Aircraft Design and Development for Better Commercial Transport Service, Research Paper Example

Abstract

Dealing with the modern world involves a serious consideration over the manner by which the needs and demands of the people is widely given attention to. Relatively, transportation has become one of the most important elements that define modern living which also constitutes the kind of demands that the society have over the type of transportation that would best suffice their need for both safety and speed. This then includes the option of traveling through air. The development of aircrafts has taken a great leap from being the supporting operation to suffice military needs to becoming highly commercial in relation to the goal that it serves to complete.

In the research that follows, understanding what aircrafts manufacturing standards ought to be given attention to in relation to the services that these transport vessels are supposed to support. Considerably, this study shall entail to define what aircraft manufacturing is about and how it could be improved through the help of intervening factors from IT operations to further develop the stage of security and safety measures considered when it comes to handling aircraft flight operations.

Introduction

Aircrafts were originally manufactured to support particular military pursuits during the earlier times of human history when warfare was a matter of life and death between nations. Relatively though, when the tension between nations started to wither, the production of aircrafts began to take a different path of consideration. With transportation becoming a must in establishing highly modernized communities, humans began to explore possibilities of making travel options a lot more complex yet convenient for many. The Wright brothers who first explored the possibility of flying through air and being transported without the existence of physical roads could still be accounted for the development of air vessels that are now being mass produced to support transportation needs of the modern human society. Garnering the fourth place among the most profiting industries around the globe today, commercial aircraft industry is directly being challenged to further improve its services offered to the people. Undeniably, such course of improvement is expected to be highly distinctive on the manner by which the safety and convenience of the public is being given high concerns.

True, to be able to pass in the quality test of each aircraft vessel manufactured, the said transportation machines are checked for their endurance especially in relation to hovering in the air alongside turbulence and other weather disturbances. There are also tests considered especially when it comes to seeing whether or not each part of the machine is able to contain pressure and particular unforeseen conditions specifically involving outside forces. While Quality Management operations put into application in modern aircraft manufacturing protocols are being highly given attention to, it could not be denied that there exists some anomalies still that later on costs the lives of hundreds of passengers. Many investigatory presentations specifically insist on the existence of human error, which is most often than not pointed out as the main cause of such aircraft commotions. If this is true, what could be done to lessen if not to completely avoid the occurrence of accidents that often happen when in flight operations are being pursued. Hence, to make sure such condition of adjustments on operation are given attention to, several issues and relative resolutions are to be given specific attention in the discussion that follows.

Current Issues on Modern Aircrafts

Design is one specific matter that conveys whether or not a particular aircraft would be able to handle intensive internal and external pressures while it is in flight. Modern aircrafts, considering that they have already gone through different types of testing operations, are expected to have a higher level of tolerance to pressure compared to aircrafts manufactured some twenty years ago. Equipped with highly defined technological details, these aircrafts are often considered to be the cream of the crop. Nevertheless, when certain systems are altered, particular conditions of operation are being jeopardized.

Human error, as mentioned earlier, plays a great role on how and why aircraft accidents happen at present. Controlling this element could then be agreed upon as one of the key operations that could be used to control the occurrence of aircraft accidents all over the globe. First to note though are the different facets of aircraft operation where human error is most likely evident thus insists on being fully controlled accordingly. These facets include the following:

(a) Maintenance Operations

Although each aircraft operating company is required to keep an adept attention to how they maintain their aircrafts, it is not new that there are those individuals who fail to correctly manage the maintenance operations hence making it harder for mistakes to be checked and fixed when the vessels are already in flight.

From the engine towards the internal and external parts of the aircraft, each maintaining engineer should be guided properly as to what he should do, what he should check and what specific matters could actually define a particular anomaly in most of the parts that he is giving attention to during the checking process.

(b) Reporting and Recording

Most often than not, errors on reporting and recording cause commotions on the process of checking whether or not a particular aircraft has already been approved for flight. Such mistakes could cause emergencies that are hard to contend with especially when the aircraft is already in flight.

(c) Personnel Health and Physical Status

People who are assigned to handle particular responsibilities on ground control and those who are to take on specific positions in the actual flight operation are expected to be of good health status. Checking their stability and their capacities before any flight operation is approved is then a necessity that aircraft company administrators should give full attention to.

All these three facets of aircraft operation that could be affected by human error shall later on be subjected to examinations therefore placing them in full observation as to what solutions could best be given attention to so as to make sure that accidents happening because of such mistakes could be further avoided in the future.

Further Requirements

Information Technology is one of the most common yet considered to be one of the hardest elements to include in particular regular operations that have already been established through time like that of the aircraft management. Nevertheless, being effectively able to manage the contrast between human function and AI [artificial intelligence] operations assisted through the applications of modern IT programs designed for modern aircrafts would best define the progressive improvement that modern aircraft designs could actually incur.

Modern aircrafts manufactured in the past five years are already designed to have considerable IT operations embedded into their systems. One of which is the extensive condition by which autopilot operations are released whenever particular emergencies occur. Nevertheless, through time of examining specific accidents concerning aircraft flights, it could be realized how the involvement of IT in the situation could be further defined.

Furthermore, in the process of maintaining the aircrafts that is handled by a particular company, specific IT programs could be created or customized to fit the needs of the engineers who are to give attention to the said operations. Log in of names for the team who are to handle a particular maintenance schedule could be used to make sure that each individual who is to take the measure of noting whether or not the aircraft is ready for flight operations is well accounted for. This will impose a sense of motivation for the personnel involved in the maintenance operations to be more careful thus distinctively observing every inch of the aircraft as required. Other specific matters noted for checking should also be considered to be a part of the of the program where the engineers are simply to tab in the details they find to be specifically important in the maintenance process.

The connection of on ground and on air operations is vital. When emergencies happen, the ground control operations should be able to connect directly to the systems of the aircraft as if manipulating the flight through a remote control. This is rather an ambitious plight at the moment, nevertheless, when it comes to IT operations, nothing is impossible. All it takes is for one to think about the necessities and for another to actually create designs that would support the response for the needs that have been presented. To further point out how IT operations could serve as effective resolutions to the mater, the following section shall give a better eye-view of the situations to be handled.

Proposed Resolutions

Aircraft design specifically points out to how the physical and internal conditions of an air vessel is specifically made to face the different tumultuous situations why hovering on air. Nevertheless, in the field of modern aircraft manufacturing and operation, the link between ground and air control is deemed necessary to be given specific attention to. This link allows both parties to create a communication that could serve as guard in relation to how the ones on air are able to complete their duties to and from the destinations that are included in their route. The ground control link should allow the personnel in charge to take over the overall flight operation in case particular onsite emergencies occur. This may not have been possible in relation o the current IT systems used by modern aircrafts yet. Relatively, some control could be taken over by ground personnel as they handle their duties while the aircraft is flying. However, overall control is not yet possible to accomplish. Further IT operational systems should still be developed in relation to this particular desire.

In concern with the three primary issues mentioned earlier, here are some propositions of the solutions that could be considered further:

(a) Maintenance Operations

Since in the process of maintaining an aircraft, a team is designated to give attention to particular parts of the transport vessel, it is important to establish a central IT database. This database would be used to store the date, time, the personnel in charge and the remarks they report in relation to several parts of the aircraft during the check up procedure.

(b) Reporting and Recording

Through the established IT database, the administrators would be able to access needed information within an accurate time as needed before any flight schedules are approved. Along with this, administrators would also be given proper notification in case certain aircrafts need extra attention especially when it comes to refurbishing that is out of the regular schedule required.

The involvement of IT programs specifically designed to assist in practical and accurate reporting and recording of data shall allow administrators to track important information about the flight details and aircraft basics before, during and even after the actual flight operations. Making everything centralized shall make it easier for the administrators and ground control personnel to track down the most complicated issues that they should be able to resolve immediately to avoid any specific accidents that my occur.

(c) Personnel Health and Physical Status

IT-defined program that would check personnel health integrity before and after a particular flight schedule is important. This would allow the administrators see if the individuals working for their company are competent enough to handle their responsibilities both on ground and on air. Making sure that the human force is competent and is able to perform as expected could do so much in making sure that aircraft-base accidents are reduced if not completely avoided.

In this case, it should not be mistaken that it is the utilization of IT-defined operations that would solely take the challenge of improving flight operations among modern aircrafts at present. A huge percentage of development would still be based upon the willingness of the people to cooperate with the new procedures. Their enthusiasm and their integral performance would be the most important element in making sure that air-accidents are prevented. IT software programs are simply to be used as aide towards proper performance. Such condition of development is expected to have a great impact on how the people in the industry perform their duties to their jobs and to the public.

Conclusion

Aircraft design engineers are currently facing several questions of making their designs more adaptable to the new conditions of the weather especially when it comes to handling global warming related changes. Nevertheless, the introduction and application of IT programs to assist them in coming up with the most practical solutions to the impending problems of ‘flying’ could provide the backbone for the development that is needed by the industry at present. Then again, it should be realized that the advancements would only be able to accomplish their goal if human personnel would be able to coincide with the changes and developments involved in the situation. Considerably, it is through this collaborative approach that safer flights for transportation could be expected. The consideration over the possibilities of resolutions presented herein could provide the current aircraft designers with the idea of linking on air and on ground operations to become the basis of immediate response system when particular anomalies happen on air. This would lessen the chances by which aircrafts are to meet with accidents due to supposedly uncontrollable situations while flying on air.

References:

Aircraft IT Operations and Maintenance. http://www.aircraftit.com/Operations/About.aspx. Retrieved on July 23, 2013.

Anderson, John D. (1999). Aircraft performance and Design. Mc Graw Hill.

Gomes de Barros, Alexandre; Sumedha Chandana Wirasinghe (1997). “New Aircraft Characteristics Related To Airport Planning” (PDF). First ATRG Conference, Vancouver, Canada. Air Transport Research Group of the WCTR Society.

“Techniques for Aircraft Configuration Optimization”. Aircraft Design : Synthesis and Analysis. Stanford University.