Operating aircraft batteries outside their ambient temperature or charging voltage limits can result in excessive cell temperatures, leading to electrolyte boiling, rapid deterioration of the cells, and battery failure. The relationship between maximum charging voltage and the number of cells is also important, as this determines the rate at which energy is absorbed as heat within the battery. For lead-acid batteries, the voltage per cell must not exceed 2.35 volts, while NiCd batteries usually have 1.4 and 1.5 volts.

As commercial aircraft have gotten larger and heavier, their landing speeds have gotten higher and higher as well. This has made bringing aircraft to a stop more difficult, as these aircraft require longer and longer landing strips. In many cases, brakes can no longer be solely relied upon to slow the aircraft. Therefore, many commercial aircraft now use thrust reversers. Thrust reversers, as their name implies, reverses the thrust generated by the engines to slow the aircraft. Thrust reversers come in two categories: mechanical blockage, and aerodynamic blockage.

Just as you rely your car to start when you are running late to work, a pilot relies on the aircraft start to avoid costly delays. Turbine engine ignition systems live up to their namesake - they are used in the startup cycle to ignite the fuel in the engine of the aircraft. Unlike other ignition systems such as reciprocating engine ignition systems, turbine engine ignition systems are turned off for the remainder of the flight.

Given that we see car tires blow out on the freeway pretty often, it’s a wonder why we don’t see the same thing happening with aircraft tires. With how much weight they support on landing, and the fact the aircraft is flying at about 170 mph, this is an amazing feat. The tires are designed to support about a 38-ton load, and this is accomplished primarily through the amount of pressure they contain. Because of the tire material and pressure, they have incredible strength and endurance. They can land 500 times before needing a retread, and they can be retreaded about seven times before needing to be completely replaced.

There are two main types of aircraft hydraulic jacks that are used in aviation— axle and airframe (tripod) jacks. Though different in some capacities, the two operate using similar aircraft jack parts and standardized aircraft hydraulic fluid. Furthermore, both have important safety features in the case of malfunction or overload. Let’s take a look at the different types of aviation aircraft jacks, and the general maintenance protocols for both.

Every airport in the world, despite their very different layouts, uses the same basic signage to direct planes to and from the terminals. And that’s because taxiing a plane is significantly more difficult than piloting a plane.

Various factors need to be taken into consideration when designing an aircraft, the most important being its function. For example, the demands of a commercial jet and a military fighter jet are completely different, resulting in various different requirements, which in turn result in different degrees of complexity in design and composition. A wide range of materials may be used in the design of an aircraft, each with their own strength, elasticity, density, and corrosion resistance ratings.

It’s easy to take aircraft tires for granted. They look so simple that it’s easy to forget how even minor flaws can lead to disastrous results. But, a lot of critical design factors go into manufacturing aircraft tires such that they are able to go faster than a racecar while simultaneously supporting more weight than the largest land moving machines.