Hercules, Herbert, and Amar: The Trouble With Intratextualism

Commentary on, Akhil Reed Amar, Intratextualism, 112 Harvard Law Review 747 (1999)

A flight investigation of the wake turbulence alleviation resulting from a flap configuration change on a B-747 aircraft

A flight test investigation was conducted to evaluate the effects of a flap configuration change on the vortex wake characteristics of a Boeing 747 (B-747) aircraft as measured by differences in upset response resulting from deliberate vortex encounters by a following Learjet aircraft and by direct measurement of the velocities in the wake. The flaps of the B-747 have a predominant effect on the wake. The normal landing flap configuration produces a strong vortex that is attenuated when the outboard flap segments are raised; however, extension of the landing gear at that point increases the vortex induced upsets. These effects are in general agreement with existing wind tunnel and flight data for the modified flap configuration

NASA Global Atmospheric Sampling Program (GASP) data report for tape VL0004

The NASA Global Atmospheric Sampling Program (GASP) is obtaining measurements of atmospheric trace constituents in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere using fully automated air sampling systems on board several commercial B-747 aircraft in routine airline service. Atmospheric ozone, water vapor, and related flight and meteorological data were obtained during 139 flights of a United Airlines B-747 and a Pan American World Airways B-747 from December 1975 through March 1976. In addition, sample bottles were exposed during three flights and analyzed for trichlorofluoromethane, and filter samples were exposed during five flights and analyzed for sulfates, nitrates, and chlorides. Flight routes and dates, instrumentation, data processing procedures, data tape specifications, and selected analyses are discussed

JT9D engine diagnostics. Task 2: Feasibility study of measuring in-service flight loads

The feasibility of measuring JT9D propulsion system flight inertia loads on a 747 airplane is studied. Flight loads background is discussed including the current status of 747/JT9D loads knowledge. An instrumentation and test plan is formulated for an airline-owned in-service airplane and the Boeing-owned RA001 test airplane. Technical and cost comparisons are made between these two options. An overall technical feasibility evaluation is made and a cost summary presented. Conclusions and recommendations are presented in regard to using existing inertia loads data versus conducting a flight test to measure inertia loads

Single-clock-cycle two-dimensional median filter

Median filters are of interest to image processing due to their ability to remove impulsive noise. Conventional digital implementations of the median function, however, require multiple clock cycles, a number that is proportional to the size of the 2-D data block. We present in the Letter a complete CMOS implementation, which consumes very little power and computes the median in just one clock cycle, independently from the size of the data block

Evaluation of Materials and Concepts for Aircraft Fire Protection

Woven fiberglass fluted-core simulated aircraft interior panels were flame tested and structurally evaluated against the Boeing 747 present baseline interior panels. The NASA-defined panels, though inferior on a strength-to-weight basis, showed better structural integrity after flame testing, due to the woven fiberglass structure

Flight test of ARINC 741 configuration low gain SATCOM system on Boeing 747-400 aircraft

The Boeing company conducted a flight test of a SATCOM system similar to the ARINC 741 configuration on a production model 747-400. A flight plan was specifically designed to test the system over a wide variety of satellite elevations and aircraft attitudes as well as over land and sea. Interface bit errors, signal quality and aircraft position and navigational inputs were all recorded as a function of time. Special aircraft maneuvers were performed to demonstrate the potential for shadowing by aircraft structures. Both a compass rose test and the flight test indicated that shadowing from the tail is insignificant for the 747-400. However, satellite elevation angles below the aircraft horizon during banking maneuvers were shown to have a significant deleterious effect on SATCOM communications

Development of aircraft lavatory compartments with improved fire resistance characteristics, phase 1: Fire containment test of a wide body aircraft lavatory module

A test was conducted to evaluate the fire containment characteristics of a Boeing 747 lavatory module. Results showed that the fire was contained within the lavatory during the 30-minute test period with the door closed. The resistance of the lavatory wall and ceiling panels and general lavatory construction to burn-through under the test conditions was demonstrated

Glacier motion estimation using SAR offset-tracking procedures

Two image-to-image patch offset techniques for estimating feature motion between satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are discussed. Intensity tracking, based on patch intensity cross-correlation optimization, and coherence tracking, based on patch coherence optimization, are used to estimate the movement of glacier surfaces between two SAR images in both slant-range and azimuth direction. The accuracy and application range of the two methods are examined in the case of the surge of Monacobreen in Northern Svalbard between 1992 and 1996. Offset-tracking procedures of SAR images are an alternative to differential SAR interferometry for the estimation of glacier motion when differential SAR interferometry is limited by loss of coherence, i.e., in the case of rapid and incoherent flow and of large acquisition time intervals between the two SAR images. In addition, an offset-tracking procedure in the azimuth direction may be combined with differential SAR interferometry in the slant-range direction in order to retrieve a two-dimensional displacement map when SAR data of only one orbit configuration are available

Assessment of risk to Boeing commerical transport aircraft from carbon fibers

The possible effects of free carbon fibers on aircraft avionic equipment operation, removal costs, and safety were investigated. Possible carbon fiber flow paths, flow rates, and transfer functions into the Boeing 707, 727, 737, 747 aircraft and potentially vulnerable equipment were identified. Probabilities of equipment removal and probabilities of aircraft exposure to carbon fiber were derived