MIR

highspeed impact at Formula 1 race in Silverstone (U.K.)

possible solution:
2 stage wall impact protection (layer of wheels + solid rubber) at points
of probably high impact velocity


avalanche accidents in Austria

biggest problem for the helicopter rescue and supply teams in the past :
no sight due to snow storms and fog

possible solution for situations with acceptable wind-conditions:
GPS guided rescue operation with waypoint B above the mountains.
(at least 100 metres distance to the ground necessary to avoid provocation of an avalanche)
The lines AB and BC are interpolated due to a time scheme (Point to Point flight concept)
  • Psion Series 3a/3c and Excel(TM) V5.0 spreadsheet file (2 kB i.p.) for
    two point (P1->P2) line interpolation (enter k=0 , k=0.1 , 0.2 , ... , 0.8 , k=0.9 for a 10 point resolution)

    JFK jr.'s body buried in the sea

  • location : point of accident near "Martha's Vineyard"
  • bodies of his wife and her sister found near the wreck
    (single engine PIPER "SARATOGA" plane)
  • U.S. coast guard dives for cockpit of plane
  • high impact speed of plane on the water obvious
  • JFK jr. did not have an instrument-flight license

    golf-player Payne Stewart died in plane crash

  • the LearJet he owned crashed on the way from Florida (east coast) to South Dakota
  • the flight path was followed by six fighter aircrafts (F-16)
  • 7 casualties (5 passengers + 2 pilots) ; everybody on board had died 4 hours before the plane crashed (low pressure -> no oxygen)
  • possible measurements for the future :
    a) stricter oxygen mask regulations / better passenger emergency training
    b) for other cases of passenger death: possibility to land the plane via an external steering (AM/FM radio or - if available - satellite phone controlled)
    the guidance by a double seated Harrier aircraft (necessary for the slow landing phase ; the second pilot operates the remote control) should be best
  • click here for a flight simulator that trains external landing (by now only military version available)
  • external link : PGA golfers association

    Last commercial flight of the Concorde

  • landed at 16:03 GMT on October-24-2003 in London Heathrow along with 2 locally operated Concordes

    flashback: Air France Concorde crash near Paris

  • 114 casualties (109 inside plane ; 5 guests of the hotel the Concorde crashed into)
  • burning Rolls-Royce double-engine caused dropping of plane
  • Air France and British Airways cancelled all subsequent Concorde flights
  • British Airways has resumed flights recently

    reasons for the fire :

    Burning rubber/steel material (from an exploding wheel ; similiar incidents
    have been reported before by British Airways) flew into the fuel-tank section
    near one engine during start.
    The wheel touched a metal part that had fallen off another plane on the runway.
    (the runway had not been checked carefully enough after a previously executed fire-brigade exercise)

    The fire was able to affect the first and second engine quickly.
    note: The     Boeing supersonic aircraft study operates with
    4 instead of 2 separate engines (which leads to a lower risk of a 50% thrust failure due
    to a fire in ONE engine)

    conclusion :

    If the financial situation - e.g. in cooperation with Virgin Atlantic - allows a PARTIAL redesign of the Concorde
    a) the Rolls-Royce double-engines should be separated slightly :


    b) at least a part of the delta-wing should be made convertible
    (similiar to modern fighter aircrafts and to the convertible wing design approach that the United States once used
    to create a supersonic civil aircraft of their own).
    Beside other effects 2 additional flap systems at the end of these extra wings
    would allow
  • a slower start speed (and therefor probably no more need for an after-burner),
  • lower fuel-consumption during start,
  • lower wheel temperatures/pressure,
  • less dangerous behaviour when particles on the runway are hit and
  • a later possible abort of start.

    disadvantages of this concept :

  • a smaller number of seats in section A due to the space and weight that the
    wing-conversion mechanism needs.
  • a greater stall-angle necessary to maintain lift-force or
    substantial loss of plane's altitude during wing-conversion process.


    necessary flexible profile for both partial wings :

    (note: flexible wing profiles already are being tested by the aviation industry)

  • click here to download the corresponding animation viewer for MS-Windows(TM) 3.1x
    2D/3D program (supports red-green and alternating glasses + prismatic screens) with Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) to exchange actual
    wing-angle values with other applications (e.g. drivers for electrical control-engines of demonstration models) ; Version 1.21 ; 91 kBytes .zip file.
    ( internal link : 'viewer' screenshot )


    (this page has been updated on July-24-2006)