The documents and manuals in the Aerospace and Defence Industry are all written in Simplified Technical English -- ASD STE100 -- which is a version of English with a controlled vocabulary and set of rules.
The only words allowed are the ones in its dictionary (which controls approved and non approved words, parts of speech, and meanings) and technical verbs and nouns (comprised in 22 categories). There are also strict rules regarding phrasing, number of words in sentences, number of sentences in paragraphs, and punctuation.
That allows an industry standard that makes the documents easier to read and interpret all across the globe.
This one is so, so, so cool. Behold the biggest fucking plane ever! It's literally so fucking awesome (shoutout to my dad for telling me about it!)
Let's start with history then we go to the cool technical facts:
It began production in 1984 by the USSR during the space/technology race at the Cold War and should meet the following criteria:
Have a maximum payload of 231 838 kg (551 116 lb); and
Operate from any runway of a minimum length of 3 500 m (11 500 ft)
In 1988 it debuted, completing its maiden flight (first flight) on the 21st of December of 1988 in the USSR, and at the Paris Air Show of 1989 for the first time out of the Union.
Even though two planes were ordered, only one was completed - the CCCP-82060 (reads Charlie Charlie Charlie Papa), renamed UR-82060 (reads Uniform Romeo) {a.n: the reason for the change is because Ukraine, the country that made the An-225, was part of the Soviet Union, hence CCCP} -, as of the second plane, the project started, stopped, resumed and stopped multiple times, reportedly having around 60 to 70% complete by 2009.
The Antonov An-225 is/was a soviet military cargo plane that could carry super-heavy cargo both inside and on the upper fuselage {more on that later}. It was largely used, but with the fall of the Soviet Union it was mothballed, meaning it was put to rest on a boneyard, recieving some maintenance to not fall into obsolesce.
In the 2000s it was refurbished and went back to action. In '02 it flew from Germany to Oman carrying food supplies for american soldiers. Most notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it conducted flights with med-sublies from China to the rest of the world. It's last flight was from 02 to 05 of February, 2022, collecting about 90 tons of COVID tests from China to Denmark through Kyrgystan.
Later the same month, however, it fell victim to the Battle of Antonov Airport. Though there are plans on being rebuilt at Russia's expense, I have no further news on it.
Technical facts!:
Wingspan of 88,4m (or 290ft)
84m (275ft7in) in length
Max take off weight of 640.000kg (or 1.410.958lb)
Max payload (internally and externally) of 231.838kg (or 551.116lb)
Crew of 2 pilot, 2 navigators and 2 flight engineers
Cruise speed of 850km/h (or 530mph)
Service ceiling of 36.000ft (or 11.000m)
Fly-by-wire flight control surfaces
Triple redundant hydraulics
Twin tail with big swept-back horizontal stabilizer
NASA didn't stop exploring the oceans and started studying space because they found something terrifying there, they never studied the oceans in the first place!
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) comes from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA); NACA was formed in 1915 and dissolved in 1958 to form our beloved NASA.
There's nothing, and there'll probably never be anything "so scary" in the ocean that makes us want to flee the planet. Animals are just animals, viruses are just viruses, microorganisms are just microorganisms. No scientists will ever be so scared of something in their field as to neglect its study.
Do you know the difference between a wing and an airfoil? wanna find out?
While both terms refer generally to the same structure in the aircraft -- the wing --, they both mean different things and have different implications regarding their use.
*it's important to note that these terms are used in this way when referring to aerodynamics and project calculations.
The main difference between a wing and an airfoil is its tip and root; airfoils don't have them. Airfoils are essentially "infinite wings", meaning they have no root or tip, they're used to test and calculate aerodynamic flow without the interference of the tips. They're done in wind tunnels and have both ends attached to the walls of the wind tunnel
In the 1960s, the United States made a series of experimental aircrafts named X-Planes, one aircraft in particular was the X-15, the last of the three models of the plane was finished in October of 1968 and its highest speed was Mach 6.70 - Flight 188, 3rd of October, 1967!
Mach 6.70! How cool is that?!
I'll make a more detailed post on it in the near future. School's almost back and so the frequency will also increase. thnks for the patience <3
The reason why plane doors and windows are circular or oval is due to the corners of square windows causing weak point.
In the late 40s the manyfacturer de Havilland developed the Comet 1. Introduced in 1949 it was the first of a kind: four turbojet engines licated at the root of the wings, pressurised cabine, aerodynamic sleek profile, and large square windows. It promised to revolutionize comercial aviation with the first jet airliner, it only had one itsy bitsy problem:
It kept breaking and falling and killing people.
The de Havilland Comet was involved in 25 hull-loss (irreparable) accidents, 13 of which were fatal. Much investigation was done to find the causes of so many grave accidents so close to each other.
One of the tests was a fatigue test in which a brand new aircraft was placed inside a container filled with water for 24 hours. The pressure of the water would simulate the pressure of the altitude in which the aircraft flew, recreating the conditions of the accident safely.
They found that the corners of the aquare windows created stress points where the fuselage ripped, ripping apart the plane, causing the accidents. Following the many devastating accidents, the public strongly lost the little confidence they had on commercial jet planes. Though they did win the marked over later, it was a hassle.
And that, my friends, is why you don't make square windows on planes
In 1980, the electronic duo Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark realeased an anti-war song called "Enola Gay" featuring the following lyrics:
"Enola Gay
Is mother proud of Little Boy today?
Ah-ha, this kiss you give
It's never ever gonna fade away"
The B-29 that carried the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima was called "Enola Gay", after the pilot's mother, Enola Gay Tibbets; the bomb was called "Little Boy".
The airfoil profile most used for the past 70 years, the swept wing, had the project presented for the first time in a convention in 1935. It only gained popularity in the late 40s and first used commercially in the 50s
The biggest plane ever built was the Antonov An-225, it a wingspan ten metres longer than the Airbus A-380, the biggest commercial aircraft made to this day.
There's this new supersonic comercial aircraft called Boom XB-1 that breaks the sound barrier completely silently!
It uses refraction of sound to do so, meaning it can do routes the Concorde (RIP) could only dream off since it was only allowed to go over the speed of sound over thr ocean.
Another super cool thing about it is that it uses 100% of SAF (Sustainable Aircraft Fuel), meaning it doesn't contribute to atmospheric AND sound polution.
Tiny fact: when the 707 was first released, it wasn't a huge success on the market (Pan Am bought it, of course, that's why they were made), so, like, a year later, in '55, they got "Tex" Johnson to fly it over the Washington River where a bunch of important people from the industry would be gathered for a fun little boat race - here comes the fun fact:
So, Tex was the only one allowed by the insurance policy to fly that plane and his only instructions were "sell the plane"; instead of just flying over the river, he decided to roll the plane (a trick that looks like the plane is falling in spiral).
Bill Allen, Boeing's president at the time, did not instruct him to do that, he just said "sell the plane", and according to witnesses nearly had a nervous breakdown lmao
The EMB-110 was the first aircraft of what would become Embraer, the most prominent and well known aviation enterprise in Brazil, and the third in the world.
It's a beautiful passanger and military plane that fits about 20 people (including pilot and co-pilot). It's got two Pratt & Whitney turboprop engines, a 15,32 m wingspan and weights 3.402 kg empty, 4.670 kg in take off. Its maximum altitude is of 27.100 ft and top speed of 426 km/h.
It started being produced in serie in 1972 and its maiden flight happened in 1973.
Here are some pictures I took of the third model ever made:
[Note: I realized I've only taken pictures from the inside :x]
This is the interior in caramel leather seats (very comfy), two facing the back of the plane by the cockpit, it's cream coloured and has curtains on each circular window.
Cockpit control panel seen above.
More controls. These are placed outside the cockpit, on the side behid the door (which is opened in this aircraft in particular).
The famous american fighter plane P-51, aka The Mustang, actually had a car engine instead of a plane engine.
And, it was entirely by chance! You see, although the project promised a lot, it could not go high enough to fight the german planes; the test pilot, Ronnie Hawker (Harker? Conflicting sources), who worked for Rolls Royce noticed their new powerful v-12 engine, Merlin, would fit just right.
They decided to try and the result: an american fighter plane that could fligh at about 39.000 ft, and 700km/h
