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1500 questions
55
votes
3 answers
Why is the time of useful consciousness only seconds at high altitudes, when I can hold my breath much longer at ground level?
This answer says at FL500 (50,000 ft; 15,250 m) the time of useful consciousness is only 6 to 9 seconds.
But if I just stop breathing at any arbitrary time, without any preparation, I can easily continue without air for about 20 seconds. How can…
h22
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55
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9 answers
Why are fuel tanks located in wings?
Passenger aircraft have fuel tanks in the wings. Why?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this location ?
examples of disadvantages I would suspect:
added weight increases the structural load applied to the wings
different gravitational…
summerrain
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55
votes
6 answers
Why do most radial engines use an odd number of cylinders?
To help suppress vibration, most 'V' and 'horizontal' engines use an even number of cylinders as closely opposed as possible. Radial engines are well known for excessive vibration. For some reason they nearly always use a staggered odd number of…
jwzumwalt
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55
votes
2 answers
Is it possible to install a bike rack on a Cessna 172?
I stumbled upon a nice photo manipulation on aviationhumor.net.
Source
My question is short and concise:
Is it practically possible to do that? Is it okay in terms of aerodynamics, weight, CG?
Bonus Question: If it was possible, would there be any…
Noah Krasser
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55
votes
4 answers
Can I stop crop dusters repeatedly flying over my home?
I have a crop-duster spraying the fields around me often. He flies over my house no matter what field he is spraying every few minutes. I think he uses my house as a pivot point. The old pilot rarely flew over my place.
My livestock goes nuts. It is…
denise lynn
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55
votes
7 answers
Why are fighter pilots seated and not reclined?
I have always wondered about this one.
Pulling high G-forces is, I assume, the most physical challenge the pilot of a high performance fighter aircraft needs to be able to sustain without blacking out or worse. Indeed, in most countries in the world…
Trevor_G
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55
votes
4 answers
Why do solar planes have many small propellers instead of fewer large ones?
Many solar planes, like NASA's Helios (pictured above), NASA's Pathfinder, and to a lesser extent Facebook's Aquila employ the use of many small motor propeller sets instead of one or two engines like most planes. Why is this?
Smaller motors tend…
Gus
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55
votes
9 answers
Why don't pilots parachute from small planes that are in distress?
There was another question that asked why commercial flights don't have parachutes. The almost ubiquitous response was that the parachutes would be useless because:
Most accidents with commercial airliners happen on take off and landing, and there…
Jae Carr
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55
votes
6 answers
Why do pilots use airways instead of just "flying direct" every time?
These days, on larger/newer aircraft at least, GPS navigation is ubiquitous. So VORs and Non-directional Beacons (NDBs) are used less. Wasn't the reason for airways because they were the connection points between VORs and NDBs?
It seems like a…
Jae Carr
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54
votes
1 answer
Why are engines angled toward the fuselage?
Source: twitter.com
I saw a picture of a 777 from overhead and I was wondering why the engines point "in" to the fuselage, rather than being parallel to the fuselage.
Nikhil Murali
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54
votes
4 answers
How dissimilar are redundant flight control computers?
Facts
On Airbus aircraft there are computers to secure the flight envelope, or to move the control surfaces. FADECs totally control the engines. Computers take decisions in place of the pilots, or even against their commands. Boeing aircraft have…
mins
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54
votes
2 answers
How are banners kept upright?
Banners are towed with a single line trailing from the plane.
source: © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
How can they guarantee the banner is vertical and not upside down?
ratchet freak
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54
votes
12 answers
Why are push-propellers so rare, yet they are still around?
Jet engines are by their very nature push-engines, however, most propeller airplanes use pull-engines. Is there an inherent advantage to using pull-propellers except for the increased airflow over the fuselage and tail (with its rudder and…
falstro
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54
votes
9 answers
Do planes have keys?
One thing I've always wondered is: do airplanes have keys that you put in the ignition to start?
And on the outside doors? Otherwise how are they secured and started?
I'm interested to know about a broad range of aircraft; from GA, all the way to…
Danny Beckett
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54
votes
2 answers
Can the Airbus A380 safely fly with two engines out on the same wing?
I know twin-engine jets can safely take off and fly with one engine out (i.e. all thrust only on one side). Of course quad-engine jets are also able to fly safely in case one engine is out.
But is the A380 designed to also fly safely in case two…
florisla
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