Dixon Aero Science

  Air Traffic Entities       In the United States, the FAA, or Federal Aviation Administration, is the main authority over the National Airspace System. Within that system, there are a few main air traffic entities with which we should concern ourselves, including " Airport Traffic Control Towers (Federal and Contract), Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities, Air Route Traffic Control Centers, and Combined Control Facilities" all of which are important components in maintaining safe and efficient operations  ( Air Traffic Services ). As an airplane flies from its departure to its destination, it may come in contact with any one of these ATC facilities, depending on the route of flight and the airports in question.     Typically, the airplane will fly from an airport where the controlling entity will be the Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT). The towers at controlled airports will "give pilots taxiing and take off instructions, air traffic clearance, and advice based o

  Noise Mitigation     There are a plethora of issues that airport managers, designers, and local authorities have to consider when deciding to build an airport or improve an existing airport. Air quality and pollutants, risk of aircraft accidents to others on the ground, or noise issues, among others. Noise issues in particular are of utmost importance as it can have effect on people's wellbeing and patterns of sleep. When it comes to the areas that unwanted noise can be mitigated, we focus on a few main ideas: the source level, the trajectory level, the tactical/operational level, and the strategic level  (Visser et al., 2009). The source level involves the aircraft construction and components in the airplane such as engine noise or noise made by drag. The trajectory level considers the three-dimensional space that the airplane occupies in the horizontal and vertical planes. The tactical/operational level involves air traffic control procedures, and the strategic level encompasse

  The Air Commerce Act of 1926     The Air Commerce Act of 1926 successfully established Federal control over civil aviation. This regulation spanned a large number of changes, including new regulations for "aircraft, airmen, navigational facilities, and the establishment of air traffic regulations" ( The Air Commerce Act of 1926, AvStop). In doing so, this legislative act changed the aviation community in the United States for the better. Specifically, this act made changes to regulations that significantly affected how safe the operations were and helped establish and maintain federal airways, increasing operability and safety.      One big change that came about from the Air Commerce Act was the requirement for airmen to pass physicals to ensure that the were physically fit for flight. This requirement stands today, with requirements to pass 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class medical exams in order to legally operate as Pilot in Command of a civil aircraft. In addition to this, the pi

                    Humans are messy, accident-prone creatures. Plain and simple. We forget things, we skip over tasks, and we make errors in all aspects of life. It is in highly specialized activities requiring a certain level of skill, such as aviation, that this kind of human error starts to become especially important. If a pilot makes errors in judgement, accidentally misses a checklist, misses a warning light, or forgets some critical component of flying, then the consequences may be dire. Accidents throughout the years have been connected to these kinds of mistakes and have been labeled as accidents caused by pilot error, or in other words, Human Factors. Human Factors then is related to the very essence of being human and making mistakes. There have been many an effort to curb these errors in aviation and improve safety for all, an effort that I would argue has been mostly successful.                      Human Factors, as described by the FAA, is a "Multidisciplinary effo

  The Growing Threat      As the aviation industry grows along side the technological revolution, so does the possibility of malicious attackers taking advantage of such technological interconnectedness. The passenger aircraft of today are incredibly complex, interconnected, network based, technological marvels utilizing individual software components that enable smooth operation in the modern airspace system. Each system is heavily reliant on electrical signals which allow it to gain information about weather, communicate with Air Traffic Control, move flight control surfaces, and navigate from place to place. Although no specific cyber terrorism attacks have been officially recorded, it does not mean that one is not all together possible. In fact, it is believed that someone with an in-depth working knowledge of a specific aircraft's systems would be able to interfere with the operation of an airplane, which would have serious ramifications for safety of the flight crew, the pass

  Electrical System - What happens when an airplane loses electricity?           A light general aviation airplane does not rely solely on electronics in order to fly, however, the airplane's electronics are of importance to it's capabilities and is generally most important under Instrument Flight Rules, at night, or while operating from a towered airport or in controlled airspace. While under Instrument Flight Rules, or IFR, one must be able to use the electricity in the airplane to communicate with Air Traffic Control (ATC) and navigate without visual reference to the surface via navigational aids. A GPS will use electricity, a VOR will use electricity, and so will an NDB. While flying at night, it is imperative that the pilot be able to see both inside the airplane and out, both under VFR and IFR. In controlled airspace, the controllers will issue you instructions over the radios which in turn require electricity to receive and transmit. The one phase of flight that does not