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1500 questions
23
votes
3 answers
In an engine failure, should I expect less range than with the engine in idle?
I fly a C172 (fix pitch propeller) and when my instructor and I practice a simulated engine failure, we do not turn off the engine, instead we set the engine to idle.
In an actual engine failure, should I expect less range than with the engine in…
Miguel Hernández
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23
votes
4 answers
Aborted take off. What happens next?
A rare -- as I was told -- situation of aborted take off for a large passenger jet. What is next?
Everything goes as smudge as possible after getting jetliner to full stop. Plane clears the runway and goes back to the either parking position or…
trejder
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23
votes
2 answers
What happens to incoming flights when the airport shuts down?
In Die Hard 2 terrorists take over an airport's ILS and landing lights on a snowy night (visual landing is impossible) and start making threats essentially holding the planes hostage.
The tower immediately sends incoming flights away to the…
ratchet freak
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23
votes
5 answers
Is spin recovery possible in an airliner?
During initial flight training a lot of emphasis is placed on stalls and spins and how to recover from them, but is it possible to recover from a fully developed spin in an airliner? Do these large aircraft have enough rudder authority to pull it…
Philippe Leybaert
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23
votes
3 answers
Why is the use of tail-down force so common?
Why is the use of tail-down force so prevalent in aircraft design? Why not use canards to avoid induced drag?
sioux86
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23
votes
1 answer
What is the difference between Hobbs Time and Tach Time?
Over in this answer there's a description of Hobbs Time versus Tach Time, and how the Hobbs counts hours while the tach time is equivalent to "hours at cruise RPM".
How do these two "clocks" work, and what do these numbers mean in practical terms…
voretaq7
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23
votes
5 answers
How "full-motion" is a full-motion simulator?
How "full-motion" are simulators? Do they just simulate the major motions of the airplane in response to the flight controls, or do they also simulate the minor forces of the flight, such as the vibration from the engines?
(Bonus question: if they…
Mark
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23
votes
1 answer
How short does a trip need to be before flying is less safe than other forms of transportation?
It's often mentioned that flying is the safest form of transportation, and no doubt this is true when considering only a long-haul trip. There's no doubt, for example, that driving (or taking a train or bus) 3,000km would be more dangerous than…
user1205901 - Слава Україні
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23
votes
5 answers
Could the principle of owls' silent flight be used for stealth aircraft?
I was wondering about the ability of owls to fly so silently. Is it because they flap gently, they flap less often or do is their structure responsible? I was thinking their principle of stalking can be applied to stealth aircraft. Is it possible?
Pratham Shah
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23
votes
3 answers
What is the recommended procedure to land a taildragger in a crosswind?
Almost 20 years ago I helped a friend (who recently passed away from an unfortunate home accident) ferry a 1948 Stinson from Córdoba, Argentina, to Buenos Aires. We had to make several stops to refuel (while classifying them by how many dogs and…
Juan Jimenez
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23
votes
4 answers
Don’t seats that recline flat defeat the purpose of having seatbelts?
Virtually all first-class airline seats, and many to most business-class seats, recline all the way down, either as lie-flat seats (where the seat reclines to a 180º seatback-seatpan angle, but the fully-reclined seat is still tilted somewhat…
Vikki
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23
votes
2 answers
Are cabin dividers used to "hide" the flex of the airplane?
Recently onboard an aircraft, a fellow passenger told me that the cabin dividers (walls) inside an aircraft are there to limit your line of sight such that you will not notice the flex of the airplane.
I know that some walls are there because of the…
Brilsmurfffje
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23
votes
1 answer
How do ground effect vehicles perform turns?
Considering that Wing-In-Ground-Effect (WIGE) vehicles fly with a rather low ground clearance, there is not much room for banking. How do WIGE vehicles turn? Do they turn just very slow with a low bank angle? Or do they turn uncoordinated with wings…
Florian
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23
votes
2 answers
Is aluminum electrical wire used on aircraft?
Aluminum electrical wire got a bit of a bad reputation in household wiring due to reacting badly with terminals not properly rated for aluminum. Properly handled, it works fine, but it's so distrusted for small branch circuits that distributors…
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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23
votes
2 answers
Why is this plane circling around the Lucknow airport every day?
Saw this plane circling around Lucknow airport (LKO).
This is happening every day. Any idea what is happening?
Saurabh Kala
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