ASCI 202: Introduction to Aeronautical Science

And The Thunder Rolls While there are many environmental factors that play a role in the aviation industry, weather must be one of the most significant. Weather can reduce speed, lower visibility, damage equipment, and among other things, be a danger to personnel. Out of the many forms of weather, I believe thunderstorms are one of the most dangerous obstacles in aviation. A thunderstorm will make its way through three stages before finally dissipating (PHAK, 2016). For a thunderstorm to form, the air must have sufficient water vapor, an unstable lapse rate, and an initial lifting action to start the storm process (PHAK, 2016). The fact that you do not even need to be in the middle of a thunderstorm for it to present a hazard to your aircraft, such a storm can be quite hazardous. The FAA recommends that pilots keep their distance, advising that personnel remain at least twenty miles away to avoid hail and severe turbulence from the outer layers (Cutler, 2020). It should also be known

 Air Traffic Control Entities      When it comes to Air Traffic Control (ATC) entities, the first thing that comes to my mind is the ATC tower. ATC goes so much further than just the tower. Radar air traffic control is the behind the curtain, unseen entity, and is comprised of two different agencies. Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), more commonly referred to as approach/departure and Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC), more commonly referred to as center (Freudenrich, n.d.). Now lets go further in depth and see how each of these entities support air traffic management. Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON)      TRACON’s jurisdiction is air traffic that is departing and approaching airports within its airspace (Freudenrich, n.d.). Typically TRACON controls a 50-mile/80-km airspace radius From its location. This means one TRACON station could have several airports within its control (Freudenrich, n.d.). These stations use radar to monitor the aircraft and must maintain

Noise Pollution      When it comes to airports, it is inevitable that the constant occurrence of noise is always going to be an issue in the industry. In my opinion, noise pollution carries the weight of most of the environmental impacts.      Noise is generally referred to as unwanted sound that can negatively disrupt human or animal life (Murphy, E. 2015). Environmental noise has been defined as any unwanted sound created by human activities that is considered harmful or detrimental to human health and quality of life. Aircraft have been probably the most dramatic of the man-made noise sources which are heard by the community, especially in the vicinity of an airport. Not only does this effect personnel working at the airport, but an increasing number of people live in the vicinity of major airports and experience considerable noise and air pollution. Investigators have studied health effects associated with exposure to aircraft noise. The most common issues lead to moderate to se

             On November 18 and 19, 2001, the United States Congress passed the Airport Security Federalization Act and the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. The laws sought to standardize pre-flight passenger and cargo screening by federalizing security service and screening personnel in the nation's airports. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act created the Federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to supervise security operations for sea and air transportation. The TSA hires and trains Federal airport screeners, who under the new law must all be American citizens. Though the acts govern only United States airports, many of the new initiatives and procedures outlined in the legislation have been routine in many foreign airports for several years (Encyclopedia.com, 2020).          Some may think that the TSA has more flaws and adds inconvenience on your flying experience and I can somewhat agree on that. Some of the things that came about because of this