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1500 questions
28
votes
2 answers
Do airline pilots practice stalls in actual aircraft?
PPL pilots are taught stall recovery by experiencing it first hand with an instructor.
Do airline pilots intentionally stall an aircraft during training? Or is it all simulator practice because it's too risky?
kevin
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28
votes
6 answers
Do jet contrails impact weather?
Do jet contrails impact weather at the ground?
anshabhi
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28
votes
3 answers
Why are the throttles of aircraft such as the Twin Otter placed on the overhead panel?
Some aircraft such as the DHC-6 Twin Otter, have their throttles on the overhead panel:
Is there a reason that they are not on a center console between the pilot seats or mounted to the panel like on most airplanes?
It seems like it would be more…
flyingfisch
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28
votes
3 answers
What causes a plane's wing tips to leave a small white vapor trail?
What is the source for what looks to be small trails of smoke or condensation sometimes coming from the very tips of a jet aircrafts wing tips?
garyv440
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28
votes
4 answers
Can a glider make a go-around?
Since gliders don't have engines, is it possible for them to go around? Are there any extra features on a glider to try to prevent that situation from happening?
flyingfisch
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28
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2 answers
How do landing fees work at larger airports?
Many larger airports (class Bravos) have a landing fee. What's the process for assessing and collecting the fees?
How do these landing fees work with general aviation aircraft?
Where can I find out what the fee will be? Is it published?
How will I…
Geoffrey Gallaway
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28
votes
4 answers
Can a commercial cargo aircraft be converted into a commercial passenger aircraft, and vice versa?
Just saw a video in a news, a military cargo plane carrying people stranded in some country. The seats were like in a commercial airliner. This led me to ask the question.
Would it be possible to see some examples where it was done, along with the…
Firee
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28
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6 answers
What is the difference between a flow and a checklist?
Use of checklists is a 'special emphasis area' during FAA private and commercial checkrides but there are a lot of comments in pilot forums about using flows instead, often - but not always - in the context of airline operations.
What is a flow, and…
Pondlife
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28
votes
3 answers
How much jurisdiction does the FAA have over military aircraft?
The FAA controls just about everything about civilian aircraft in US airspace in terms of regulation, certification, flight rules, etc. Do they have any authority over military aircraft beyond requiring military flights to communicate with ATC for…
FreeMan
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28
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2 answers
How do airlines pay air crews for an aborted flight, in general?
I was watching this SWISS video. It's a flight from Zurich to Shanghai. Shortly after take off they have high engine oil temp in engine 3 and end up shutting it down. They declare a pan-pan-pan, dump fuel and return to Zurich. It's pretty…
CGCampbell
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28
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6 answers
What emergency situation can pilots encounter in gliders/non-powered aircraft?
Pilots have to be able to handle a wide range of emergencies in the air. For powered aircraft, the obvious example to me is recovering from an engine failure, but obviously this can't happen on an unpowered glider. Many gliders have no electrical…
raptortech97
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28
votes
2 answers
How do water bombers pick up water?
I saw a couple of CL-415s near my lake house a few days ago, and it got me wondering, how do they pick up water? What method do they use to get water into the water tanks? How long does it take to fill up the water tanks? And do the tanks get filled…
Mateo
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27
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8 answers
Where do I start learning about Avionics programming?
I am a student in his last semester going for a B.S. in Computer Science. I would like to eventually transition into the space exploration industry (NASA, SpaceX, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, etc). I know nothing about avionics and i would like to learn…
user2369869
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27
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2 answers
How are the dry lake runways at Edwards AFB marked, and how are they maintained?
In addition to its paved runways, Edwards AFB in California has several runways on the bed of Rogers Dry Lake, famously used in the past for (among other things) Space Shuttle landings. Satellite imagery shows these runways marked with a very…
TypeIA
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27
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3 answers
What did Chuck do wrong in this Chicken Wings comic?
What did Chuck do wrong, other than being in an airplane?
Someone
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