62
votes
Accepted
Why do paratroopers not get sucked out of their aircraft when the bay door opens?
The difference is in the pressurization. An aircraft with skydivers or paratroopers would either not pressurize in the first place or smoothly depressurize the cabin using the outflow valve before ...
- 54.3k
59
votes
Accepted
What would happen if an airplane climbed beyond its preset cruise altitude that the pilot set in the pressurization system?
I think the question is basically a good one. For the 737, we set the Cruise Altitude and Landing Altitude in the controller before the flight. Then, normally, we take off, climb to that cruise ...
- 49.8k
53
votes
Is the F-16 cockpit pressurized?
Yes, the cockpit of the F-16 is pressurized. However, there are two types of cabin pressurization:
Isobaric Pressurisation: The system maintains a constant cabin pressure (usually between 2000 and ...
- 576
46
votes
Is the cabin pressure "worse" at the back of the cabin than in front?
As stated in other answers, in steady flight there is no pressure difference along the length of the cabin, and only a miniscule one during lognitudinal acceleration.
What your mother might be ...
- 27.2k
35
votes
Accepted
Can you get sucked out of a hole in an aircraft?
Yes, it's real. Here's the official accident report on BA5390, which says:
The commander had been partially sucked out of his windscreen aperture
And:
The two men tried to pull the commander ...
- 71.6k
33
votes
Can airliners take off, cruise and land while unpressurized?
There is no aircraft limitation on the 737 that requires pressurization to fly. Realistically, even on O2 the whole time, going very high could be unpleasant. I think the Air Force limit was FL 250 ...
- 49.8k
31
votes
Accepted
Why do airliners have "pressure bulkheads"?
What part aft of the bulkhead would leak pressure?
That's a partial misunderstanding of what a bulkhead is there for.
You could build the aft cone section to keep the pressure, but it would be a ...
- 32.4k
28
votes
Is it true that a soda can or a bag of chips will pop in a plane at high altitude?
Not likely. Consider how food products normally make it to you.
Any competent US maker of soda or chips will design their product to be shipped
on Interstate 70 or 80, via Sherman Summit (8650') ...
24
votes
How thick is the skin of an aircraft like the Airbus A350 or Boeing B777?
From whats written here
f100 skin is 1.0 - 1.4mm
b747 skin is 1.8 - 2.2mm
a320 skin is about 1.1mm
According this article on the 757
...Although Boeing specified that the skin in ...
- 100k
24
votes
Why is a dedicated compressor more efficient than using bleed air to pressurize the cabin?
The other answer is on the right track, but doesn't emphasize the real difference (IMO).
Let's say it takes 100 hp (or kW if you prefer) to compress the amount of air you need for a given purpose. ...
- 7,319
23
votes
Why is air mixed with bypass air on the A/C of an aircraft?
In short
Bypass bleed air is a fraction of the bleed air coming from the core compressor. It's named like this because it doesn't cross the air cycle machine of the packs as does the regular bleed ...
- 71k
23
votes
Accepted
If you depressurize an aircraft at FL340, will the temperature inside fall to match the temperature outside?
This depends entirely on how you depressurized it.
Depressurizing the aircraft by fully opening the outflow valve will lower the temperature somewhat, but will not bring it to that outside.
The ...
22
votes
Accepted
When is an aircraft required to be pressurized?
The main reason is that it's simpler than having everyone wear supplemental oxygen masks. There is no specific requirement for pressurizing an airplane but there are requirements for supplemental ...
- 100k
22
votes
How do door seals work?
How do they prevent pressurized air to leak from the doors?
They don't. The seal does not have to be perfectly airtight.
The requirement is that it will create enough impediment to the air that ...
- 32.4k
22
votes
Accepted
How fast does cabin air pressure leak after a total engine failure?
The valves will not be able to maintain cabin pressure until the plane descends to 10,000 feet at best glide speed. The oxygen masks will deploy before then.
At least that was the case for Air ...
- 438
22
votes
Accepted
Are there any pressurized piston-engine aircraft?
The first pressurized aircraft were piston powered, beginning as early as 1921 with a modified Airco DH.9A containing a pressurized enclosure for the pilot. Throughout the 20s and 30s, pressurization ...
- 72.8k
22
votes
How are turboprops and other propeller planes pressurized?
Turboprops are actually turbine engines. They can produce bleed air just like turbine engines (e.g. turbofan). The bleed air can be used directly to pressurize the cabin, or it can drive another turbo ...
- 10.7k
19
votes
How thick is the skin of an aircraft like the Airbus A350 or Boeing B777?
Just a couple of mm thick, about 2-3 is enough. The fuselage barrel gets its strength from the large diameter: bending moments of the fuselage (and wing) get translated into tension and compression ...
- 61.3k
19
votes
Accepted
How are turboprops and other propeller planes pressurized?
A turboprop plane can be pressurized in the same way a turbofan plane can: via bleed air from the compressor stage of the turbine engine. A turboprop and turbofan are not that different actually. You ...
- 54.3k
18
votes
Why don’t airports use jetways as an airlock to avoid having to repressurize the plane for every flight?
I believe there are quite a few misconceptions here:
When an aircraft is "pressurised", it means that at higher altitudes, the pressure inside the aircraft is higher than the pressure outside. At ...
- 2,251
18
votes
How can I communicate an emergency de-pressurization descent to the cabin as a passenger?
A couple of things that get drilled into you in first aid or emergency response training is 'if you aren't part of the solution you're part of the problem', second is 'don't become a casualty.' In ...
- 52.9k
18
votes
Is it possible for a pressure loss in the cockpit to not extend to the cabin?
The internal walls in an aircraft are not designed to withstand any significant pressure difference. Since the accidents of American Airlines flight 96 and Turkish Airlines Flight 981 where explosive ...
- 56.2k
18
votes
Why do paratroopers not get sucked out of their aircraft when the bay door opens?
The interior of highflying airplanes is pressurized from the inside because there's not enough air at that altitude. For parachuting, you wouldn't want to fly at those altitudes anyway, unless you're ...
- 391
18
votes
Is the cabin pressure "worse" at the back of the cabin than in front?
That is not possible. The front and back of the cabin are not isolated by any means - so if there was a pressure difference, air will instantly start flowing from high pressure to low pressure in ...
- 2,959
17
votes
Accepted
What happens to the cabin pressure if all the packs (ACMs) stop working?
If all ACM failed, an alarm would sound in the cockpit. And two messages would appear on the ECAM/EICAS¹. One indicating that the ACMs failed and the other indicating that cabin altitude² is rising ...
- 56.2k
17
votes
Accepted
Why is air mixed with bypass air on the A/C of an aircraft?
You almost have the answer in your question; bleed air is hot, compressed air taken from the engine compressors. Bypass bleed air here refers to some of that air which is bled off the engine, but not ...
- 1,223
17
votes
Why is a dedicated compressor more efficient than using bleed air to pressurize the cabin?
Using bleed air isn't free. In order to produce the same amount of power as an engine with no bleed air taken out, the engine needs to compress more air. This takes energy, and means more fuel used ...
- 12k
16
votes
Accepted
Does oxygen become less available during night-time?
Night vision is one of the first things affected by reduced oxygen levels, and that effect is masked in daylight, but can become consequential at night. But no, the O2 molecules are the same night or ...
- 49.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible