The journal Aviation is aimed at all researchers looking for information about aviation from history to technology.
New research articles were published in the issue of the VILNIUS TECH scientific journal Aviation (Vol 26 No 4). The editor-in-chief of this journal, Professor dr. Gintautas Bureika, presents the main highlights of the new issue and the most prominent themes and relevance of research papers on this issue.
Chinese researchers Zhoutai Tian and Daojie Yu investigated the application of the Random Forest (RF) algorithm for the real-time recognition of drones. Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC) characteristics are first extracted from audio signals, and then the RF method is combined with weighted estimation to obtain an improved random forest (IRF) method for detecting unmanned aerial vehicle sounds and environmental sounds. The effectiveness of the proposed IRF method for real-time outdoor identification of UAVs and its feasibility for practical application is confirmed by experimental results.
Ukrainian researchers Svitlana Terenchuk, Yuliya Ryabchun and Maksim Delembovskiy have been studying the conditions for effective training of controllers and pilots using information and communication systems capable of operating in real-time uncertainty. The operation of such systems is based on fuzzy inference systems. The result of the development of a fuzzy inference system is a lozenge-type fuzzy inference system. The knowledge base instrument of the proposed fuzzy inference system does not only allow for assessment of the ability of the flight directors or the pilot to solve certain problems. This time-dependency of the input data set allows the implementation of a Sugeno-type fuzzy inference system, using the defined input data to form the inferences.
Latvian researchers Kristine Uzule and Irina Kuzmina-Merlino studied how airport revenues are shaped by both aviation and non-aviation sales. Some large European airports have higher revenues from aviation than from non-aviation. At the same time, some regional and secondary European airports show the opposite trend. Three steps were taken to determine whether there is a relationship between airport type and the ratio of aviation to non-aviation revenues at Baltic airports. In the first stage, definitions of primary and secondary airports were developed through discourse analysis. In the second stage, the revenue structure of the selected Baltic airports was analysed. In the third step, conclusions are drawn on the relationship between airport type and the revenue structure of these Baltic airports. On the one hand, the results of the study show that there is a correlation between airport type and revenue structure, although this uncertainty needs further investigation. The financial analysis shows that airports with a higher share of non-aviation revenues than aviation revenues are more resilient to crises.
Argentinian researchers Lucas Sznajderman, Matias Coppa, Juan F. Martiarena and Colombian researcher Oscar Diaz Olariaga have developed an integrated model to assess airport ground support equipment (GSE) and emissions. Emissions from apron traffic are determined by a number of factors: the time spent in the apron for aircraft arrivals, departures and parking, the type of aircraft, the type of operation (traditional, large-scale or low-cost), the geometric layout of the apron, and the characteristics of the fleet, including power and age. The proposed model evaluates the loading process and breaks it down into the following phases: waiting, connecting, servicing and disconnecting. The proposed model has the advantage of assessing the actual process of the movement of in-service support vehicles, taking into account the type of aircraft and the nature of the operation (full service, low cost or volume).
The US researcher Nicoletta Fala and the English researcher Christos Falas have developed a method to use Automatic Data Source-Broadcasting (ADS-B) data from the OpenSky network to assess airport operations and to automatically calculate the separation of take-offs and landings. Airports report on their performance at least once a year. Historically, the methods for calculating operations at towerless airports have been based on additional airport equipment or statistical estimates. The case study examines two US airports – Tulsa International Airport (TUL) and Purdue University Airport (LAF) – and compares the estimated number of operations from the ADS-B data algorithm with the numbers reported through the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air Traffic Activity Data System (ATADS).
Latvian researchers Zarif Zabirov, Anvar Zabirov and Vladimir Å estakov investigated the unconventional nature of failures in modern aircraft systems and the complexity of predicting them. Evidence-Based Training (EBT) is being developed as an innovative approach to pilot training and competency assessment. In order to achieve a clear assessment, operators planning to use this system develop line-oriented scenarios based on the EBT methodology and classification system. The authors propose a modelling approach for the quantitative assessment of pilot performance. The method is used as part of the EBT assessment programme due to its adaptability to different assessment strategies based on the quantifiable error criteria in the event rate assessment and the historical data on the distribution of pilots according to their competence levels.
In their paper, Iranian researchers Mohammad Saberi Tavakkoli, Ghasem Kahe and Fatemeh Sadeghikia investigate the impact of formation movement on the performance of air traffic control. First, the inertial flight control system of each entity is modelled and simulated to a certain accuracy. Initial results show that the flight control error of each subject increases individually over time, and the problem is more serious for subjects with a weaker system. The problem has been solved by the introduction of coupled flight control for the entities. Various simulations and experimental tests using two real entities have confirmed this statement. The performance of coupled flight control is improved by proper simulation design. A collective covariance matrix is used to construct the objective function using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). This function is minimised using the Newton method, which is a shaping solution. The simulation results show that the optimal shaping trajectory achieves higher accuracy.
Anatoly Kretov and Dmytro Tiniakov of the China Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Nanjing University) have refined a method for evaluating new design solutions based on a sensitivity analysis of the take-off mass (SFM) to initial corrections to the basic design. The method is based on the evaluation of changes in the maximum take-off mass of a developed design or an existing variant of a basic aircraft with local design changes, including aerodynamic changes, to ensure the development of a more advanced aircraft. This approach allows the designer to more accurately estimate the final maximum take-off mass changes in the early (preliminary) conceptual design stages. The significant effect of wing aspect ratio on fuel consumption is substantiated by numerical examples of transport category aeroplanes. The approach considered, using a combination of SFM with semi-analytical aerodynamic analysis, is simple, robust and convenient for the analysis and synthesis of new designs in the design process.
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