Airport Security Increase after 9/11

15 years ago, Airport security was a very simple process. It consisted of a stroll through a metal detector to find weapons. Before 9/11, you could have pocket knifes on planes as long as they were less than four inches long, or you could have scissors. The security has changed drastically changed. Little did we know that taking off a belt or emptying our pockets would be the easiest thing we would have to do. Unfortunately, going through airport security is no longer an easy task. After reading a few articles there were 9 main things that were changed.

1. Specific ID required; ID name must match name on ticket
2. Shoes must be removed at checkpoints
3. All baggage, carryon and checked, must be screened
4. No liquids (above 3.4 ounces) allowed through checkpoints
5. Special items must be pulled from luggage (laptops)
6. Jackets, outwear must be removed
7. Body scan machine screening
8. Enhanced pat-downs
9. No more non-ticketed visitors allowed at airline gates

Because of all this, you can no longer show up to the airport 20 minutes before your flight. You can no longer make any jokes of terrorism, bombs, planes crashing, etc. Now, if TSA hears you making a comment like that, you probably won't be flying anytime soon. They have upped the security in airports along with increases in TSA agents and Sky Marshals.

http://www.farecompare.com/travel-advice/9-ways-security-has-changed-since-911/#/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_security_repercussions_due_to_the_September_11_attacks

http://www.bustle.com/articles/109828-5-significant-ways-flying-has-changed-since-911-for-better-or-for-worse

Supersonic Airfoils

What makes a supersonic airfoil different than a typical one? Well that would be the shape and how it works. A typical subsonic airfoil, one that is used below the speed of sound Mach < 1, has a blunt leading edge and is meant to create a pressure difference using the velocity difference created from the shape. Subsonic airfoils typically do not include compressibility effects from the air, which is a safe assumption when the percent error at around a Mach number of 0.3 is around 5%, though some more recent subsonic airfoils have taken that into consideration. Below is a picture of how airfoils have evolved over time starting with the Wright's in 1908.

The problem with these airfoils is that when they travel at supersonic speed of Mach > 1 they start to exhibit compressibility effects such as shock waves. With a blunt nose a detached normal shock wave will form out in front of the leading edge which causes incredible drag and high temperatures and pressures. Richard Whitcomb came up with the supercritical airfoil design which improves aircraft performance in near sonic conditions as seen below. The supersonic airfoil looks very different because it has a sharp point in both the leading and trailing edges. These sharp points produce an attached oblique shock wave which has much less drag than a detached normal shock wave. The air compresses across this oblique shock wave then it goes over the top corner and into an expansion wave where the pressure drops and then the trailing edge also has an oblique shock trailing behind. 

Here below is a diagram taken from my compressible flow textbook. Area 1 is the free stream flow that is greater than the speed of sound, which varies with temperature and substance. Area 2 is behind the oblique shock wave with the high pressure. Area 3 is behind the expansion wave and has a lower pressure. Since this is a symmetric diamond airfoil at an angle of attack of zero degrees there will be no lift but there will still be drag from the pressure difference from areas 2 and 3. Supersonic airfoils do not have to be symmetric or a perfect diamond, different side lengths and angles will produce asymmetry that can cause lift, also an increase angle of attack will create more lift. 

Unfortunately no one wants to spill the beans on the specifications of the supersonic airfoils in use today for aircraft but they all must deal with the shock waves that form. If you ever look at the SR-71 you'll notice that the leading edges are all pointed and sharp, now you know why.

Worst People to Sit next to on a plane...

If you read my blog about getting stuck in the airport, you know I had a pretty terrible first fly experience. I also had the wonderful opportunity of sitting next to some pretty unpleasant people. This got me thinking about all of the types of people that could be unpleasant to sit next to.

10 WORST PEOPLE TO SIT NEXT TO ON A PLANE:

1. People with BO
Let's be honest, body odor there are some people that just smell like they have never showered or really need deodorant.

2. People that don't stop talking/talk loud on the phone
There are just some people that don't get the hint that when you put in some headphones you aren't interested in talking. There are also some people that decide to call everyone they know while on the plane and talk very very loudly.

3. People who snore/use you as a headrest
I really have nothing against people who sleep on planes, but this was one of the top complaints while reading about it! They complained mostly about people who snore immediately after falling asleep or using your shoulder as a pillow.

4. People who should probably have bought two tickets
A huge complaint while reading was people being frustrated they didn't have enough room. I had a personal experience with this problem. The man sitting next to me was very overweight and squished me the whole ride. It was very hard to get comfortable when the man was taking up half of my seat as well.

5. People who are nervous flyers
Passengers complained about people that clench armrests or they're arms. People have been thrown up on by nervous flyers or had to listen to them freak out about the plane crashing. Everyone seemed very annoyed about having to calm these people down the entire flight rather than relaxing

6. People who Over Pack
There are some people that just can't narrow down their closet and decide to hog the overhead compartments. These are normally the people carrying shopping bags, multiple rolling suitcases, bulging laptop bags, etc. There is no way to share an overhead compartment with these people.

7. Families with young kids/Families spread out all over the plane
Obviously not all families on planes are terrible. Unfortunately, you have some families that just ruin a flight for everyone. From having kids kick the back of your seat to screaming babies, you can't enjoy this flight. There were also complaints about families that don't buy their tickets together in advance and are yelling across the plane at each other or try to make you switch seats so they can sit together.

8. People with tiny bladders
People complained a lot about people who go to the bathroom frequently. They were mostly annoyed when it was a person sitting in a window seat that keeps taking free water and goes 4-5 times every half hour.

9. People that need to get a room
People were annoyed having to watch couples inappropriately show their affections for one another.

10. People who get drunk
There are some people that don't realize when enough is enough. People complained about drunks the most when they started to unload all their life problems and use their row buddies as their personal therapists.

These are just some of the people passengers have had issues with. There are always obnoxious people that fly on a plane with you, but hopefully you get lucky and get nice row buddies! Just remember it could be worse!

Random Facts!

If your like me, you like knowing random facts about random things that maybe you will use in a game of trivia! This seemed like a perfect opportunity to learn some random facts about airlines, planes, food, etc. I decided to look up a few different sites and share some of my favorite facts with you from each site!


Site 1:

http://www.flightcentre.com.au/travel-news/travel-news/25-interesting-fun-aviation-facts-never-knew/

Did you know...

 An aircraft takes off or lands every 37 seconds at Chicago O'Hare's International Airport

JFK Airport in New York was originally named Idlewild Airport

The Boeing 747 wing-span (195 feet) is longer than the Wright Brothers first flight of 120ft

At any given hour there are over 61,000 people airborne over the USA

By American Airlines switching a pilots paper manuals to iPad they will save  $1.2 million in fuel

Pilots and co-pilots are required to eat different meals in case of food poisoning

About 1/3 of your taste buds are numbed while flying. Maybe that meal was not bland after all?

Site 2:

http://facts.randomhistory.com/airplane-facts.html

About 1 in 5 people have some of fear flying, or “aviophobia.”

Plane exhaust kills more people than plane crashes. Approximately, 10,000 people are killed annually from toxic pollutants from airplanes

In 1986, a plane called Voyager flew all the way around the world without landing or refueling.

In 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.

In 2002, a man tried to smuggle two pygmy monkeys in his underwear onto a plane. He was sentenced to 57 days in jail.

A woman from Stockholm, Sweden, attempted to smuggle 75 live snakes onto an airplane by placing them in her bra.  She also had six lizards under her shorts.

A woman tried to smuggle a baby tiger onto an airplane by sedating it and then placing it in a suitcase with stuffed toy tigers. However, her plan was foiled when the X-ray in the security check showed that one of the “stuffed toys” actually had bones

A 66-year-old man tried to smuggle cocaine on a plane—via a cast made out of the drug. He had even purposefully broken his leg in case airport authorities X-rayed it. He almost got away with his crime, but when authorities found other sources of cocaine hidden in his luggage, they decided to also test the cast.

The air on airplanes is filtered by the same technology that filters air in hospitals, so while the tray table may harbor germs, the air is clean.

Site 3:

https://confessionsofatrolleydolly.com/2013/05/31/top-50-useless-aviation-facts/

A man once wore 70 items of clothing in a Chinese airport to avoid the baggage charge

Air travel is the second safest form or transportation. Only the elevator/escalator is safer, although it would take quite some time to travel 1,000 miles on an escalator.

The reason why the lights are turned off during takeoff and landing is for your eyes to adjust to lower levels of light. If there’s an accident and they have to activate the emergency slides, studies have shown that you will be able to see better and therefore be able to evacuate more quickly and safely

Only around 25% of first class passengers pay full fare. The rest are upgrades, frequent fliers and airline employees.

Only 5% of the world’s population has never been on an aeroplane

Plane Crash Stats

I know plane crashes can be a hard thing to talk about, but I have always had really bad luck. I wanted to know how often fatal plane crashes really occur and decided this site seemed to have pretty recent research.

According to this site, the odds of being killed on a single airline flight is 1 in 29.4 million. This number made me feel a little better. However, only 24% of people survive a fatal crash. That number seemed a little more nerve wracking.

The 9 most recent airplane crashes were listed as dates ranging from June 3rd, 2012 - November 1st, 2015. None of these crashes were American Airliners. 7 out of the 9 crashes occurred while in route to their destination while the other two occurred during the landing and approach.

Causes of Fatal Crashes:
53% - Total Pilot Error
32% - Pilot Error
20% - Mechanical Failure
16% - Pilot Error (weather related)
12% - Weather
8% - Sabotage
6% - Other Human Error
5% - Pilot Error (mechanical related)
1% - Other Cause

Crashes with 19 or more passengers: 
Year/# of Fatal Crashes/# of Fatalities
2015/3/428
2014/6/931
2013/7/266
2000/21/1029
1990/20/618
1989/35/1690
1972/41/2347

North American Commercial Airline Accidents:
Airline/Million Flights/Fatal Events/Last Fatality/Accident Rate
American Airlines/16.51/5/2001/+5%
Delta Airlines/16.03/1/1996/-1695%
Southwest Airlines/18.15/0/none/-1915%
United Airlines/12.87/3/2001/-517%
US Airways/11.91/3/1994/-200%


This information was lat updated: February 18th, 2016
http://www.statisticbrain.com/airplane-crash-statistics/

Airport CEO

Apoapsis Studios, a Swedish indie game developer, is currently working on creating an in depth airport management game.  This game, Airport CEO, will be their first.  This game features you as the CEO of a new airport where you will be responsible for building out the infrastructure, staffing your business, dealing with airlines, and keeping your customers happy.

This game is in a similar vein with other "Tycoon" style simulation games such as RollerCoaster Tycoon.  You are tasked with maintaining relationships with airlines by meeting contract agreements; keeping passengers feeling safe and happy by maintaining short wait times, providing entertainment, and enforcing strong security practices; as well as keeping employees happy as disgruntled employees lead to processing errors, slip-ups with security, and increased wait times for passengers.

As you progress further and your airport grows, you can create new departments to help you manage all of the data you have such as an accounting department to help you make financial decisions for your business, an HR department to help hire the optimal employees and maintain employee happiness, etc.

Airport CEO is still in early development with a crowd funding effort to be made to help fund the development.  Ultimately, it seems like an interesting concept aimed at people who enjoy simulation/management style strategy games with an interest in aviation.

http://airportceo.com/

Drone Law

As my last post was about drone delivery systems and one of the points I made was about the risk of people shooting down the drones, I felt compelled to expand on this when this morning I stumbled upon this article.  The Federal Aviation Administration has stated that the act of shooting a drone out of the sky is a federal crime.  As such, the maximum penalty for such an act is a twenty year prison sentence.  This decision is based in an existing law that rules it a federal crime to damage an aircraft.  As drones are still aircraft, albeit unmanned ones, the FAA says that damaging a drone is akin to damaging an aircraft and is therefore a federal offense.  The specific law being referred to by the FAA is Title 18 Part I Chapter 2 Section 32 which states

"Whoever willfully sets fire to, damages, destroys, disables, or wrecks any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil aircraft used, operated, or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years or both." 

Under this same law, a person could receive up to a five year sentence for "threatening a drone or a drone operator".  However, there is yet to be a court precedent set to determine the legitimacy of this application of the law, but there appears that there is a strong case for it.