Aircrafts - Page 7 - Recent Questions, Troubleshooting & Support

As an aircraft engineer I have deep concerns over composite and plastics used in aircraft construction. I personally don't think they can possibly last simply because repairing structural damage cannot be 100% guaranteed. Metal and wooden structures are easily repaired or replaced. Splicing and repairing plastic and composites are not so easy and expensive to do. It's often cheaper to buy a new one, which means that the aircraft will be written off rather than anyone having to guarantee any complicated repair. Metal aircraft, however, can easily be repaired given a skilled sheet metal worker and the repairs are often stronger than the original structure. What worries me about plastic is its tendency to become brittle over time. Most of us have experienced those horrific plastic garden chairs that don't last more than a year before they break. Whilst composite aircraft are clearly of superior quality, I like to see a manufacturer who is prepared to guarantee that his composite (plastic) aircraft will not suffer the same fate over time. There was a plastic glider that broke up in the UK in the late 70s. The owner had painted a dark green band around the rear fuselage just in front of the tail. The differential heat absorption from the sun seriously weakened the area and the tail broke off in flight. No-one can tell yet what we will be confronted with in the future or what people might do to their aircraft and I predict that many will have to be retired when we find out the real lifespan when they start to fail. I personally would need a lot of convincing before I bought one.

The entire weight of the aircraft is being supported by the wings. Longer wings are designed to bend upwards to support that weight. Due to the curvature of the wings (more curved on top and flatter on bottom) there is low pressure on the top of the wings and higher pressure under the wings. So the wings are actually pulled up into the air by the low pressure over the top of them.

There are many good schools in the UK and CAE is a good one if money is no object. If you have a tight budget then you could consider some of the multitude of other training establishment, certainly up to PPL level. The downside to learning in the UK is that it can be a little slow and frustrating at times due to the inclement weather. However, don't be put off by that since you will learn significantly more about flying in the weather we have in the UK than any of the "fair weather fairies" that learnt in a climate of continual sunshine. When the time comes and you get your commercial pilot job, your new employer won't be too pleased if you told them you can only fly when the sun is shinning. learning to fly in the UK gives you a good grounding and experience that you can take with you anywhere in the world.

Flying becomes a passion if it's what you're meant to do. Once you take that first lesson you will never see an airplane again without yearning to be in that front seat. You should go up for an introductory flight at your local airport and see how it goes. You can get a sport pilot certificate to start if you want. It's cheaper and would meet the needs of most any recreational pilot.

The license or "certificate" does not expire, however you must have a flight review every 24 calendar months with an instructor in order to continue to fly. The flight review consists of at least 1 hour of ground school and 1 hour of dual flight with the instructor to ensure you haven't developed any bad habits.

Most headset and aircraft mics have noise cancelling because between engine and wind noise it would be difficult to understand the pilot without it. To use the noise cancelling mic it must be very near the lips

Personally I'd much rather fly in a DC10 than an L1011.

They can use almost any jet fuel on a short term. For longer term use there is usually an adjustment required on the fuel controller.

It is very common for small airports not to have a control tower, radar, or communications equipment. There are very well developed procedures for "uncontrolled airports". There is a standard traffic pattern that aircraft fly at almost all airports (consisting of a downwind, base, final, and upwind leg) and there are specific radio calls that are supposed to be made at certain points in the pattern. Most airports have a fixed base operator to supply fuel and services. They often monitor the common traffic frequency and supply some info to pilots about wind direction and runway in use. There's also a specific way to enter the pattern - usually at a 45 degree of the downwind leg, Yes it's possible for aircraft to collide and it happens several times a year - usually when a low wing airplane is above a high wing airplane in the pattern. Neither can see the other so occasionally that can happen.

It wouldn't be steerable enough to maintain control of the rocket

To an atheist, the threat of hell is just one more brainwashing trick of religious education. There comes a time, if one is alert through life when one finally discovers that it's purely ridiculous to pray to God for your team to win or for this to happen or that to not happen. There's no value in it. The only good it does is to give the person praying false hope. Face it, stuff happens. Unexplainable things happen and religious people call them miracles. Religion was invented because people couldn't understand why things happened so they created a deity as an easy explanation. If you research religion, the Jesus-like character has existed in many different stories in many different times even to ancient times (many many years BC) The Bible is so often taken out of context and only the portions that are convenient to the follower are ever followed. Many current trends, such as tattoos are expressly forbidden in the Bible,. In today's world a majority of Christians seem to be conservative politically which does not even begin to follow the teachings of Christ, who promoted social programs, give your riches to the poor, etc.... No atheists need not fear hell because it will be filled with Christians. While Christians all endure the rapture the atheists will gladly stay behind and take care of the Christians' pets.

Only in the practice of thinking of what you need to say before you key the mic. Possibly in being able to understand incoming transmissions also, but that won't help too much unless you have an idea of what kind of calls you can expect in each circumstance so that you can deal with some of the rapid fire controllers out there.

If you're going for a Private Pilot Single Engine Land (PPSEL) certificate you don't need to know anything about IFR approaches. You will learn to fly traffic patterns and all the maneuvers and procedures required for that and for safe flight, learn how to navigate, and learn about airplane systems. You can get a huge head start by looking at websites and you tube links from places like Boldmethod.com, MzeroA.com, and UND aviation.

It's quite permissible to do so, however a general aviation pilot in a low performance plane should be ready for fast instructions and quite a bit of maneuvering to stay out of the way. The best time to do it would be at night. Here's a youtube video of one doing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKvWn317tpU

It is not only ******* for a VFR only pilot to fly in the IFR system, it is also potentially very dangerous. Even many IFR rated pilots are killed each year from spatial disorientation. IF you are on a straight in approach to a runway with a localizer or ILS and just tune it in and fly the ILS I don't think that's an issue.

I would understand, but I'm a private pilot so that may not count.

no they are not delta wings. they are a double tapered wing.

yes just pay the higher price.

North Americans often say " Seven Oh Seven " (erroneously) - We often also used " Oh " in flight numbers - such as " Clipper one oh three " They often use " Oh " rather than " zero " when giving phone numbers.

Yes. Jet packs do exist.