Author: Gareth

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Audio: ‘Lightning’

Listen to this recording and try to write what your understand. You should try to write everything that is said.

You can listen as many times as you want.

Check below the recording for some of the difficult words and come back and check the full text from this recording tomorrow.

Suggested ICAO level: 4+

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Have a great day!

Difficult words: abort (v.), enroute

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Video answers: ‘How do plane toilets work?’

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. They were directly connected to the ‘outside’ world. You cold lift the lid and be looking down at the ground below.
  2. Boeing introduced a flush toilet.
  3. As late as 1982.
  4. They use a pressure differential to push your waste down the toilet.
  5. They like them because they requires very little water, which saves the airline money. They’re also less smelly.
  6. There haven’t been any reports of people being hurt because by plane toilets.
  7. The tap water, which is frequently above acceptable contamination levels.

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Video: ‘How do plane toilets work?’

Fly High English - Video

Here’s an interesting video that describes a little about the history of toilets on planes and how they work.

Try to answer the following questions about the video and come back on Monday for the answers.

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. How did plane toilets in the 1920s and 30s work?
  2. What changed by the late 1930s?
  3. When were the modern, vacuum toilets introduced to planes?
  4. How do they work differently?
  5. Why do airlines like vacuum toilets?
  6. Can modern vacuum toilets, if used incorrectly, cause serious injury to a person?
  7. What is a more serious risk for passengers in plane toilets?

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Have a great weekend!!

How Do Plane Toilets Work? | Brit Lab

Greg Foot explains how plane toilets actually work and whether the urban myth of toilets being able to suck your insides out is true!

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Structure: ‘can & could 1’

Using ‘can & could’

These two verbs can be used in many different ways and in the next few posts we’ll talk about the different ways they can be used. Today we’ll talk about using ‘can’ and ‘could’ when talking about ability, this is normally the first context that people see ‘can’ and ‘could’. Check out the diagram below and don’t forget to come back next week to see another way to use ‘can’ and ‘could’.

Diagram of how to use can & could relate to ability.
How to use can & could for ability.

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Video answers: ‘Airbus’ carbon fibre production in Spain’

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. 700 staff members work there.
  2. They have to work quickly because if they don’t the carbon fibre will perish in 200 hours.
  3. It’s placed into one of their pressurised ovens, to be transformed into a light, strong part necessary for building a plane.
  4. On the A320, less than 10% of the aircraft structure was made of carbon fibre, on the A350 that number has increased to 53%.
  5. The modern machinery can produce around 11 times the quantity that a human could produce. (33 / 34kg vs 3kg)
  6. Carbon fibre is stronger, lighter and doesn’t suffer from corrosion or metal fatigue, so planes can carry more passengers and companies spend less on maintenance.

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Video: ‘Airbus’ carbon fibre production in Spain’

Fly High English - Video

Here’s a video that talks about Airbus’ carbon fibre production plant in Illescas, Spain. It has developed a lot in 25 years and you can find out exactly how things have changed, and more, in the video.

Try to answer the following questions about the video and come back on Monday for the answers.

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. How many people work at the plant in Illescas?
  2. Why do they have to work quickly when the raw carbon fibre arrives?
  3. What happens to the carbon fibre after it’s been shaped?
  4. How has the use of carbon fibre increased since the development of the A320?
  5. How much carbon fibre can the modern machinery produce nowadays per hour in comparison to what humans were able to produce?
  6. What are the advantages of carbon fibre compared to aluminium?

Follow us on twitter here, Facebook here or Google+ here for more great content!

Have a great weekend!!

25 years of carbon fiber production at Airbus Illescas plant

25 years ago Airbus began using carbon fiber on its aircraft. The ratio of the material used has grown from less than 10% on the A320 to more than 50% today. The Illescas plant just outside Madrid is a world leader in carbon fiber manufacturing and continues to innovate and look for new solutions to provide lighter aircraft for the future.