Aircraft talk: A closer look at the blended wing body concept

Image source: nasa.gov

The idea behind the blended wing body in aircraft is to provide a configuration that allows for the wings to blend smoothly into a wide and tailless fuselage. With this flat and wide fuselage comes better aircraft lift, even as the wings allow for needed balance.


The concept is meant principally to replace the standard cylindrical fuselage and improve fuel range and economy in modern aircraft. The smaller and less angular surface area will likewise lead to less drag, effectively creating gains in aerodynamics. Again, the blended wing body is premised on integrating the wing structure with the central body of the plane and should, therefore, allow for lighter structural weight.


Design-wise, these aircraft will be powered by three jet engines, which are placed on the back. Researchers believe that this will reduce noise levels during landings and take-offs, as the noise coming from the engine will be shielded by the aircraft itself.

Image source: bild.de

For now, a significant challenge in realizing fully deployable blended wing body models is how to make aircraft based on the design more stable and easier to control. After all, the presence of a tail is what allows for stability in current, standard planes. It may take some time before planes based on the design become commercially available, but the benefits of developing this technology are simply too significant for the industry to ignore.


Scott Beale piloted the successful business turnaround of a number of aviation companies, increasing their company’s profitability with new business and diversification efforts. For more information on Mr. Beale’s past and current projects, follow this page.

The need for speed: The fastest aircraft

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Flight has always captured man’s imagination. When the Wright Brothers first came out with the airplane, people were amazed. When jet planes emerged after World War II, they changed aviation forever.


Over the past few decades, aircraft manufacturers have pushed the envelope on the development of airplanes. Together with the advancement of technology, few of the things the aviation industry only dreamed about were developed to challenge the very laws of physics. Here are a few of the fastest aircraft in the world.


Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: As far as fast jets go, this is the most popular one. The SR-71 Blackbird was manufactured by Lockheed for the purpose of reconnaissance and surveillance. It is also equipped with stealth features and with its 2,200 mph top speed, it’s even faster than missiles themselves.


North American X-15: The X-15 is a rocket-powered aircraft that has as its top speed, a staggering 4,520 mph. Its design, which includes an exaggerated tail and rocket thrusters (which are used to steer), allows the aircraft to reach such a mind-boggling speed. Many industry experts consider the X-15 to be the world’s first space plane.

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Bell X-2 Starbuster: The X-2 Starbuster has a tragic story. Test pilot Milburn G. Apt took the plane and broke the record as the aircraft went past Mach 3, at 2,094 mph. He died due to pilot error while making a sharp turn. The aircraft was deemed too dangerous, and flights were stopped in less than a year.


Aviation and aerospace professional Scott Beale was responsible for expanding FlightWorks from a $1.5 million-dollar business when he purchased it in 2000 to a $90 million enterprise when he sold the business in 2010. For more reads on the aviation industry, visit this page.

Important points on airplane maintenance and airworthiness

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One cannot emphasize enough the importance of airplane maintenance and airworthiness. To keep all the parts of an airplane in perfect working order is a must, and the job has no room for error. This is why flying is still considered one of the safest ways to travel.


There is considerable effort in keeping an aircraft airworthy. To make the plane fit to take people to the skies, it has to comply with strict conditions. But once these conditions are met, people can be assured that it is safe to ride.


Factors for airworthiness include overall design, redundancy features, and the continued maintenance of its parts. Every time a plane lands after a long flight, especially through rough weather, it is inspected for airworthiness.


The maintenance of airplanes is significant to its airworthiness. Repairs have to be made and completed, in the proper way. Incomplete or improper repairs may not show up right away, but may very well lead to disaster.

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Thankfully, in the aviation industry, people responsible for airplane maintenance and airworthiness are thoroughly trained, therefore, highly skilled. They undergo strict examination processes to make sure they never miss so much as a single loose bolt.


Do you love flying? What are the things that make you feel safe during the travel? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below.


Scott Beale has led various aviation firms in attaining growth in revenues with his competencies in strategic and tactical planning, account development and acquisition, government contract and management, sales team training and supervision, and financial reporting. More reads on aviation here.

Aerodynamics 101: How does an airplane fly?

Many things in the world are hard to explain. How a metal aircraft weighing over 500 tons can fly in the air is one of them. It may seem outlandish for some people, but don’t worry. The physics are solid, and the explanation is quite simple. 

Image source: airspacemag.com

The most crucial part of getting a plane off the runway is getting molecules to push the undersides of the plane up than the upper sides. When the undersides of a wing crash more violently with molecules, it generates lift. 

If an airplane is parked on the ground, the molecules around its wings bounce off with the same force above and below the wing. But as the plane takes off, the wings’ curvature and its angle create more friction between molecules and the underside of the wing and less for the upper side of the wing. This increases the upward force on the bottom side of the wing which generates lift. 

That covers how planes get off the runway. But how do they stay in the air? Airplanes can easily do this because there is no net force on them. Newton’s law states that a body at rest stays at rest and a body in motion remains in motion. Even if a plane is flying 15,000 kilometers above the earth, the laws of physics are still followed. 

Image source: gizmodo.com

Skilled in commercial sales and aviation products marketing, government contracting, and startups, Scott Beale has piloted successful business turnarounds in the aviation industry for more than 20 years. For more on Scott and his professional endeavors, click here.

Aviation tidbits: Learn more about the industry

It sounds cliché, but it’s true – man has been captivated with flight since the dawn of time. After centuries upon centuries of dreaming and planning, man has finally realized his dream of soaring in the sky. With the advancement of technology in the past 100 years, flight has evolved in an unprecedented manner. Below are some of the interesting facts that have to do with aviation. 

Image source: scienceabc.com

•  Even with the knowledge that airplanes and flying, in general, is the safest way to travel, people are still afraid to fly. Perhaps knowing the aircraft are very well protected against lightning strikes can help minimize the fear.
  
•  Flying at a high altitude alters the bodily senses in many different ways. People hear things differently. Their bodies react to alcohol more quickly. And many of the things they eat have altered tastes. 
  
  
•  The fear of flight is called aviophobia.
  
•  Around 8 out of every 10 major plane accidents were found to be within the first three minutes from taking off, and eight minutes before landing. This is why to minimize such risks, people are urged to take non-stop flights whenever they can. 
  
  
•  In 1977, one of the worst airplane incidents occurred when two passenger-full planes collided on the runway. 

Image source : technocrazed.com

Scott Beale has been a business leader in the aviation industry. For more discussion on aviation, visit this page.