By 2050, hypersonic commercial flight is expected. The “Spaceliner” under development by the German space agency DLR will be far more exciting. Funded by the European commission, the plane will be capable of flying 14,000 mph and delivering 50 passengers from New York to Sydney in less than 90 minutes—through space.

In a push to reduce carbon emissions and relieve crowded airports, trains are quickly replacing airplanes. In 2007 the European commission initiated a plan that will triple its high-speed-rail networks by 2020. The next generation train of the French firm Alstom, the AGV, just entered full-speed tests last December and in 2011 will be whizzing around Italy. Alstom is in discussion to provide trains for the high-speed-rail system planned in California. The aerodynamics of the AGV not only increases speed but also cut noise.

In 2012, we will be heading towards having personal planes to fly around with. Every year, Americans spend $78 billion dealing with traffic alone. A typical pilot’s license costs about $10,000 and requires 40 hours of training. But in 2004 the FAA created a new designation for light-sport planes: those with one engine, a flight ceiling below 10,000 feet and a top speed of less than 138 mph. Light-sport Certification takes half as long as usual. In response, entrepreneurs are rushing forward with intriguing ideas and options.

Recently, GM collaborated with Segway to create a new idea for urban transportation. It can carry only two people, is powered by batteries, runs like a segway and has a top speed of 35 mph.

The current prototype looks quite crude, and the fact that it works just like a segway (Lean forward to go, lean back to slow or stop) could be a turn off in a world of fast cars where the average driver (and even pedestrian) prefers to press on a pedal and zoom across town.

I wonder what would happen if you need to stop in an emergency. Or if a driver in a car is distracted for some reason and you (rolling in a P.U.M.A.) have to swerve to avoid a collision or just brake up.

I really hope that GM has taken such issues and more into consideration.

Still, limitations aside, they do have big plans for the future of this ride… and one of those include turning it into a sleek, sexy futuristic pod…couple that with not having to purchase gas, and you got perfect round-town transportation…great idea for tweens.

So what are critics saying about this?

To summarize: Interesting concept, but wrong timing. Did you know that Toyota also unveiled sleek personal transportations as well? When you get a chance, you can take a look at the Iswing(5 – 12 mph top speed)

and the winglet (3.5 mph top speed).
 

As far as my opinion goes, unless the new P.U.M.A. Gen-2 prototype due to be unveiled in the fall comes with radical new speedy and present day additions that can keep the competition at bay, and pique the public’s interest, it is highly likely that GM will have a hard time getting these machines into the hands of prospective buyers any time soon.

The Better Place infrastructure is designed so that any electric vehicle owner can top off his “tank” to always have 100 miles of driving capacity at a recharging station where he works, sleeps, or shops. For longer trips, battery switching stations will be available so one could actually swap out a used battery for a live battery and continue on one’s journey. Better Place envisions having an open architecture so many manufacturers can make batteries for the Better Place subscribers.

Better Place has signed an alliance with Renault-Nissan to build the zero-emission vehicles to be used with the Better Place infrastructure. The batteries to be used are regular lithium ion batteries that have been used in other commercial applications, and Mr. Agassi envisions that if hundreds of thousands are called for by electric vehicles the cost of the batteries will decline rapidly with volume production.

To get “juice” for the electric vehicle, Better Place envisions both charging stations and battery exchange stations. Charging stations will consist of units about the size of a parking meter. The vehicles can just plug in and recharge. The software in the vehicle will determine the length of time to charge. The stations are weather proof, and handle the same current as a standard wall outlet. In addition to charging stations, the battery exchange stations are envisioned to be fully automated where the driver pulls into a living room sized station, and waits for several minutes while his battery is exchanged without human intervention. The exchanges are designed to take about three minutes.

What about all that extra electricity usage? Better Place believes that most vehicles will use the most charging capacity during off-peak hours during the evening when the vehicles are plugged in at home. Most electric utilities have excess power during the evening and run close to peak load during the daytime when businesses are in operation. Thus, using the evening load will benefit utilities that are actually running their plants around the clock anyway, with a lot of evening power simple not being used nor stored. Thus, the storage of that evening power in the electric vehicle batteries (both in the electric vehicles and in batteries at exchange stations) is actually beneficial to the utilities and society. The additional demand for electricity during the day is thought to be marginal.

It is a grand plan, although one that intends to build slowly in dense markets where electric vehicle usage and environmental awareness are high. The company has a number of high profile investors from whom it has raised over $200 million, including Morgan Stanley, VantagePoint Venture Partners, and Israel Cleantech Ventures. The company plans wide scale deployment in Israel in 2011 and in Australia and California in 2012.

Better Place will benefit by legislative trends pushing clean energy vehicles, and by the decreasing costs of the components, including batteries. In addition, Better Place intends to leverage its partners to bear a substantial portion of its costs for vehicle development to charging and exchange stations. There are obvious challenges, although technology risk does not seem to be one of them. Better Place is essentially a service, and it is in developing that service that the costs and challenges will become apparent. There will have to be enough profit in the subscription cost so that the partners and Better Place will see a decent return on their investment. The automated exchange stations and non-staffed charging stations will have to durable and function properly, and the ongoing cost of capital expenditures for rollouts into new areas will have to be financeable from cash flows and partner leverage. Large capital expenditure models have not faired well in the past, except those with natural monopolies such as the now-consolidated cell phone industry. Furthermore, the actual total cost to the motorist will have to be less than the cost of owning a hybrid vehicle like a Prius, and that depends in part on the cost of gasoline. Accordingly, it is a very innovative idea from a very smart engineer, and the business might be in the right place at the right time. No business is without challenges, and at least Better Place has a very bright founder and over $200 million of funding to execute on the founder’s vision.

Carbon dioxide emissions often abbreviated as CO2, is generated while the airplane is in flight and is the most common greenhouse gas omitted from a powered aircraft. Statistics demonstrate that since the existence of the aviation industry around fifty years ago, not much has change in terms of CO2 emissions. (Figure 1) Study indicates that only a one percent increase since then resulting in a total of two percent by 1992. [1] CO2 is produced by aircrafts through the process of burning fuel. Many researches are trying to find alternative methods such as bio-fuel for aircrafts, as a result trying to maintain the damage done already by carbon dioxide emissions. “Bio-fuel is considered a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy security by providing an alternative to fossil fuels.”[2]

Oxides of nitrogen have a very negative effect in the air by large jet airliners around the troposphere because the emission resulting from an aircraft at such a high altitude produces more Oxides, having a greater effect on global warming. Nitrogen Oxide emissions are quiet resourceful as they reduce another greenhouse gas by the name of methane, therefore providing a cooling effect in the climate. The emission omitted in the troposphere forms ozone, which is a deadly poisonous gas , however not much of Nitrogen oxides are produce since only a small quantity of aircrafts fly at such high altitudes (mainly airliners). Engineers are trying to come up with more efficient equipment to facilitate the aircraft with so it can generate less of nitrogen oxides in the air and help to keep it clean.

Lastly, water vapors are the constructed by large jets, flying at high altitudes emit a greenhouse gas known as water vapor. Water vapor itself alone is not as harmful as when it is formed into contrails due to the atmosphere around the aircraft. (Figure 2) Contrails can be seen in the sky from the ground as a result of air coming out from the exhaust of an aircraft (usually a jet) at high altitudes forming into a greenhouse gas in humid or cold atmosphere. The effect of this greenhouse gas is very insignificant compared to the two mentioned above. As technology progresses, so will the aircrafts systems eventually reducing water vapors in the sky as well.

In conclusion, all three greenhouse gases omitted from an aircraft are potentially harmful to the world; however action is being taken by the proper authorities to once and for all reduce the effects of global warming in this world. Aviation is only a small cause of global warming yet so much attention is being diverted to. Therefore, in order to reduce/maintain the levels of global warming one should not point/solve one cause, but all there is to it.

1. IPCC, Aviation and the Global Atmosphere: A Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1999), Cambridge University Press
2. P. J. Crutzen, A. R. Mosier, K. A. Smith. N2O release from agro-bio fuel production negates global warming reduction by replacing fossil fuels.(2007) http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/11191/2007/acpd-7-11191-2007.html

There is evidence that Chinese and Renaissance Europeans had the design in mind, because among the artefacts found from these civilizations are toys that look like helicopters. History tells us that various inventors have tried to work out a functional helicopter, but the problem was finding an engine that could make a “blade” whirl with enough power to create the “lift” or vertical thrust in order to get off the ground.

Designs by Paul Cornu and Juan de la Cierva

In 1907, a helicopter designed by Paul Cornu was able to get off the ground and in 1923, a Spaniard named Juan de la Cierva successfully flew an “autogiro” but it wasn’t until 1930 that a practical craft was developed, worked on by Russian-American Igor Sikorsky, a pioneer of aviation.

Early Life of Sikorsky 

Sikorsky lived a life with prominent parents and closely allied with the tsar. He was born in Kiev on May 25, 1889. As a boy, he took interest in da Vinci’s aeronautical drawings particularly the helicopter, and pursued an education focused on aeronautics. Growing as a teenager, he studied in Germany then travelled to Paris known for the best learning in aeronautical design concepts that time. 

Sikorsky’s Design and Experiments 

While in Paris he bought a 25 horsepower (hp) engine to power a single-blade design he had created. However, he had the same problem and need like his predecessors had: a sturdy-enough vertical thrust to get the craft off the ground.

For a while, he dropped his experiments and designed other fixed-wing aircraft, including military craft such as bombers, for the Tsarist Imperial Army. Much identified with the tsar, he was one of the “marked” people when the communists came to power. He fled Russia giving up his aeronautical career, and ended in France.

Sikorsky’s Bomber Commision for World War I

In France, Sikorsky was commissioned to build a bomber for the Allies’ use in World War I, but since the armistice was signed in 1918, he didn’t get to finish it. The following year, he left for the US, in New York. For the next 10 years, from 1920, he started his own company, Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation. He developed fixed-wing airplanes. finally, in the 1930s he returned to his original dream of designing a flying helicopter.

Sikorsky’s Successful Launch, 1939

Sikorsky applied to United Aircraft to finance his projects. On September 14, 1939, he climbed into what was truly the first single-rotor helicopter, powered by a 75 hp engine turning an automobile fan belt that turned the blades. His dream machine lifted and flew.

World War II’s  VS-300 (R-4)

During World War II, ”VS-300″ came out – the first helicopter. The US Army ordered a variation calling it the “R-4.” Although it wasn’t used greatly in World War II, it was availed of in 1950, when Korean War started.

The helicopter became an essential air transport most especially because it could land in areas where other aircrafts could not. In particular, Sikorsky was most pleased of the helicopter’s ability to save lives rather than destroy.    

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Nevertheless, until the early 20th century, no form of reliable, powered flight had been achieved. Then in a short one hundred years, aviation technology was transformed from the often unreliable wooden, cloth-covered biplanes to supersonic jets and international airliners. What was it that provoked such rapid progress?

The first powered, controlled, heavier-than-air flight was achieved on December 17, 1903 by Orville Wright. The flight lasted twelve seconds and covered 36 metres. Later flights by Orville, and brother Wilbur, covered greater distances and by 1905, they were making flights of thirty minutes, and astonishing incredulous reporters all over the world.

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In the years between 1903 and the First World War, aviation was in its infancy. Aeroplanes were novelties, and were constructed in wildly differing designs, which flew with varying degrees of success, but the traditional monoplane or biplane design was soon accepted as the most practical. These were usually powered with a single, wooden, twin-bladed propeller; which was mounted on the nose (tractor), or behind the pilot (pusher). It was in this period, from 1903 to 1914, that Louis Bleriot made his historic flight across the English channel in his twenty-five horsepower monoplane on July 25, 1909. From this landmark achievement onwards, aviation began advancing rapidly; as daring men and women in aircraft that rapidly pushed the envelope of technological advancements, tested the limits of human endurance. What driving force motivated these unique individuals we can only guess.

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Several events during the 20th century boosted the development of aviation. The first of these was World War One. This was the first human conflict in which heavier-than-air, flying craft were utilised. (Anchored hot-air balloons, called the Zeppelin, were used as observation platforms in several 19th century wars.) WWI sped up the advances that were already being made in aviation, as both sides raced to build faster, more maneuverable, and more reliable fighting craft. The war also introduced the use of bigger, mainly twin-engined aircraft capable of carrying heavy loads, and excellent for use as bombers. The English plane, the Vickers Vimy was one example. It was a twin-engined biplane with a double tail, equipped with machine-guns to fend off attacking German fighters.

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It was during the First World War that such legendary fighter-planes as the English Sopwith Camel and the German Fokker Dr 1 Triplane were developed. The war also helped the development of trainer aircraft such as the American Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, which, after the war, became famous as the perfect “barnstormer”s’ aeroplane. It was in two of these craft that Tex Marshall and Frank Palmer made their famous crossing of the USA from Florida to Ohio in 1920.

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The development of civilian uses for aviation progressed rapidly after the First World War. Aeroplanes were regularly used for the delivery of mail, and airline services began in 1919. Early airlines operated biplanes that carried only a limited number of passengers, but soon larger aircraft such as the Farman Goliath began service in the 1920s. The period of general prosperity that followed the war and came before the Great Depression helped ensure a good start to civilian aviation.

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By the 1930s, civil aviation had progressed to such a degree that metal-skinned, twin-engined passenger planes such as the famous Douglas DC-3 were in operation. Huge flying boats-aeroplanes whose hulls were designed for landing on water-equipped with up to four engines carried mail and passengers during the these years. One of these was the Pan American Airways’ Martin M-130, a four-engined flying boat. The advancements in aviation during the inter-war years portray man’s urge to conquer one of the last frontiers of human civilisation.

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Then came World War Two. This halted the operation of many civil airlines, but it also acted in much the same way as the earlier conflict, in boosting the growth of both military and civil aviation. By the time war broke out, military aircraft had entered an entirely new realm. Single-engined fighters capable of speeds of over 300 miles per hour were already in service in air forces before 1939. Faster, and more maneuverable than WWI fighters, these aircraft show-cased the years of development between the wars. Famous aeroplanes such as the British Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire, the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 and later the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and the American P-51 Mustang heralded a new kind of warfare, as these planes had far greater potential in war than ever before. They were equipped with machine-guns initially, and later wing cannon were added. Some WWII fighters could also carry bombs on external bomb racks, giving many fighters a broader tactical role.

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World War Two saw the introduction of large multi-engined bombers such as the British Avro Lancaster, and the American Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The German counterparts included the Junkers Ju 87B, and the Dornier Do 17Z. The war also utilised large numbers of cargo planes-and continuously developed them, thus helping to advance technology, creating the ability to transport larger amounts of cargo over longer distances.

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The end of WWII marked the introduction of jet propulsion, first exploited by Nazi Germany. The development of the Messerschmitt Me 262 was among the first of the jet fighters. This was a cutting edge development that has become a turning point in aviation history. Jet propulsion has made faster and more reliable flight a normal part of modern life.

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In 1947, man first flew above the speed of sound. This major break-through meant that future fighters and tactical strike bombers could travel faster, and over longer distances. Chuck E. Yeager, flying the Bell X-1 rocket plane, achieved supersonic flight over Roger’s Dry Lake in southern California on October 14. This was an undreamt of achievement when the Wright brothers first achieved controlled, sustained flight just 44 years before. If in less than fifty years aviation progressed that far, what will aviation be like fifty years from now?

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Five years after the end of WWII came the Korean War in 1950. By this time, jet fighters had become the leading edge in air warfare. The Korean War was the first conflict to see regular combat between jet fighters. American F-86 Sabres engaged North Korean MiG-15s in the skies over Korea. These aircraft travelled at even higher speeds than those of WWII, and were equipped with ejector seats-emergency escape measures that enabled pilots of damaged fighters to bail out and parachute to the ground.

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Since then, military aircraft have become more and more sophisticated, so that now, jet fighters travel at supersonic speeds, and fire air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles as well as the more traditional rapid-fire cannon.

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Civil aviation has also progressed rapidly. In the years following WWII and the Korean War, airlines emerged with propeller-driven aircraft capable of travelling long distances. These, however, were soon superseded by early jet-propelled craft, capable of higher speeds and greater efficiency. Soon the multi-engined jet passenger aeroplanes we know today had become the leaders in civil air transport. The modern jet airliner, the Boeing 747-400, travels at 565mph (910kph), and seats 568 passengers.

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In the first half of the 20th century, two World Wars and a growing interest in aviation helped create the technological advances that evolved so rapidly. One indicator of this is the fact that Orville Wright, the first man to achieve powered, controlled flight, was still alive when supersonic flight achieved in 1947.

In the second half of the 20th century aviation progressed beyond the bounds of earths atmosphere when on October 4, 1957, the USSR launched the first artificial satellite in orbit above the earth. Since that historic date, aviation entered the next stage of development-beyond the bounds of the earth.

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The advances that have been made in recent years in the realm of space exploration beg one enigmatic question: what next? What limits will the human race have surpassed in the next few generations? Only time will tell.

What’s That in the Sky?

The A5’s design is part sports car, part Jet Ski, and part airplane. The futuristic aircraft’s folding wings tuck neatly under a slim rear tail so it can be towed behind a car. For an airplane, the A5 is small, about as long as two compact cars parked bumper to bumper, with a wingspan of 34 feet.

Cockpit Lite

Designers drastically simplified the cockpit experience most people know from images of commercial airplanes. A simple rack of gauges lines the cockpit’s center console.

Good Old Gauges

Instead of supplying all the plane’s gear on one digital screen-a common feature in private planes-the designers decided to stick with analog gauges to emphasize the plane’s sense of reliability and to include a design motif familiar from autos.

“Amphibi-dextrous”

The A5 can take off from any standard runway and reach a height of 10,000 feet. The plane will also be available in an amphibious configuration, enabling it to take off from and land on the water.

My Plane Is in the Garage

ICON envisions making these light aircraft as common as Jet Skis. The plane can be washed with a hose and stored in a garage.

Flier-Friendly Rules

A new certification created by the FAA four years ago will make it easier for potential owners to learn to fly. The new Sport Pilot License requires just 20 hours of flight training and costs between $3,000 and $4,500-about half the time and cost of the previous easiest-to-obtain license.

Will It Fly?

The downturn in the economy has dampened discretionary spending, creating greater competition for consumers’ leisure dollars. The A5 will be pitched as a luxury product at a time when consumers are cutting back. And steadily rising fuel prices aren’t likely to help either. (The A5’s engine, which burns either jet fuel or regular gasoline, gets about 18 miles to the gallon and has a range of about 300 miles.)