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A motorless flat antenna could solve horrible in-flight WiFi
The only thing worse than no WiFi on a plane is horrible WiFi on a plane. You cautiously throw down a few bucks hoping you'll be able to surf the internet without seeing a "page not available" message in your browser. According to Kymeta CEO Dr. Nathan Kundtz, the reason your in-flight internet connection is so crappy is bandwidth allocation and antenna design. Kundtz told Wired that the FCC needs to open up more spectrum in the less crowded higher frequencies. While we wait for that to happen, Kymeta introduced a new low-profile antenna to take advantage of the spectrum that's already available and actively track satellites for a speedier connection.
NASA and Boeing to test eco-friendly technologies for airplanes
Boeing's new ecoDemonstrator (a 757) is slated to go on a series of flights this spring to try out two of NASA's experimental fuel-saving techniques. One of them's the Active Flow Control Enhanced Vertical Tail Flight Experiment, which entails installing 31 tiny jets on a plane's vertical tail or dorsal fin, as you can see below the fold. These jets can manipulate the flow of air over the tail's surface and generate enough force to stabilize the plane during takeoff and landing, even if the fin's around 17 percent smaller than usual. A smaller tail means a lighter plane and, hence, lower fuel consumption.
NASA is testing its far-out electric plane concept
NASA's set to test a wing concept it says "may herald (the) future" of electric planes, but it almost looks like a joke -- it has one-third the wing area of a normal aircraft and 18 electric motors. However, the space agency is dead serious about the LEAPTech wing, a joint partnership with two private aerospace companies. It consists of a 31-foot, carbon composite span with tiny motors powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries. After successful testing at slower speeds, NASA will "fly" a wing section aboard a specially-equipped truck at speeds up to 70mph. Eventually, the wing will be mounted to a commercial Tecnam P2006T aircraft and flown by test pilots.
Russia's amphibious UAV is equal parts plane and hovercraft
Flying an unmanned aerial vehicle isn't usually the hard part, getting it on and off the ground is. But thanks to the addition of an all-terrain hovercraft skirt, the Russian Federation's newest hybrid UAV will be able land and launch virtually any surface --from snow and sand to lakes and waterways, even stone-riddled roadways strewn with pebbles up to about 8 inches tall -- all while riding a protective cushion of air.
JetBlue will soon let you buy in the sky with Apple Pay
There will soon be one more place where you can purchase goods with Apple Pay, and for the first time, it's located 35,000 feet in the sky: a JetBlue airplane. The company is in the process of replacing its old in-flight payment systems with iPad minis that can accept mobile payments from iPhones 6 and 6 Plus. And yes, you can use the option to buy food, booze and even upgrade to an empty premium seat, in case you're struck with the need to treat yourself: just place the phone with your thumb on the home key near the flight attendant's iPad mini. Apple believes this won't be the last time an airline welcomes Apple Pay on board either, so if you don't fly JetBlue, well, you may want to cross your fingers that your favorite carrier follows suit.
Selfies may have led to a deadly airplane crash
Taking selfies while you're driving any moving vehicle is a bad idea, especially in an aircraft -- and unfortunately, those snapshots may have cost two air travelers their lives. The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that a double-fatality Cessna 150 crash in Colorado "likely" occurred because the pilot distracted himself with cellphone self-portraits shortly after takeoff. Action camera footage from a flight just minutes earlier showed the man taking selfies -- investigators believe it's no big stretch to suggest that he repeated this mistake on his final voyage.
Samsung's Gear VR will entertain Qantas' first-class passengers
Offering iPads as in-flight entertainment systems is so 2014. Australian carrier Qantas will soon welcome a new breed of gadget onboard -- the Samsung Gear VR, along with a Galaxy Note 4 to power it. The phone's loaded with a special app that shows you 360-degree views of the carrier's first-class lounges and even a virtual reality boat ride. You can also use it to watch a movie, but unfortunately, if you want to marathon House of Cards, you'll have to use your own laptop or tablet for that. See, the bad news is that there will be a limited number of Gear VRs available, and it's not accessible to everyone flying Qantas: only folks in Business Class aboard an Airbus A380 going from LA to Sydney or from Melbourne to LA can borrow one. Even then, they're expected to use it only for a limited time, so other people can take their turn.
FAA report shows spike in drone-related air traffic incidents
There's a reason why unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) aren't permitted to fly beyond 400 feet and within a five-mile radius from airports: they could cause a disaster if they smash a plane's windshield or get sucked into its engine. Unfortunately, some drone operators don't follow protocol, and their numbers have only increased since June 1st this year. According to a document that the FAA has just released, pilots and air traffic controllers have reported 175 incidents in which a drone was seen flying in restricted airspace since mid-2014. Out of those 175 incidents, 25 describe drones almost colliding with either a plane or a helicopter.
Track flights for free with Air UK Free
AirUK is an app developed by Fikret Urgan. It requires iOS 6.0 or later, is compatible with iPad and iPod touch, and is optimized for iPhone 5. A user can track flight statuses by following the movement of tiny plane icons. If you press on one of the planes, the app displays the flight number in green right above the icon. You can zoom in and out using your fingers or the (+) and (-) symbols at the bottom left corner. I checked a few of the flights online and they seemed to be accurate. I'm sure there's room for error as some flights might lose the ability to update their flight status in some situation. There is not a way to search for a flight by number however, so you have to actually scroll through and find the plane yourself, which is very inefficient. The app is free but is full of advertisements. Some of the ads cause the app to crash. There are apps on the top of the screen which are irritating and distracting, and the full screen ads honestly make me want to throw away the app altogether. When you zoom in and out to find a specific area where you would like to track a plane, the app takes a long time to load because there are way too many tiny plane icons that have to readjust their location. I'm sure it's still faster than looking up the flight status online depending on the airline. I think it would be better if there was a way to search for one specific flight number and let that be the only icon on the screen. I doubt anyone would want to know the flight status of every plane coming and going from their town. AirRadar UK is very plain and straight forward design wise. It's clearly for utility and not for entertainment. A little more design effort could persuade a user to go "Pro" though. The planes are very low res; however as previously stated, there are so many of them so they probably have no choice but to make them small and easy to load all of the icons on a tiny mobile screen. I would recommend AirUK to travelers and their family who need a fast way to check in on a flight status via mobile. This app is great for business executives, flight attendants, travel enthusiasts, and their loved ones who want to know where they are even when they are in the sky. From a car or from home you can check and see where a flight is and if it is on schedule for on time arrival.
Researchers take a hint from birds to fight airplane turbulence
We've all been there: you're trying to catch a little shut-eye on a flight when boom, out of nowhere, the plane hits a rough patch and you're dramatically roused from your slumber. Thanks to researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, those rude awakenings just might become a thing of the past. Inspired by the way birds detect and adjust to shifts in wind and airflow using their feathers, the school's Unmanned Systems Research team cooked up a series of sensors they can attach to an (admittedly tiny) aircraft's wings. Here's the thing: as well as just measuring gusts of wind as they pass across the wing's leading edge, the sensors can pick up shifting air currents in front of the wing too before they have a chance to send planes a-tumblin' (naturally, they proceeded to patent the stuff just to be safe). In its current form the tech is best suited for keeping lightweight planes on the straight and narrow, but team supervisor Simon Watkins thinks it could easily be applied to bigger vehicles -- like maybe the shiny new 777 you board down the road.
The government insists airlines replace WiFi-allergic cockpit displays
A fleet of 737s and 777s are definitely in line for an upgrade, now that the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered airlines to replace their cockpits' displays with ones not vulnerable to WiFi signals. Let's go back a few years to understand what's going on here. See, back when the use of wireless internet aboard airplanes was only just starting to take off, Boeing conducted a test, which discovered that WiFi signals affected 737 and 777 cockpit displays. These screens, which showed pilots important flight data such as altitude and airspeed, flickered and even blanked out completely in the presence of WiFi. In one particular bad test run, the screen remained blank for a full six minutes.
Bid adieu to 'Airplane Mode' on European airlines
Want to continue that scintillating game of Words with Friends throughout the entire flight? Well, that might soon be a possibility if you're flying in European airspace. Late last year, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had decided to permit personal electronics like smartphones and tablets to remain on during takeoff and landing as long as it was in "Airplane Mode." Now, even that restriction has been lifted. Yep, the EASA has deemed "Airplane Mode" no longer necessary, thus allowing for true "gate-to-gate" electronics use. Of course, even if the EASA permits it, each airline will still have to take an assessment test to make sure it won't negatively affect aircraft communications. Turning off Airplane Mode is still a no-no for US flights, though most airlines do let you use your gadgets during takeoff and landing thanks to last year's FAA ruling. Maybe if Airplane Mode becomes unnecessary some day, we'll rename it to something that makes more sense, like "The Mode that Doesn't Suck Up All Your Battery." [Image credit: pouwerkerk/Flickr]
Watch a tiny robot fly an aircraft nearly as well as a real pilot
Autonomous aircraft are likely to be the future of air travel, but we're not quite there yet; even with autopilot systems in place, most airplanes are designed with human pilots in mind. South Korean researchers may have a clever robotic stopgap, however. Their tiny PIBOT automaton uses a mixture of flight data and visuals to fly using real controls. It still needs intervention shortly before touchdown, but it can otherwise take to the skies as well as many organic air crews -- it may even be a bit better in a few areas, since it uses its camera to align neatly with the runway on takeoff and landing.
You can't smoke on planes, but Boeing's burning tobacco to fly
Lighting up a cigarette whilst in flight has been banned for quite a long time, but that doesn't mean Boeing won't be burning tobacco on its planes in the future. The company has teamed up with South African Airways and aviation innovation outfit SkyNRG to create biofuel from tobacco plants. Solaris, a hybrid variety of the agriculture product, will be used to make sustainable jet fuel and give farmers another crop option. The plants contain almost no nicotine, and at the start, oil from its seeds will be transformed into a renewable way to power plane engines. Eventually, Boeing sees more of the plant being used in the process once "emerging technologies" allow. Of course, this gives farmers in South Africa's rural areas an economic opportunity in addition to cleaning up the environment a bit. [Photo credit: Brendon O'Hagan/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
The TSA won't let you board some flights unless your devices turn on
You know how airport security will occasionally ask you to turn on a phone or laptop to prove that it isn't hiding explosives? Well, that's no longer just a rare inconvenience -- if you take certain flights, it's mandatory. The TSA now requires that you power on your gadgets when flying to the US from "certain overseas airports." If you have a dead battery, you're out of luck. You'll likely have to leave that hardware behind, and you might go through "additional screening" at the same time.
German scientists make it possible to fly a plane with your brain
Mind control technology gives you the capability to do things you didn't think possible -- like piloting a plane even if you have zero flying experience. A team of researchers from the Technische Universität München and the TU Berlin in Germany have not only developed the technology to fly planes with thoughts alone, but also demonstrated how precise it is. The scientists, led by Professor Florian Holzapfel, had seven subjects (one with no cockpit experience at all) use a flight simulator, and apparently, they all navigated the virtual skies with enough accuracy to pass a flying license test. To make the brain-to-plane communication possible, the group outfitted the subjects with a cap connected to EEG electrodes. Signals from the subjects' brains were then translated into commands using an algorithm developed by the TU Berlin scientists.
Etihad's A380 'Residence' has a lounge, double bed and an en-suite shower
We've seen full-length beds, 32-inch TVs and even dedicated chefs on board the latest Airbus and Boeing planes, but Etihad's setting the bar far, far higher by offering an entire section of its brand-new A380 to passengers with the cash to spare. "The Residence," as the airline's calling its uber-lux three-room suite, includes 125 square feet of space spread between a living room, dining area, bedroom and private bathroom (yes, of course it has a shower). You can have the suite all to yourself, or you can share the double bed with a companion. As for the tech on board, there's a 32-inch TV in the living room, a 27-inch screen near the bed, HDMI inputs (hello PS4 at 30,000 feet), power outlets, USB ports and a top-of-the-line Panasonic entertainment system. Etihad's not talking pricing at this point, but the A380 is expected to fly between Abu Dhabi and London, New York and Sydney beginning in 2015, giving you plenty of time to save up. Update: The Residence is now available for bookings. Dates we priced in March 2015 are coming in at a whopping £25,456, or about $43,000 roundtrip for the roughly seven-hour trip between London and Abu Dhabi.
AT&T will try to make in-flight internet worth a damn in 2015
There's still something a little magical about poking around on the internet while hurtling through the atmosphere in a metal tube at a few hundred miles an hour, but it's not quite as good as it could be. At least, that's the stance AT&T has taken -- it just announced that it's building a speedy in-flight data service "based on global 4G LTE standards" that could go live as soon as late 2015. Just to be clear, here's what this announcement doesn't mean: your phone isn't going to tap directly into AT&T's LTE network from 35,000 feet. No, what AT&T is doing here is building an air-to-ground network (sort of like the one Gogo has in place) that'll let airlines provide faster airborne WiFi to passengers and potentially help aircraft transmit more real-time data back down to the ground. That latter bit sounds significantly less exciting if all you want is to down your complimentary tomato juice and watch some Netflix, but there's no denying that keeping in touch with aircraft is a science that could use some (fine, maybe a lot of) improvement.
These plastic pipes filled with warm water help Airbus test passenger comfort on the A350
Airbus has been flying A350 test aircraft with passenger seating since February, but the European manufacturer has just now welcomed journalists (and its own photographers) on board at Germany's Aircraft Interiors Expo. The plane is outfitted with an array of test equipment, including plastic pipes filled with warm water mounted on each seat. Temperature-controlled pipes are used to simulate a full cabin after hours of flight, likely to give Airbus an idea of how ventilation systems work to keep the interior comfortable and cool. This is also one of the first A350s to be outfitted with proper coach and business seats, giving us an idea of what we might experience on Airbus' answer to the Dreamliner once it begins scheduled flights later this year.
Spike supersonic business jet swaps windows for a wraparound live-view display
We're pretty excited about the Spike S-512 supersonic business jet, but this latest feature could potentially make a three-hour Mach 1.6 hop from New York to London a bit nerve-wracking for uneasy fliers. A post on the company's blog this week describes one of the cabin features, a "thin display screen" that's embedded in the wall. Cameras mounted around the jet's exterior will power a panoramic view, which can also be swapped for other images or content that's more conductive to sleep, such as a solid dark color or a starry night scene. Removing the windows helps Spike trim the plane's weight while also reducing drag, enabling faster speeds and boosted fuel efficiency. We don't expect commercial airliners to follow suit, however, so if flying 1,218 mph in a windowless tube is something that strikes your fancy, you'll need to hop aboard an S-512 after the supersonic jet takes to the skies in 2018.
