Questions tagged [airliner]
An airliner is a large, commercial aircraft operated by an airline for transporting people and/or cargo.
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Do airline pilots use speed stability to cope with unreliable airspeed indications? If not, why not?
There have been a couple of airline accidents in which unreliable airspeed indications (or the fear thereof) have played a role:
Birgenair Flight 301 in 1996, where one of the pitot tubes was blocked,...
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2answers
94 views
Do any aircraft automatically test that the pitot-static system is functioning properly before liftoff?
Given that a properly-functioning pitot-static system is absolutely essential for flight (a plane cannot be flown without valid airspeed data, or at least not for long), are there aircraft that ...
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1answer
127 views
Was this a near collision or a normal procedure? [duplicate]
I flew on a plane from UK to Spain a couple of days ago (FR7542, 15/01/19 16:30) and in the middle of the flight I could see another plane (a private jet much smaller) just flying underneath us.
From ...
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1answer
282 views
Will we ever see a single-engined airliner? [closed]
Given the trend in the industry to move towards aircraft with two engines, could it ever occur that we see an aircraft manufacturer develop an airliner with just one?
I'm suspecting the answer is no, ...
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5answers
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Why didn't Boeing or Douglas make a jet airliner before the British DH Comet?
I was looking at the history of commercial aircraft and was wondering why UK-based De Havilland was the first to produce a jet powered airliner (the DH 106 Comet) when the US had a much bigger civil ...
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3answers
189 views
How often does an airline pilot use the rudder pedals during flight?
How often does an airline pilot use the rudder pedals during flight? Is it only during takeoff and landing?
I am interested to know the rudder pedal usage time in minutes per average short range ...
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1answer
62 views
What is the acceptable position of the brake wear indication for A320?
What is the acceptable position of the brake wear indication (PIN) for an A320 to be safely dispatchable?
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1answer
294 views
Can pilots smoke in the cockpit of an airliner?
An answer on travel.se suggests that some pilots are smoking on long-distance passenger flights.
Can passenger airliner pilots smoke if both the captain and first officer agree it’s ok? If I recall, ...
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1answer
96 views
Does the FAA allow a jet bridge to approach an aircraft that has engine #2 running?
Does the FAA allow a jet bridge to approach an aircraft that has engine #2 running?
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3answers
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Is the bleed air passengers breathe tapped from the engines before or after it comes in contact with fuel? And why? Isn't this unhealthy?
Passengers are often surprised to hear that the air they breathe comes from inside the engines.
This sounds unhealthy. Can you explain, why it is not ?
Is bleed air tapped (for cabin pressurization) ...
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0answers
98 views
Which individual aircraft has carried the most passengers in its lifetime?
I'm guessing that the aircraft will be one of the 747s that service the domestic Japanese market, making regular short hops full of passengers - but perhaps actual figures exist to confirm this.
See ...
3
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1answer
150 views
Which airliners have carried the most passengers?
I'm fairly sure that the Boeing 737 series will be in first place, with the Airbus A320 family coming second and perhaps the 727 third.
However, perhaps there are some estimates of actual figures ...
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1answer
99 views
Detecting faults in CVR mic inputs
Years ago my father worked for Eastern Airlines out of Miami (that should give you a timeframe) and he was an electrical engineer. I recall once he told me that the pilots (one or more) used to ...
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1answer
126 views
How can I identify airliner types that don't have ACARS?
Is there a way to identify what commercial airliners are still flying without ACARS today? Most modern commercial airliners are equipped, but I know some 737s still fly without ACARS, for example.
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0answers
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How much fuel does an airliner consume at various stages of operation? [duplicate]
I used to think that almost all of an airliner's fuel consumption was during actual flight; but it seems that even while on the tarmac or at a gate it consumes a non-negligible amount.
So, in general ...
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0answers
225 views
When were the last subsonic turbojet-powered airliners retired from commercial passenger service?
The very first jetliners (Comet, Tu-104, Caravelle I-VI, 707-120/-220/-320, DC-8 series 10-30, original 720, CV-880) all used turbojet engines, turbofans not being available until later; when ...
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6answers
8k views
Why then don't aircraft fly even higher, for even greater efficiency? [duplicate]
After reading various superb QA on here I now see that (basically) aircraft are more efficient per passenger-mile, at higher altitudes.
Why don't we go even higher, than current typical airliner ...
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vote
1answer
117 views
Lift to drag ratio of airliners
I don't know if this is the right place to ask, but I am looking for lift-to-drag ratios (L/D) of different airliners. I have found a paper [1] which has some estimates of L/D for some jetliners, but ...
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4answers
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How did the 9/11 hijackers find their way to NYC?
It is quite well known that the airplane hijackers on 9/11 were not professional pilots. So, my question is how some people who didn't have any experience of navigating the airplanes could find their ...
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2answers
3k views
Why aren't there any widebody propliners for the high-density short-haul markets?
Jetliners come in both narrowbody (one aisle) and widebody (two or more aisles) versions, but all propliners, to the best of my knowledge, are narrowbody aircraft.
Now, granted, one of the big ...
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0answers
85 views
Can audible warnings be heard from the cabin?
When I fly in the front row on an all-economy A320, I can very clearly hear the autopilot disconnect sound shortly before landing.
Can passengers in the cabin also hear other warnings like EGPWS (...
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2answers
377 views
How and how often are the oxygen masks in the cabin checked?
Looking at this old answer I can see that oxygen masks check is mandatory for the flight deck. What about passenger masks?
Is this check done daily on airliners?
How is this check conducted and what ...
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3answers
289 views
Why does load shedding still occur in jetliners (e.g., 787) when there is so much power available?
I had a few questions about how electrical generator works on an aircraft, the 787 to be specific although I know it is similar for all aircraft.
So the 787 engines have 2 VFSG each which are rated ...
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2answers
100 views
What are the technical details of how airline seats are installed on an airliner? [closed]
What are the technical details of how airline seats are installed on an airliner? The step by step. Not made how they are installed.
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1answer
182 views
If an airline purchases an aircraft, do they have to/feel compelled to change the livery?
If an airline purchases a used commercial aircraft, which would be painted in the livery of its previous owner, would the new airline ever be required (by law) to re-paint the aircraft in their own ...
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2answers
127 views
What is the 'fuel cost' of a pneumatic braking system vs. a hydraulic one, in terms of weight?
A pneumatic braking system has indisputable advantages over a hydraulic braking system for large and heavy aircraft in terms of braking force and secondary perhaps in terms of weight (pipes and ...
2
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1answer
336 views
How much fuel does an airliner consume during passenger boarding?
As I understand, sometimes APU is running during the passenger boarding. How much fuel do the APU consume during this process?
Of course, it must depend on the total boarding time, so I think it ...
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2answers
2k views
What are the most challenging taxi manoeuvres that a typical commercial airline pilot must execute?
I am currently involved in a University level modelling excercise which looks to investigate the handling qualities of a novel nose wheel steering system.
As part of this study, I am interested in ...
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2answers
436 views
Why two passenger airplanes travel side by side?
Recently (2018-08-19 17:40 UTC) two planes flew above my city (Poznań, Poland). They were heading in the same direction, kept really close distance (side by side) - both flights to Riga:
https://www....
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5answers
15k views
Why do airliners have to park so accurately?
I was watching some airport documentary and I noticed that the planes always had to park precisely. I honestly didn't think so much of it before, but in the documentary, an aircraft parked badly ...
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4answers
20k views
Has any passenger airliner ever offered forward-facing windows?
The empty, dolphin-like, forehead of the A380 seems like it would be an amazing place for the first and/or business class bar, especially if it had forward-facing windows.
I realize in the A380's ...
2
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1answer
413 views
Why did my flight descend for landing then suddenly climb steeply and turn sharply?
I was flying on a Vueling flight (VLG6251) from Rome, Italy to Orly, France on the 31st of December 2017. During landing, my plane went to a really low altitude as if it was about to land but there ...
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1answer
364 views
If everybody jumps in an airliner, would the pilots notice? [duplicate]
I often have this thought when stretching my legs on a long haul flight: jump up and down in the cabin and see whether the pilots complain. Alone, it is unlikely my weight would have any noticeable ...
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2answers
293 views
What would happen if pilots were locked out of the flight deck?
Imagine in a hypothetical situation that a commercial airliner was left on autopilot at some cruising altitude. Next imagine that all pilots left the flight deck and the door slammed shut behind them (...
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1answer
344 views
Can you escape an aircraft through the lavatory?
In his book "Catch me if you Can", Frank Abagnale claims he evaded arrest by removing a panel in the lavatory of a VC10, climbing through it and hence escaping out of the (taxiing) aircraft through a ...
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5answers
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Why, until recently, were smooth nose sections not popular?
Why, until recently, were smooth nose sections not popular? By smooth I mean without a break between the nose and windshield. (The question focuses on airliners.)
Seeing the Starliner (left) and DC-7 ...
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1answer
146 views
Are there any airliner crashes that can be definitively attributed to Mach tuck?
Mach tuck (the tendency of aircraft to develop an increasingly nose-down pitching moment at speeds above its critical mach number) caused a number of crashes of high-speed fighter aircraft before the ...
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2answers
141 views
How significant is the lift induced drag contribution to total drag of aircraft at cruise speed?
How significant is the lift induced drag contribution to total drag of aircraft at cruise speed? From what I've learned so far it seems to be around 10 to 15 percent of total drag. I suspect the ratio ...
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3answers
293 views
What are the drawbacks for manufacturing a large airliner capable of water landing?
Emergencies are rare but still occur. Apart from weight and extra fuel costs, What are the drawbacks for manufacturing a large airliner capable of water landing in case of an emergency?
Assuming the ...
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0answers
45 views
Single Engine operation on Twin Engine aircraft [duplicate]
I recently came across ETOPS and I wanted to know:
How does a twin-engined aircraft balance out the lack of thrust on one side in the event that one of the engines is non operational? Any ...
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3answers
11k views
Why is the lower deck of the Airbus A380 curved like a single deck airplane?
I recently traveled on the lower deck of an A380 and the section where the side walls of the fuselage and its roof top meet is curved just like any single deck airplane.
Credits: Wikimedia Commons
...
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1answer
230 views
Are radio channels used by airliners half-duplex channels?
Can a pilot transmit and receive information at the same time? Or can he either transmit or receive but not at the same time?
I thought communication channels were half-duplex because this reduced ...
14
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1answer
877 views
Can anyone tell what kind or even which airplane this is?
As stated in this post on the Dutch Police website (Google Translate English version) this morning (12th june 2018), they are looking for all available information concerning the image below. All help ...
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2answers
249 views
Why is it necessary for pilots to have trim controls on fly-by-wire aircraft?
On Airbus family airliners why is it necessary for the pilots to have the facility to trim when there is no aerodynamic feedback through the flight controls?
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2answers
2k views
What is the horizontal stabilizer failure procedure?
During the final flight of Alaska Airlines Flight 261:
The CVR transcript reveals the pilots' continuous attempts for the duration of the dive to regain control of the aircraft. At one point, ...
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2answers
403 views
Why is there still a preference for turboprop airliners over the new regional jets? [duplicate]
In the 1950s and in the early 1960s, jets were mostly available as fighter/military or big, long haul aircraft. Regional aviation was based primarily on piston aircraft that could operate in smaller ...
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3answers
503 views
Were my airplane's wheels under-inflated?
I recently took a flight on a (Lufthansa) Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft. As I was about to embark, my eyes caught this image:
And the aircraft wasn't even loaded with the passengers yet. If I saw this ...
4
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1answer
336 views
Could Mach 1.4 be a better design point for SST?
There's been a number of recent proposals for design work on low-supersonic bizjets that would cruise at Mach 1.1-1.6, the common theme being avoiding a sonic boom.
I'm wondering if this range of ...
7
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2answers
307 views
Has there ever been an uncommanded lowering of landing gear?
Has there ever been an uncommanded lowering of the landing gear on a large commercial jet? I could not find any instance of it in a preliminary google search. Could a simple short-circuit cause such a ...
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3answers
739 views
Why aren't Russian jet airliners popular even in Russia?
Russia has the proven capability to build large jet airliners.
Ilyushin Il-96
Tupolev Tu-204
But, if we take a look at the major airlines in Russia, they don't appear to have Russian ...
