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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2004

135

Abstract

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 76 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2016

Francesco Castelluccio, Luigi Maritano, Salvatore Amoroso and Marco Migliore

This study aims to develop a methodology to compare the feasibility of helicopter and seaplane regular transport of passengers towards destinations across a remote regional…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop a methodology to compare the feasibility of helicopter and seaplane regular transport of passengers towards destinations across a remote regional tourist context, where a lack of road and rail infrastructure make these alternative forms of air transport competitive.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a modal split model identifying the quota of passengers that potentially could utilize these two types of services, determined on the basis of previous studies on air transport demand. A technical analysis regarding transport supply is performed to identify the predominant features that should characterize helicopter/seaplane performances. An optimization model is applied to identify the routes that could overcome the breakeven point considering each of the two means of transport. The paper also takes into account the importance of each type of service and its influence on flight infrastructure costs.

Findings

Helicopter and seaplane services could improve the access for tourists with high values of time. The helicopter transport could capture a market share ranging from 5 to 20 per cent of tourist travel demand (the amphibian seaplane from 1 to 14 per cent). The shuttle services could be profitable especially for those regional origin–destination pairs involving the two major airports and the most UNESCO visited locations such as Agrigento and the Aeolian Archipelago (into the analyzed context of Sicily). The comparison between the two modes of transport shows that the helicopter has best performances and the seaplane has to land/take-off from sea.

Research limitations/implications

The lack of data on the performances of the whole world production of seaplanes and helicopters (such as Russian, Chinese or US old machines) could give a distortion of the result. On the other hand, all mostly used machines in the world at the moment are considered. A survey on the fear of flight and on the choice between the two different forms of air transport could give a more precise result.

Practical implications

From an economic point of view, an operator could choose with more confidence the means of transport to use under different conditions. The activation of passenger services with seaplanes and helicopters can give an impulse to the growth of little operators and to the tourism. So, this study could be a starting point for authorities to plan a regional network of little general aviation airfields and seadromes (located in the great lakes or near the ports) near the major tourist locations. It could make possible to develop a synergic regional commuting traffic involving the seaplane and the helicopter.

Social implications

Seaplanes and helicopters represent the most important means of transport when poor accessibility conditions and need of ready and fast connections coexist, for example, the commuting between airports and remote regions or downtowns with high tourist or business impact. The activation of passenger services with seaplanes and helicopters can give an impulse to the growth of little operators and to the tourism, consequently to the regional accessibility and economy.

Originality/value

There is a lack of studies involving the comparison between seaplanes and helicopters. This study could represent an important means to analyze the parameters that influence the possibility of activation for this kind of services and to find the factors that influence the feasibility of business with the two different machines. The encouraging performances of the flying boat suggest a future development of an innovative model of medium- and/or high-capacity amphibian seaplane dedicated to passenger transport. It should have take-off/landing performances less dependent on the sea state.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An International Journal, vol. 88 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 August 2004

365

Abstract

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 76 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 1964

TO say that the Twenty‐fourth S.B.A.C. Show was an unqualified success is perhaps to gild the lily. True there were disappointments— the delay which kept the TSR‐2 on the ground…

165

Abstract

TO say that the Twenty‐fourth S.B.A.C. Show was an unqualified success is perhaps to gild the lily. True there were disappointments— the delay which kept the TSR‐2 on the ground until well after the Show being one—but on the whole the British industry was well pleased with Farnborough week and if future sales could be related to the number of visitors then the order books would be full for many years to come. The total attendance at the Show was well over 400,000—this figure including just under 300,000 members of the public who paid to enter on the last three days of the Show. Those who argued in favour of allowing a two‐year interval between the 1962 Show and this one seem to be fully vindicated, for these attendance figures are an all‐time record. This augurs well for the future for it would appear that potential customers from overseas are still anxious to attend the Farnborough Show, while the public attendance figures indicate that Britain is still air‐minded to a very healthy degree. It is difficult to pick out any one feature or even one aircraft as being really outstanding at Farnborough, but certainly the range of rear‐engined civil jets (HS. 125, BAC One‐Eleven, Trident and VCIQ) served as a re‐minder that British aeronautical engineering prowess is without parallel, while the number of rotorcraft to be seen in the flying display empha‐sized the growing importance of the helicopter in both civil and military operations. As far as the value of Farnborough is concerned, it is certainly a most useful shop window for British aerospace products, and if few new orders are actually received at Farnborough, a very large number are announced— as our ’Orders and Contracts' column on page 332 bears witness. It is not possible to cover every exhibit displayed at the Farnborough Show but the following report describes a wide cross‐section beginning with the exhibits of the major airframe and engine companies.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 36 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2003

Don Anttila, Kyle DeLong, Mike Skaggs and Scott White

An adaptable, integrated full glass cockpit and flight management system has been developed and is in production for application in multiple Sikorsky rotorcraft. The entire system…

1313

Abstract

An adaptable, integrated full glass cockpit and flight management system has been developed and is in production for application in multiple Sikorsky rotorcraft. The entire system was conceived, designed, tested and delivered in an unusually short time period. A systematic process was used to define the avionics system attributes, major capabilities, and cost targets up‐front and track them during the development program. First flight was achieved 12 months after contract start, and production deliveries commenced 5 months after first flight. The integrated glass cockpit has accumulated more than 9,000 flight hours in customer operations to date. This flexible system architecture allowed the team of Sikorsky and Rockwell Collins to reuse several blocks of existing military and civil application software, and to interface the various Avionics subsystems using industry standards. This proved to be a critical factor in allowing us to meet the compressed design and development schedule.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 75 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1992

Terry Ford CEng MRAeS

ACCEPTANCE of helicopter operations in all of their various forms has often been conditioned by noise and this subject was addressed at a recent Royal Aeronautical Society…

Abstract

ACCEPTANCE of helicopter operations in all of their various forms has often been conditioned by noise and this subject was addressed at a recent Royal Aeronautical Society Conference. The generation of noise, both in the helicopter itself and externally was described and measures being taken to alleviate it were outlined.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 64 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1946

A Summary by Dr. Alexander Klemin of the Papers Presented Before the Fourteenth Meeting of the Institute held at Columbia University, New York, on January 29–31, 1946…

Abstract

A Summary by Dr. Alexander Klemin of the Papers Presented Before the Fourteenth Meeting of the Institute held at Columbia University, New York, on January 29–31, 1946. AERODYNAMICS IN spite of increased wing loadings, the use of full span wing flaps has been delayed, because of inability to find a suitable aileron. The Development of a Lateral‐Control System for use with Large‐Span Flaps by I. L. Ashkenas (Northrop Aircraft), outlines the various steps in the aerodynamic development of a retractable aileron system well adapted to the full span flap and successfully employed on the Northrop P‐61. Included is a discussion of the basic data used, the design calculations made, and the effect of structural and mechanical considerations. Changes made as a result of preliminary flight tests are discussed and the final flight‐test results are presented. It is concluded that the use of this retractable aileron system has, in addition to the basic advantage of increased flap span, the following desirable control characteristics: (a) favourable yawing moments, (b) low wing‐torsional loads, (c) small pilot forces, even at high speed.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 18 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Article
Publication date: 27 April 2012

Richard Bloss

The purpose of this paper is to review the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Conference and Show held in Washington DC, with emphasis on unmanned…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Conference and Show held in Washington DC, with emphasis on unmanned vehicles or service robots and their application on the ground, in the air and in the water.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth interviews with exhibitors of unmanned vehicles and the providers of the technologies which are fundamental to their design and deployment.

Findings

The unmanned vehicle industry is largely driven by government requirements, both military and civilian. Unmanned service robots are also found in applications such as crop monitoring and fish school location at sea. Unmanned vehicles are getting smaller, smarter and more rugged to meet new challenges.

Originality/value

Unmanned vehicles continue to address air, ground and marine application needs where human safety is important. The vehicles continue to become more and more autonomous, smaller and ever better to address a wider range of application requirements.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 39 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 1986

Major technical advances were featured at the Show, particularly those developments that will be coming into service in the very near future. An outstanding demonstration was…

46

Abstract

Major technical advances were featured at the Show, particularly those developments that will be coming into service in the very near future. An outstanding demonstration was given by the Airbus Industrie A 300B2 Fly‐By‐Wire (FBW) whose autopilot simulates the control laws of the A 320. The pilot flies the aircraft through the FBW autopilot using the sidestick controllers as in the A 320, which is due to make its first flight in March, 1987. A convincing display by the A 300 FBW began with a slow fly‐past in landing configuration with gear and flaps down at a speed of about 100 knots. At mid‐runway position, the crew simulate a windshear encounter and the captain pulls back on the stick as might happen in such a situation. In a standard ‘conventional’ aircraft, this would lead to a stall with potentially disastrous consequences, but with FBW the pitch angle increases to the point where the wing reaches its maximum lift position and stays there. The ‘alpha‐floor’ protection incorporated in the aircraft then automatically increased engine power and the combination of maximum lift and power results in a climb‐out at 3,000ft/min. In another manoeuvre, the aircraft is positioned at an angle of attack of 15.5° in order to stabilise speed at 95–100 knots and only just below the limit of 17° — 18°. Also demonstrated was a stall turn with the nose up to maximum angle of attack and bank angle of 30° which stops there despite the fully‐deflected stick position. The engine power in this manoeuvre is controlled manually.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 58 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Article
Publication date: 14 January 2014

Richard Bloss

– Review of the most recent unmanned vehicle show in Washington DC with emphasis on the new robot innovations and applications on display. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Abstract

Purpose

Review of the most recent unmanned vehicle show in Washington DC with emphasis on the new robot innovations and applications on display. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

In-depth interviews with exhibitors of unmanned vehicles and suppliers of other related equipment and support services.

Findings

Unmanned vehicles are moving rapidly into new applications such as agriculture, environmental monitoring and medical along with maintaining their importance in the traditional military and security applications of the past.

Practical implications

Customers will be surprised at the innovations making these robotic vehicles smaller, smarter and more adaptable to a wide range of new applications.

Originality/value

A review of some of the latest innovations and applications for unmanned vehicles that one might have seen if they had been on the exhibition floor at the most recent Washington DC unmanned vehicle show.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

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