Ancient Advanced Aviation?

I'm not going to create a controversy here. It's already documented in fold of history that the first man control flight was by American Wright brothers. We can see this as the Wright brothers is living in the centered of where everything is going to be well documented. I'll think he's very lucky man indeed.

Off course there is others who claimed to be the first to fly like Richard Pearse (New Zealand), Gustave whitehead (US), Lyman Gilmore (US), Dr Wilhelm Kress (Austria), Karl Jatho (Germany), John Joseph Montgomery (US), Traian Vuia (Romania), Jacob Ellenhammer (Danmark)and Alberto Santos_Dumont (Brazil).

Is it that's how the history going on? Actually there is another most controversial point of view around, but I don't think this is gonna your cupa of coffee. This is not what we all learn about from our school.

Okay, I read this in Mr. Rene Noorbergen book. He wrote how advanced aviation exist in prehistoric times! One of the earliest preserved records of flight is in a Babylonian set of laws called Halkatha, which contain this passage:”To operate a flying machine is a great privilege. Knowledge of flying is most ancient, a gift of the gods of old for saving lives.”

The Babylonian 'Epic of Etana', describing a detail prehistoric flight in period between 3000 and 2400 BC.

Another Chaldean work, the Sifr'ala, dates back more than 5000 years decipher a detailed account of how to build and operate an aircraft. The text speaks of various parts such as vibrating spheres, graphite rods and copper coils; and on the subject of flight the writer comments on the wind resistance, gliding and stability. Unfortunately, many key lines of the text are missing, making any attempt to reconstructing the craft impossible.

Early Chinese annals also contain several references to the art of flying. Emperor Shun, reigned between 2258 and 2208 BC, reportedly not only constructed a flying craft but also tested a parachute- more than 36 centuries before Leonardo da Vinci.

References to flight also appear in ancient Nepalese and Poleynesians.

In 1898, a small model of plane was discovered in a tomb near Saqqara, and was dated at approximately 200 BC. At the time of its discovery, the birth of modern aviation was still several years away, and so, when the strange object was sent to Cairo, it was cataloged and then shelved to gather dust until 1969, when they open the box and to their surprised discovered when tested the bird model actually having characteristic of present modern airplane model and fourteen model has been discovered from various tomb.

In 1954 a US touring Colombian government collection of ancient gold artifacts, a wing animal artifact caught the eye of Ivan T.Sanderson, after he consulting a number of aerodynamics experts, he came to mind boggling conclusion that's the gold object is a model of a jet aircraft at least a thousand years old.

Among the remarkable description of flying machine found in the ancient Hindu sacred books, Samaranga Sutradhara. Here a short excerpts from the text:
'The aircraft which can go by its own force like a bird- on the earth or water or through the air – is called a Vimana. That which can travel in the sky from place to place is called a Vimana by the sages of old'.

Maybe we cannot be so proud with our civilization accomplishment in aviation, probably earlier people have done so although there is no concrete proved (like we can unearth one or build one). Off course they won't be any, except proved from story and description that come from every civilization, worldwide.

Scramjet a future aircraft power plant?

( A scramjet power rocket testing in Australian Outback in 2006)

A future looks bright when a successful scramjet tests conducted in the Australian Outback that saw a rocket exceed Mach 10 speeds of 11,000 kmh (6,800 mph) pose a potential revolution in air travel, making theoretically possible to connect anywhere in the world within three to four hours.

While this achievement is breathtaking in its commercial potential, the reality is that such capabilities are very unlikely to find their way to your nearest airport anytime soon.

More extensive tests need to be conducted before the engines and the airframes can be safety certified, since the technology offers tantalizing hypothetical speeds of up to Mach 24! But once the basics have been achieved with the prototypes, there is still another complicated process in the next stage of ensuring average passenger comfort.

In short, we're at the very least two decades away before the first commercial scramjet flight is ready to accept bookings. And chances are that when we actually reach this horizon, these flights will most likely be far from the envisioned fantasy.

Like the supersonic Concorde, which has been retired in 2003 after almost three decades of lording the skies, the commercial scramjet is very likely to run smack into overland flight restrictions with stringent controls on noise levels and now, possibly even carbon dioxide and other fuel-related emissions.

Take-offs and landings would probably need to be within existing speed limits to minimize noise
pollution; sonic booms resulting from speed transitions would be restricted to non-residential zones-most likely over barren seas, assuming there won't be further restrictions related to the protection of possibly dwindling aquatic creatures.

As a result, scramjets are a promise of faster travel speeds which still faces an uncertain future

Another Source Of Power For Aircraft Engine, A Reality?

(We still rely on this engine which gulping a fossil fuel)

Since the ever-increasing rate of air travel, there is clearly a need for more planes. Better if they're faster, pack more people, cheaper to run and economical to maintain.

New concerns on global warming warming intensifying so soon after sharp hikes in oil prices, coupled with shortages of available aircraft and congested airports, the issue of travel has never been so high in most people's minds.

Travel today is a basic necessity, be it on land, air or sea. It's has come under fire for the rapid consumption of fossil fuels and increasing pollution effects on global warming.

The main problem with air travel is that there are very few alternatives available, unlike eco-friendly options of bicycles and electric trains for land transport and wind-powered sailing maritime vessels.

Hence, all new aircraft like A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner are all being watched very closely for fuel emissions and the size of their carbon footprints.

Aviation carbon emissions calculated on the basis of per kilometer traveled are very closed to that produced by cars transporting single passengers. Since there are for more cars running compared to airplanes (plus manufacturing industries pollution), overall contribution by aircraft around the world currently make up only three percent of overall carbon emissions.

Research into more eco-friendly aviation technology is progressing rapidly, foremost with better engines and fuels. To conserve on fossil fuels, there is already much focus on bio-fuels that is very far from living up to its promise. Bio-fuels still don't fully address the issue of carbon emissions and there is simply no available alternative to the existing aviation fuels that packs enough power needed to send multi-tonnes aircraft aloft.

If better high-powered sources still can't be obtained then we may stuck with the kerosene-burning physics. Or is there another way forward?

The magic promise of clean electricity has been around for awhile, as has the lure of limitless solar energy supplies. Reality check has shown that such concept still remain far from a practical solution.

Get Off that F-16! we'll send the Drone instead..

Radio Control toys, whats once supposed to be a toys for all, in fact thats no wonder country like Sri Lanka ban on this toys because it can be apply for another unthinkable purpose by layman. Its no secret anymore thats what the military around the world up to, they secretly apply Radio Control technology as a strategic airborne device.

The military's reliance on unmanned aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq. The jump in Iraq coincided with the build up of U.S. forces this summer as the military swelled its ranks to quell the violence in Baghdad. But Pentagon officials said that even as troops begin to slowly come home this year, the use of Predators, Global Hawks, Shadows and Ravens will not likely slow.

The increased military operations all across Iraq last summer triggered greater use of the drones and an escalating call for more of the systems — from the Pentagon's key hunter-killer, the Predator, to the surveillance Global Hawks and the smaller, cheaper Ravens.

In one recent example of what they can do, a Predator caught sight of three militants firing mortars at U.S. forces in November in Balad, Iraq. The drone fired an air-to-ground missile, killing the three, according to video footage the Air Force released.

The bulk of the unmanned flight hours belong to the Army's workhorse drone, the Raven, which weighs just four pounds and is used by smaller units, such as companies and battalions, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army has a total of 361 unmanned aircraft in Iraq alone — including Shadows, Hunters and Ravens. And in the first 10 months of 2007, they flew more than 300,000 hours.

According to a new Pentagon report, the Defense Department plans to develop an "increasingly sophisticated force of unmanned systems" over the next 25 years. The effort will confront some current shortfalls, including plans to improve how well the drones can quickly and precisely identify and locate targets.

That would also involve increasing the precision of the guided weapons that are on some of the unmanned aircraft. Those efforts are considered critical because it enables the military to hunt down and kill militants without putting troops at risk.

In addition, the Pentagon said it wants to improve the drones' reconnaissance and surveillance abilities, which are the top priorities of commanders in the field.