And when somebody repairs an airplane, an engineer has to check it".
Ultimately, such color-changing polymers could be used as coatings on everything from bridges to airplane wings, alerting engineers when vital structures are near failure.
The dynamic soaring of albatrosses is inspiring to airplane designers; German aerospace engineer Johannes Traugott and colleagues have charted the albatross's nuanced flight pattern and are looking for ways to apply this to aircraft, especially in the area of drones and unmanned aircraft.
Some engineers use computer models to test new designs of airplane wings or engines.
They compared it to rebuilding an airplane in midflight, as engineers had to keep the old advertising system running while they put the new one together.
As airports came to resemble shopping malls and airplane seat backs were engineered to function like miniature home entertainment centers, the precariousness of hurtling through the stratosphere inside a thin metal tube was obscured by a womblike illusion of high-tech normalcy.
The model could help engineers design airplane wing surfaces better able to shake off icy buildup and boat hulls that can glide more smoothly through the water.
Airplanes are designed, engineered and maintained to sustain the worst turbulence, with a margin of 50%.
Customers like Ford Motor and Lockheed Martin use EAI products so that engineers in different places can work on car engines or airplane blueprints simultaneously over the Internet in 3-D.
In 1971, Paul MacCready, a champion glider pilot, aeronautical engineer, and model-airplane enthusiast, founded AeroVironment, in Southern California, with the idea of using aerospace technology and design to solve environmental problems.
