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Aircraft Icing

When preparing to fly there are many factors you should consider that could jeopardize the safety of your flight. Weather conditions play a huge role in whether or not you can safely execute a flight. One weather condition that I'd like to focus on is the cold and wet conditions required to cause aircraft icing. Aircraft icing happens when an aircraft travels through visible water such as rain or cloud droplets, and the temperature must be zero degrees Celsius, or colder, (FAA, n.d.). Any cloud at subfreezing temperatures has the potential to form ice, but there are several factors that contribute to the formation of hazardous ice. The conditions that contribute to the most dangerous type of icing are when the presence of large, supercooled water droplets are in the air, (FAA, n.d.). Thick, stratified clouds producing continuous rain, where the temperature is just below freezing are very susceptible to producing ice. Aircraft icing is not only inconvenient, but also effects perform...
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Emerging Threats

 In the digital world we live in today cyber-attacks are a growing problem. According to IBM, "A cyberattack is a deliberate attempt to gain unauthorized access to a computer network, computer system or digital device. The goal is to steal, expose, alter, disable or destroy data, applications or other assets.", (IBM 2025). Cyber-attacks are an evolving threat that take innovation solutions to prevent them. Layers of security can be used to mitigate cyber-security attacks by providing a multi-step approach to mitigating them. Regulatory responses and modernization efforts in the form of creating a new air traffic control system by 2028, which involves replacing outdated copper wire with fiberoptic cable, wireless and satellite links at over 4,600 ATC sites and creating six new ATC centers, (Davies 2025).  The Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) system is also being updated, it will be able to broadcast close to real-time data and is secured in the cloud. The FAA issued special conditions...
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When it comes to ethical behavior in aviation, the first thing that comes to mind for me is the catastrophic consequences of what can happen when maintenance is done incorrectly or not done at all. During my time in the Air Force, the term "pencil-whip" was all too common. Pencil-whipping refers to the act of signing off inspections or maintenance tasks without actually doing them. As a former engines troop on the flightline, part of my job responsibilities includes doing periodic borescope inspections at varying hourly intervals on the GE F110-129 engine. Several of the engine's borescope ports were in locations with very limited access, that required being safety wired upon reinstallation. I've worked with several other airmen would pencil those inspections and even get mad at me when I would do the inspections myself. Their argument was always that if they scoped the fan stages forward of and the compressor stages aft of the borescope port without finding damage th...
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