These guys are nuts!

[RhoZeta]

Originally Posted by CSMRetired

A pilot once told me. ...
The 'only' thing that makes a plane fly.....is 'noise'
Think about that for a while

Glider pilots would argue that

[CSMRetired]

Originally Posted by RhoZeta

Glider pilots would argue that

Gliders don't have engines and I don't quite think planes are designed to glide. ...at least not the heavies and not for very long

[B47]

Originally Posted by CSMRetired

It means:
That if the engines stop making 'noise'....that plane is coming down

Yeah - I guess so. Except that at cruising altitude there's no engine noise that you hear inside the plane. There's noise in the cockpit and cabin,but it's not from the jets. In some terms it's called "white noise"

[Gilm2113]

I agree CMSRETIRED, when I was in Naval Aviation, I was always told that jet aircraft had the same glide path as a rock!

[B47]

Originally Posted by CSMRetired

Gliders don't have engines and I don't quite think planes are designed to glide. ...at least not the heavies and not for very long

Not quite true - pilots are required to know what there airplanes glide ratio is. It's in their airplane flight manual.

[CSMRetired]

Thanks B47 & Gilm
it was presented to me as a little bit of a joke years ago and I thought I would share it.
No noise. .....not good

[B47]

Originally Posted by CSMRetired

Thanks B47 & Gilm
it was presented to me as a little bit of a joke years ago and I thought I would share it.
No noise. .....not good

No problem - reminds me of something I heard a small propeller driven airplane pilot once said. That being that the prop wasn't there to pull the plane thru the air - it is just a fan that keeps the pilot cool because if it quits turning,the pilot gets very hot and sweaty.

[CSMRetired]

Originally Posted by B47

No problem - reminds me of something I heard a small propeller driven airplane pilot once said. That being that the prop wasn't there to pull the plane thru the air - it is just a fan that keeps the pilot cool because if it quits turning,the pilot gets very hot and sweaty.

[Gilm2113]

That's a good one, thanks for sharing.

[B47]

If you want to know more about airplanes gliding, Goggle "Gimil Glider". It's The story of an Air Canada 767 running out of fuel in 1983 and gliding to a safe landing.

[Dodge Guy]

Originally Posted by B47

Part of the certification process. There's probably some stuff on the net that shows wings breaking during certification testing.

If the wings were rigid,they would fail during loading in flight. Remember the wings are supporting the entire weight of the airplane in flight.

Some triva - I read that the wings on the B47 would bend about 6-7 feet at the wing tips and the B52 wings would bend about 14-16 feet at the tips. Goggle "Flying The B47" and you see some wing deflection.

Yes, but what happens when you bend a piece of metal a few thousand times? think of a coat hanger!

[M&K Hoffman]

Originally Posted by CSMRetired

A pilot once told me. ...
The 'only' thing that makes a plane fly.....is 'noise'
Think about that for a while

As a private pilot I can tell you it is large sums of cash that make planes fly.
BTW the planes I fly have large fans right on the nose to keep the pilot cool. Really, cause if the fan quits, the pilot is gonna sweat!

[RhoZeta]

Originally Posted by CSMRetired

Gliders don't have engines

Exactly

[B47]

Originally Posted by MEHoffman

As a private pilot I can tell you it is large sums of cash that make planes fly.
BTW the planes I fly have large fans right on the nose to keep the pilot cool. Really, cause if the fan quits, the pilot is gonna sweat!

Large sums of cash ...?

I'm not a pilot,but I can tell that no amount of cash is ever enought to repair an engine that stops running inflight while inflight.

It takes proper maintenance on the ground to keep an airplane airworthy which does cost some large sums of cash.

[B47]

Originally Posted by Dodge Guy

Yes, but what happens when you bend a piece of metal a few thousand times? think of a coat hanger!

Good question - just remember that airplanes ( and rotorcraft) have a great amount of engineering go into the certification process before they are certified for use.

That's one reason that wings are stressed to their breaking load. The wings are highly instrutmented and data recorded during the process. I'm not an enginner, but I know that the data recorded during the process is recorded and used to come to what the wings are capable of hand,ing.

In addition,aircraft are certified with a maximum service lift - that being the amount of flight hours and cycles that it can be flown before it has to taken out of service. This service life is often extended though data recorded during operation and with FAA approval,is extended.

Also certain components of an aircraft are listed as "lift limited parts" and these parts have to be replaced when they reach a certain point.

In addition,the aircrafts maintenance programs will contain requirements to keep the aircraft airworthy.

So in summary - aircraft are not ever just rolled out the factory door never to be seen again - the FAA,the manufacturer and the airline are constantly monitoring it.

These much more to this and if you wish to know more,PM me and I will provide reference to the regulations covering this.

[RKR]

Landed crossed up similar to Turbs pic in Vegas once. I had a window seat and when while looking out the window I could see the runway ahead. At the last second the pilot kicked her over straight and we landed. Helluva pilot in my mind.



Sent from my high tech gadget

[RhoZeta]

Originally Posted by Dodge Guy

Yes, but what happens when you bend a piece of metal a few thousand times? think of a coat hanger!

Good thing aircraft are not made out of coat hangers then, eh?

[B47]

Originally Posted by RhoZeta

Good thing aircraft are not made out of coat hangers then, eh?

And a good thing that aircraft bend and not break.

[Dodge Guy]

Well I guess I should be happy I hang my clothes on hangers and not an airplane! LOL

My Coat hanger post was more tongue in cheek than anything, but thanks for the lesson in airplane building and certifying techniques!
I know I will never get a window seat again after watching a wing flex for 4 hours!!!!

[B47]

Originally Posted by Dodge Guy

Well I guess I should be happy I hang my clothes on hangers and not an airplane! LOL

My Coat hanger post was more tongue in cheek than anything, but thanks for the lesson in airplane building and certifying techniques!
I know I will never get a window seat again after watching a wing flex for 4 hours!!!!

No problem from me.

The wing flex isn't readily visible on commercial transport category airplanes. It's most noticeable during takeoff when the wings take the load and landing when the wings lose the load,but there is some flex.

One other thing - Boeing pioneered the concept of placing wing mounted engines on pylons with the B47. They found that the engine/pylon combination helped reduce wing flexing. This design was later adopted by other airplane manufacturers for their swept wing airplanes,both military and civil.