Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

My first discussion topic actually validates a concept and a technology seen in the Harry Potter series. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are aircraft, or some form of flying machine, that require only one input from a human to reach a destination. The vehicle only needs to be told its destination, and the computers onboard will do the rest of the flying.

The UAV uses onboard sensors such as radar altimeters, infrared cameras, gyroscopes, and pitot tube airspeed indicators to help the aircraft maintain controlled flight and avoid obstructions. UAVs also use preprogrammed topographical maps and GPS sensors to help it locate its position. Some UAVs have photos of their destination stored in their computer systems and reference those photos to confirm they have reached the appropriate destination.

Today UAVs take the shape of everything from the jet powered GlobalHawk to the tiny model airplane type UAVs.



While in Harry Potter magic takes the place of Radar Altimeters, Gyroscopes, and GPS, the technology exists to make objects fly to you on a single command. The brooms in Harry Potter have the ability to fly to Harry on his single command. This may seem magical, but the technology exists today for such an event to occur (assuming we could get brooms to fly)

Quidditch, the future of competitive flying?

As time has passed recreational aviation has become more of a sport, and less of a hobby. The reason for this is simple. In today's world, flying around at 110mph in a cessna is no longer considered daring or exciting. People want more excitment and more competition. We see more and more competitive flying venues every year.


The most interesting of these, and the one that may be the closest to Quidditch, is the sport of extreme aerobatics competition. You are awarded points for completing certain manuevers and flying through "hoops" in the sky. While this is still a far cry from the game of quidditch (a flying game played on soccer type field with goals), it represents a growing trend in competitive flying. It may not be long before a game of aviation looks more like soccer than it does an air race.

For more information on competitive flying please visit the IAC

The Prologue

On Civil Aviation scene in India, I am reminded of this famous quotation  "It

was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it

was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of

incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was

the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us,

we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all

going direct the other way"   from Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

English novelist (1812 - 1870)

This is a classic scenario of history repeating itself. The blood bath that we

are witnessing now in India happend earlier in the United States of America

between 1978-1986 when the Airline Industry was deregulated there. An

article from the TIME MAGAZINE sums this up very well.

Alfred E. Khan, who is widely viewed as the father of Airline Deregulation

said in an interview that "Instability is the price we pay for competition". In

his seminal book on the Deregulation in the Telecommunication and

Aviation Industries in the U.S.  "Lessons from Deregulation -

Telecommunications and Airlines after the Crunch" Kahn chronicles the

history of Airline Deregulation in the U.S., its inception and aftermath

More on this .....

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