Random facts about planes..
Discussion
RAF Bomber Command started World War 2 with the same philosophy as the USAAC (later the USAAF).
They too believed that their bombers could get through in daylight just using their secret weapon (the power operated turret) as a means of keeping enemy fighters at bay.
As we all know, that didn't work out too well and that is why they, through a force majeur, have to switch to night time bombing for protection. Up until the advent of radio and radar navigation aids, navigation at night was poor and precision bombing totally impossible. The Butt Report of 1941 showed that most RAF Bombers were not getting within 5 miles of their intended targets. They couldn't even find cities, let alone specific targets in those cities.
It was the poor results being achieved by Bomber Command in the years 1940 to 1942 that convinced the USAAF that they HAD to stick to their daylight bombing strategy.
Of course, as the war progressed, technology and training allowed Bomber Command to recover some of the lost accuracy.
They too believed that their bombers could get through in daylight just using their secret weapon (the power operated turret) as a means of keeping enemy fighters at bay.
As we all know, that didn't work out too well and that is why they, through a force majeur, have to switch to night time bombing for protection. Up until the advent of radio and radar navigation aids, navigation at night was poor and precision bombing totally impossible. The Butt Report of 1941 showed that most RAF Bombers were not getting within 5 miles of their intended targets. They couldn't even find cities, let alone specific targets in those cities.
It was the poor results being achieved by Bomber Command in the years 1940 to 1942 that convinced the USAAF that they HAD to stick to their daylight bombing strategy.
Of course, as the war progressed, technology and training allowed Bomber Command to recover some of the lost accuracy.
Question: Over the lifespan of an average aircraft how far does it fly?
Answer: If you use the following assumptions on say a 777
A 30-year lifetime
3,500 hours a year as an average
An average speed of 500 miles per hour
30 x 3500 x 500 = 52,500,000 miles
That is approximately 2,080 circumnavigations of the Earth, 109 round trips to the moon, or the average distance to Mars.
Answer: If you use the following assumptions on say a 777
A 30-year lifetime
3,500 hours a year as an average
An average speed of 500 miles per hour
30 x 3500 x 500 = 52,500,000 miles
That is approximately 2,080 circumnavigations of the Earth, 109 round trips to the moon, or the average distance to Mars.
Some googling suggests............
1. Airplanes are lighting-proof – it’s totally understandable that there are some who couldn’t help but secretly freak out over the fact that the plane that they’re on might crash at any given time because of circumstances. For instance, getting hit by lightning – the truth is, airplanes get hit by lighting on a regular basis and no plane has ever crashed because of a lighting since 1963. Airplanes of today’s time are well-engineered and are designed to become lightning-proof.
2. One the most deadly airplane accidents actually happened on the ground. In 1977, two fully loaded planes carrying a total of over 600 passengers collided head-on in the middle of the runway in what is now known as the Tenerife Accident, named after Tenerife Island where the accident occurred. Over 500 people died.
3. The bathroom door isn’t really locked when you’re inside. Lavatory doors can be locked and unlocked from the outside for a multitude of reason. It allows flight attendants quick access to locked lavatories in case of emergencies. In other instances, it allows the cabin crew to restrict access to bathrooms during takeoff and landing.
4. Some airplanes have bedrooms that only the crews have access to. There are flights that would take around 15-16 hours and for the crews to avoid getting over-fatigued, they can get a little rest in the secret bedroom. The bedroom contains about 5-10 beds that they can access from a hidden staircase.
5. Most pilots and copilots on major airlines are not allowed to eat the same food to avoid the possibility of food poisoning sickening the entire flight crew.
6. Passengers usually have no appetite for airplane food. It turns out it’s not actually the airline’s fault. The reason why the airplane food tastes really bad is because the environment on an airplane changes the way a food or drink tastes.
7. About 1 in 5 people have some of fear flying, or “aviophobia.”
8. The risk of being killed in a plane crash for the average American is 1 in 11 million. The risk of being killed in a car accident is 1 in 5,000.
9. Research shows that the first 3 minutes after takeoff and the final 8 minutes before landing are when 80% of plane crashes happen.
10. A woman and her daughter were arrested when they tried to smuggle the woman’s dead husband in a wheelchair onto a plane. They had covered his eyes with sunglasses and told authorities he was just sleeping.
1. Airplanes are lighting-proof – it’s totally understandable that there are some who couldn’t help but secretly freak out over the fact that the plane that they’re on might crash at any given time because of circumstances. For instance, getting hit by lightning – the truth is, airplanes get hit by lighting on a regular basis and no plane has ever crashed because of a lighting since 1963. Airplanes of today’s time are well-engineered and are designed to become lightning-proof.
2. One the most deadly airplane accidents actually happened on the ground. In 1977, two fully loaded planes carrying a total of over 600 passengers collided head-on in the middle of the runway in what is now known as the Tenerife Accident, named after Tenerife Island where the accident occurred. Over 500 people died.
3. The bathroom door isn’t really locked when you’re inside. Lavatory doors can be locked and unlocked from the outside for a multitude of reason. It allows flight attendants quick access to locked lavatories in case of emergencies. In other instances, it allows the cabin crew to restrict access to bathrooms during takeoff and landing.
4. Some airplanes have bedrooms that only the crews have access to. There are flights that would take around 15-16 hours and for the crews to avoid getting over-fatigued, they can get a little rest in the secret bedroom. The bedroom contains about 5-10 beds that they can access from a hidden staircase.
5. Most pilots and copilots on major airlines are not allowed to eat the same food to avoid the possibility of food poisoning sickening the entire flight crew.
6. Passengers usually have no appetite for airplane food. It turns out it’s not actually the airline’s fault. The reason why the airplane food tastes really bad is because the environment on an airplane changes the way a food or drink tastes.
7. About 1 in 5 people have some of fear flying, or “aviophobia.”
8. The risk of being killed in a plane crash for the average American is 1 in 11 million. The risk of being killed in a car accident is 1 in 5,000.
9. Research shows that the first 3 minutes after takeoff and the final 8 minutes before landing are when 80% of plane crashes happen.
10. A woman and her daughter were arrested when they tried to smuggle the woman’s dead husband in a wheelchair onto a plane. They had covered his eyes with sunglasses and told authorities he was just sleeping.
carreauchompeur said:
thebraketester said:
A 777 engine cowling is the same size as a 737 fuselage. 
Wow, that's a good fact. They do look big on the wings but never seen that perspective before!HoHoHo said:
Some googling suggests............
1. Airplanes are lighting-proof – it’s totally understandable that there are some who couldn’t help but secretly freak out over the fact that the plane that they’re on might crash at any given time because of circumstances. For instance, getting hit by lightning – the truth is, airplanes get hit by lighting on a regular basis and no plane has ever crashed because of a lighting since 1963. Airplanes of today’s time are well-engineered and are designed to become lightning-proof.
2. One the most deadly airplane accidents actually happened on the ground. In 1977, two fully loaded planes carrying a total of over 600 passengers collided head-on in the middle of the runway in what is now known as the Tenerife Accident, named after Tenerife Island where the accident occurred. Over 500 people died.
3. The bathroom door isn’t really locked when you’re inside. Lavatory doors can be locked and unlocked from the outside for a multitude of reason. It allows flight attendants quick access to locked lavatories in case of emergencies. In other instances, it allows the cabin crew to restrict access to bathrooms during takeoff and landing.
4. Some airplanes have bedrooms that only the crews have access to. There are flights that would take around 15-16 hours and for the crews to avoid getting over-fatigued, they can get a little rest in the secret bedroom. The bedroom contains about 5-10 beds that they can access from a hidden staircase.
5. Most pilots and copilots on major airlines are not allowed to eat the same food to avoid the possibility of food poisoning sickening the entire flight crew.
6. Passengers usually have no appetite for airplane food. It turns out it’s not actually the airline’s fault. The reason why the airplane food tastes really bad is because the environment on an airplane changes the way a food or drink tastes.
7. About 1 in 5 people have some of fear flying, or “aviophobia.”
8. The risk of being killed in a plane crash for the average American is 1 in 11 million. The risk of being killed in a car accident is 1 in 5,000.
9. Research shows that the first 3 minutes after takeoff and the final 8 minutes before landing are when 80% of plane crashes happen.
10. A woman and her daughter were arrested when they tried to smuggle the woman’s dead husband in a wheelchair onto a plane. They had covered his eyes with sunglasses and told authorities he was just sleeping.
1. Have been struck by lightning many times when flying. Usually hits the nose, follwed by a flash in the cabin as it dissipates through the rear1. Airplanes are lighting-proof – it’s totally understandable that there are some who couldn’t help but secretly freak out over the fact that the plane that they’re on might crash at any given time because of circumstances. For instance, getting hit by lightning – the truth is, airplanes get hit by lighting on a regular basis and no plane has ever crashed because of a lighting since 1963. Airplanes of today’s time are well-engineered and are designed to become lightning-proof.
2. One the most deadly airplane accidents actually happened on the ground. In 1977, two fully loaded planes carrying a total of over 600 passengers collided head-on in the middle of the runway in what is now known as the Tenerife Accident, named after Tenerife Island where the accident occurred. Over 500 people died.
3. The bathroom door isn’t really locked when you’re inside. Lavatory doors can be locked and unlocked from the outside for a multitude of reason. It allows flight attendants quick access to locked lavatories in case of emergencies. In other instances, it allows the cabin crew to restrict access to bathrooms during takeoff and landing.
4. Some airplanes have bedrooms that only the crews have access to. There are flights that would take around 15-16 hours and for the crews to avoid getting over-fatigued, they can get a little rest in the secret bedroom. The bedroom contains about 5-10 beds that they can access from a hidden staircase.
5. Most pilots and copilots on major airlines are not allowed to eat the same food to avoid the possibility of food poisoning sickening the entire flight crew.
6. Passengers usually have no appetite for airplane food. It turns out it’s not actually the airline’s fault. The reason why the airplane food tastes really bad is because the environment on an airplane changes the way a food or drink tastes.
7. About 1 in 5 people have some of fear flying, or “aviophobia.”
8. The risk of being killed in a plane crash for the average American is 1 in 11 million. The risk of being killed in a car accident is 1 in 5,000.
9. Research shows that the first 3 minutes after takeoff and the final 8 minutes before landing are when 80% of plane crashes happen.
10. A woman and her daughter were arrested when they tried to smuggle the woman’s dead husband in a wheelchair onto a plane. They had covered his eyes with sunglasses and told authorities he was just sleeping.
Happens in a split second.
4. I wish they were secret. Many passengers wander into the crew bunk area by mistake. They are hardly bedrooms and are certainly not
secret.
6. It tastes 'peppery'.
7. Most passengers will be nervous to some degree. Although they will appear to take it in their stride.
8. Yes, the journey to the airport is much more hazardous.
FourWheelDrift said:
The General Electric GE90 is also the most powerful jet engine in use today. Each engine under the wing of a Boeing 777-300ER can produce 115,000 lbf of thrust, that's 3 times more power than one of Concorde's Olympus engines on full reheat.
The F1 rocket engine mounted on the first stage of the Saturn V developed 1.5 million pounds of thrust. There were five in all making 7.5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.FourWheelDrift said:
The General Electric GE90 is also the most powerful jet engine in use today. Each engine under the wing of a Boeing 777-300ER can produce 115,000 lbf of thrust, that's 3 times more power than one of Concorde's Olympus engines on full reheat.
Not bad going for the Olympus considering relative size and age.HoHoHo said:
6. Passengers usually have no appetite for airplane food. It turns out it’s not actually the airline’s fault. The reason why the airplane food tastes really bad is because the environment on an airplane changes the way a food or drink tastes.
Really? I quite enjoy the cute little meals, wouldn't say it tasted really bad. Certainly not compared with school dinners I ate in the '70s, which are my benchmark for badnessEric Mc said:
The F1 rocket engine mounted on the first stage of the Saturn V developed 1.5 million pounds of thrust. There were five in all making 7.5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.
Our propulsion lecturer at uni once set a question to work out the power requirement of the F1's fuel pump. Most people reckoned they'd made a mistake in the maths when they came up with an answer of 55,000 bhp! They were shifting nearly 1000 litres of fuel per second. dr_gn said:
FourWheelDrift said:
The General Electric GE90 is also the most powerful jet engine in use today. Each engine under the wing of a Boeing 777-300ER can produce 115,000 lbf of thrust, that's 3 times more power than one of Concorde's Olympus engines on full reheat.
Not bad going for the Olympus considering relative size and age.FourWheelDrift said:
dr_gn said:
FourWheelDrift said:
The General Electric GE90 is also the most powerful jet engine in use today. Each engine under the wing of a Boeing 777-300ER can produce 115,000 lbf of thrust, that's 3 times more power than one of Concorde's Olympus engines on full reheat.
Not bad going for the Olympus considering relative size and age.I mean the GE engine is more than 1.5x the diameter of the entire Mercury rocket - and it wouldn't work too well without air.
Edited by dr_gn on Thursday 27th April 15:27
nonsequitur said:
1. Have been struck by lightning many times when flying. Usually hits the nose, follwed by a flash in the cabin as it dissipates through the rear
Happens in a split second.
In my experience Lightning Strikes are preceded bu a build up of static on the R/T (esppecially HF). At night there is also the build up of St Elmo's Fire (Coronal Discharge) on things like the windscreen wipers.Happens in a split second.
The oxygen in an airplane’s emergency oxygen masks lasts for only about 15 minutes
Commercial airport runways are typically 2 to 4 feet thick with layers of asphalt. Taxiways are usually thinner, with around 18 inches of concrete.
According to Popular Mechanics, sitting in the tail of an airplane improves chances of accident survival by 40%.
The world’s largest passenger airliner, the Airbus A380, has about 4 million parts
In the United States, 2 million passengers board more than 30,000 flights—every day
In 1987, American Airlines saved $40,000 by removing 1 olive from each salad served in first class
The FAA requires that all airplanes be capable of being evacuated in 90 seconds. It takes only a minute and half for a fire to spread and engulf a plane.
If a cabin is pressurized and an airplane door came open in midflight at a high altitude, the sudden opening could cause items and people to get sucked out. However, pressurization in the cabin and a plug-type door (a door that is bigger than the opening), makes it near impossible for even multiple people to open a door during a flight
A woman from Stockholm, Sweden, attempted to smuggle 75 live snakes onto an airplane by placing them in her bra. She also had six lizards under her shorts. Apparently the security staff wanted to know about the smell in her shorts and she said the lizards would get used it (I made that last bit up
)
In 1986, a plane called Voyager flew all the way around the world without landing or refueling
Plane exhaust kills more people than plane crashes. Approximately, 10,000 people are killed annually from toxic pollutants from airplanes
Commercial airport runways are typically 2 to 4 feet thick with layers of asphalt. Taxiways are usually thinner, with around 18 inches of concrete.
According to Popular Mechanics, sitting in the tail of an airplane improves chances of accident survival by 40%.
The world’s largest passenger airliner, the Airbus A380, has about 4 million parts
In the United States, 2 million passengers board more than 30,000 flights—every day
In 1987, American Airlines saved $40,000 by removing 1 olive from each salad served in first class
The FAA requires that all airplanes be capable of being evacuated in 90 seconds. It takes only a minute and half for a fire to spread and engulf a plane.
If a cabin is pressurized and an airplane door came open in midflight at a high altitude, the sudden opening could cause items and people to get sucked out. However, pressurization in the cabin and a plug-type door (a door that is bigger than the opening), makes it near impossible for even multiple people to open a door during a flight
A woman from Stockholm, Sweden, attempted to smuggle 75 live snakes onto an airplane by placing them in her bra. She also had six lizards under her shorts. Apparently the security staff wanted to know about the smell in her shorts and she said the lizards would get used it (I made that last bit up
)In 1986, a plane called Voyager flew all the way around the world without landing or refueling
Plane exhaust kills more people than plane crashes. Approximately, 10,000 people are killed annually from toxic pollutants from airplanes
Singapore Airlines spends approximately $700 million on food every year and $16 million on wine
The wing-span of the A380 is longer than the aircraft itself. Wingspan is 80m, the length is 72.7m
Lufthansa is the world's largest purchaser of caviar, buying over 10 tons per year
The winglets on an Airbus A330-200 are the same height as the world's tallest man (2.4m)
The 747 family has flown more than 5.6 billion people - equivalent of 80% of the world's population
70% of aircraft today are over 70% more fuel-efficient per seat kilometre than jets in the 1960s
KLM is the world's oldest airline, established in 1919
The wing-span of the A380 is longer than the aircraft itself. Wingspan is 80m, the length is 72.7m
Lufthansa is the world's largest purchaser of caviar, buying over 10 tons per year
The winglets on an Airbus A330-200 are the same height as the world's tallest man (2.4m)
The 747 family has flown more than 5.6 billion people - equivalent of 80% of the world's population
70% of aircraft today are over 70% more fuel-efficient per seat kilometre than jets in the 1960s
KLM is the world's oldest airline, established in 1919
HoHoHo said:
Some googling suggests............
7. About 1 in 5 people have some of fear flying, or “aviophobia.”
I am one of those.7. About 1 in 5 people have some of fear flying, or “aviophobia.”
Even though in my younger days I was heading in to the RAF on the initial officer training program looking to become a fast jet pilot, and even though I studied aeronautical engineering at Loughborough uni , I still have a fear on take off and landing in passenger planes when my safety is in the hands of other people.
I remember feeling totally fine when I went up in the shakey washing machine that was a Chipmunk and also fine in the slightly better environment of the Bulldog (when in both, the options available when things go wrong is to open the cockpit, climb on to the wing and jump off hoping that the parachute attached to your derriere will open in time before you meet the ground ! )
Its an irrational fear, as I am well aware of how planes are put together, the factor of safety installed, the back up systems, etc. etc., but with that I have knowledge of how easily things can go wrong and how reliant one is on the system as a whole simply 'working', but as with a lot of things the sense of 'fear' plays more weight than the sense of 'rationale'.
Edited by Atomic12C on Thursday 27th April 16:22
Yertis said:
Just to come back to this definition of "strategic bombing" for a moment, one of the bits of history I have read up on a bit is the different philosophies of Bomber Command and the USAAC.
The Americans used the Norden bombsight which supposedly could accurately measure drift and groundspeed, was gyro stabilised and, using an analog computer, could produce a CARP (Calculated Air Release Point) ie give an automated signal to the bombadier to drop the bombs. Indeed the bombadier actually took over control of the a/c on the bomb run by having the sight connected in to the a/c autopilot system.In trials the sight generated a CEP of (Circular Error of Probability - ie the 'miss radius) of a mere 75ft. However, in reality the average CEP on operations was never better than 1200ft, hardly enough for 'Precision Bombing' - while you might hit a factory from 20,000ft, you had as much chance of missing.
The problem being that, while you might know the a/c attitude, drift, groundspeed and air density (ie temperature) at say 20,000ft, and while you might have a good understanding of a particular weapon's ballistic profile, what you do not know are the characteristics of the atmospheric layers beneath you (the atmosphere not being a homogenous fluid) and these will inevitibly build in errors in the bombs' fall.
Thus, despite US claimes to the contrary (and the claims to be able to: "Put a bomb in a pickle barrel"), the USAAC were, de facto, involved in area bombing (albeit in daylight).
The RAF had an equivalent bombsight (in small numbers) known as the SABS (Stabilised Automatic Bombsight) but it only entered service in small numbers and only really came into its own for dropping the Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs which, owing to the fact they went supersonic during their fall, meant that there was far less time for the vagaries of the atmosphere to affect the bomb's flight. Indeed average CEP was 375ft.
Having said that, IX(B)Sqn managed to acheive an average CEP of 585ft when dropping these bombs using the earlier (non stabilised) Mk XIV bombsight.
Edited by Ginetta G15 Girl on Thursday 27th April 16:01
Atomic12C said:
HoHoHo said:
Some googling suggests............
7. About 1 in 5 people have some of fear flying, or “aviophobia.”
I'll am one of those.7. About 1 in 5 people have some of fear flying, or “aviophobia.”
Even though in my younger days I was heading in to the RAF on the initial officer training program looking to become a fast jet pilot, and even though I studied aeronautical engineering at Loughborough uni , I still have a fear on take off and landing in passenger planes when my safety is in the hands of other people.
I remember feeling totally fine when I went up in the shakey washing machine that was a Chipmunk and also fine in the slightly better environment of the Bulldog (when in both, the options available when things go wrong is to open the cockpit, climb on to the wing and jump off hoping that the parachute attached to your derriere will open in time before you meet the ground ! )
Its an irrational fear, as I am well aware of how planes are put together, the factor of safety installed, the back up systems, etc. etc., but with that I have knowledge of how easily things can go wrong and how reliant one is on the system as a whole simply 'working', but as with a lot of things the sense of 'fear' plays more weight than the sense of 'rationale'.
It's the ground you have to be scared of
HTH
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