hows the airplanes are protected from the thunder?

Answer 1

Thunder is just a product of lightning. Aircraft (commercial) are protected from lightning through several measures. Shielding and surge suppressors insure that electrical currents comming from lightning do not threaten the on board avionics and the miles of electrical wiring found in modern aircraft. All components that are vital to the safe operation of commercial aircraft must be certified to meet the stringent regulations of the FAA for planes flying into the United States.

Answer 2

NASA did experiments with an F-106 fighter. It was intentionally flown into thunderstorms where lightning would strike it. The plane took something like 60 or 70 THOUSAND strikes without major damage. The skin of an aircraft that has been struck will have tiny pin holes at the point of the strike and nothing more. People inside the aircraft are immune from the strike due to the plane being, in that situation, what is called a Faraday
Cage, meaning the electricity is channeled around the outside of the structure. You should do a study on the subject. It is quite interesting.

Answer 3

Since the outer skin of most airplanes is primarily aluminum, which is a very good conductor of electricity; the secret to safe lightning hits is to allow the current to flow through the skin from the point of impact to some other point without interruption or diversion to the interior of the aircraft.Generally, the first contact with lightning is at an extremity...the nose or a wingtip. As the plane continues to fly through the areas of opposite charges, the lightning transits through the aircraft skin and exits through another extremity point, frequently the tail (as shown by Gauss's Law).
Most aircraft do not fly into lightning storms, or fly through storms or areas where lightning is likely to be present.
What we see as lightning is really a massive flood of electrons seeking equilibrium, either from cloud-cloud or from cloud-ground. In both cases, huge amounts of electric charge build up at the edges of the cloud. The electricity finds it's way from one place to the other via what's called a "step leader
The way an aircraft tries to dissipate these step leaders is through the use of something called a "static wick". A static wick is a piece of metal connected electrically to the frame of the aircraft, with one or two spikes or needles on the end. It is housed in a fiberglass rod to insulate it from the airplane. Because the spikes concentrate the electric charge around them, and they are connected to the airframe, they allow the airplane to dissipate any static electricity it may build up out into the air. Also - if lightning do strike the plane, the chances are that the electricity will go through the dissipator and not through the airplane

Answer 4

When an aircraft gains the cruising altitude, it is well above the level of thunder clouds, hence safe. while taking off and landing, the bad weather is always monitored and avoided to the best possible extent.

Secondly, induced static electricity always remain confined to the outside layer of the affected body, as per Faraday Effect. In case an aircraft is affected by such static electricity while passing through thunderclouds, the inside instruments and passengers remain unaffected.

Answer 5

The air force T-6 (a turbo prop single engine trainer) has an array of 17 static wicks on the aircraft that help dissapate the charge when struck. 4 on each wingtip and 9 total on the tail, 6 on the elevator and 3 on the rudder. They are simple conductive "wicks" that hang off the aircrafts fuselage, simple yet effective, luckily Ive never taken any lightning in one yet, if I do Ill let you know how it goes.

Answer 6

I have experienced thunder on aircraft, both prop'& jet, and did not
fear it. Thunder itself requires no precautions. What I feared were birds in flight ruining engines, mid-air impact with other aircraft, and since September 11 the discovery of United States military aircraft pilots coldly inspecting faces of every person looking outward from my airplane.

Answer 7

i think planes are designed to withstand lightning strikes and the fuselage of the plane is designed to act as a means to let the lightning pass along it like a shelid from the electronics etc, if they werent with all the aviation fuel in the tanks they'd just disappear inj a ball of smoke, i think pilots tend to avoid bad weather and fly above it, they can see miles and miles ahead 3 dimentionally and know what cloud type and cober there is all around them at any one point. i think the planes fusleage design is based around those crazy things you see on school sceince experiemnts where you can touch a glass globe and let lightning strike you but it doesnt hurt, it must be something like that cos the static electricity that would build up in a plane as it rushes through the air would build up as well, i think im on the right lines but not an expert

Answer 8

Thunder cant hurt the airplane on the lightning associated with it can be dangerous. A safe pilot is one who stays away from potentially dangerous storms.

Answer 9

Thunder isn't the problem, lightening is. Aircraft can be struck by lightening as easily as anything else out there.

Answer 10

Use of zero conductor paint