how does the airplane work?

Question

I have a phobia from flying and i think that learning how it is possible that it flies could help me. What about turbulences? Are they very dangerous? And what about flying in a storm, what if lighting hits the plane? I know its all safe, but i would like to learn about it from physical point of view so that i understand whats actually happening. Thank you.

Answer 1

Just read this it explain about everything.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/airplane.htm

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/airflylvl3.htm

And please don't worry about flying, it is very safe!

Answer 2

Hi, airplane works on the principle of lift and drag to fly. Plane generate lift mainly from its wing, and to increase lift, it needs speed. Hence you find plane rolling on runway until the speed where the lift overcomes the drag or weight of the plane, it flies up into the air. Speed is achieved by the thrust of the engines. So long as speed above the drag is maintained the plane stays in the air.

Turbulence comes from irregularity in the air. You know that plane flies through this air, so any uneven airflow can result in turbulence. Pilots are taught to avoid possible causes or origin or turbulence, like avoiding storm cells, not fly into cloud where possible ar reports from other pilots in the area. Plane can take some stress. but sometimes the stress from turbulence can be very severe, that is why being unknown, it is best to avoid it.

The only time pilot has no choice is the thermals, hot air rising from the ground when the plane is taking off or landing. These are not dangerous, just unpleasant if there are too much of it. But once the plane climbs upward, this turbulence is overcome.

There is such a phenomenon as Clear Air Turbulence, which are pockets of vacuum bubbles in the air. These cannot be detected and occurrence is unknown. Pilots who encounter it will pass the warning to Air Traffic and other planes along the way. This will be more uncomfortable as the effects are rather sudden and severe. Pilots who flew long enough will roughly knew to expect and try to minimise the effect of this air vacuum.

Pilots will try to avoid flying into storm, but sometimes this could not be helped especially if the storm is very extensive. But most of the time the plane is cruising above the usual weather buildup height, so those that cannot be avoided must be very massive. So do understand this.

Planes are designed to cope with possible lightning strike while flying. For airline, there will be insulation against possible electrical contact. On the plane, there are static dischagers, that will conduct the electrical charges during a lighning strike back into the atmosphere.. So this is taking care of the lighning strike already. You will not feel anything.

You can be assured that it is pretty safe to be in plane. There are what we call redundant systems in the plane. Everything has a backup. So in event of system failure, there are backups that can help the plane to function normally.

Hope I have explained enough simple for you to understand.

Answer 3

They easist example is for you to go for a ride in a car. Stick you hand out the window palm down. Make sure you palm is parallel to the road and close your fingers together. Point your fingers away from the car. The car needs to be going at least 35 or so mph. Now tilt you palm. You will feel your hand pushed up or pushed down depending on which way you tilt you palm. This is the basic principle of flight and it is what airplanes use to fly. On the airplane the part that controls the lift is called the flaps. If you ride in an airplane and you are seated near the window behind the wings you can watch the flaps work on take-off and landing. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Just an addaded note: My wife was a flight attendant for 33 years. She flew to Hawaii from LAX seven times a month for 11 years and the Pacific Rim countries for 15 years. She had never known a person killed in a crash until Sept. 11 when one of the flight attendants was a person she knew. That is how safe it is.

Answer 5

The safest transportation in the world is airplane,because this has lower average of accidents among other means of transportation!Just pray bring books and ipod to keep you busy,just take a deep breathminhale,exhale if you get nervous!Von voyage!

Answer 6

WELL, all in all, they work very well! It is ok to be nervous, but mile for mile they are safe to climb in and take off!

Answer 7

I'd check out howthingswork.virginia.edu/