Riddle me this: can airplanes fly with only one wing?
Or can they reach supersonic speeds — still with a single wing?
If you answered no to both, you’re in for a surprise!
There’s still so much you probably didn’t know about airplanes, and neither did I — until
today!
Let’s review my list, shall we?
1.
Can airplanes avoid hitting birds mid-flight?
Technically, they can’t.
Poor birdies.
Accidents happen, and sometimes planes must make an emergency landing because a bird smacked
into the windshield or got itself into one of the engines.
But this is usually the case during takeoff or landing, since birds don’t fly at the
airplane cruising altitudes.
Unless they’re wearing oxygen masks or something.
Measures taken at the airports to prevent this include loud sounds, like shooting blanks
into the air to scare off the birds from the runway, or even specially trained birds of
prey, who bully the other birds so that airplanes could take off safely.
2.
How can a plane get struck by lightning and still continue its flight?
Normally, after it’s hit by lightning, an airplane is sent for inspection, but it can
still safely complete its current flight.
The fuselage conducts electricity well enough, and like with a lightning rod, the zap will
most probably strike one of the tips of the airplane — either one of the wings, or the
nose.
Then it seeks the ground but doesn’t find it, exiting from the tail.
It’s easier for electricity to roll through the surface of the plane than go inside, so
people on board are safe from its effects.
Still, lightning is powerful, and there can be some damage done to the airplane on the
outside.
3.
Can the airplane’s equipment be disrupted by mobile phones?
The short answer is no, the longer answer is nooooooo -- your device can’t make any
of the plane’s electronics malfunction.
But there’s a catch.
If you owned a smartphone about 5 years ago, you might remember that weird noise coming
out of any speakers around you when someone called you.
This normally doesn’t happen with modern devices, but the danger is still there.
Imagine a pilot trying to make out what the control is saying and all they hear is static
because someone hasn’t turned on the airplane mode?
I wouldn’t like to be on the same plane.
Speaking of which…
4.
What does airplane mode do, exactly?
It might seem some sort of a magical button that allows you to keep your phone turned
on during the flight, but all it does is just cut any radio transmission, cellular or Bluetooth.
You aren’t likely to get reception at 30,000 feet anyway, but it can be important during
takeoff and landing, when you’ve still got signal.
And today the airplane mode is more flexible too, allowing Wi-Fi to work on board.
That’s why you can connect to the on-board entertainment system even with everything
else turned off.
5.
Is it really a must to keep the window covers open during takeoff and landing?
Absolutely.
And yes.
Most incidents happen exactly at these times, so flight attendants need to have the clearest
view possible.
With window screens open, they have better lighting inside, can see if anything goes
wrong outside, and the ground crew can also notice if something happens on board.
In case of emergency, rescuers should also be able to see inside for people trapped in
the cabin.
So only close that cover when you have safely climbed to unfathomable heights you can’t
escape anyway.
Mwahaha.
6.
Why are some contrails so short-lived, while others stay in the sky for a long time?
Contrails are a lot like clouds: they appear from water condensing high up.
Jet engines burn fuel, emitting CO2 and water vapor, as well as other gases.
Some of them allow water particles to collect around themselves, creating water droplets
and becoming visible from the ground.
If it’s already humid up there, then there’s more water, and the contrail is more prominent.
And if it’s cold, the droplets might turn into ice, staying behind for a much longer
time.
7.
Why aren’t there supersonic passenger airplanes?
There used to be two of them in the past, but both turned out to be unprofitable and
dangerous.
The British & French Concorde and the Russian Tu-144 Charger were the only commercial airplanes
to have broken the sound barrier in the 20th century.
They were thought to be the future of civil aviation, but the costs turned out to be just
too high, and a series of crashes sealed the fate of both supersonic jets.
8.
Why are pilots’ and flight attendants’ seat belts so different from passengers’
ones?
Unlike passengers, flight attendants don’t have armrests or even comfortable enough cushions
to sit on.
All they have are small foldable seats near the galley.
That’s why they need not only a seat belt, like yours, but a shoulder strap as well.
Also, in an emergency, flight attendants have to be able to coordinate evacuation, so they
have this extra protection.
As for the pilots, they have a five-point harness that keeps them firmly in their seats.
This allows them to control the airplane even when it’s rocking and swaying like crazy.
Not that it’s going to rock and sway like crazy on your flight.
Hmm. 9.
Why does traveling by car feel faster than by airplane?
Going 70 mph on an interstate makes you feel the drive and excitement of speed.
Flying at nearly 600 mph makes you drowsy at best.
This is because you don’t feel the actual speed of anything: you can only see how fast
you’re moving relative to other objects.
The closer, the faster — in a car, everything’s close to you, so you see trees, people, houses,
and other cars zapping past you.
On board an airplane, everything’s so far away that it seems to go at a snail’s pace.
10.
How many wings does an airplane have?
Every commercial airplane you’ve been on has only one wing.
The first airplanes were called biplanes because they had two wings: one on the top and the
other going through the bottom of the fuselage.
They were connected by struts and wires, which made a kind of a box that basically kept the
craft from falling apart in the air.
It was necessary at lower speeds that early planes could only muster, but as the engines
increased in power, the second wing became redundant.
The one remaining wing still serves as a support for the whole structure, though.
11.
How can you drink your coffee on board a plane and not have it spilled when it banks?
There are forces at work on an airplane that don’t allow passengers to feel all the moves
the aircraft performs.
When it banks, it applies a certain force to itself so that it feels like you’re being
pressed down, not to the side.
A simple example: if you take a half-filled glass of water, hold it in your outstretched
hand, and spin around fast enough, you’ll see the water crawling the side of the glass.
At some point, you can technically achieve enough spin to turn the glass to the side
without spilling a single drop.
You’d better not try it, though, the vertigo is terrible.
By the way, if you know the exact name of this force, leave your guess in the comments
below.
12.
Why can’t airplanes go to space?
Seems pretty logical for something that can fly at enormous altitudes to be able to fly
even higher, right?
Not really: planes depend on air to fly because their wings generate lift thanks to it.
The higher you climb, the thinner the air becomes, until you simply run out of it altogether.
And the thinner the air, the more speed an aircraft needs to keep the altitude.
So when there’s no air, wings generate no more lift, and the airplane simply stalls.
13.
Why is there turbulence sometimes even when the sky is clear?
Clouds, especially thunderheads, can indicate that an area of turbulence is ahead.
But sometimes a clear-air turbulence occurs, when a plane can drop a whole bunch and start
shaking without any warning.
It happens when two bodies of air clash at very high speeds, and it’s invisible, so
the pilots can’t tell when it would happen.
The chances of getting into an area of clear-air turbulence are higher at low altitudes over
mountain ranges and near the jet stream.
By the way…
14.
What is a jet stream?
There are several extremely fast rivers of air high up in the atmosphere of our planet.
Weather systems are also controlled by jet streams.
They move in strange ways but have a constant flow, allowing passenger aircraft to sometimes
use them.
When an airplane comes close to a jet stream, it may adjust to the direction of its current
and fly a lot faster, propelled by the flow.
Many airlines use this to their advantage to cut the costs of fuel and make air traveling
even faster.
15.
How can airplanes fly if one engine fails?
First things first: an airplane can only fly with one failed engine if it’s already in
the air.
It can’t take off in this condition — and it won’t.
While mid-flight, though, the single remaining engine will give the aircraft enough thrust
to continue moving forward.
It will tend to turn to the failed side, but the pilot can straighten it up by pushing
to the other.
Besides, the airplane’s nose doesn’t even need to face straight forward to fly in that
direction, and can be a little crooked while still continuing on its route.
16.
What is the yellow fixture on the airplane’s wings?
Looking out the window on the plane’s wing, you can see a small yellow double hook on
it.
It seems strange, since it might mess with aerodynamics, but it’s there for your safety.
In case of an emergency landing, these hooks are used to secure ropes that help passengers
exit the plane via the wing.
If they’re slippery, the rope will help you keep your footing and not fall over while
climbing around.
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