Thursday, March 31, 2016

Aviation Inspired Brewery

Warped Wing Brewing Company is a local brewery in Dayton that inhabits the old Buckeye Brass & Iron Foundry building on Wyandot St. just off of Third. Directions



They got their name from the Wright Brother's invention of wing warping. They even have a few beers that have aviation themes such as the Flyin' Rye IPA. 


They also have a beer that honors the creation of another great Dayton invention, the Self Starter IPA after Charles Kettering's electric self starter. 

They even have a beer named after the group of local inventors and engineers such as Deeds, Kettering, and Patterson; the Barn Gang. 

Here's a link to their site: http://www.warpedwing.com/

Aviation can have an impact in all sorts of places, especially in the place it was born. 

The Astronauts Wives Club

I was inspired to find out more about hidden, but deeply personal, family stories after our trip to Hawthorn Hill on Tuesday. As I was exploring, I stumbled across Annie Glenn, the wife of former astronaut and Senator John Glenn. I was struck by just how much she must have endured, being the wife of one of the top astronauts in the entire world. 

At Hawthorn Hill, we talked about how there are no videos that include audio of Orville speaking, because he was so painfully shy, and as I researched Annie, I discovered that she had a major stuttering problem. 


Author and CNN contributor Bob Greene wrote on CNN.com about Annie’s struggles with stuttering, “Her stuttering was so severe that it was categorized as an 85% disability. Eighty-five percent of the time she could not manage to make words come out." 
As John and Annie traveled and moved around because of his work with the military, she was constantly faced with ridicule and hardship every time they settled into a new city. 
“In department stores, she would wander unfamiliar aisles trying to find the right section, embarrassed to attempt to ask the salesclerks for help,” Greene wrote. “In taxis, she would have to write requests to the driver, because she couldn’t speak the destination out loud. In restaurants, she would point to the items on the menu.”
In 1973, at the age of 53, an intensive program was able to help Annie speak more fluently. She has now served as a longtime spokesperson for the Stuttering Foundation, and in 2005 was inducted into the National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame - which is a support group organized to help people who stutter. 
I found this quote of John Glenn speaking about his wife: “I saw Annie’s perseverance and strength through the years and it just made me admire her and love her even more, I don’t know if I would have had the courage.” I found this to be beautiful and moving, because so many of us wouldn't have had the courage to be the first American to orbit around the Earth or be the 5th person in space, but he saw his wife as being the truly brave one. 

(The film clip that I've posted is from the 1983 movie "The Right Stuff" - we see her stuttering problem highlighted in a scene with VP Lyndon B. Johnson right before Glenn's Friendship 7 Flight. And the pictures are of Annie and John- check them out!)


Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Flight 5390: 22 Minutes of Terror




Imagine with me for a moment: you’re a passenger flying on a British airliner over England. The fight seems to be going quite well, and at the moment, you’re four miles above the ground. Suddenly, you hear what sounds like an explosion. You look up, and the plane’s captain, who just seconds before was seated in his chair flying the plane, is now hanging half-way out the front window, with only his legs (which are being held onto by a crew member) still in the cabin. How would you feel at that moment? I don’t know about you, but I would be pretty terrified, not only for the pilot, but also for myself. What will become of us passengers, now that this has occurred?

            This exact situation did indeed occur, on Sunday, June 10, 1990. Thankfully, this story has a very happy ending, but in the twenty-two minutes during which this series of events was unfolding, it was terrifying for all involved.

            The story begins two days earlier. The British airliner underwent routine preventive maintenance, and the plane’s windshields were replaced. However, as was later discovered, the individual that bolted the windows in used bolts that were more than half a millimeter too small. This would be the cause of the terrifying ordeal.

A reconstruction of the moment pilot Tim Lancaster was ejected from the cockpit and pinned to the roof of the plane (Image credit: National Geographic Channel).
A reconstruction of the moment Lancaster was sucked out of the cabin.
            Two days later, on June 10, flight 5390 took off from Birmingham, England with 81 passengers and six crew members aboard. The destination was Madrid, Spain. Takeoff went without issue. The plane climbed in altitude and within 15 minutes, it had reached 17,300 feet. It was at this point that the faulty bolts could no longer stand the pressure difference between the cabin of the plane and that of the atmosphere. The portion of the windscreen directly in front of the captain ripped off the plane and began descending toward the ground. Immediately, the plane depressurized with a great roar. Passengers reported that the sound of it was like that of an explosion. As the hole in the plane was directly in front of the captain, Tim Lancaster, he got pulled into the stream of air exiting the plane. He was forcibly pulled toward the opening and his body began to be sucked out of the plane. Miraculously, the captain’s feet became tangled up in the flight controls, giving his crew a moment to react in an attempt to save him. Immediately, flight attendant Nigel Ogden rushed to him and grabbed his belt. A couple other crew members rushed over and held on to the captain, who was being beaten around on the exterior of the plane by 300 mile per hour winds and frigid cold. They presumed him to be dead, but kept holding onto him in fear that his body would be sucked into the plane’s engine. Jumping into action, co-pilot Alistair Atchison took over the controls, and began deciding where to land. The closest airport to their location was in Southampton, which was about 15-20 minutes away. Thus, the crew continued holding on to their captain, taking turns when it became too exhausting to hold on any longer, until Atchison safely landed the plane in Southampton.

            Upon coming to the shocking realization that Lancaster was still alive, medical help was called for immediately, and firefighters came and removed him from the plane. He was transported to the hospital, and miraculously, the only injuries he sustained included a broken hand and frostbite. He did, however, also experience shock and PTSD in the following weeks.
           
Shockingly, when all was said and done, nobody aboard had died. The quick thinking and heroics of the crew members averted great tragedy that day, and the passengers were able to continue their journeys safely.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Delivery by Drone

Flirtey hexacopter drone (Engadget)
   Waiting for a package to arrive can be a frustrating experience, especially when the shipment takes twice as long as expected; however, a new horizon is dawning on the delivery industry. Drone delivery systems bring the prospect of direct delivery from the shipment center in much less time than traditional ground-delivery. Many people, myself included, believe that drone delivery is many years away from becoming a reality; however, a recent news story offers a different perspective.

     On Friday, March 25, the news reported that the first FAA-approved drone delivery to a home in an urban neighborhood had been successful. On March 10, a hexacopter created by Flirtey delivered a package containing "food, water, and a first-aid kit" (Moon) to a home in Hawthorne, Nevada. This delivery, although small, was a major step forward in drone delivery systems. The hexacopter flew according to its own navigation system and pre-programmed flight path; there was no intervention by a human pilot during the flight. This was not the first drone delivery for Flirtey. In July 2015, the company succeeded in a rural drone delivery to a medical center in Virginia (Sonner). The company was ecstatic about their recent drone flights. Matthew Sweeney, the CEO of Flirtey, remarked that "'We are rapidly approaching a time where drone delivery is a reality, not just in the United States but around the world'" (Atherton).

     Drone delivery faces numerous challenges which must be overcome before drones become a regular form of delivery. First and foremost, the drones must be able to safely deliver their packages and return to their distribution sites. While in the air, the drones must recognize and avoid other aircraft and birds; once near the delivery destination, the drones need to be able to navigate trees, power lines, buildings, and any other obstacles which may intercept the drone's flight path. The drones must be equipped with batteries which will last for a round-trip flight to and from the delivery destination (Sneed). Despite these technical and structural challenges, one of the biggest hurdles for drone delivery is the Federal Aviation Administration. Drone technology is an entirely new field of aviation and therefore requires amendments and additions to existing FAA policies. For instance, the FAA requires that drones must be operated by a pilot and must remain in sight of the operator during its flight. The use of a pilot defeats the idea of unmanned drone technology and costs more money, and the drones will often need to fly beyond the view of the home base to make their deliveries (Sneed). In addition, the FAA mandates that drones cannot make "commercial deliveries" unless given permission (Sneed); this has been a major complication for companies such as Amazon, which only deal in commercial deliveries. As with any new technology, there are many hindrances which must be overcome; however, the flights by Flirtey lend hope to the future of the drone industry. The FAA granted permission to Flirtey for both of its recent drone flights, indicating that the FAA may be opening up to the idea of drone delivery systems. Even though drone technology may not gain widespread use any time soon, Flirtey's hexacopter gives us a glimpse of a new and exciting area of aviation.
 
Atherton, Kelsey D. "The First Urban Drone Delivery Just Happened in Nevada." Aviation. Popular 
     Science, 25 March 2016. Web. 26 March 2016.
 
Moon, Mariella. Nevada Gets First FAA-Approved Urban Drone Delivery. Engadget, 26 March
     2016. Web. 26 March 2016.
 
Sneed, Annie. "Drone Drop-Offs at Your Door Won't Happen until the FAA Delivers." Tech.
     Scientific American, 7 Sept. 2015. Web. 26 March 2016.
 
Sonner, Scott. For First Time, Drone Delivers Package to Residential Area. ABC News, 25 March
     2016. Web. 26 March 2016.
 


The Deadliest Aviation Accident in History


           The Canary Islands are the place to be. Located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Morocco and Western Sahara, the Canaries have a subtropical climate, beautiful beaches, and several important historical locations, including multiple world heritage sites. However, the canaries are also known for something very negative, as well. One of the islands in the Canary archipelago is called Tenerife. You may have never heard of the island of Tenerife, but it was here that the worst disaster in aviation history occurred. From the first plane crash in history to modern times, never has any other crash had as high a death toll.

            The date was March 27, 1977. The primary airport in the Canary Islands, located on Las Palmas, was temporarily closed. Earlier in the day, a bomb had exploded in the Canary Island airport flower shop. It had been planted there by Canary Island separatists, and as a result, all flights scheduled to land there were diverted to the Las Rodeos airport in Tenerife. Among these flights diverted were KLM flight 4805 and Pan Am flight 1736, both being Boeing 747s.

            The day was extremely busy and stressful for the air traffic controllers of Los Rodeos Airport. Between the time of the explosion of the bomb at Las Palmas and 4:00 p.m. (the time that Las Palmas re-opened) they were responsible for twice the volume of air traffic as usual.

            At 1:44 p.m., KLM flight 4805 arrived at Los Rodeos from Amsterdam with 248 passengers aboard. They were directed by the air traffic controller to park at the far end of the runway until Las Palmas reopened and could begin accepting traffic again. Pan Am flight 1736 from Los Angeles arrived at 3:00 with 394 individuals aboard, and landed on the same runway as KLM flight 4805. Air traffic controllers instructed it to also park at the end of the runway, directly next to KLM 4805. They did so.

            At 4:00, the call came in from Las Palmas that it was ready to begin accepting traffic again. Within minutes, Pan Am flight 1736 was ready for takeoff, but because of the lack of room and angle at which the two airliners faced each other, the KLM flight had to be the one to take off first. However, the KLM was not ready to take off, because it requested that it receive extra fuel before takeoff.

            The day had been beautiful. But, as the KLM was receiving extra fuel, a strange thing happened. Fog started rolling down off the hills and completely engulfed the airport. Visibility was reduced to almost nothing in a short period of time. After receiving fuel, the KLM is ready to take off. Because of the congested condition of the airport, the air traffic controllers tell the KLM that it will need to taxi to the far end of the runway it was sitting on and make a 180 degree turn before using the runway to take off, in the direction of Pan Am 1736.

            Air traffic control instructs Pan Am 1736 to temporarily pull off the runway. It makes an attempt to, but misses its assigned turnoff, due to the heavy fog. This is no big issue, and air traffic control instructs it to continue on until it comes to the next turnoff. At the same time, KLM 4805 gets the route clearance. However, the KLM pilot, captain Van Zanten, mistakes this for the takeoff clearance, and begins accelerating the plane for takeoff. Because of the fog, he cannot see Pan Am 1736, still on the runway, and coming directly toward him as it looked for the next turnoff.
Teneife Disaster Diagram 
            It was at this moment that the radio communication KLM 4805 and air traffic control temporarily malfunctions, and silence from the control tower leads Van Zaten to believe that all is well. He continues with takeoff.

            The fatal moment: once captain Van Zanten sees the KLM directly in front of him, he has only seconds to react. He attempts a premature takeoff and almost succeeds. However, the added weight from the fuel that had just put in the plane weighed it down just enough to ensure a collision. The KLM slams into the topside of the Pan Am, and the planes explode into a massive ball of fire.
A computer-generated image of the moment of impact between the two enormous airliners.

Miraculously, there are 61 survivors; all of them being on the Pan Am flight. Every single other person, including all 248 individuals on the KLM, died. Altogether, 583 people died in this tragic accident. Thankfully, this kind of death toll has never been seen from any other airliner accident, and we all hope that that remains the case. Chances of that are decent, actually, because this accident brought about changes in airport and air traffic control policies, leading to safer airport practices ever since then.





The Science Behind why Plane Food Tastes Bad




           Why does airplane food taste so terrible? That is the question that many have asked for decades, never being satisfied when they take a bite aboard an aircraft. Believe it or not, there is actually a scientific explanation for why this is. No, it’s not that airline companies are cheap and buy the least expensive food possible. There is actually quite a bit more to it than that, something that no airline company can avoid—atmospheric pressure and humidity.

            Our senses of smell and taste are very much tied into conditions within our nose. Have you ever had a stuffed up nose and were not able to smell or taste anything as a result? The reason for this is a pressure buildup in the nasal cavities. Indeed, pressure plays a huge part in our perception of taste and smell. Differences in pressure within the nasal cavities cause our nose and mouth to be incapable of registering certain flavors. Though your nasal cavities may not be inflamed or congested while aboard an airplane in flight, there is still a change in the pressure within the plane, and therefore within your body. Although pressure at high altitudes is lower, not higher—such as is the case of a stuffed up nose—the nose/mouth responds much as it does to high pressure.

            Humidity plays a substantial part in taste, as well. The nasal cavities need the presence of moisture in the air in order to work properly. When this moisture is absent, so is the nose’s ability to efficiently smell. When the nose can’t smell at full capacity, the tongue can’t taste very well, because the sense of taste is 80% dependent on the sense of smell. At 35,000 feet, humidity is at 7%, which is incredibly low, lower than that of most deserts. Thus, this further hinders the tongue’s ability to taste.

            Not convinced? Well, scientific studies have actually been done on this subject. In 2010, Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics did tests to investigate the matter. They reduced the air pressure of their laboratory to the level that it would be in a plane at 35,000 feet. They also lowered the humidity to 7%, and conducted tests in which subjects would go in and eat various foods. The result? Somewhat as expected, but with surprises. It was revealed that the sense of taste was only reduced for certain kinds of flavors. Namely, sweetness and saltiness. Thus, any food that relies upon either sweetness or saltiness (which most foods do) will taste drastically blander to us at 35,000 feet than it does on the ground. Interestingly though, no other flavors, such as spiciness, bitterness, or sourness are affected. Some foods actually taste better in the air. For some reason, the sugar called L-glutamate, which is common in many vegetables and also in tomatoes, has a more intense taste up high. Thus, tomato juice actually tastes really good on planes, supposedly, and orders of tomato juice and Bloody Marys are drastically higher in the air than anywhere on the ground. Other foods with L-glutamate that taste better in flight include sardines, mushrooms, seaweed, and soy sauce.

            So next time you fly, remember that the sweet or salty food you’re craving is probably not worth it. Instead, be adventurous. Try tomato juice, if you never have. There’s no better place to drink it than in the sky!