Historical Change to Aircraft Maintenance Practices.

 

Historical Change to Aircraft Maintenance Practices.

In 1988 when an Aloha airlines 737 Boeing aircraft fuselage was ripped off the airframe during flight it prompted congress to pass the Aviation Safety Research Act of 1988. This gave the Federal Aviation Administration more scope and research funding for maintenance technology and to develop inspection methods to identify cracking, corrosion, and delamination of airframes. This prompted the FAA to develop the National Aging Aircraft Research Program. (Glancey, 2014)

The program has different areas of interest which fall into maintenance inspections. One is structural integrity. The research conducted by the FAA was into the appearance of small cracks around airframe integrity points. This led to tolerance standards and inspection methods for maintenance personnel. These standards and inspection methods are still used today throughout the aviation industry. (Center, 2023)

The program also developed engine inspection methods for aging engines. There were two areas that these inspections would cover for aircraft engines. One is for static parts on the engine looking for cracks and damage on the pressurized engine casings. These casings could rupture due to the continuous high pressure. The other area was for the titanium components and ways to identify cracks and failures within the engine. (Center, 2023)

In 1991 U.S. Congress passed the Aging Aircraft Safety act. This required aircraft administrators to inspect every passenger aircraft and their records to determine if each aircraft was safe for flying and properly maintained. The effects of these programs and legislation are long lasting as many of the inspection methods and requirements are still used today. Technology has advanced since the implementation of these requirements which has helped maintenance personnel keep the aircraft in the air and to keep the level of safety much higher than before. (Boeing, 2010)

Boeing. (2010). Complying With The Aging Aircraft Safety Rule. Retrieved from Boeing: https://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/articles/qtr_02_10/3/

Center, F. W. (2023). The National Aging Aircraft Research Program. Retrieved from FAA: http://www.tc.faa.gov/its/cmd/visitors/data/aar-430/national.pdf

Glancey, J. (2014). The crashes that changed plane designs forever. Retrieved from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140414-crashes-that-changed-plane-design

 

NASA's Contributions to the Aviation Industry                             

There are many events in the history of aviation that have had lasting impacts on the future of aviation. An event that many people don’t consider is the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA was created in 1958 by the Eisenhower Administration. While NASA is generally thought of as space and astronauts most of the aviation industry uses technology, aircraft designs, mechanics, and operations that were originally developed by NASA.

Some of the notable advances used by aircraft today that were developed by NASA include, automatic flight control systems, aircraft wing design to reduce drag, noise control and reduction, de-icing capabilities, and cockpit configurations (Council, 2012). One of the most used of NASA developed technology are winglets. These little upward curved parts at the end of an aircraft wing are used to reduced drag and improve fuel economy. During development and testing it was shown that winglets can reduce drag on the wing by 20 percent. This has been a huge leap for the aviation industry in terms of saving on fuel and reaching higher cruise speeds. (Larson, 2001)

Aside from aviation NASA has also had a hand in developing much technology that people use in everyday life. Camera phones were originally developed as they needed a camera that was small enough to fit inside a space craft without taking up space and also needed to be lightweight. Wireless headphones are also a NASA technology developed for the astronauts to keep them from being tangled up in wires. There is also the computer mouse which was created to make computers more interactive. (Santa Maria, 2021)

NASA has contributed extensively to technology that is in use around the world. This is in the aviation industry as well as everyday life. Billions of dollars has been saved in fuel and time within aviation due to the contributions of NASA.

Council, N. R. (2012). Recapturing NASA's Aeronautics Flight Research Capabilities. Retrieved from The Academic Press: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13384/recapturing-nasas-aeronautics-flight-research-capabilities

Larson, G. (2001). How Things Work: Winglets. Retrieved from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/how-things-work-winglets-2468375/

Santa Maria, C. (2021). 10 NASA technologies that we see in everyday life. Retrieved from The Weather Network: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/10-nasa-technologies-that-we-see-in-everyday-life