Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [aviation]

Typically pertains to the study of aircraft. Can relate to the theories, design, construction, behavior and use of such craft.

120 questions
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Why do we open the window shades during landing and take-off?

I have experienced that during take-off and landing on commercial passenger flights, there are clear instructions to the passengers to keep their window shades open. This is done both during day and night times, presumably ruling out any kind of…
Vaibhav Garg
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Are airplanes the safest mode of transportation?

Considering the number of people that use it compared to other transports (cars, trains, boats), do you have less chances to die in a plane? Are there any studies about this?
Nikko
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Can a commercial airplane fly in an inverted position as depicted in Flight?

In Flight, to prevent the plane from diving, the pilot puts it upside down before flipping it back over just before landing. This is supposed to be loosely based on flight 261 from Alaska Airlines which unfortunately crashed without survivor after…
FrenchKheldar
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Did Boeing debut the 787 Dreamliner in 2007 with plywood doors and daylight visible through the wheel-wells?

In the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver episode for 2024-03-03 (timestamped to relevant section), a clip is played from the video The Boeing 787: Broken Dreams | Al Jazeera Investigations, in which a person billed as "Jon Ostrower, The Wall Street…
user218354
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Did the the crew of Flight 1549 (that ditched in the Hudson) do an exceptionally good job?

In January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 successfully ditched in the Hudson River adjacent to midtown Manhattan six minutes after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport after being disabled by striking a flock of Canada Geese during its initial climb out.…
Oddthinking
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Is it possible to fly like a bird using semi-motorized wings?

On his website http://www.humanbirdwings.net/ the dutch engineer Jarno Smeets claims to have successfully build a set of 17 m2 bird-like wings from material of a kite. It is claimed that it uses sensors taken from Wii controllers and a smart phone…
Martin Scharrer
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Is a Boeing Honeywell ‘Uninterruptible’ Autopilot System pre-installed on any in-service airliners?

Some sites make the claim that Boeing has installed an uninteruptible ground-controlled autopilot in aircraft such as the 777 with registration 9M-MRO used for missing flight MH370. Notable claims (that this system is already installed and could…
RedGrittyBrick
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Did Frane Selak survive a fall from a plane?

Frane Selak has been dubbed the "world's luckiest man" for his frequent, apparent escapes from death. One, in particular, strikes me as straight-up absurd: the one about him falling out of a plane onto a haystack and surviving. Wikipedia tells the…
Dois
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Can radar from low-flying planes kill small animals?

I have heard this claim in the past, and have found a few references to it (Example 1, Example 2). Supposedly military avionic radar units are so powerful that they are capable of killing small animals, or even humans, simply by being powered up in…
Beofett
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Did one Avro Arrow (CF-105) avoid being scrapped?

June Callwood claimed in a 1997 Macleans Magazine article: Someone has flown an Arrow to safety. CTV news says: The discovery of an intact ejection seat from Canada's legendary Avro Arrow is fuelling[sic] a half-century-old conspiracy theory that…
user5582
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Is it possible to survive a plane crash on water?

Is a scenario like the one in LOST possible? Is there a possibility of finding a significant number of survivors from a plane crash in the sea? Is there evidence of anything like this having ever happened in our world's history?
djeidot
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Can a sandpaper-thick layer of ice reduce lift by 30 percent and increase drag up to 40 percent?

This is a quote listed everywhere in aviation safety publications, but not in a consistent form. From http://www.aopa.org/-/media/Files/AOPA/Home/Pilot%20Resources/ASI/Safety%20Advisors/sa11.pdf: Frost, snow, and ice accumulations (on the leading…
user5582
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Can the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter be detected by WW2 era radar?

According to Pierre Sprey, the technology to detect stealth aircraft (e.g. the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in air by radar has been around ever since the Battle of Britain (i.e. 1940, early World War II). Source: Interview with Pierre…
Levon
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Are 40% of the world’s air cargo shipped on passenger planes?

I read on https://twitter.com/RichardBarrow/status/1250298370469416960 (mirror): 40% of the world’s air cargo is shipped on passenger planes. Is that true?
Franck Dernoncourt
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Is it harder to secure a place at NATS as an air traffic controller than securing a place at Oxford or Cambridge?

This question is about becoming an air traffic controller at National Air Traffic Services or NATS. NATS is a UK company which runs air traffic control services. NATS makes sure aircraft can fly safely across Britain, and that aircraft can take-off…
SwiftPushkar
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