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| October 15, 2010 | Flapless 'Demon' aircraft that use air bursts to fly | | Washington: Engineers at the Cranfield University in the United Kingdom have completed a flapless flight by using bursts of air to control an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) they call Demon. The research will lead to UAVs that are safer, more manoeuvrable and stealthier. Most aircraft manipulate their motion and direction with control surfaces found on the tailing edge of the wings and tail. When raised or lowered, air hits those flaps and the aircraft changes direction. The eight-foot DEMON weights 200 pounds and has a maximum speed of 172 miles per hour. Seen from above, the aircraft has a distinctive diamond shape with an elongated nose, a concept known as a blended
wing-body configuration, reports Discovery News. Instead of the traditional flaps
along the tailing edge of the wings, the DEMON uses bursts of air to turn one
way or another. A flapless aircraft has fewer moving parts, making it less likely
to break and easier to maintain. "Moving parts make it harder to maintain and
repair (an aircraft). A solid state device like a synthetic jet actuator means
fewer things that can break," said Mark Costello, a professor at Georgia Tech.
It could also be stealthier, since it would be hidden from radar, unlike a moving
flap. The DEMON won't go into commercial production, said BAE in a statement,
but the technology used in the UAV will be transferred to other aircraft.
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TNS/RVW
Why airplane food tastes so bland
London: Ever wondered why food in airplanes always tastes so bland? Now, a new study at the University of Manchester tells you why. The level of background noise affects both the intensity of flavour and the perceived crunchiness of foods, researchers have found. While louder noise reduced the reported sweetness or saltiness, it increased the measure of crunch. Maybe that's the reason airplane food tastes so bland - a phenomenon that drives airline catering companies to heavily season their foods. "Nasa gives their space explorers very strong-tasting foods, because for some reason they
can't taste food that strongly - again, perhaps it's the background noise," BBC
quoted Andy Woods as saying. In a comparatively small study of 48 participants,
who were fed sweet foods such as biscuits or salty ones such as crisps, while
listening to silence or noise through headphones, the researchers found that in
noisier settings, foods were rated less salty or sweet than they were in the absence
of background noise, but were rated to be more crunchy. "The evidence points to
this effect being down to where your attention lies - if the background noise
is loud it might draw your attention to that, away from the food," Woods said.
The research is reported in the journal Food Quality and Preference.
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