A couple of stupid airliner questions...
Discussion
I found myself sitting in an over-wing exit row seat on a 737-400 this morning, and as we waited for take-off a couple of questions occurred to me. In the spirit of satisfying my idle curiosity, can anyone supply definitive answers to the following? No apologies for the idiotic nature of the questions. As I say, idle curiosity:
1) When taxi-ing, how do aircraft steer? I had always vaguely assumed they use the rudder, but it occurred to me that we were taxi-ing pretty slowly so I can't imagine the airflow over the tail was great enough for "steerage way". So - nosewheel? Throttling up the engine on one side? Magnets?...
2) Once an over-wing exit hatch has been used, can it be replaced? Or is the structure of the fuselage compromised in some way? Are airliners ever evacuated in situations where the airframe can be salvaged and repaired?
1) When taxi-ing, how do aircraft steer? I had always vaguely assumed they use the rudder, but it occurred to me that we were taxi-ing pretty slowly so I can't imagine the airflow over the tail was great enough for "steerage way". So - nosewheel? Throttling up the engine on one side? Magnets?...
2) Once an over-wing exit hatch has been used, can it be replaced? Or is the structure of the fuselage compromised in some way? Are airliners ever evacuated in situations where the airframe can be salvaged and repaired?
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