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1500 questions
27
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2 answers
What is "Hotel Mode" on a turboprop engine?
I have heard that some aircraft that do not have an APU can run an engine in "Hotel Mode".
What is hotel mode? Are there any advantages to having it instead of an APU?
flyingfisch
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27
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8 answers
Is there a good reason why modern airliners can't have conventional landing gears (vs. tricycle landing gears)?
By "good reason", I mean a reason that we definitely cannot overcome with reasonable changes in aircraft design, control laws or procedures.
As possible benefits of this I see a much smaller (= lighter) tail landing-gear than the nose landing-gear.…
Eric Leibenguth
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27
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6 answers
Are there any "alternative" passenger airline business models?
(By passenger airline in this question I mean scheduled carriers, with at minimum a few aircraft with 50+ seats.)
I am aware of 3 main classes of airlines:
Hub-and-spoke (most major airlines)
Low-cost carriers (Southwest, Ryanair)
Regional…
digitgopher
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27
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9 answers
Why do the missiles on an F-16 point slightly down?
I've been wondering this for quite a while: Why do the missiles on the F-16 point down a little bit?
I went and did a little searching and found out that the F-16 isn't the only plane that has this feature, so I'm going assume it's not the F-16s…
Jae Carr
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27
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6 answers
Can large airliners do aerobatics such as loops?
This subject has been partially covered before here Is it possible to do a barrel roll in a large aircraft like a B737? and here Is it safe to roll an airplane that isn't approved for it?
If a airliner such as say a 777-300 had enough height, could…
CalvT
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27
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2 answers
Was the Airbus A300/A310 ever supplied with a yoke and not a sidestick?
In the Air Crash Investigation episode "Kid In The Cockpit," which details the crash of Aeroflot Flight 593, the video shows the plane had a yoke not a sidestick
I was under the impression all Airbus models, even the earlier ones, used a…
Peter Bourne
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27
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4 answers
Do emergency services helicopters fly VFR when leaving base?
I've recently been watching an interesting documentary on helicopter paramedic teams. As you all probably know, their job consists of a lot of sitting around doing nothing before a scramble and then a short (or not-so-short) flight out to the middle…
Landak
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27
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10 answers
Why do airports have to close in bad weather?
Shouldn't aircraft be able to withstand winds of up to 100 mph? When flying the wind is at a much higher speed than that.
Shouldn't they be able to take-off through fog using instruments alone?
Shouldn't they be able to take-off on a slippery…
Quora Feans
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27
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2 answers
Why are there no longer any biplanes?
Is there an aerodynamic reason why the concept of biplane or triplane has been completely abandoned? Practically all planes were biplanes in WW1, and in WW2 practically none were developed.
yippy_yay
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27
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5 answers
If the profile of a wing pulls a plane up, why can planes fly inverted?
I'm simplifying here, but every introduction to flying shows us that the profile of a wing leads to lower pressure on the upper side of the wing, hence the wing and the plane attached to it will be pulled up.
All right.
How does that explain a plane…
Krumelur
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2 answers
What should you do if you are forced to enter restricted or prohibited airspace?
Apparently, even if you have declared an urgent situation or an emergency, you cannot enter restricted or prohibited airspace, and ATC may not be able to clear you into the area. So, my question:
If you had a serious condition onboard an aircraft…
Qantas 94 Heavy
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26
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5 answers
Why a kite flying at 1000 feet in "figure-of-eight loops" serves to "multiply the pulling effect of the airflow" on the ship to which it is attached?
In CNN's June 30, 2023 Giant kites could pull cargo ships across the ocean – and slash their carbon emissions
“What differentiates it from other wind solutions,” says Bernatets1, “is that the wing is not just pulled by the wind and countered by the…
uhoh
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3 answers
Are tower controllers trained on not overloading pilots with complex taxi instructions while landing?
The above question comes from the following observations:
I've noticed over the years of flying (small GA aircraft) that some towers are talking more and more to me while landing. It used to be something like
Cessna 123, exit Charlie and contact…
Devil07
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26
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1 answer
What would happen if an airplane climbed beyond its preset cruise altitude that the pilot set in the pressurization system?
What would happen? Would the cabin pressure increase too much and cause damage?
Boeing787
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26
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3 answers
What if pilot feels too tired before his flight?
Today is a day when I feel terribly tired. I'm not ill, but I could sleep all the day, though I had enough sleep last night.
This is not a problem if you have an office job where you can probably be not as productive than on other days. But what…
sweber
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