Questions tagged [boeing]
A United States-based multinational corporation that designs, manufactures and sells fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft, rockets and satellites.
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What is the purpose of the inlet doors of the Pratt & Whitney JT3D?
I have a question about the 707 Engine Inlet Doors, according to Wikipedia the Pratt & Whitney JT3D inlet doors purpose is to provide additional air. Is the thrust higher on more air intake? And ...
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What are the main differences piloting Boeing vs. Airbus aircraft?
What are the main differences in flying a Boeing vs an Airbus aircraft?
Ignoring cosmetics, e.g. nose/window shape (see How can I tell apart an Airbus from a Boeing?)
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How does envelope protection work in Airbus vs. Boeing aircraft?
I keep reading this thing that "On Airbus the computer overrules the pilot, not on Boeing". Smells like urban myth or at least gross oversimplification. How does envelope protection work differently ...
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Is it possible to use reverse thrust while airborne? [duplicate]
I play a flight-sim called X Plane. The other day while I was approaching an airport a little too fast and knew I couldn't slow down in time. I decided to use the reverse thrust while I was still in ...
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Can the 747 be re-engined as a twin? [closed]
Since more and more airlines are dropping the 747 for the 777 or equivalent due to fuel efficiency, a theoretical question came to mind.
What do you think is preventing Boeing from creating a 747 ...
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How can I tell apart an Airbus from a Boeing?
When looking at an airplane, what are the main external features I should look at if I want to determine if it is an Airbus or a Boeing (shape of the tail, fuselage, winglets, wings, etc.)? Same ...
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Could the Boeing 787-9 near vertical takeoff demonstration be performed by Airbus A350 aircraft?
I am an aviation enthusiast. A couple of months back I came to know about the difference between piloting Boeing and Airbus planes here.
What are the main differences piloting Boeing vs. Airbus ...
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What is the maximum safe bank angle of a 747?
This question arose during the comments of another question, linked for the curious:
What does it take to turn a 747 around 180 degrees?
Because the discussion was interesting, (and to avoid ...
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Why do Boeing and Airbus have distinctively different nose designs?
Boeing aircraft generally have a pointy nose, which seems to me to imply better aerodynamic qualities, less drag etc. Airbus aircraft on the other hand have rather bulbous noses.
Is this difference ...
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Is the 737-800 a different plane from the 737 MAX 8?
I am flying on March 16 from Barbados to Toronto on a Westjet Boeing 737-800 also referred to as an aircraft type 73H on my ticket. Is this a different plane from the Boeing 737 MAX 8, grounded by ...
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Does the B787 (Dreamliner) operate with higher cabin pressure?
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner's fuselage is almost completely made of composite carbon fibre material, which is not susceptible to metal fatigue.
The main reason why the cabin pressure in a pressurized ...
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Which aircraft feature stock exterior cameras?
Watching a video on YouTube of an A340-600 takeoff, I noticed that it has at least two exterior cameras — one for lining up the nosewheel, and the other on the tailfin:
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What is the difference between Boeing 73G, 73H and 737?
I found a data source, where Boeing 737 could be encoded with the following values - 733, 734, ...
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Can one pilot lock the other out of the cockpit?
One seemingly plausible theory about the MH370 disappearance is that one or other of the pilots locked the other one out of the cockpit and then depressurised the cabin.
However, this answer mentions ...
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Why do certain aircraft's landing gear tilt up?
Why do the main landing gears of aircraft like the A330, 777, 787, etc tilt up? This does not happen with the 767. Interestingly, for the 747, the inner landing gear does not tilt up while the outer ...
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Do airliners like Boeing and Airbus use airfoil variation along the span for their wings?
Airfoil variation will make a significant difference in airflow over the wing, thus proper variation according to the lift profile should improve the overall aerodynamic performance. But by how much? ...
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Where do airplane variant numbers come from?
For example, the new B787-8 and B787-9. Is there any significance in why they started with -8, versus the older 737s which started from -100? Or B757-200/300?
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How does Boeing park several airplanes on a single runway at Paine Field?
On DigitalGlobe, I saw the following picture in an article, which talks about some of the best aerial shots of 2014.
Paine Field, Washington
Questions
1) Did the plane, highlighted with a yellow ...
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With the upgrade of the 737 to the Max model, what major changes are incorporated?
The Boeing 737 was originally designed in the 1960's and flew into the 1980's before a major redesign (the 737-700, -800, and -900 models) was implemented.
Coming up in a few years will be the next ...
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What was Boeing's competitor to the C-5?
Doing some of my airplane learning, I have come across a point many times that the engines for the Boeing 747 (at least partially) came from Boeing's competitor to the C-5 Galaxy. What was this plane ...
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What is the difference between "Land 2" and "Land 3" annunciations for Boeing autopilot systems?
Another question's answers refer to certain Boeing jets having the capability to annunciate "Land 2" and "Land 3" when flying a coupled ILS approach. What does each of these modes require, and allow, ...
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How have engineers managed to increase commercial airliner wing aspect ratios over time?
Over time, the wing aspect ratios of commercial airliners have increased.
For evidence ,see the following data:
1980s:
Boeing 747-400: 7.91,
Boeing 757-200: 8.0
Boeing 767-300: 8.0
Airbus A310: 8.8
...
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Is the descent performance of the PMDG 737-800 accurate?
I often fly the PMDG 737-800 (with winglets) in my home simulator and most of the time, I find it hard to slow the aircraft down for landing when I descend. Most of the time, I need to deploy the ...
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What is the difference between Boeing 777-31H and Boeing 777-31H(ER)?
What exactly is the difference between a B777-31H and B777-31H(ER)? Is ER the latest version of 777-31H?
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Why are there two IRS switches on the 737NG?
I've noticed in some videos,that there are two IRS switches on the 737NG. Why is that so and what is the primary purpose of IRS? Also, what is the alignment of the IRS mean?
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Is the ground clearance of the B737 engine low compared to similar aircraft?
I'm referring to this other Question.
I want to know more about the B737 and the distance between the engine and the tarmac.
There are several Incidents reported, on 737 damaging the tarmac.
Is the ...
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Can a Boeing 767-200 fly at 510 knots at a height of 400 metres?
Can a Boeing 767-200 physically fly at 510 knots at around 400 metres altitude?
If it did manage that speed, how likely would a structure failure be?
Also, if those measurements were achieved, how ...
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What are these five indicators at the front of the 737 passenger cabin?
As a passenger I noticed a set of five indicators on the ceiling at the front of the 737 passenger cabin. They are red, yellow (or white), blue, white, red.
The red ones seem to be coupled together (...
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Why was this commercial jet accompanied by small plane near Seattle?
From the South Beach Campground on the western shore of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State we observed this unusual formation:
I only had a Sony RX100 at hand but perhaps the image quality is ...
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What is the cause of unusually strong wake turbulence from the 757?
The Boeing 757 (at least in the US) is in a special class of its own with respect to air traffic control wake turbulence advisories and separation. This is apparently due to it producing stronger wake ...
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Why has the 777x been designed with folding wingtips?
I recently visited the Boeing factory outside Seattle, WA and noted in the distance a new 777x being built with, what looked like very large winglets.
However, on closer inspection they're not - the ...
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What does 3Q8 mean in the aircraft model Boeing 767-3Q8?
I have aircraft types like Boeing 767-3Q8, Boeing 767-33A, Boeing 767-3P6ER and many others. ...
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What is a "Pod-Pak"?
The following image, from the Qantas Heritage Collection (via aussieairliners.org), shows the flight crew inspecting the 'Pod-Pak' prior to departure:
Based on the angle of their heads, I'd assume it'...
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Why did the first Boeing B17 test flight crash on takeoff?
Wikipedia says that the control surfaces were locked.
What does this mean, and if the control surfaces cannot be moved, how did the aircraft get into the air in the first place?
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Why do Boeing aircraft have serrated engine nacelles, but Airbus does not?
Why do Boeing's new generation of jets (787, 747-8, 777X, 737MAX) have serrated engine nacelles whilst Airbus' latest (A350, A320neo etc) do not? I understand that Boeing's nacelles reduce turbulence ...
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Why didn't Boeing produce its own regional jet?
Boeing, although it produced many larger narrowbodies, never designed its own regional jet; the only regional jet it ever produced was the DC-9 (from 1997 through 2006, in the DC-9-80 and DC-9-90 ...
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Where can Boeing wind data be found?
There are various services that use world-wide Boeing Winds for forecast wind data which can be used to calculate an approximate flight time between two locations. They usually have best case, worst ...
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How does cost per seat-mile differ between commercial and private jets?
I was reading an article the other day that mentioned many smaller private jets are more efficient, faster, can climb quicker and land with less space than larger commercial aircraft. Some of the ...
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Why do Airbus aircraft typically have less wing flex than Boeing aircraft?
I was watching this video on YouTube about Boeing vs Airbus aircraft, and at around the 5:09 mark the female pilot stated that Airbus wings are much "stiffer" and "less aerodynamic" compared to Boeing'...
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Why do the ailerons on an A320 droop when the engines are shut off and the 787 ailerons dont droop when the engines are shut off?
I have been wondering why the ailerons on the A320 (and other Airbus aircraft) droop when there is no power from the hydraulic pump. From my understanding of hydraulic actuators, the position where it ...
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Would a 90 kg object jettisoned from an aircraft create a detectable movement?
I was reading the description of an old hijacking which has this snippet of interesting information:
After takeoff Cooper told Mucklow to join the rest of the crew in the
cockpit and remain there ...
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Why are there two different throttle designs for the 757 and 767?
There is this one, which seems to be the older version. Notice there is a big gap between each lever, except at the top.
And this one. Notice there is almost no gap between each lever, making it ...
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What aerodynamic improvements were introduced on the Boeing 787?
When discussing the Boeing 787, three topics are brought up most often:
The new, extremely high-bypass GEnx engines
The shift to carbon composite construction and
The significant troubles Boeing ...
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Comparisons between the A340 and 747-200 wing: sweep angle and span
Here is a picture of the wings of the A340 (launched in the late 1980s) and the Boeing 747-200/400 (launched in the early 1970s / 80s) superimposed upon each other (source: https://www.amazon.com/...
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Why do airlines over-estimate/over-calculate flight times?
A specific example I'm referring to is Cathay Pacific's CX138 flight between Sydney and Hong Kong. This flight is scheduled to be 9 hours & 40 minutes long (departing SYD at 22:20 local time and ...
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Are aircraft sounds publicly available in a repository?
Referring to the automated callouts and sounds made by the fwc, tcas, gpws, pws, etc. — are these available to download in one repository at all? For any aircraft, Airbus or Boeing.
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Which 737 generations doesn't have Alpha Vane (Angle of Attack sensor)?
I was wondering if all generations have this angle of attack sensor, especially after recent 737 MAX Lion Air accident.
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Is there any difference between Airbus and Boeing on yaw damper technology?
Modern aircraft have yaw damper systems installed. Is there any difference between the two big manufacturers on yaw damper systems, such as the location, etc.?
I have to do some research on this topic ...