Poll: Airline Passenger Comfort - Would You Slow Down If You Could Enjoy The Ride?

A 747 upper deck lounge from back in the 70's... now that's comfort!

 A ran a poll like this shortly after AirPigz launched over 4 years ago in an effort to see if people would prefer greater comfort and inflight entertainment over jet-age speeds of 550 mph. The idea being that fuel burn could be significantly reduced if we aimed for a cruise speed of more like 400 mph... and with reduced fuel costs maybe the airlines could still make money while giving the common passengers more legroom and elbow room so they didn't feel like cattle. 

 Plus, with modern inflight entertainment options like wifi (and some things we haven't even thought of yet) and maybe even real food service (gasp!) the longer ride might actually feel shorter. There's a huge difference between eating on an airliner with elbow room or without it! Imagine a nice warm meal enjoyed with lots of legroom and plenty of elbow room. Then follow that up with a movie or web surfing or emailing friends from your own laptop or tablet (with a power port at every seat) -  this could be very relaxing! Another benefit from the slower cruise speed would be a much quieter cabin. I bet this alone could have a big impact on overall comfort.

Seriously, several airlines had lounges like this for a while back in the 70's

 I'm also thinking that we can come up with some radically different cabin designs that would make the interior environment far more appealing and relaxing. What familiar real-world interior space does an airliner cabin remind you of? Nothing. I think that should change... the cabin should feel more familiar to us. Plus, maybe we'd even be able to offer a lounge area like these two pictures show. These were real 747 lounge areas from back in the 70's when the seats were bigger and the people were smaller!

 So anyway, in that first poll, over 80% of the people responding said yes, they would slow down. But the sample size for the poll was pretty small, so I thought I should ask the question again. It's not scientific at all and there are very few specifics here, but in the broad overall concept, would you be willing to slow down if it meant you could actually enjoy the ride?

Video: Men Who Fly Like The Squirrel! (Wingsuits)

 Tho I've always been a fan of skydiving (and have 110 jumps myself) I've been a little unsure how I feel about the way wingsuit pilots fly. But I must say that this beautiful video is just pure fantastic! It's men who fly like the squirrel! (Pteromyini)

Video screenshot: wingsuit jumping off of beautiful Italian rocks!

AGA-33: High Aspect Ratio Airliner Concept From A French Industrial Designer

Unique airliner concept from French industrial designer Francois de Watteville

click here to download an AGA-33 infographic
 

 I'm a fan of airliner design... partly because I spent a lot of time as a kid riding on airliners and partly because I just like to see the best possible experience for everyone involved; from the owner/operator to the pilots to the passengers. So I was very interested when I received an email the other day from French industrial designer Francois de Watteville that included some advance info on an airliner concept he plans to present at the 2013 Paris Air Show coming up June 17-23.

I don't have a lot of details, but it appears his goal is to stir up debate about how to significantly improve the efficiency of moving people around by air. His design is named the AGA-33 and its primary feature is a very high aspect ratio wing. Additionally, his design works around the idea of making some significant design changes that allow the airframe to still do its job of hauling about 250 passengers while being smaller and thus lighter. A large reduction in weight in one area of the airframe can really translate into being able to save weight in other areas. It's like how the Avid Flyer appeared on the homebuilt aircraft scene  back in the mid-eighties with an empty weight of about 360 pounds when we were used to 2-place airplanes weighing more like 500+ pounds. A focused effort on weight reduction (primarily thru re-thinking everything) can pay huge dividends in the end.

AGA-33 airliner concept illustration... calculated L/D is 33 to 1

 Does Francois know what he's doing? I have no idea. But at the moment I'm not sure that even matters. Great ideas and revolutionary concepts often come from people who aren't involved in the daily practice of the specific discipline... and as a dreamer of these kinds of ideas myself, I see some real potential here. The big idea that I see is the more efficient use of the interior volume of the fuselage. By reducing the the ultimate ceiling height of the cabin, the AGA-33 allows for a second level of seating at the thick point in the fuselage while stretching the seating area out longitudinally to allow for more legroom. I just got back from vacation Saturday and we rode three different airliners each way to California and back (extra cheap tickets by going the long way) and I'll tell you that I would gladly trade some of the ceiling height for extra leg room.

 I'm also a big believer in the idea of designing a slower airliner that needs a lot less fuel but offers greater comfort. It looks like the AGA-33 might be designed around this idea as well. I did a poll a few years back asking if you would slow down to 400 mph if the ride came with far greater comfort and more inflight activities to pass the time. Over 80% of the people in that poll said they would slow down. I know I would.

 Anyway, it's always interesting to see future design concepts from people who aren't afraid to think different. It'll sure be interesting to see what kind of reception the AGA-33 concept gets from the 'experts' at the Paris Air Show. Stay tuned : )

The Adventures Of The 19XX: Online Comic In Dieselpunk Style (With Airplanes!)

Screenshot of the online comic viewer for the very cool: The Adventures of the 19XX

 I first learned about the online comic known as The Adventures of the 19XX about a year ago when I stumbled across the 19XX facebook page. I knew instantly that I'd love it because it had an awesome graphic style AND it includes the use of familiar Golden Age flying machines. Tho it's not a comic dedicated to this incredible era of aircraft, you'll often find them woven into this adventure story set between WWI and WWII and presented in a sweet dieselpunk style. Here's the comic overview as presented by the man behind it all, Paul Roman Martinez:

Somewhere in the 20th century…not long after the end of the Great War, those who were capable of hearing it, received a revelation… another Great War was coming. This coming war would push the limits of technology, split the atom to create the power of a small star, and bring together forces more evil than the world has ever known. That this war would happen was man’s fatal destiny, but the outcome of the war and the details of it were not as clear. A weak League of Nations banded together to form a group. A group capable of doing what those countries could not. A group of adventurers, explorers, and scientists from every allied country to search the globe and fight a battle far from the public eye. This group is The 19XX, all the public has been told is that they are fighting for all of the good in humanity to survive the nineteen hundreds and beyond.

Their mission is to track down every powerful relic, every modern and undiscovered weapon, and every magic incantation ever uttered on the earth’s crust, because the forces of evil responsible for the next Great War would be searching for the very same thing. Nothing in the realm of the tangible or intangible is off limits when the fate of the entire world is at stake. (19XX will be updated every weeks on Mondays and Fridays, with extra stuff uploaded now and then as well)

 You can also learn more about both the comic and Paul in this recent artist spotlight at FreshMonkeyFiction.com.

Beautiful airship print available in the online store at adventuresofthe19xx.storenvy.com

 In addition to being a free online comic that's now into its third book, the 19XX generates revenue to support Paul's work thru a store full of really cool products. Art prints like the airship one above really capture the awesome designs of the era. Paul has a good eye for 'cool' but he also does a great job of being true to the flying machines, so avgeeks should have nothing to complain about when they buy the printed versions of the comic, or maybe a t-shirt or canvas bag with printed graphics. It's all just really really cool stuff!

One of the current t-shirts design currently available thru the 19XX online store

 I'm especially excited about Paul's graphics because I've worked out a deal with him to do the actual airplane artwork for the FLY Energy Bar packages that I'm developing. The packaging for a product is such an important part of its success, and I have worked hard to create a truly fabulous design that includes Golden Age of air racing aircraft for each individual flavor... but I don't have the level art artistic skills to draw the actual airplane part of the design. Paul will be drawing up a Gee Bee R2 for me before long so that I can have a complete package design to share for the upcoming kickstarter.com campaign for FLY Energy Bar. I think you're gonna be very impressed!

 So please go check out the comic at the19xx.com and then be sure to check out all the hot products in the online store... you're cool factor is sure to increase when you enter the world of The Adventures of the 19XX!

Video: FIFI From The Flight Deck - Takeoff At Fort Worth

(check out my hi-res OSH11 wide-angle view of the FIFI cockpit thru the side window)

 This video is from back in 2011 but it's a really great cockpit view (from the observers seat) of a takeoff in the CAF B-29 FIFI. It's an awesome avgeek treat to get this inside view of the B-29, especially since the cockpit design makes it all so open and extremely visible with all that plexi. But I hope that seeing this the day after Memorial Day also helps us to remember that the military aircraft that we so often love are really tools of war. A young B-29 crew heading out on a dangerous mission probably had a lot more to be thinking about than how cool their B-29 was.

 The people who are willing to serve in the military, or accepted the call to serve during a draft (literally putting their life on the line) are special people... and they are the ones who have preserved our freedom. It just seems to me that we should all start our day with a clear understanding of the sacrifices that allow us to be a free country, and in turn I would hope that we would all work harder to stand up in our own ways to see that freedom preserved.

Screenshot: cockpit view of the B-29 FIFI on takeoff roll (observer in bombardier seat)

Video: Memorial Day 2013 - May We Never Forget Their Sacrifice

May we never forget the sacrifice of those willing to fight and die for our freedom

Video: Kermit Takes The Gee Bee Z Out For A Spin

 
 Don't get too excited here, there's no 'spinning' or even leaving the ground with the beautiful replica Gee Bee Z that's part of Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight collection, but he did fire her up again and do some taxi testing in preparation for possibly getting her back in the sky before long. Just seeing (and hearing) this replica of the iconic Golden Age air racer move around on the ground is enough to significantly elevate my heart rate : )

 You might remember a Fantasy of Flight video I posted about a year ago of Kermit running the engine on the Z... this airplane is stunning to look at whether it's in the air or not! And just to clarify once again, this replica is NOT the one seen in the 1991 film the Rocketeer. The one seen in the film was built in 1978 by Bill Turner and was modified from the original design by increasing the wing area some and lengthening the fuselage a little to help make it easier to fly. That replica is currently on display at The Museum of Flight in Seattle.

 The replica that Kermit has (in the video above) was built in 1996 to the same dimensions as the one-and-only original that was destroyed in a crash during a speed record attempt 1931. You can read a little more about the original Gee Bee Z history in the wiki. This replica is housed at Kermit's Fantasy of Flight museum and is where this video was shot the other day. 

Screenshot: Kermit Weeks doing taxi tests his replica Gee Bee Z the other day

 There's plenty of avgeek awesomeness to see in this video of the Z, but I wanted to point out what really caught my eye. Note how the tail lifts off the ground just a little at 1:50. On one hand it's no big deal... it's a small taildragger with a Pratt & Whitney R-985 making 450 hp hanging off the nose. You might easily expect the tail to get really light when running the engine up and holding the brakes. However, note that Kermit has the stick back and the elevator deflected in a manner meant to keep the tail on the ground, yet even with all that air going over the tail it still comes off the ground! It looks like the combination of buckets full of power and that short fuselage (limiting the arm that the elevator is mounted on) mean that this thing is a bona fide beast!

 Even more, the wing-loading on the Gee Bee Z is somewhere in the area of 30 to 35 pounds to the square foot which puts it more inline with fighter aircraft from WWII. I think you can imagine that a fairly high wing-loading and a short-coupled fuselage make an airplane that's definitely a handful to fly. The first flights on this replica back in 1996 were done by Delmar Benjamin of Gee Bee R-2 fame - and I saw him post on facebook not long ago that the Z was his favorite Gee Bee to fly. Kermit also flew this airplane, 13 years ago, so he's knows what it's like. It's sure gonna fun to see if he gets her back in the air once again!  #geebeelove

Video: 3D Printing Exotic High Temp Alloys - The Future Is Now! (GE Aviation)

 I don't care if you're a tube-and-rag tailgragger lover like me or a jet-jockey driving an F-22 around the sky, if this video doesn't make your mind race with the possibilities (now, and especially in the future) then I don't know what will. This video from GE Aviation reveals technology where they literally 3D print high-temp exotic-alloy turbine engine parts!

 It's called DMLM (Direct Metal Laser Melting) and it's an 'additive manufacturing' process rather than subtractive... instead of cutting metal away you simply add the metal where you want it. It's not only an insanely awesome way to envision metal part building but it also allows for parts to be made that otherwise couldn't be. Drilling and machining can't always get where you need to be to get a part to function a certain way. Additive manufacturing has essentially no limits as to the complexity of the design, which not only allows for everything to be possible but it also means that multiple parts can now be produced as a single unit. The whole process can save weight while also increasing operating efficiencies of the components being produced.

Video screenshot: High-temp metal fuel nozzle for a GE turbine engine... 3D printed!

 I think most of us are getting pretty used to the idea of being able to 3D print parts in plastic these days, and research indicates that basic metal 3D printing processes have been around for many years now (especially in the repair world), but the amazing idea here is that we can now create critical high-temp parts from exotic alloys and seriously consider using them in areas where failure is not an option. Truly amazing and exciting technologies! 

 The future is now.

Pilatus Introduces The PC-24 'Super Versatile Jet' - Yeeeeha! (Seriously)

Illustration of the 'off-road' Pilatus PC-24 Super Versatile Jet  (illustration: Pilatus)

 Swiss aircraft maker Pilatus aims to put the fun back in biz jets. Oh wait, fun in a biz jet? When did we ever have a biz jet any real measure of fun built into it? I guess I can't really say for sure since I don't have very much direct experience with the world of biz jets, but I can say that I haven't felt a fun vibe from any of them. Until now. Meet the Pilatus PC-24: Yeeeeha!

 And if you think I'm the one using the word Yeeeeha here, you're wrong. It's Pilatus that's using the word to promote their new, rather large twinjet powered by the Williams FJ-44. With respectable projected max cruise of 425 kts TAS and the ability to takeoff from runways as short as 2,690 feet, the PC-24 really does seem to be aiming for super versatility. Plus, a standard extra large pallet-sized cargo door will really help the versatility too. But don't go digging into your wallet for the estimated $8 to $9 million for one just yet... first flight for this all-new aircraft isn't scheduled until later in 2014.

 The PC-24 will be a good sized aircraft as seen in this Pilatus drawing

 The drawing above gives you a good idea of the size of the PC-24. If you go to the PC-24 'performance & specs' page and then scroll down the page to the bottom right and click on the 'size comparator' link you'll get an interesting pop-up that lets you superimpose other aircraft or cars over the PC-24 to get an idea of the relative size. It's a very useful tool to put this aircraft into perspective.

The PC-24 aims to be Super Versatile and great looking too!  (illustrations: Pilatus)

 Given the success of the Pilatus PC-12 (not-the-most-beautiful-airplane-ever-made) it would seem that the PC-24 has a very bright future. The combo of truly enhanced versatility along with great looks would seem to indicate that this project is off to a great start. Any bizjet that's happy to operate off of a grass runway is definitely my kind of bizjet!

Pilatus-aircraft.com

Video: Jetpack By Troy Hartman - The Real Rocketeer? (Hmm, Maybe Not)

 So you probably know about the Martin Jetpack, and also about Yves Rossy - aka Jetman (who will be making his first public flights in the US at Oshkosh 2013!) but do you know about stuntman Troy Hartman and his Jetpack? If you do, you're a step head of me... I just learned of this sorta Rocketeer project this morning. The video above is actually from last August.

 I was leaning in pretty close watching the video until I realized that Troy is using the Jetpack mostly as a source of thrust to get him in the air under a parachute. However, he claims to have about 200 pounds of thrust with the twin turbine setup, and it also appears that he's working toward using this as the thrust to power a Jet Wing similar to what Yves Rossy uses. I guess the use of the parachute is just an easy way to test the Jetpack hardware.

Video screenshot: Stuntman Troy Hartman - Rocketeer in training?

 
 Is vertical launch a possibility? Without a wing and much like the Rocketeer? That seems like a good question but I'm guessing any attempt like that is along way off. It does seem possible tho since those good ole rocket-powered jetpacks (like this one) are stable and controllable. Plus, small turbine thrust will certainly continue to improve... but the list of challenges to solve seems exceedingly long and the likelihood for disaster seems very high. You never know tho, maybe one of these days Troy, or some other person with 'issues in the head' will actually make a Rocketeer Jetpack work!

(learn more about Troy and his Jetpack)