Most Popular
1500 questions
42
votes
4 answers
How can I find places to store/land a private airplane?
Say I'm the proud new owner of a Cessna 172.
To celebrate, I want to fly my family from Texas to Orlando Florida for a weekend visit.
Local takeoff is easy enough. I live close by, and I know the locals so I can "borrow" a runway.
However, how do I…
YAHsaves
- 1,211
- 1
- 9
- 21
42
votes
4 answers
Do turbine engines on multi-engine aircraft rotate in opposite directions to offset torque?
I'm not an aviator, I guess I'd call myself an enthusiast. I'm also a physics nut. I've always wondered about this but I equally worried my question posed to a commercial airline crew would land me in the Homeland Security Suites.
On helicopters,…
cfx
- 1,207
- 1
- 12
- 14
42
votes
2 answers
What's the typical cost (and its breakdown) for a long-haul commercial flight?
I realised that this question is very broad, but I intend it as an example to illustrate the actual costs incurred by a typical long-haul commercial flight.
For the purpose of this question, I would assume the following:
A380 or (modern) B747 in…
abey
- 2,140
- 3
- 21
- 43
42
votes
8 answers
Why would a glider have water ballast? If it is trying to stay aloft without an engine, wouldn't it be better to be as light as possible?
So I was looking at the description of a ASW 27 B glider and ran across this statement:
Two water tanks in the wing plus a further 35 liter tank in the
fuselage enable the ASW 27 B to carry more water ballast than any
other 15 m glider and also…
Lnafziger
- 58,886
- 39
- 242
- 423
42
votes
4 answers
How many lives would be saved if the airlines turned all the seats around?
The psychology and history of forward-facing seats has been answered well already here. I ask instead about how bad it is that seats are forward-facing.
For context, I was looking through Wikipedia's list of airline flights that required gliding,…
JupyterUser
- 343
- 1
- 3
- 5
42
votes
4 answers
Are there any helicopters with ejection seats?
Are there any helicopters with ejection seats? If so, how is the clearance problem with the rotating blades solved?
kevin
- 39,731
- 17
- 148
- 278
42
votes
2 answers
Why does ATC ask a crew who has declared an emergency if their aircraft will be overweight when landing?
I have heard ATC ask an emergency aircraft if they will be overweight when landing.
Why do they ask?
I am not asking about the consequences of an overweight landing or what procedures are required following one, but rather why ATC would ask for this…
byte wrangler
- 523
- 1
- 4
- 6
42
votes
2 answers
What type is this aircraft with "inverted" wings?
A friend of mine saw this plane at Tampa Bay International Airport recently:
It has an odd combination of a negative dihedral and pylonless overwing engines, all traits I've seen individually but not together.
Does anyone know what this plane is,…
Timpanus
- 2,733
- 1
- 17
- 24
42
votes
4 answers
Do pilots have their own in-flight entertainment?
Besides flying the plane and talking to the person in the other seat, what other forms of entertainment are (also legally) available to pilots while on the job?
I'm thinking of 'activities' like reading, listening to music, watching a movie, or...…
Řídící
- 2,506
- 3
- 18
- 24
42
votes
1 answer
Why is tape being applied to this jet engine?
When I read this question asking for identification of the aircraft, my immediate question was:
What is that duck tape for?
Whether you call it duck tape or duct tape, why is it being applied to the nacelle?
SQB
- 2,265
- 1
- 21
- 49
42
votes
11 answers
Could an electric engine provide the same performance as jet engines on current aircraft?
I have looked at various questions on this SE site regarding this topic but I have not really found a satisfactory answer. Some comments here regarding torque and power in electric motors vs gasoline engines were helpful. Additional info also found…
lexeter
- 531
- 1
- 4
- 5
42
votes
4 answers
Do unused parachutes need to be repacked? If so how often and why?
I was reading some military fiction and saw a comment that army airborne operations were required to repack all parachutes every ninety days, allowing parachutes that were due to be repacked soon to be cheaply used for training. This got me…
hildred
- 1,281
- 3
- 14
- 23
42
votes
2 answers
Why is the Eurofighter Typhoon's nose gear door shorter than the bay?
The Eurofighter Typhoon has an interesting "feature" in that the nose gear door is shorter than the nose gear bay itself by a good few inches, as shown here:
Can anyone shed any light on the reason for this gap? It isn't a simple case of the…
Moo
- 1,570
- 11
- 12
42
votes
3 answers
How did SR-71 spy, flying at 80,000 ft and 3500 km/h?
The SR-71 Blackbird is a famous supersonic reconnaissance/spy aircraft, undoubtedly one of the most amazing flying machines ever. Now, with the capabilities it had:
Maximum speed: Mach 3.3 (2,200+ mph, 3,540+ km/h, 1,910+ knots) at
80,000 ft…
anshabhi
- 11,490
- 15
- 76
- 137
42
votes
2 answers
How do aircraft stall warning systems work?
If an aircraft stalls, there are stall warning systems called as Stall computers. Anyone has idea how they predict that its a stall and how they raise the alarm/warning?
NitinG
- 6,869
- 14
- 47
- 100