Hi! You know, for airplanes, the sky is literally the limit. Planes can lift off vertically
or from a ship, they can fly upside down, and spin in barrel rolls. But how they do
all of this, and what limits they really have – you'll found out right now.
How are some planes able to fly upside down? Most airplane wings aren't supposed to provide
lift when they're upside down and require a pilot to aim the nose of the plane upwards
to do so. But fighter jets and aerobatic planes have symmetrical wings, which can lift a plane
up in any position.
How does water landing work? Very carefully… Floatplanes have basically two dinghies replacing
their normal landing gear, though they have small wheels for occasional landings on the
ground. A seaplane's lower part of its fusilage has a boat-like design and doesn't need any
gear at all. But even a normal airplane can land on water in an extreme case. It's called
ditching, and it's one of the hardest things a pilot can perform.
How sturdy are 'black boxes'? First, they're more like 'orange boxes' because
they're easier to find if they have a vibrant color. They're usually placed near the tail
of a plane because here they won't take as much damage during a possible accident. They
can endure the temperature of up to 2,000°F and 5,000 pounds of pressure – enough to
melt most soft metals and crush a car.
How do stealth planes work? Very secretively! To detect an airplane, a radar must send electromagnetic
waves to it and then receive this signal as it reflects and comes back. Stealth airplanes
can absorb waves into their surface coverage or they can reflect them in unpredictable
ways so the signal will be unreadable for a radar. This is why most stealth airplanes
have these strange angular shapes.
How does autopilot work? All it requires is a destination point and
a route, everything else depends on complex calculations and sensors. For example, if
an altitude is set at some point by a computer, sensors will track if wings are lower or higher
than that, and adjust them accordingly. Most of the time pilots land and take off manually.
Why don't we have flying saucers yet? Good question!
People actually tried to come up with one, and there was more than one prototype, such
as the VZ 9 Avrocar or the Vought V-173. Both were experimental airplanes that showed a
plate-like design — and its inefficiency. VZ-9 couldn't even rise higher than 5 ft above
the ground – more like a hovercraft.
Why do some planes have two-level wings? Those are called biplanes, and their engines
are fairly weak, which is why regular wings can't provide enough lift for a stable flight.
The solution was to increase the wing area and keep them from being too heavy. This is
where double-wing construction comes from.
Why do we still use propeller-driven airplanes? Not only because it's cheaper to make one,
but also because airplanes with jet engines are only effective at high speed and altitude.
For example, it would be tough to use jet engine airplanes in agriculture for spraying
weeds or fertilizing, because the aircraft needs to move relatively slowly and close
to the ground.
Why don't we use airships? Ooh. They have huge volumes and can't be aerodynamic
enough to move fast in the air. Strong winds would drag them too much and they simply can't
compete with airplanes. Yet there are new airships like Airlander 10, which combines
zeppelin and airplane features to take off like a plane and then glide high like an airship
would.
Will we fly on electric airplanes soon? There are over 14 different projects in development
right now that strive to design and build electric airplanes. From aero-taxis with only
two seats to 150-seaters, some of which are already going through test flights. They're
supposed to fly over short distances only as lithium-based batteries won't allow much
more than that.
Why do planes leave trails? NO this is not a toilet paper question…
There is water in the airplane engine's exhaust, and when it mixes up with wet cold air it
spreads thinly and freezes into tiny ice crystals. The resulting line is called a contrail. A
plane flying in dry air won't leave these trails.
Why do some planes have rounded noses and others have pointed ones?
Airplanes with blunt noses fly at speeds lower than the speed of sound. They don't need to
deal with shockwaves produced by breaking the sound barrier. This is what pointed noses
are for. Why do you think the wicked Witch of the West could fly so fast? Yes, her pointed
nose! Really!
Why are pilots more worried about hot days than stormy ones?
It's hard for an airplane to lift itself up in hot air. It gets less dense and flows freer,
while wings need dense air to climb up. This is why the safest time to fly during summer
is in the morning when the air is still cool.
How fast can an air racing plane fly and spin? Racing planes aren't made for long-distance
flights or service, so they can focus on high power packed in a body as light as possible.
With this, they can fly at more than 260 mph and spin 420 degrees in one second.
Can an airplane go to space? The higher a plane goes, the less dense air
around it becomes. At some point, it gets impossible for a plane to lift itself higher
because there’s simply no air for this. The highest altitude a commercial airliner
ever climbed was 60,000 ft, achieved by a Concorde supersonic jetc .
How do airplanes withstand lightning strikes? Pilots say that every airplane gets hit by
lightning eventually, but the fuselage of an airplane is tight and made of aluminum.
This makes the lightning run along the outside of the plane and not go deeper. The worst
it can do is slightly mess with on-board instruments for a second.
Why should you never use laser pointers around pilots and airplanes?
Even if you accidentally flash a pointer into the pilot's eye, you're in big big, really
big trouble. Not only because it will make their work much harder, but also because it's
totally illegal and heavily punishable in some countries. And it’s really stupid.
Why does plane food taste a bit bland? This is not the food's fault; it's your tongue
that can't appreciate tastes on a plane. A combination of high pressure and dry air numbs
your taste buds and prevents you from feeling the real taste of food.
How does turbulence occur? Most common causes are updrafts, flying into
a cloud, extreme heat, or meeting a strong hail. If a pilot sees that it's going to get
shaky, they will try to adjust altitude or request a change of course. Not for safety,
but only for passengers' comfort, since turbulence is mostly safe for an airplane.
Can it be too cold outside to fly? Jet fuel has a bad habit to freeze at -40°F,
but at 30,000 ft up in the sky it's even colder. The fuel doesn’t become ice because an airplane
produces enough heat itself. If there is a way of keeping ice away from wings with anti-freeze
and to keep the fuel liquid, an airplane can fly in an extremely cold environment without
problems.
Why do airplanes fly in circles above airports sometimes? Just to show off. No not really.
Those circles are holding patterns — sometimes several airliners arrive at one destination
at the same time, but they can’t land together. While one plane is landing, another has to
fly in this holding pattern and wait for its turn. Before emergency landings, this pattern
also helps to burn fuel and lower the weight of the plane.
Why are most airplanes white? The white paint job on an airplane helps to
reflect sunlight and so decrease heating where no clouds can save a plane from the sun. Plus,
it's much easier to spot imperfections and cracks on white covering.
How do jets take off from aircraft carriers? First, the ship itself moves into the wind,
so this generates more airflow for jets' wings to start lifting sooner. Then there are catapults
on carriers that fling the jets off the deck to gain incredible speed in mere seconds.
Wah-hoo! And finally, the jets themselves are designed to accelerate as quickly as possible.
Look like fun? Think I’m gonna barf.
How do some planes take off vertically? Planes with vertical take-off capability are
equipped with engines that can be aimed down, and so they don't need runways to take off
and land. This is incredibly taxing on pilots' skills and also costs a lot of fuel. So much,
in fact, further research in this field was stopped at one point. Ah, the ups and downs
of air travel…