Alameda ERAU-W Blog

    The hydraulic system on an aircraft (that has one, some aircraft such as the OH-6 do not have a hydraulic system) provides flight control, breaking, landing gear deployment/retraction, breaking, and starting on some aircraft such as the AH-64 with its hydraulically operated starters for both APU and main engines. The hydraulic system of an aircraft is one of the most important systems on any aircraft equipped with it. Without this system and a failure in any back up systems can spell disaster for anyone on board. According to chapter 7 of the Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, A basic hydraulic system consists of a reservoir, pump (either hand, electric, or engine-driven), a filter to keep the fluid clean, a selector valve to control the direction of flow, a relief valve to relieve excess pressure, and an actuator (PHAK, 2020).     The list of potential failures in a hydraulic system can go on and on but in my experience with hydraulic systems, the m...

        Wind is something we deal with everyday. As pilots, maintainers, and crew we have all experienced our own encounters with wind, but this bring up a really good question. How does wind effect the overall performance of flight?      What is wind?                          Wind can be defined as the sustained horizontal movement of air, caused by changes in air pressure (page, 2013). Carts such as the one below, can be used by pilots to figure out where the wind will be the strongest and what direction the wind is moving when setting up a flight plan.  How does it effect flight and aircraft performance?                Wind can effect flight in many ways. It can make take off quicker since certain aircraft need a certain airspeed of wind over the wing to produce lift. so lets say an aircraft that requires an airspeed of 130 KT over the wing...

    In my eyes ethics in the aviation industry should be focused on safety of flight along with over customer satisfaction. On a personal lever I have seen what happens when safety of flight is overlooked or thrown out of the window entirely. This can result in damage to equipment, loss of life, and a total loss of customer trust and satisfaction. This point of view was well stated by Zuehlke in his article about ethics "Ethical issues aren't always life and death decisions. They include privacy, confidentiality, honesty, and fairness. the actions we should encompass taking responsibility, meeting obligations, telling the truth, keeping promises, and avoiding harming people" (Zuehlke, 2005, pa. 4).                                              For example, if someone was doing maintenance on an aircraft, ...