biggest problem facing the aeronautics industry?

[ehilge]

Hey all, I need to write a paper on what I think is the biggest problem facing the aeronautics industry in the future. So I suppose this is technically homework but I think it fits better here and could make an interesting discussion. Anyway, I have a couple of thoughts already but I'd like to hear what you all have to say first. And feel free to be creative, I like my papers to be unique!
Thanks

[Mech_Engineer]

Hey all, I need to write a paper on what I think is the biggest problem facing the aeronautics industry in the future. So I suppose this is technically homework but I think it fits better here and could make an interesting discussion. Anyway, I have a couple of thoughts already but I'd like to hear what you all have to say first. And feel free to be creative, I like my papers to be unique!
Thanks

You're better off listing the ideas you have and we can give feedback on them. We can't ethically just start writing your paper for you.

[mgb_phys]

Probably not engineering but financial.
The cost of designing and tooling for a new plane like the 787 or the A380 is now so vast that you are betting the company on each new product.
Combine that with airlines that are no longer large safe and secure companies that can plan $10Bn investments 10years in the future and it gets tricky to go to the bank with a business plan for a new plane.

[ehilge]

You're better off listing the ideas you have and we can give feedback on them. We can't ethically just start writing your paper for you.

Fair enough, I thought I'd let you guys talk first, sometimes it seems like when there's an idea or two put on the table right away people will focus on that and not move onto other things. Anyway, I've had two ideas so far.

Firstly, I was thinking about something along the lines of fuel consumption and reliance on fossil fuels. Then I could probably base my paper on alternative fuel sources. I know of a couple of airlines that have experimented with natural gas and biofuels. I could also include something about how airplanes themselves are changing to adapt to this need. Example: the blended wing design and specifically nasa's x-48 aircraft

The other idea I had was maybe talk about speed. Whether or not this is true, I would need to confirm, but it seems to me like in general aircraft have reached somewhat of a plateau when it comes to airspeed. We essentially rely almost completely on jet propulsion which can only push a plane so fast. And then I could go on to discuss alternative means of propulsion, such as the scramjet and nasa's x-43 project

[FredGarvin]

The fuels paper would have a fair amount of available references and is a good topic. Also make sure you include Fischer-Tropsch fuels in your research.

As far as the speed issue goes, there isn't much to say. Concorde proved it could be done, just not economically. One of the big limiting factors was restriction of supersonic flight over land masses. The engines were not the limiting factor. The alternative ideas are so far out there that they are not really considerable. We have decades to go before a passenger rides on a scramjet powered aircraft.

[ehilge]

hmmm, those Fischer-Tropsch fuels seem like something interesting to discuss. I found an article about the navy making jetfuel out of seawater using the Fischer-Tropsch process. I hadn't thought of the financial part but this is for an engineering class so I'm thinking I'll stick with an engineering topic. Any other thoughts out there on a potential problem? Again, I like to write about things that might be considered unique and I have a feeling a lot of people might come up with efficiency.
thanks!

[Phrak]

Hey all, I need to write a paper on what I think is the biggest problem facing the aeronautics industry

This includes commercial, military and private. It's kind of hard to lump these all together. Do you have one, in particular, in mind?

[ehilge]

This includes commercial, military and private. It's kind of hard to lump these all together. Do you have one, in particular, in mind?

I haven't had one in mind, but given the choice military is the one that interests me the most. The essay prompt doesn't specify any particular area. Here is the actual prompt:

Write an essay describing what you think are the greatest technical challenges in aeronautics for the next 20-25 years, and why. You can pick one challenge or several. You should address what types of research will be required to address the challenge(s), and what ideas or concepts you think might help to solve them. You will need to explain the challenge(s) and your proposed concepts in sufficient technical depth to demonstrate your technical understanding, and you will also need to clearly explain why the challenge(s) is/are so important.

[dr dodge]

liability and lawsuits

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&sid=aJakS3aUYu0M

don't forget that many of the aviation "industry players" are not that large and when on group gets a lawsuit layed upon it, the liability can trickle down, wrecking smaller suppliers.

dr

[mheslep]

Don't forget this thread
http://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=2265570&postcount=2
and
http://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=2265570&postcount=4