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1500 questions
24
votes
3 answers
Do runways need some special kind of tar or protective layer?
Do runways of the airports have some special kind of tar or protective layer to avoid the wear and tear in comparison to that of the Highways as they need to handle the much high pressure and the weights than normal highways?
NitinG
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24
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1 answer
Does a jet engine keep running when it can no longer be controlled from the cockpit?
On the Qantas Flight 32 incident, the Airbus A380's number two engine encountered an uncontained rotor failure and partially damaged the controls of number one engine as well.
According to Wikipedia, engines one and four entered a 'degraded mode'…
florisla
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24
votes
2 answers
Why is the wrong explanation of "air travels a longer distance and creates a lift" so popular?
When I was learning for my license, one of the first diagrams I remember was about the wing profile. The air going around the wing and on the upper side it has to travel a longer way, thus generating lower pressure and bang, plane is flying.
Same…
Krumelur
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24
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7 answers
Why do pilots have to calculate their center of gravity? Couldn't this simply be measured?
I was watching Air Disasters, and one of the root causes of that episode's particular crash was due to the pilots underestimating their payload weight and being improperly trimmed for take-off.
This seems like an obvious and easily avoided danger. …
Ryan_L
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24
votes
3 answers
What are the weather requirements to log an instrument approach?
So let's assume that I'm the sole manipulator of the flight controls in an aircraft in which I'm rated and that I fly an instrument approach.
What weather does the FAA require (assuming that I'm not wearing a view limiting device) in order to log…
Lnafziger
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24
votes
4 answers
What types of wood can be used for making propellers?
Early propellers were made from wood and they still are on some vintage/classic aircraft and reproductions. What types of wood are typically used to make wooden propellers?
Pondlife
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24
votes
4 answers
Are fighter jet cabins pressurized?
I heard once that fighter jet cabins are NOT pressurized, but the pilot's suit is, which prevents problems with decompression if the cabin gets shot.
But a military fighter pilot much later told me that the cabin is, in fact, pressurized and that…
mathgenius
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23
votes
4 answers
Is it permitted to fly a 737-800 with one pilot?
A 737-800 was scheduled to leave from a Canadian airport to Mexico, but was delayed: the airline said the reason was that one of the pilots called in sick. As a workaround, the airline flew the plane to a nearby Canadian airport (1:44 flight time)…
Glenn Lane
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23
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2 answers
How was altitude calculated before the invention of the altimeter?
I just read David McCollough's "The Wright Brothers," and was surprised to find several references to the exact altitude attained by various Wright airplanes. For example, on page 235:
The next day came news from Potsdam, Germany, that Orville had…
nuggethead
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23
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4 answers
Why were the Space Shuttle's elevons reversed, early in re-entry?
The veteran Space Shuttle commander Charlie Precourt writes, in the July 2022 issue of EAA's Sport Aviation, p. 38:
Another interesting reality about our flight controls was their
working essentially in reverse early in entry. To effect a
right…
Camille Goudeseune
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23
votes
9 answers
Why isn't there a "check engine" light in airplanes?
Why don't small airplanes (like Cessna or Cirrus) have "Check Engine" lights, like cars do? For the most part, the people flying these airplanes don't know much more about the plane than they do their car. Wouldn't a "Check Engine" light be useful…
Keegan
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23
votes
4 answers
Do helicopters ever dump fuel before landing?
In my answer to this question about fuel dumping I included the following rhetorical question:
Or if you're dumping fuel from a helicopter (does that ever happen?)
it could hover over a tank on the ground, pump out the fuel and then
land.
Two…
Pondlife
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23
votes
12 answers
Why aren't swarms of cheap consumer-level drones a viable anti-aircraft tactic?
In the Russia/Ukraine war, when it comes to cheap, consumer-level drones, I've only heard of them used for reconnaisance, not for anti-aircraft defence. But given that:
In civil aviation, a single rogue drone is often sufficient to shut down an…
Eugene Osovetsky
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23
votes
1 answer
How would a belt sander wing perform?
This is a theoretical question, the belt sander is an analogy to help visualize.
How would a rectangular wing that is able to make its outer skin circulate around the airfoil perimeter perform?
Feasibility issues aside, would this contraption help…
user721108
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23
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2 answers
Why did the SR-71 Blackbird have a light on its top?
What's the reason a military/reconaissance plane would have a light on top of its roof? The SR-71 was the highest-flying airbreathing plane, after all. There was little danger from any collision from above.
Giovanni
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