Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with airplanes

How much flight information is on a credit card statement

thewestinggame — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:52:58 -0800

I am buying a plane ticket with my credit card and someone else has access to my credit card statements. How much information about my flight will that person be able to get? With my name and credit card number, would someone be able to look up what flight I'm on? Will my flight number show up on the credit card statement?

Planespotting at O'Hare: The Security Aspect

bryanzera — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:01:37 -0800

What should we be prepared with if a friend and I want to go plane spotting at O'Hare? I've got ideas on where we can watch planes from. As we check these locations out, it may arouse the suspicion of authorities who may come pay us a visit.

I plan on us taking our IDs, a camera and being honest about our motives with any security personnel we may encounter. Is this a good strategy? Does anyone have experience with plane spotting at O'Hare?

Best WWII air battle movie scenes

keith0718 — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:25:39 -0800

What's the best WWII movies for air battle scenes (domestic or foreign)? Documentaries are fine, but I'm really looking for dramas.

Anything is better than driving?

tmcw — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:00:09 -0800

I've heard that there are twice-daily commuter flights to/from Charlottesville, VA and DC. I can't find any online... everything seems to be typical big-airliner, normal-expensive flights. Am I looking in the wrong place, and what's the best option for traveling between those two places minus a car? More specifically... I'm not actually commuting but rather visiting Charlottesville when I'm not working in DC. And it would be nice if it were fast, cheap, and convenient, but I'd understand if it's just two out of the three.

Where can I see the Wright planes?

rikschell — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:03:45 -0800

Where can I find a list of all the Wright Company planes on public display (originals, not reproductions)? From personal experience, I know the Flyer I is at the National Air & Space Museum (NASM), and the Flyer III is at Carillon Park in Dayton, the military Model A is at NASM (Wikipedia says the only other Model A is in Munich). Wikipedia says there are at least 3 Model B's (I've seen the ones at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, and the Franklin Institute in Philly, there's one in Utah, too). Model EX is at NASM, too. But while I can find descriptions of Models C, CH, D, G, E, F, H, HS, K, L, and R, I can't figure out if any are still extant. Part of the problem is that many seem to have been licensed out to be built by other companies, with other model numbers. Mainly I'm interested in planes built by the Wright Company, but if there are planes designed by the Wrights and built by other companies, that would be interesting too. I thought it would be easy to find a simple list, but I haven't been able to.

How can I get over my fear of flying?

zembla3 — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:09:12 -0800

In a little over two weeks, I'll be vacationing in the Italian Riviera with a group of friends. There's just one problem: my debilitating fear of flying. I think my aviaphobia boils down to one thing: a fear of a catastrophic mid-flight explosion or mechanical failure along the lines of TWA Flight 800, Japan Airlines Flight 123 or the Lockerbie bombing. I know these are extremely rare occurrences, but I find them terrifying because, in some cases, the passengers were conscious and aware that they were hurtling toward imminent death. For example, I read that a post-Lockerbie coroner's report indicated some passengers initially survived the explosion and regained consciousness when the doomed aircraft reached a more oxygen-rich atmosphere around 15,000 feet. If anyone else has grappled with these fears, I'd appreciate some advice on how to deal with them.

What is the name of this 1980's television series?

clamato — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:09:22 -0800

What is the name of this 1980's television series? This has been driving my husband nuts for years: Ex-pilots stay behind after some war in south east asia and start a company of delivering things via water plane. They spend their time delivering cargo and drinking and fighting at bars at local bars. One of the pilots wore a brown leather bomber jacket covered with war insignia. Any guesses?

How big can an airplane get?

empath — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:55:25 -0800

What's the largest size that an airplane could theoretically be and still fly? Let's assume real-world materials that exist currently (ie, no carbon nanotubes or anything like that). I'm interested in the 'why' as much as I'm interested in the actual answer.

how is a free-for-all faster?

vodkaboots — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:40:06 -0800

Does eliminating assigned seating reduce boarding times for airplanes? And if so, why? For the first time I recently took a flight without assigned seating. It seemed really chaotic and slow to me, what with everyone clustering and jostling for position waiting for them to start boarding, and then on the plane with people randomly sitting wherever and holding up the whole aisle putting luggage in overheads or backtracking to find sets of seats together. It also seemed like most people who were rushing to get on were wanting to sit in the front, which further slowed things down as everyone behind them had to wait for them to get out of the aisle and sit down before going on.

I was curious so I did some googling and found some info like this article (bottom of article) that claims it is faster to eliminate assigned seating. Can anyone tell me if this is true, and if so, why?

Where's the best place to watch the Chicago Air show?

nitsuj — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:08:46 -0800

Where's the best place to watch the Chicago Air show?

Could a few pesky letters mess me up at airport security?

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:10:09 -0800

Will I be able to board a plane if the name on my boarding pass is slightly different from my legal name? I'm visiting some friends in another state next month, and one of them very kindly offered to buy me a plane ticket. Yay! Unfortunately, he misspelled my legal name when he booked my flight... my name is something like "Arianna Hamon", and he bought a ticket for "Ariane Hamon" (I never go by my full name... my family and friends all call me Ari, so few bother to learn the long version of my first name). Those aren't the "real" names, but they're extremely similar.

Is there any way that this could pose a problem for me when I'm going through airport security? I know that tons of newlyweds go through this sort of thing on their honeymoons, but they usually have a new husband there to vouch for them, whereas I'm a Middle Eastern female, traveling alone.

Vintage airplanes over Los Angeles

shoos — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:58:32 -0800

On this past Mother's Day afternoon, I saw several WWII-era aircraft flying around L.A. over the course of a few hours. Anyone know if there was some air show or something else like that going on that day?

fly me to the moon...

crazylegs — Sun, 04 May 2008 11:00:52 -0800

How many person-miles are flown every year by commercial airlines? I can't seem to find any statistics online that address this specific question. I want to know how many person miles are flown annually by all commercial airlines worldwide. Meaning: airlines x total miles flown x number of passengers on each flight. Can anyone help?

advice for a first time flyer!

lisawin — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 11:37:15 -0800

In about two and a half months, I'm going on my first flight. What should I know, or otherwise be prepared for? At 21, I'm not only taking my first international flight, but my first flight, period. (Okay so technically I've been on a plane before, but it was a tiny one and just went over the city, and I was pretty young and only vaguely remember it so I don't really count that.)

So basically, my question is: what kind of advice can you offer, or what sort of things should I know about or be prepared for during my first ever flight? How long before the flight should I arrive at the airport? Will my ears pop? Will there be loud noises that sound like something bad but are actually completely normal? Things that might be a good idea to bring on the plane with me that I might not even think of? I feel pretty confident in saying that I don't think I'll freak out too much, but knowing what to expect will definitely help me out a bit.

Thanks in advance!

Packing Pen on Plane?

gyusan — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:36:00 -0800

Does anyone have direct experience taking a Rotring 500 fountain pen on an airplane in post 9/11 America? If so, your advice? I am flying to a conference and would like to bring along my daily writing pen as I intend to take lots of notes but because it is a solid hunk of brass I am reluctant to chance getting it confiscated. It has always reminded me of one of those "self defense wands" and I am afraid that a tsa agent will think the same. Bonus: any general tips for taking a fountain pen on an airplane? I have heard horror stories about spurting ink and general messiness due to fluctuating air pressure. Thanks.

Paper Airplane Designs

rossination — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:23:28 -0800

Favorite paper airplanes (and other flying diversions)? Lately I've been making lots of paper airplanes in my free time (I'm a music student; we take lots of "practice breaks" and do a lot of sitting around in the hall). We have different contests -- usually for distance, but sometimes for time aloft. We also like throwing them out the window into the quad.

Anyway, we've done the standard dart as well as this one, which I learned a long time ago. But I'd love some other suggestions for designs that will help me beat my pals in competition.

I realize that it's hard to describe how to make a paper airplane -- I'm hoping people have resources to link to online, or just general tips and tricks that can be explained in text.

Newbie to R/C airplanes (SPAD) questions

spock — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:46:41 -0800

R/C Airplane (SPAD) beginner question(s) An acquaintance introduced me to spadtothebone.com and the cool and relatively cheap way of making relatively durable SPAD planes. I'm interested in building a trainer. Most sites out there assume that you already know about R/C when you build your first SPAD plane, whereas I know nothing about it. Mostly interested in what I need besides the plane: engine, radio, receiver, servos etc. Electric vs Fuel? Keep in mind that I need to do this cheaply if I'm going to do it at all. What do you recommend?

Spinning airplane wheels before landing

Killick — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:33:55 -0800

Why don't commercial jets start the wheels rotating before landing? When an airplane lands, that burst of smoke is rubber burning off the tires as the wheels go from not rotating at all to rolling without slipping in a very short time. This must wear the tires pretty quickly, adding to the operation cost. There are various patents dating as far back as the 1940's for fins on the wheels or the tires to get the wheels spinning before landing. But it doesn't seem that any of these inventions are actually used. Why?

How do I get a torch lighter on the plane?

invitapriore — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:22:37 -0800

How do I get my torch lighter on the the airplane? As a result of poor reading comprehension, I was under the impression until just now that the repeal of the lighter ban on airplanes extended also to torch lighters. This turned out not to be true. Is there any way I can get it on the plane? Would it make it through in checked luggage, or will they locate and confiscate it?

How do you lookup airplane tail numbers?

philad — Wed, 02 May 2007 14:26:43 -0800

Does anyone know of a way to lookup a tail number on a private airplane to see who owns it? Nothing nefarious going on here, honest. I believe we have the tail number and are trying to find out who owns the plane.

i just like to watch.

Tryptophan-5ht — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 23:54:50 -0800

seattle / tacoma folks - i like to watch airplanes take off and land. Suggest a good spot to sit quietly and watch the air traffic at seaTac airport? wow, so you know how you have to dance around certain topics so no one thinks you're a racist or a child molester? I totally feel like I should be wording this more carefully so no one things im a terr'ist.

but yeah - a place where I can sit alone (no people milling about yacking) and watch the planes?

anyone?

Can you remember this arcade game?

Grums — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 02:53:14 -0800

I fondly remember an arcade game from my childhood at the local junk-food kiosk, but I can not remember the name. I have tried to search Google, but I have not found anything. The game, as I remember it, was a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up. You flew planes (1 player or 2 players) and on the ground beneath you dinosaurs where actively trying to kill you with their prehistoric might. So you had to wipe out all the dinosaurs once again, I guess. The game was colorful and cartoony and your weapon got upgraded with power ups. You saw the planes from the side, and not from the top, as e.g. 1942.

Can anyone else remember this game and its name?

You have a ticket for no seats.

baklavabaklava — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:05:51 -0800

How can I have an airline ticket yet not have a seat? Last time I flew on an airplane (major U.S. carrier; international flight to the U.S.) I had a surprising thing happen. When I checked in, I was told I would not be allowed on the flight since I did not have a seat.

I asked them what they meant. The woman at the counter said "You will have to fly standby, since you don't have a seat."

I showed her the ticket, which was for that flight, departing then. She said "Yes, you have a ticket for this flight, but you do not have a seat, so you can't fly."

I asked, "Well, how do I get a seat, then?". She told me "You need to contact your travel agent about that when you buy the ticket."

I had bought the ticket four months before on Expedia, which mentioned nothing about having to buy a separate ticket (in addition to your airline ticket) to be allowed on the flight.

I was sent somewhere with a dozen other people in the same boat as I was, and we were told we would be allowed fly "standby". I got on; some others did not.

I had called the airline two days before to confirm the flight and they told me all the details and mentioned nothing about buying separate "seat tickets".

So, my question is, how do I avoid this happening again, and where do I get these mysterious seat tickets?

How loud is the inside of an airplane?

werty — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 11:56:47 -0800

How loud are the passenger cabins of commercial airplanes? I suffer from tinnitus and am careful to avoid exposure to noise that could exacerbate my condition. On my most recent flights (on a Boeing 767) I was more aware than usual of the interior noise, which got me thinking about my safety. Colloquially, I know other people get a ringing in their ears after a flight, which suggests a typical airliner operates at a potentially damaging noise level above 85 decibels.

I already arm myself while in flight with Earplanes and/or noise-canceling headphones. What I'd like to know is how effectively I'm combatting the situation. For example, on an Airbus A320--the one airline my googling turned up results for--the interior cabin runs at 86db; this means that yes, it's a damaging, awareness-necessary level, but my earplugs and headphones should give me sufficient protection.

I'm not having much luck finding a listing of this information. Any clues where I might be able to dig it up? And, if you're in the know, should I be worried about airplane interior noise relative to the ringing in my ears?

Here's a challenge: Obscure BookFilter

pjern — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 21:26:46 -0800

PossiblyExtremelyObscureBookFilter: I'm trying to locate the title and author of a paperback book I read in the late '60's. Here's what I remember: The book was one of those enormously thick paperbacks, and was a saga about several generations of people involved in the aircraft design & manufacturing industry. I'm thinking on the scale of Mitchener, maybe 800 pages or so, although I can't seem to find a synopsis of any of his books that seems to fit the one that I remember.

One thing I remember was that the actual aircraft described made it seem like a thinly-veiled historical fiction about the Douglas Aircraft company, since many of the (fictional) airplanes mapped to DC-series airplanes quite well.

I was in junior high school when I read it, and can't recall many more details, but I have faith in my fellow Mefi-ites. Anyone have any ideas, or other authors in that genre I could look at?