Questions tagged [airplane]

A heavier-than-air fixed-wing aircraft propelled by one or more engines.

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22 votes
1 answer
6k views

Why does the Antonov 225 needs 6 crew members?

Why does the Antonov 225 need 6 flight deck crew? What are they called and what do they do?
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45 votes
11 answers
16k views

Is it possible to fly backward if you have really strong headwind?

Is it possible to fly a plane backwards if you have a really really strong headwind? I mean when you are aloft, you have positive airspeed and airflow over the wings but you have negative ground speed....
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0 votes
5 answers
866 views

Could a helicopter fly like a plane this way?

Could a wing be added to a helicopter to allow the entire craft to tip 90 degrees forward allowing it to fly faster like a plane using a fixed wing and leaning into the wing for lift? I understand ...
Muze's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
480 views

Why can’t electric motors be used in aviation [duplicate]

Why can’t electric motors be used in aviation? Is it a problem with batteries, torque, or what? From what I’m aware motors at high torque are expensive and need a massive footprint, than a high rpm ...
Useruuu's user avatar
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8 votes
4 answers
4k views

What is the backup for a glass cockpit, if a plane loses power to the displays/controls?

I'm assuming there is still power to the rest of the plane - maybe it's an unrealistic scenario.
Brian Wildner's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
292 views

Can I carry a waveform generator with me inside an airplane? [closed]

I have recently learned that I have an urgent domestic flight tonight. I am curious about whether I can carry the device with me. The device I want to carry is 33120A Arbitrary Waveform Generator. I ...
selubamih's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
128 views

Mnemonics to distinguish popular airplane models [closed]

When in the airport I'd love to be able to distinguish most popular aircraft from each other, how can I say that a plane I am looking at is say a320 or 737 etc? They look so similar. I can detect 747 ...
exebook's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
351 views

What is this aviation quote?

I remember hearing a quote about aviation that was something along the lines of “asking a pilot why he loves flight is like asking an artist (or a painter?).....”. For the life of me, I cannot ...
Rotondi57's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
2k views

Are there any airplanes with the Centre of Gravity behind the Centre of Pressure? [duplicate]

We are used to seeing a forward CG in all airplanes, from a small Cessna to a large Boeing. I wonder whether any airplane with CG behind wing CP exists in production? Is it even possible? If so, what ...
avtomaton's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
269 views

Positions of drag wires in a bay

Take a good look at the small dots • on the bays of this two spar wing. My question is: Are the drag and anti drag wire as seen in bay 1 supposed to connect to the root of the compression tube Or ...
David Teahay's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
591 views

Does the SyberJet SJ30 really exist?

It is amazing to think about a single-pilot jet with that much range. They have a site, they have some 2 minute videos talking about the aircraft... but there is no video of the thing flying or any ...
user36734's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
204 views

What do I need to get my pilot license? [closed]

I am thinking of getting my pilot license, I would love to fly a helicopter or a small plane, but I don't know where to start. What do I need to get a pilot's license? Things like: How much does it ...
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1 vote
4 answers
1k views

How is vertical speed managed in Airliners? [duplicate]

When an Airplane starts to take off, the Horizontal velocity would generate it the necessary lift, and then Airplane pitches up to further increase the lift. As the Airplane is climbing up, the net ...
AV94's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
6k views

What are (wing area)/(weight) ratio in birds and airplanes? [closed]

I like to know the usual ratio of wing area over weight in birds and airplanes? I mean if total weight of an airplane is 100 Lbs(Kg), how much should be the least ...
Hasani's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
539 views

Forces that wing attach fittings must transfer to fuselage?

I just saw the naked wing (it didn't have its wing fabric) of a Weedhopper ultralight and wondered the types of forces that the wing lift struts must transfer to the fuselage, apart from the apparent ...
Jessica Ham's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
686 views

Does the wing to fuselage fittings of an airplane ever experience shear load?

Do wing attach fittings of semi-cantilevered plane (i.e. ultralights) ever get subjected to shear force? For example during roll, does the centrifugal force of the wings load the wing attach fittings ...
Jessica Ham's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
1k views

What makes an airplane STOL?

I watch STOL pilot champs Zenith CH701 here. The engine power are: 130 HP, 80 HP, 120 HP and 100HP, respectively. Amazing. As per my observation, the third airplane ...
AirCraft Lover's user avatar
71 votes
15 answers
18k views

Why don't commercial airplanes carry Earth-observing instruments?

Governments and private companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars to send Earth-observing satellites to capture imagery or scan the terrain with lasers or radars. Meanwhile, commercial planes ...
Camilo Rada's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
1k views

How to determine Center of Gravity of the airplane parts? [closed]

I am building a small-medium sized airplane. Is it possible to calculate "C.G" of each part of the airplane? If yes, How? Parts: Wings, Tail, Fuselage, Propeller(?)
Dosya's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
435 views

How can Schrenk approximation be used to model lift load on a rectangular wing?

How can I use Schrenk approximation to calculate load distribution on my rectangular wing? A worked example will be appreciated.
Jessica Ham's user avatar
-2 votes
2 answers
645 views

Why do drones look different from common airplanes? [duplicate]

In this video is shown Top 5 Military Drone. As we may see, the shape looks different than usual airplanes. My concern is especially with the tail. Normally we know that the tail is vertical. But from ...
AirCraft Lover's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is lift force less than weight during a descent?

In the above image lift is the same during a climb and during a descent. Is lift force not supposed to be less than weight during a descent? Secondly, does descending at an airspeed much lower than ...
David Teahay's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
1k views

How to calculate the shear centre of a wing?

How is shear centre of a wings calculated? i.e. how can I calculate the wing shear centre of a two spar wing with main spar at 0% of wing chord and rear spar at 75% of wing chord? (Assuming the two ...
David Teahay's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
1k views

How are light weight fillers made for fixing dents on airplane wings?

Say an airplane wing was damaged by hail, it's really costly to replace the panel due to inaccessible rivets and what not, and the back of the panel is inaccessible to mechanically remove the dent. ...
CrossRoads's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
918 views

What is the purpose of this span wise "false spar" on Affordaplane wings?

This is the wing of an Affordaplane Ultralight,what is the use of those spanwise foam boards between the foam ribs,I know it's not for aesthetics.
David Teahay's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
354 views

To determine wing loading, do you need to subtract the weight of the wing from the gross weight?

Is it true that I must subtract the weight of my ultralight wing from the gross weight of my airplane inorder to determine the wing loading of my ultralight airplane? If yes,why is this so? I read a ...
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
8 votes
2 answers
3k views

How does an airplane move itself in the runway? [duplicate]

Basically do they move themselves using their powerful jet/propeller engines to propel themselves forward or do they just use an engine that powers the wheels used for landing? I'm not really asking ...
answerSeeker's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
668 views

Freezing cold cabin housing just under a window

I flew on a Boeing 737 plane yesterday and was sitting next to 2 windows. When I tried to rest my arm on the inner housing of the cabin during the flight, I noticed that the inner cabin housing just ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 43
2 votes
0 answers
149 views

What‘s the diameter of the engines of the Airbus E-Fan?

does somebody know the diameter of the E-Fan‘s engines ? To me the look like around 80cm or what do you think ? Also, with more and wider blades and 60 kW motors instead of 30 couldn‘t they get much ...
Simon Henn's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

How can I compute the minimum possible bank angle for a turn with a given radius?

I know that I can find an upper bound for the bank angle for a plane, if I know the maximum sustained load factor of that plane because the roll angle and the load factor $n_z$ in a turn are directly ...
AAEM's user avatar
  • 301
1 vote
1 answer
270 views

How do wing ribs withstand lateral lift force?

During roll,there is a vertical component of lift that keeps the plane in the air and an horizontal component that actually rolls the plane,how are wing ribs designed to help withstand this vertical(...
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
2 votes
1 answer
864 views

Strut braced or wire braced airplane wings?

For an ultralight (or other airplane designed for slow flight), would a strut-braced or wire-braced wing be more efficient aerodynamically?
David Teahay's user avatar
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23 votes
3 answers
3k views

Can this aircraft wreckage be identified?

I live in Salinas (central coast California) and there’s an old plane wreck (located within the boundaries of Toro Park County Park in a remote section). On a hike yesterday, we located and took some ...
Rob Boyce's user avatar
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21 votes
3 answers
2k views

What's the function of the plate behind the wheels of the Pilatus Porter?

Anyone knows what's the plate behind the wheel of the Pilatus Porter for?
Flightfighter's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
274 views

How does pitot tube shape affect indicated airspeed? [closed]

Air flow over wings and engine inlets greatly changes due to a number of factors, such as atmospheric conditions, speed, and the design of the surfaces. On some engines you can see mist behind the ...
Pheric's user avatar
  • 427
0 votes
1 answer
508 views

What is the bank angle that should be sustained to move in a uniform circular motion? [duplicate]

I want to deduce the rate of turn of targets that move in a uniform circular motion. The radius of the different circles are known in advance. I have searched for my question and found the following ...
AAEM's user avatar
  • 301
0 votes
1 answer
583 views

Do mono spar wings need compression strut(or ribs)?

Loyolksip Regarding airplane wings, are compression struts needed in a mono spar wing? Secondly, are anti drag and drag wires needed in a mono spar wings?
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
3 votes
4 answers
612 views

Could modern military aircraft be retrofitted to work with alternative fuels instead of kerosene?

I am geologist and I have heard in 50 years petroleum will be nearly gone. I know for commercial planes there are working projects with clean energy. I can be wrong, but I think military systems ...
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14 votes
3 answers
2k views

What is a biplane propeller and how efficient is it?

Lazair ultralight series II used biplane props to absorb more power from the engine....so my question is what really is a biplane propeller and are they efficient in comparison to a four bladed prop?
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
6 votes
2 answers
4k views

What is the purpose of drag and anti drag wires?

What are drag and anti drag wires,and how important are they to the performance and strength of the wings of an airplane?
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
4 votes
1 answer
9k views

Is it best to use a thick airfoil or an undercambered airfoil for slow speed flight?

The more the thickness,the more the frontal resistance,hence the more the drag a thick airfoil will produce. Under cambered can help increase lift without increasing the airfoil thickness , therefore ...
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
1 vote
2 answers
307 views

Why flaps can deflect up to 25°+ without stalling the wings? [duplicate]

According to this graph,plain flaps have their highest Cl at about 2 and stalls at about 15°,my question is how then do airplane flaps reach 25°+ of delflection when this gragh clearly states that ...
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
6 votes
3 answers
3k views

What are the disadvantages of using just rudder to roll an airplane?

Ultralights with slight dihedral will roll and yaw on rudder input (e.g the Bloop 3, Maxair Hummer) so some don't have ailerons for the sake of simplicity. Is this kind of control input advisable, or ...
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
2 votes
2 answers
4k views

Is airfoil thickness proportional to drag coefficient?

Does increase in the thickness of a camber airfoil mean more drag will be produced? Why do slow flying planes have thick airfoils when it will just slow them down even more?
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
17 votes
7 answers
8k views

What is wrong with a high-speed landing for an ultralight or GA aircraft?

Is it okay to land an ultralight or a general aviation plane at a speed higher than the recommended landing speed for such plane? Will there be any damage if the descent rate is very low?
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Do elevators have cambered airfoils inverted or symmetrical airfoils

Do horizontal stabilizer of ga planes e.g cessna 172(or ultralights e.g lazair) have cambered airfoils inverted to provide the tail downward force or do they have symmetrical airfoils at negative aoi ...
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
1 vote
5 answers
2k views

Why wing ribs have diagonal struts

Why do ribs have diagonal struts,why not vertical as seen in airfoils of Citabria airplane?
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
-4 votes
2 answers
545 views

What is this aircraft seen over Southern California? [closed]

It looked similar in shape to the DH108 Swallow seen at the top of this website https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailless_aircraft The best likeness I have found online (except the wings were flat and ...
lifewithamac's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
337 views

Is it a good thing that ailerons remain deflected and the stick is hard to move?

The aileron stick of my homebuilt ultralight is stiff (hard to move) and the aileron itself can remain in its deflection angle hands free, is that a good thing?
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885
0 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the average g force experienced on takeoff for an ultralight?

How much g-force is made on an ultralight during take off if its upward velocity of 2m/s?And what's the average g force experienced during takeoff on an ultralight?
David Teahay's user avatar
  • 2,885