Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with airplanes

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?

Are Flight Attendants jacking with my sanity?

Zendogg — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:18:44 -0800

Lately, when flying red-eye flights, I've noticed that the flight attendants, as part of their safety spiel, sometimes ask that the window shades be left up during takeoff and landing. Why? Also, I’m almost certain that I remember back in the 80’s, the flight attendants would sometimes ask everyone to put the window-shades down during takeoff and landing on red-eye flights. Does anyone else have such memories from flying during the 80’s, or is this particular memory better left discussed only with my therapist, along with the alien abduction memories? Am I crazy, or are the flight attendants plotting to make me crazy? Does the safety of the flight depend on actions I decide to take or not take with my window-shade?

Airline policy shift?

unknowncommand — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 20:55:25 -0800

When did the FAA/airlines stop asking those 2 questions about whether someone had given me something to bring on the plane, and whether my bags had been out of my possession at any point? What was their justification? I want to say that this changed after 9/11, but that doesn't really make sense.

Blue Angels

rorycberger — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 10:46:09 -0800

How elite are the Blue Angels? I'm curious about how the Blue Angels compare to other Navy pilots, how they are perceived within the Navy, how competitive the application process is, and how difficult their maneuvers are relative to actual combat flying.

I would think that the Navy would want to showcase "the best of the best", but at the same time I feel like the real top pilots should be doing more important things than air shows. Particularly during wartime, do others see them as being cowardly for avoiding combat duty? On their website it lists the requirements for joining, but it doesn't say how many people apply each year, etc. Also, while their tight formations and high-speed tricks are impressive to me as a civilian, is this really the pinnacle of military aviation? Do other Navy (or Air Force) pilots look at them and go "Whoa!" like I do, or is this child's play to them? Any insight would be appreciated.

Can you take a guitar on a plane these days ?

y2karl — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 21:54:48 -0800

I am flying to another city soon and would like take my guitar with me. On the plane--not as baggage. I would like to read about the experiences of anyone here who has tried to do the same. My research thus far yields no fixed answer.

WWII Airplane Silhouettes

Alt F4 — Tue, 03 May 2005 11:57:01 -0800

I'm looking for online examples of WWII-era airplane silhouettes, labeled as "American," "British," "Japanese," or "German," as used by civilians during WWII to spot enemy aircraft. Help? During WWII, citizens volunteered to watch for enemy aircraft (WaPo article). They would use (and memorize) cards/papers with airplane silhouettes, and would be prepared to call in to some central command if they saw an enemy plane/fleet preparing to attack American soil (a la Pearl Harbor). Some names for these programs included "Operation Skywatch," the "Air Warning Service," or the "observation corps."

Online, I've been able to find decks of playing cards with airplane silhouettes, as well as a picture of an old 3-D plane spotting model (click here and Ctrl-F for "CARDSTOCK SILHOUETTE MODELS"), but not a resource that features the images as they would have looked on those training papers. I'm trying to find online graphics of the black-and-white silhouettes as the "observation corps" would have used. I've looked and looked, and had little success. Can anyone here help me out with this?

Ideally, they'd be public domain, too.

Using ridge lift to fly model/paper airplanes

jhritz — Thu, 24 Feb 2005 06:48:29 -0800

Years ago, I saw a method for flying paper/model airplanes by walking forward holding a board in front of you. A young man appeared on the PBS show Newton's Apple demonstrated this technique in the 90s, but searching the episode guide doesn't yield any additional clues. Is there any information on the person who develped this technique, characteristics of planes that will work and does it play an ongoing role in paper airplane design and competitions?

Question number 13964

cmyk — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 11:54:46 -0800

VeryBigAirplaneFilter: I'm trying to ID two airplanes I saw a few years ago. (more)

Question number 13319

kittyb — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 06:11:09 -0800

My sister had the worst travel experience the other day, resulting in an airline losing her carry-on bag. Her carry-on! She's been playing mad phone-tag with ambivalent airline personnel, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or advice that would help her. [mi, natch]

Question number 12919

tracicle — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 15:05:00 -0800

Advice on flying with a toddler: we're taking our two-year-old on a 13-hour flight to LA, then a bunch of domestic flights between LA-Philly-San Jose. We've flown a zillion times, but not with a child. (more inside)