Ground Power Units

Airplanes are grounded for minutes, sometimes hours at a time. The planes are shut off during this time to allow crews to perform diagnostics, and for the admission of passengers. As you sit down on the plane, you’ll notice lights come on and various mechanical noises come from the cabin. This is the normal sound of the airplane receiving a jumpstart and whirring to life. A ground power unit is needed to complete this procedure, giving the engines the spark they need to jolt to life.

Turbine Systems

Jet engines run on a system of turbines, where air is forced through to create spinning. The force of the air creates the spin, so much power is needed to lift the jet off the ground. The engines will provide this power, but they need the initial jump to begin spinning and forcing air through. That’s where turbine starting units come into play.

These units are typically portable, mounted to trailers and dragged across the tarmac. They may be mounted to the ground as well. They have a connector that fits into any standard plane, so one power unit can typically service an entire fleet of planes just based on connection type. However, these units have charges and fuel levels of their own. It’s not uncommon to find several hundred of these units in a major commercial airport for efficiency’s sake.

Power in Airplanes

Cars run on batteries, and they are charged as you drive. The battery holds enough of a charge to turn the engine over, then your car does the rest of the charging itself as you move. Planes don’t work like that.

Planes use an auxiliary power unit to power the rest of their system, so you can think of jumpstarting a plan as something you do in phases. The first step is hooking the APU up to the ground unit, then the APU is fired up. That energy is then used to power the remaining flight systems and get the plane ready for take off. An APU is like turning the key halfway on a car. The plan can perform most of its cabin functions, like AC or lighting, but doesn’t have the juice to take off.

Final Thoughts

An airplane starting unit has to meet specific criteria before it can be used on a commercial aircraft. New guidelines demand charging units that have a starting range of up to 43,000 feet, which is related to the altitude where a plane might receive a jump.

Related Story: Auxiliary Power Unit

How to Protect Yourself Against Phishing Attacks

Along with the advance of technology and a more sophisticated Internet also comes new and creative ways for Internet fraudsters to refine their methods of “phishing” for personal information.

What is Phishing?

“Phishing” refers to methods used by scam artists to acquire sensitive information like social security numbers, credit card information, personal banking information, usernames, and passwords. First coined in 1996, the word “phishing” is a variant of “fishing” and refers to obtaining various sensitive information using some sort of bait.

How It Is Done

One of the most common ways that crafty con artists bait internet users is with a phony e-mail. They send out a message mimicking a bank or credit card company that contains a request to verify a password, account number or other financial information, along with a link to a fake website that looks just like the real one, but which will send your information to the scammers instead.

What You Can Do to Prevent “Phishing”

Fortunately, there are a few simple ways to avoid this type of situation.

– Never open a link from an e-mail. Legitimate companies do not ask for sensitive personal information by e-mail. If you suspect that there might really be a problem with your account, contact the company by phone.

– Make sure you utilize and regularly update anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software in order to protect your computer. Many “phishing” e-mails contain software that tracks your online activity or cause damage to your computer.

– Any e-mail asking you to validate or confirm sensitive information like a social security number or bank account should be regarded as suspicious. You should go to the site in question yourself,  by typing the address manually and ensure you are on a secure connection (HTTPS), then see if there are any new messages in your account’s inbox (most banks and companies requiring this kind of information keep their own mail system).

By becoming a wary internet user, you could be protecting yourself from a potential predator, and ultimately, identity theft.