Session 4 at SOAR by AVEMBSYS

               The fourth session commenced with a detailed discussion about aircrafts and their various classifications.
                The early aircrafts were the Ornithopter(Leornado Da Vinci,1500),Lighter than Air-Craft(Fransesco de Lana,1670),Airplane(George Cayley's Model,1804),Glider(Otto,1896).The Flyer by the Wright Brothers was the first powered,sustained and controlled flight(1903).The aircrafts are further classified based on the following:

• Based on the space they operate in:

1. Spacecrafts
2. Aircrafts

• Based on propulsion:

1. Propelled(Airplanes)
2. Unpropelled(Airships/Gliders)

• Based on crew:

1. Manned
2. Un-manned(UAV/RPV)

• Based on wings:

1. Fixed Wings
2. Rotary Wings

• Based on type of winds:

1. Monoplane
2. Bi-plane
3. Tri-plane

• Based on landing mode:

1. Sea
2. Land
3. Amphibian

• Based on engines:

1. Propeller
2. Turbofan
3. Turboprop

• Based on number of engines:

1. Single
2. Twin
3. Multiple

• Based on function:

1. Fighter(F-16)
2. Bomber(Jaguar)
3. Transport(IL-76Gajraj)

• Special types:

1. Reconnoissance
2. Microplane
3. AWACS(Airborne Warning and Controlled System)
4. Aerial Refueling
5. Vertical Takeoff
6. Stealth
7. Aircraft Carriers
8. Voyager
9. Skycar
10. Solo Flying Machine

                          The next thing that was shown to us was a crash video of the Avianca Flight 052.The reason this video was shown to us was to comprehend the communication between the pilot and the ATC(Air Traffic Controller).The crash occured due to many of the following reasons.The first reason was that the pilot was not very fluent with his English and could not clearly understand what the co-pilot was trying to convey to him.The second reason was that when the co-pilot mentioned to the ATC that the flight was running on low fuel,this information was not transferred to the subsequent ATC's.The third reason was that an emergency was not declared by the flight crew.Instead the word priority was used for a priority landing.If these reasons would have been taken care of,then this crash could have been prevented.
                           The last topic to be discussed was the ILS(Instrument Landing System).There are two things that need to be taken care of during the landing of an aircraft,the lateral guidance and the vertical guidance.The airplane on landing should be exactly at the center of the runway.This alignment should be done at a distance of 10kms.The lateral and vertical guidance is maintained by the ILS antennae located on either sides of the runway.These antennae emit radiofrequency waves of 90MHz and 121MHz and help the aircraft in landing.
                           This session enlightened us about the important role played by an ATC in the landing of an aircraft and also brought into light the different technologies used to make sure the aircraft is during its flight and on landing.