Cargo Aircraft

By Aviation

Air transport is a vital component of many international transport networks that are essential to managing and controlling the flow of goods, energy, information and other resources like products, services, and people, from the source of production to the marketplace.

Aircrafts were put to use carrying cargo in the form of air mail starting around 1911. Although the earliest aircrafts were not designed primarily as cargo carriers, by the mid 1920's airplane manufacturers were designing and building dedicated cargo aircrafts. The earliest "true" cargo aircraft is the World War II German design, the Arado. Today, most cargo is carried on older aircrafts no longer suitable for passenger use, often due to changing safety or noise requirements, or when the aircraft type is considered to have become uncompetitive in passenger airline service. There is, however, also a market for newly-built freighter designs.

Aircrafts designed for cargo flight use have a number of features that distinguish them from conventional passenger aircraft: a large fuselage, a high-wing to allow the cargo area to sit near the ground, a large number of wheels to allow it to land at unprepared locations, and a high-mounted tail to allow cargo to be driven directly into and off the aircraft. On average, only 15% of air traffic is cargo-carrying aircrafts, the other 85% is recreational flight.

Some of the objects that are carried as air cargo are: electronics, fashion clothing, glassware, automobile spares, and mail. There lots of companies and facilities in GA that use freight aircrafts such as UPS, FedEx, Dobbins AFB, and many more.

A few cons of using planes to transport goods are that they cost a fortune to fill up, they use nearly three times more energy than a heavy truck, and they emit a large amount of air pollution. Some pros are that planes are the safest mode of travel and they are the fastest mode of transport. Many more trucks crash every year than planes, but while planes are the safest mode of travel, you are more likely to be seriously injured or perish if the plane does crash than if you are in a vehicle.

In the past year fuel prices soared, meaning cutting back on cargo flights. This time last year gas was at its all time high at $4.27 per gal and the financial status worsened at the same time. but now that the prices have dropped to an average of around $2.50, business has been slowly rising from last year.

Without planes, transporting people and objects long distances in such short amounts of time would be nearly impossible. I think that cargo aircraft are truly smart moves.

Sources

Cargo aircraft. (2009, June 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:17, June 7, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cargo_aircraft&oldid=294888783

Logistics. (2009, June 27). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:25, June 27, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Logistics&oldid=298899281

(2008). Boeing: World Air Cargo Forecast 2008-2009, Executive Summary. Retrieved July 6, 2009, from Boeing Web site: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/cargo/

The Future of Aviation

Future Aviation By Maritime
Future airplanes will hopefully become, more Eco friendly, cheaper, safer, faster, some not needing a pilot, quieter, and bigger in capacity.

Because of more slender bodies and some having “blended wings”, like one of Boeing’s new unpiloted test aircraft that looks like a variant of the F-117 Night Hawk fighter, they will be faster.

To be quicker and carry more cargo, planes are getting more compact and some will not have pilots or passengers. Because of this, planes will be able to take more goods in fewer trips, making the transferring of goods quicker and easier.

Air travel needs to become more like road travel because air travel is quicker and safer, but, in order for air travel to be more like road travel, it needs to be cheaper and more accessible so that everyone who wants it can have access to it.

Boeing has a new fuel sell zero emissions plane that took its first flight in Spain and flew for 20 minutes and had no problems. This is a great step toward Eco friendlier aviation but there’s still more to be done.

Since jet planes were invented air travel is safer because of new technology. New technology like longer range radar, flight simulators that help new pilots get much needed practice, devices that tell the pilot if there are other planes or storms near by, if the plane is too low, too high, in line or not with the runway, or if they are in unauthorized areas.

Sources
http://www.spacefuture.com/vehicles/designs.shtml
http://adg.stanford.edu/aa241/intro/futureac.html
http://www.impactlab.com/2008/06/07/boeing-test-first-fuel-cell-zero-emissions-aircraft/
http://www.airlineslounge.com/site/safety/future_safety.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090521084721.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070915122014.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/23/2605545.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/23/2605545.htm
http://www.aircraftdesign.com/

Transporting Organs for Transplantation in Georgia

By Locomotion

According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) in 2008, there were 27,961 transplants performed in the United States. There were 622 organs transplanted in Georgia alone. Each of these organs had to be transported from the donor to the recipient in a sterile and timely fashion in order to preserve the organ's delicate tissue. Before newer more efficient methods of organ transport were implemented, the organs that were removed were packed in ice and then flushed and packed in fluids. Using the previously mentioned methods, the maximum time a heart could survive outside the body was 6 hours. This limited the possible recipients because of geographical constraints and many organs were wasted because there were no current recipients within 6 hours distance.

Now, thanks to the company TransMedics, who has developed the first commercial, portable, warm blood perfusion system, organs can survive outside the body for 24 hours or more! This system allows organs to maintain normal body temperature and remain in a functioning state while in transport. This allows medical teams to monitor the organ for diseases or defects missed or undiscovered during or before organ removal and treat them accordingly. Using this system, TransMedics also hopes to be able to resuscitate organs that have been removed from recently deceased donors. The hospital in Georgia which performs the most organ transplants in the state is Emory University Hospital. Doctors at Emory perform 60% of all organ transplants in Georgia and the second largest organ transplant hospital is Piedmont Hospital.

Many organs protected by this or other systems are transported using general aviation (private planes or charter services) such as air ambulances or medvacs. One of the pros of using helicopters for organ transport is that they can land at the airport closest to the hospital no matter how small. Cons would include the high cost of fuel and charter services as well as the dangers of crashing due to weather conditions. There has been an increase in the number of medical transport injuries and fatalities in the last year with 13 accidents and 29 deaths. There has been a push for safety legislation to solve the problem. It may be dangerous, but I still believe that organ transportation by air is still a smart move.

Sources:

(2009, February 4). Families of medevac helicopter crash victims push for fixes. Scripps News,

Korschun, H (2004 February 2). Mason Trust Awards $2M to Emory and Children's Healthcare for Liver Transplant Chair. Retrieved July 6, 2009, from Emory WHSC Web site: http://whsc.emory.edu/press_releases2.cfm?announcement_id_seq=264

(2005, May 23). Piedmont Hospital receives National Organ Donation Medal of Honor for Transplant Services. Retrieved July 6, 2009, from Piedmont Hospital Web site: http://www.piedmonthospital.org/wtn/Page.asp?PageID=WTN000045

Organ Care System. Retrieved July 6, 2009, from TransMedics Web site: http://www.transmedics.com/wt/page/organ_care

Transplants in the U.S. by State. Retrieved July 6, 2009, from US Department of Health and Human Services: Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Web site: http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/latestData/rptData.asp

Gooch, S (2002, March). 21st century lifeline: redesigning organ transplant transport.. Entrepreneur, Retrieved July 2, 2009, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/91422289.html

Trains and Hazmat Transport

By Information

In the United States, trains transport everything from people to manufactured items, lumber, metals, and fossil fuels. But what we usually don’t think about is the transport of hazardous materials. Trains carry flammable, corrosive, and toxic substances, such as gasoline, acid, and radioactive materials. However, these materials are transported by rail safely every day.
What is being transported?
Hazardous materials are defined as “a substance or material which the Secretary of Transportation has determined to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce.” (United States Hazardous Materials Instructions for Rail, June 2008).

(Pictures to come later)

Container safety
One way that hazardous materials can be transported safely is through “transportation packaging” which includes:
•Labeling – Proper labeling must be present on both sides of the train car.
•Thickness – Various hazardous materials require differing thicknesses .
•Lining – There should be proper lining which is in good condition.
•Attachment – Make sure that all cars are attached properly.
•Positioning – Cars must be placed strategically in the line of cars.
•Emergency procedures – Safety is the number one priority, get to a safe distance and get upwind, stay out of ditches and low lying areas, and make sure they are no ignition sources.

Routing Hazardous Materials
Since an accident involving these hazardous materials could potentially be a disaster, hazardous materials are not allowed to be within 2.2 miles of Washington D.C.
A new idea for increasing safe routing uses “route rationalization”
(Kawprasert & Barkan 08-2801 p.4)


FIGURE 1: Simple transportation network for a hazardous material
A) without route rationalization, and B) with route rationalization
In the simple example illustrated in Figure 1b, material produced at X is consumed at X rather than being shipped to Y, and similarly, material produced at Y is consumed at Y. In addition, material produced at X and consumed at Z is instead supplied from Y because it is closer (Kawprasert & Barkan 08-2801 p.4).

Safety history of hazardous materials transport.
There has been 8,410 train incidents involving hazardous materials in the last ten years. This may seem like a lot, but of the 8,410 incidents, there has only been 1,121 injuries and 18 fatalities. Often the injuries and fatalities are from the accident itself, and not due to the hazardous materials.
Sources:
Love, June. (2002). Database Transportation: Trains. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House.

Kawprasert, Athaphon & Barkan, Christopher. (2007). Reducing the Risk of Rail Transport of Hazardous Materials by Route Rationalization. Submitted for presentation at the 87th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board and publication in Transportation Research Record. Retreived July 16, 2009 from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana website: http://ict.illinois.edu/railroad/CEE/pdf/Kawprasert%20&%20Barkan%20TRB%2008-2801%20Rev9.pd

(2009 ). Hazardous materials information system serious incidents*. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from PHMSA Web site: http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMSA/DownloadableFiles/Files/tenyr_orig_serious.pdf
Fire Prevention Program. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from Safety Info Web site: http://www.safetyinfo.com/guests/Program%20-%20Fire%20Prevention.htm
(2009). Cargo. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo#Freight_train
Hazmat/environmental protections. Retrieved July 16, 2009, Web site: www.dcfp.navy.mil/mc/presentations/DCASE7-15.ppt

Innovative Data

Research for Lego Crusaders, on Data storage by Maritime

Data storage has come a long way, and there is no doubt that it will keep improving. Data storage is becoming easier, faster, and smaller. Some of the research and development is allowing data to be stored longer, with better quality, and more data stored in less space, not only text data but image data. Here are some ways companies are making it better.

If you store data (pictures, videos, or documents) on a basic CD or DVD you may think the data is safe and you can retrieve them from it. But CDs and DVDs don’t keep data safe because the file gets corrupt after 3-5 years. Discs go bad for many different reasons. There is a new disc made by the company Millenniata (located in Springville Utah), that looks like a regular DVD called Millennial Disc, but is made of layers of “persistent” materials, built up on a plastic material. Then information is carved on the disc with a laser. The disc can be read on your computer like any other disc. This disc can store data at room temperature safely for 1,000 years.

General Electric (GE) is still working on a disc that can store of 500 gigabytes of data. This disc uses holography technology to store that much data. Data is encoded in light patterns that are stored in light sensitive materials. The holograms can be viewed because they work like microscopic mirrors when hit with a laser. Money is the main issue with this product, and GE is predicting that the main buyers will be movie makers, doctors/hospitals, and TV networks.

Researchers have come up with a way to store large amounts of data on a nano sized unit. This is unique because it is vary compact and lasts a long time. The research was done by the US Department of Energy.

Of all the above ideas and products, my favorite is Mallenniata’s new disc the Millennial . All those ideas are great, and hopefully will be a great product in a few years.

Local Georgia Interest:
Despite what you might think, most of the energy used by large data centers is not used for powering the equipment, but for keeping it at a cool temperature. Georgia Tech is working in a research area to test different ways to cool data centers by rearranging equipment so there is more air flow around equipment so that the room cools down faster. Also, they are trying to find ways to utilize the waste heat from the data centers.


Sources:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/18/millenniatas-millennial-disk-should-last-longer-than-you-your/

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/09/researchers-create-nanotube-memory-that-can-store-data-for-a-bil/

http://heraldextra.com/news/local/article_b25c9a30-7242-11de-9feb-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/business-computing/27disk.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2009/06/03/billion-year-ultra-dense-memory-chip/

http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?id=2992