ASCI 202 Intro to Aeronautical Science

Density Altitude... What does it mean and why is it important? During my career there has been nothing more important when completing performance planning than Density Altitude (DA).  The age old saying "high, hot, and heavy" means a lot to me.  I have flown into airports at sea level, as well as the highest airport in the United States which is Leadville, Colorado (9934ft) and I can say that the stick and rudder skills are completely different when taking off as well as the approach to land.   When taking off at a high DA, meaning density altitude is reduced, your aircraft will have decreased performance as the air is less dense, which in turn takes more to compress the air and produce thrust  (Federal Aviation Administration, 2008).  Takeoff distance, power available, rate of climb, and roll distance are all decreased at a high DA (Federal Aviation Administration, 2008).   I've always been of the mindset to ensure you know where you're going, ch...

Merriam-Webster defines ethics as: "the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation."  The second definition is, "a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values." I hold this very near and dear to my heart in Aviation.  I began my career in Aviation as an aircraft maintainer.  My job was to ensure the maintenance was completed to very high standards.  I always took great pride in my work. It was hard for me to understand why I had a team lead who checked my work, then a Technical inspector that checked it, then the Test Pilot checked it, then if it got past those levels of inspection and the aircraft was deemed flight worthy, it would go out for a test flight with the most experienced of pilots.  It was hard for me to understand until I was able to move up to a Technical Inspector role, then to the Quality Control Supervisor role then to the Maintenance Supervisor role.   I have seen young soldiers as...