In the future, it is possible that damaged aircraft could repair themselves automatically, even during flight. The inspiration? Healing processes found in nature.

One method could be as simple as a resin that oozes into cracks on demand. Not only might such a breakthrough lead to safer airplanes, it could also lead to lighter craft that would save fuel, drop costs, and reduce global warming gas emissions. Nowadays, aircraft designs that help cope with damage end up adding weight. And the heavier the plane, the more fuel is consumed.

Planes routinely suffer damage from day-to-day use. Researcher Ian Bond, a materials scientist at the University of Bristol in England, says, “You would be surprised how often trucks drive into aircraft when parked at airports. And then you have tools dropped on planes at maintenance hangers, or hailstones when flying through storms. Very subtle damage, little dings and cracks and bangs that, if left undetected, could grow into something serious. At aircraft hangers, a lot of time is spent trying to find these defects.”

The solution would be hollow fibers loaded with epoxy resin and hardener. Such vessels could be embedded in any part of the structure of the plane, and would “bleed out” when cracked to seal any hole, mimicking scabs over a wound. The epoxy is colored, making it easy for mechanics to spot the repairs and make a permanent fix.

Scientists are also working on systems where the healing agent is not contained in individual fibers, but can actually move around in a network of tubes which is, according to Bond, “just like the circulatory systems found in animals and plants.”

Bond and his colleagues are currently developing a custom-made resin optimized for use in the system. Bond suggested that a working system could be up in the next five years.

Bohol, Philippines – A reported Cessna 206 crashed yesterday in the Philippines’ central Bohol Province resulting to two injured pilots, identified as Capt. Luzvimindo Amoy and Capt. Alain Bandala.

The seven-seat, single-engine plane, with RPC-1996 registration number had gone down in a rice field in Talibon in the province of Bohol at 11:45 a.m. (local time).

A man witnessed the plane crash and arrived at the scene of the accident. He had both pilots were rushed to the local hospital immediately.

According to the pilots they were flying 3,500 feet going to Eastern Samar, a coastal province in the eastern Philippines to pick up passengers when the engine suddenly broke down.

The plane is owned by Southern Pioneer, a company owned by Kevin Go, who bought the plane from its previous owner, Philippines’ former senator Sergio Osmeña III.

Shortly, after the tragic September 11, 2001, George E. Pataki, Governor of New York, wrote a request letter to the Secretary of the Navy, Gordon England, to bestow the name USS New York (LPD-21) on a surface warship involved in the War on Terror in honor of 9/11 victims.  Governor Pataki said he understood state names are currently reserved for submarines but he gave special consideration so the name could be given to a surface ship.  On August 28, 2002, the request was approved.

The construction of the ship was built with steel.  Twenty four tons of the steel came from the small amount of rubble from the World Trade Center actually reserved for posterity.  Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down at Amite Foundry and Machine in Amite, Louisiana to cast the ship’s bow section.  It was poured into the molds on September 9, 2003.  With seven tons melted down and cast to form the ship’s bow.  The shipyard workers reportedly treated it with reverence by gently touching it as they walked by.  In 2003, the contract to build New York was awarded to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, Louisiana in 2003.  New York was under construction in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina. 

On March 1, 2008, New York was christened in a ceremony at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Dotty England, the ship’s sponsor, smashed the traditional champagne bottle on the ship’s bow and christened the ship New York.  Several dignitaries attended the christening, including Louisiana Congressman William J. Jefferson, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, members of the New York Police Department and New York Fire Department and family members of 9/11 victims.

Starting May, 26, 2008, History Channel International will premiere “Hero Ships”, featuring interviews and insiders look into the real heroic stories of sailors.

On May 14, 2005, USS America (CV-66) was deliberately sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after four weeks of live-fire exercises.

America was decommissioned on August 9, 1996. In 2005, the US Navy supercarrier was chosen to be a live-fire test and evaluation platform, to aid the design of future aircraft carriers. On April 19, 2005 she departed the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility to conduct the tests.

The experiment lasted approximately four weeks. The Navy battered America with explosives, both underwater and above the surface, watching from afar and through monitoring devices placed on the vessel. The explosions were designed to simulate attacks by torpedoes, cruise missiles, and the like.

After completion of the tests, America was sunk in a controlled scuttling on May 14, 2005. At the time, no warship of that size had ever been sunk, and effects were closely monitored. America rests 16,860 feet below the Atlantic Ocean surface, roughly 250 miles off the North Carolina coast.