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Video answers: ‘Solar Impulse cockpit’

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

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. It has a volume of 3.8 cubic metres.
  2. The longest flight that the plane would have to make, the five-day flight across the pacific ocean.
  3. The plane isn’t pressurised and therefore the pilot requires oxygen to breathe above 3,000m.
  4. Minus twenty degrees.
  5. The seat can be reclined to various positions, allowing him to rest, sleep or access some difficult-to-reach areas of the cockpit. The pilot also has room to do some exercise during a flight.
  6. The toilet is below the seat and consists of a series of removable bags.
  7. He can communicate with his team via the Swisscom Statcom system.
  8. They are able to view his vital signs and can do alertness tests to check if he’s coping with the mental fatigue of flying.

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Video: ‘Solar Impulse cockpit’

Fly High English - Video

Continuing from last week’s video about the food and clothing used on board Solar Impulse, here’s another video that describe the cockpit of the completely solar-powered plane.

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

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. What size is the cockpit?
  2. What were the most important factors in designing the cockpit?
  3. Why is an oxygen supply necessary above 3,000m?
  4. What is the minimum predicted temperature in the cockpit?
  5. In what ways are the cockpit comfortable for the pilot?
  6. Where’s the toilet on board?
  7. How does the pilot communicate with his team?
  8. How do the team know if the pilot is ok?

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Have a great weekend!!

Solar Impulse Airplane – The Cockpit of Solar Impulse 2 – #Discover

The cockpit is designed around the requirements of the longest and most challenging flights: 5 days and 5 nights across the Pacific Ocean. Discover the pilot’s living environment by watching what it’s like to be in the pilot’s seat.

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Structure: ‘Future simple’

Using ‘will’

The future simple / will is one of the most common tenses used in English so it’s one of the most important. There are two primary used for the future simple / will.

  1. to talk about future plans when you think and speak at the same time and you’re (obviously) not sure about your plans. We often use ‘I think’ before this form to emphasise that you’re not sure.
    • I think I’ll (I will) relax at the weekend.
  2. to talk about future predictions when you’re not sure about the prediction. We can also use ‘I think’ before this form to emphasise that you’re not sure.
    • I think that the company will cancel many flights due to the bad weather.

Tip: Don’t confuse ‘will’ and ‘going to’ to talk about the future. They are both used to talk about future plans and future predictions but with different ideas. Click here to read about using ‘going to’ for future plans and predictions and to compare it with using ‘will’.

Check out the diagram below for a summary and try to make some sentences of your own.

Diagram of uses of the future simple
Uses of the future simple

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Audio answer: ‘Tail-skid trouble’

Here’s the text to the listening from yesterday.

Enjoy!!

As a wide-body plane departed its airport of origin, the tail-skid made gentle contact with the ground. No warning was triggered and the plane continued to its destination to make a safe landing 85 minutes later. In preparation for the following flight, the co-pilot noticed the slight scraping on the tail-skid and asked maintenance to check it out when possible.

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Audio: ‘Tail-skid trouble’

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: tail-skid (n.), trigger (v.), scrape (v.)

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Video answers: ‘Solar impulse food & clothing’

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

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. It’s focused on their nutritional needs, it’s lightweight, energy dense and nutritionally balanced.
  2. It’s based on everyday food items, and the pilots can choose the items that they like more.
  3. With the suit, they are able to control how hot or cold they are through using layers and openings in the suit. They use base layers which remove moisture from the body and are quick drying. And when it’s cold they use thick jackets that are similar to mountaineers’ jackets. In extremely cold conditions, the pilots can also use heated gloves and heated footwear.

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