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Proving that a multi-engine aircraft is flyable with one or more engines inoperative is part of the certification programme. The Airbus A380 is certified under FAR (Federal Aviation Regulations, USA) part 25 and JAR (Joint Aviation Regulations, Europe) part 25. One of the requirements of FAR/JAR 25 is that the directional control can be maintained when two ...
47
A Type Certificate is a certificate that the FAA gives the manufacturer of an aircraft, certifying the design of the aircraft. So for instance, Cessna Aircraft Company of Wichita, KS holds a Type Certificate for the Cessna 172. Notice that the certificate specifies what components make a Cessna 172, what its limitations and performance specifications are, ...
32
No, these losses are well known and are called installation losses.
Their reasons are:
Intake losses. In a ground test the engine will be fitted with a screen to avoid foreign object damage, but none of the long intake tubes which are common especially in supersonic aircraft.
Generator loads: The engine drives generators to supply the aircraft with ...
32
A wing can be tested in any orientation as long as the load is applied correctly. The classic wing test photo is the 787 in a fixture showing its extremely flexible wings.
I thought it might be fun to add an ultimate load test, so here is the 777 tested to failure. Sorry for the early 1990s video quality.
Boeing 777 wing fail at 154% design load
31
ETOPS stands for Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards, a rule which permits twin engine aircrafts to fly routes which, at some point, is more than 60 minutes flying time away from the nearest airport suitable for emergency landing. ETOPS may also be interpreted as Engines Turn or Passengers Swim.
It is not a rule which applies after ...
29
At least it has a forward looking windshield.
(Source) Spirit of St. Louis that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France.
(Source)
(Source) A 777-300 needs a camera too to make cornering easier.
Like all tail-draggers, the pilot can be guided by a ...
27
The vast majority of aircraft require an inspection, from small Cessna singles to Boeing airliners. Usually, they require at the very least:
A visual inspection of the aircraft for damage, particularly the nose, tail section and wingtips. Most of the time, the damage is easily visible as "burn" marks or erosion of parts of the skin.
A check of the ...
27
@PilotHead is correct, but to elaborate a bit on why traditionally weight was put on the bottom is largely because its just easier. If you are Boeing you can afford to build a rig large enough to hold a plane down while you pull the wing up. If you are building a home build in your garage its far simpler to put some sand bags on it and let gravity do the ...
22
If you read the details in the Federal Register, you can see that this refers to crosswind handling on the ground, not in the air:
The folding wingtips and their operating mechanism must be designed
for 65 knot, horizontal, ground-gust conditions in any direction as
specified in § 25.415(a). Relevant design conditions must be defined
using combinations of ...
21
I'm not aware of any specific 'certification' for aircraft operating to/from Antarctica. The air operations to/from Antarctica varies greatly depending on the location of the airstrip and season.
Actually, there are airports in Antarctica that can handle 'conventional' aircraft (atleast seasonally), like the Union Glacier Blue Ice Runway, which has been ...
19
Excessive phase lag is a direct contributor to Type I Pilot-Induced Oscillation (PIO). Phase lag comes from:
Rigid body dynamics of the aircraft (e.g. delay between elevator surface and pitch rate response)
Actuators (finite acceleration time between input and desired surface angle)
Structural compliance (e.g. cable friction)
Transport delay in signals
...
18
The reasons such aircraft (including Spirit of St.Louis as pointed out by @ymb) were allowed to fly are explained in another answer. Quoting from it:
You don't need a panoramic view to land, ... Navigation is easy enough through side windows ... and you can just yaw the plane left and right for the times you do want to line up with something.
Even today, ...
15
The one time that I was struck by lightning for sure (there with a couple of other times I wondered if I had) was in a Cessna 310. Everything was working after the strike. However, an inspection of the airplane afterward showed that the very aft end of the right tip tank had melted and then resolidified.
As I understand it, a lightning charge typically "...
15
There aren't any civilian, current-production jets that come close to the range of the SJ30 for single pilot operations based on my research, although one or two turboprops have comparable ranges. I consulted Aviation Week's "Business Airplane's 2012" and the only other light jets listed with a long range are the Embraer Phenom 300 with a range of 1,954 nm, ...
14
Variants are seen as a modification of an existing airplane design, and only the changed parts need to be certified. The real advantage is that the set of rules the certification has to comply with are frozen at the time of the initial application, so any additional rules that had been added later are not relevant. This is called "grandfather rules".
This ...
13
I'm not really clear on the difference between type, model and series
A type is the basic airplane design, like the A320 type, which includes the A318, A319, A320, and A321. A series is the basic version of the type, like the A320-100 series. A model is the specific configuration of the series, like the A320-111 model. The model may be mainly a different ...
12
Airframe parachutes are becoming an increasingly popular option on newly-certificated aircraft, thanks in part to the track record of successful deployments on Cirrus aircraft.
If I had to speculate on why they're not showing up in older certificated designs (like the Piper PA-28 or the Cessna 172 & 182) I'd go with the reason I mentioned in my ...
12
Flutter is a phenomenon that can occur when a structure is subjected to aerodynamic forces. It occurs not only in aircraft but also for example in buildings, power lines, road signs and bridges. Flutter is an oscillation caused by interaction of aerodynamic forces, structural elasticity and inertial effects.
Perhaps the best known example of flutter is the ...
12
There are only a hand full of single pilot jets in production currently and the SJ30x seems to have the longest range by far. The other competitors in the space, the Cessna Citation Mustang, The Honda Jet and the D-Jet come in roughly in the 1300-1500 mile mark which is far less than the SJ30x.
Depending on how far you are willing to stretch the planes ...
12
This YouTube video shows the view from an RC model of the plane.
11
It would actually miss the point of wind tunnel testing. A free flying model could only be subject to air stream in speed and direction so that the forces are balanced. A fixed model on the other hand can be subject to air stream of any direction and speed and the forces measured. It is important to measure the forces under those conditions too.
11
The FAA defines several different types of aircraft, which have different applicable regulations. For fixed-wing aircraft, airworthiness for normal, utility, acrobatic, and commuter categories is covered in Part 23.
Note: Seat number excludes pilot seats. Weights are maximum certificated takeoff weights.
Normal category
Seats: 9 or less
Weight: 12,500 lb ...
10
Airplanes are designed to withstand lightning strikes, since they are expected to experience this in service. The goal is to conduct the current through the airplane while minimizing any damage this will cause.
Metal parts are naturally conductive, but composites need a conductive layer such as a metal mesh added to conduct the current. The parts also need ...
10
Could you? Yes, probably, but it would be very difficult due to the very limited space. You would have to have a huge airflow in excess of 50 knots for a small aircraft, and you could not simulate any motion fully, such as takeoffs rolls. You could also not test stalls and other manoeuvres. I think the main reason against this is that this is simple areas of ...
10
As you say, the FAA certifies an aircraft for certain "kinds of operation". For a normal category airplane certified under 14 CFR 23, it basically says that it must be "established appropriate to the installed equipment":
§23.1525 Kinds of operation.
The kinds of operation authorized (e.g. VFR, IFR, day or night) and the meteorological conditions (e....
10
It doesn't really make sense to "go and get" a type rating for any large aircraft. A type rating on a 727 would be very expensive for most people, when the airline that needs pilots will likely train you when you're hired. If the bulk of people that have the rating are gone, and the airline needs pilots, it will either have to be very patient when searching ...
10
From a regulatory standpoint the governing regulation is FAR 23 (airworthiness standards for what we'd generally call "small" airplanes - Normal, Utility, Acrobatic, and Commuter category).
FAR 23.3 is probably what you're interested in, and tells us:
Normal Category is limited to airplanes that have a seating configuration, excluding pilot seats, of nine ...
10
Title 14 CFR part 121.321 regulates scheduled airline operations in icing conditions. It requires airframe ice protection systems in order to operate in "conditions conductive to airframe icing", which they define as:
visible moisture at or below a static air temperature of 5 °C or a total air temperature of 10 °C, unless the approved Airplane ...
9
I see no mention of 14CFR 121.161 so here it is.
§ 121.161 Airplane limitations: Type of route.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, unless
approved by the Administrator in accordance with Appendix P of this
part and authorized in the certificate holder's operations
specifications, no certificate holder may operate a
...
9
That an aircraft is eligible for a category is not a basis to say that the aircraft should be certified in that category. In other words, though there is nothing prohibiting T-38 being certified in acrobatics category, FAA will not certify it unless someone approaches it for that reason.
The T-38 would come under military surplus aircraft, which is covered ...
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