11,800 lbs and a max take-off of 21,250 lbs. The aircraft is twin-engined, random seating, and has large twin vertical stabilizers in a V configuration. There are no government contracts; the program is a Cessna initiative similar to what Northrop did with the F-5: build it and and see who is interested. The interesting thing is Cessna sees a market for this as an alternative to unmanned drones. At $3,000/hr, operational costs are less than many UAV systems.  The source for this information was the September issue of Flying Magazine.

Aerospace Minute by David

On 16-September, David talked about the recent sea trials with the F-35B. According to Aviation Week, the aircraft recently went through night crosswind vertical landing trials. Also discussed were highlights of the aircraft's fly-by-wire flight controls, and the system was contrasted with the AV-8 Harrier's mechanical systems.

Presentation: September 2013

This month's AE presenter: David
Date of presentation: 09-September 2013
Subject: The Yeager Award
Description: This presentation discussed the reasons behind the Yeager award (and, by extension, the AEPSM), how it relates to the other two primary missions of CAP, and an overview of the book Aerospace: The Journey of Flight and the information required to achieve the award.

Download Introduction: Yeager Award (PDF, 33KB)

Aerospace Minute by David

On 26-August, David's Aerospace Minute was about the Inspiration Mars Foundation, a planned civilian fly-by of Mars by a group headed by multimillionnaire Dennis Tito.  This organization intends to launch a manned mission to perform a flyby of the planet Mars in January 2018.

Click here for more information

Presentation: August 2013

This month's AE presenter: David
Date of presentation: 12-August 2013
Subject: Pan American Clippers
Description: This presentation gave an overview of the history of the Pan Am Airlines company - how it got its start, expansion into first the Caribbean, then the Pacific Ocean, and eventually the Atlantic Ocean as well, then it discussed how the company fared following the end of World War II.  From its start, it was a complete system of exclusive routes, custom-built aircraft, navigation and weather stations, and ports of call on both land and sea.

Download PanAm Clippers (PDF, 3.1MB)

Aerospace Minute by David

On 5-August, as part of his new intended "Aerospace Minute" feature, David brought up an article in Aviation Week which discussed possible reasons why the pilots of the doomed Asiana flight might have made the mistakes they did that contributed to the crash.  Among the hypotheses advanced in the article was that the auto-pilot modes available might have proven very counter-intuitive and, in a moment of panic and/or indecision, a pilot may have made a very wrong decision based on how he thought the auto-pilot would behave.  (At least, that's my interpretation - David can probably shed more light on this.  I do not have the URL for the original article, if any.)

External Presentation by Coby: 9 Aug 2013

Major Andrew Dilworth, Lt. Colonel James Sena, and former Squadron 80 Commander Coby Sena made a presentation on CAP to the Santa Clara County Airmen's Association on 9 Aug 2013.

They talked about all three missions of CAP: Aerospace Education, Emergency Services, and Cadet Programs. In that context, they included a presentation on flight safety and aeronautical decision making.

Presentation: July 2013

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 15-July-2013 (or possibly 22-July)
Subject: The GRAIL Mission: Update
Description: This presentation (originally intended to be given in June) gave a brief update on discoveries made by NASA's GRAIL mission, including gravity field maps of the moon and scientific conjecture that could be made based on the data generated by the mission, such as partial confirmation that samples returned by the Apollo astronauts in the 1970s are indeed indicative of global processes.

Also presented this same evening: a series of photographs taken by workers involved in the process of cleaning up after and documenting the Asiana crash at SFO back in early July.

Download GRAIL Mission Update (PDF, 1.1MB)

No Presentation: June 2013

Due to circumstances beyond the control of this AEO, there was no AE presentation given in the month of June 2013.  A "double" presentation of sorts was given in July, which can be interpreted to include June's presentation.  I apologize for any confusion.

Presentation: May 2013

This month's AE presenter: David
Date of presentation: 20-May-2013
Subject: An Introduction to Delta Aircraft
Description: This presentation provides an introduction to the concepts and history
of delta-winged aircraft.  Its goals are to:

• Discuss the aerodynamics of a delta wing;
• List some advantages and disadvantages;
• Identify some different types of delta wings;
• Provide a brief history of delta aircraft.

Download zipped PDF files (15.8MB)

Presentation: April 2013

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 8-Apr-2013
Subject: Abandoned and Lesser-Known Airfields: San Jose area
Description: This presentation was about a few vanished or abandoned airfields in the San Jose area. The abandoned airfields that dot the landscape of much of this country are often interesting, both for their potential safety value to a pilot in an emergency, and also for their sometimes fascinating histories.

Most information presented in this site was gathered at Paul Freeman's website and I claim no ownership in any of it.  Please visit his fascinating site for lots more information!

Download ZIP file (password protected to protect copyright - sorry!) 

Mission Scanner School completed!

File this under: not-really-related-to-Aerospace-Education-but-worth-bragging-about-mentioning anyway...

David and I both had the opportunity to attend a Mission Scanner School hosted by the Hayward squadron for Group 2 this weekend.  I've been meaning to do this for several years, but either the opportunity hasn't arrived (such courses are few and far between here in the desolation that is the SF Bay Area) or I haven't been sufficiently motivated to travel to, say, Redding or Fresno to attend one.  This time, both opportunity and motive coincided.  (I also happened to have my flight suit, which I haven't had for over a year since I had given it to someone who shall charitably remain nameless here to ensure that I had all the correct badges, and I just got it back last week.)

At any rate, the school extended over both days of the weekend, and both David and I passed.  So we're both now officially Mission Scanner Trainees.  Now I just need to get a couple of missions under my belt, and fulfill one more requirement, and I should be a fully qualified Mission Scanner.

And about time, if I do say so myself...

Presentation: March 2013

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 4-Mar-2013
Subject: The Solar Impulse - Across America
Description: The Solar Impulse is a plane built to fly solely with solar power.  This presentation was somewhat abbreviated, due to my being seriously under the weather (and I do mean seriously - 102 deg. fever).  It consisted mainly of three short videos, one giving some background on the Solar Impulse project, and the other two showing time-lapse footage of the disassembly process required to prepare the plane for transport from its native Switzerland to Moffett Field in California, which will hopefully be its departure point for its 2-3 stop flight across America to Washington DC and New York.  Departure is scheduled for 1-May (time unknown).

Presentation: February 2013

This month's AE presenter: David
Date of presentation: 11-Feb-2013
Subject: A Brief History of Cessna Aircraft
Description: This presentation is an exploration of the rich history of the Cessna Aircraft Company, including a discussion of Clyde Cessna and his company, and a look at some significant aircraft produced by the company over the years.

Download PDF file (5.3 MB)

Created Google Site for Sq80

Link to new Google Site

I didn't find any way to attach a file directly to a post here on this blog, so I found another way to accomplish pretty much the same thing.  I created a site on Google Sites for us, and we can store small files there and link to them in the blog.

Please do not expect to find any significant or meaningful content on the new site.  This blog will still be the primary site.  The main function of the new site is to act as a repository for any files we might want to make available on the blog.

2013 Aerospace Ed. Plan of Action submitted

The Plan of Action for Squadron 80's AE department was submitted as a .PDF file attached to an email on 31-Jan-2013 to Mark F.  Copies were also provided to Squadron Commander Coby S. and Squadron Commander-In-Training George G., as well as to myself and David.

Accompanying the 2013 PoA was a review of the 2012 PoA.

Download PDF File

Presentation: January 2013

This month's AE presenter: Jeff
Date of presentation: 4-Feb-2013
Subject: The World's Greatest Boeing 787 Dreamliner Quiz (maybe?)
Description: Since the Boeing 787 has been in the news quite a bit recently, I thought it might be interesting to see how much people already know about it.  This presentation is a 14-question quiz (Powerpoint/PDF), and hopefully comes across as lighthearted as well as informational.

(NOTE: As of 14-Jan, this presentation has NOT yet been given to the squadron, since we ran out of time that night.  Since there will be no meeting next Monday night, I plan to give this presentation on the 28th instead.  I will provide updates in the Comment area once I have given the presentation.)

Download PDF file