Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with planes

How casual was air travel in 1974?

Kirklander — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:09:33 -0800

In the movie The Parallax View (1974), Warren Beatty boards a passenger plane, without a plane ticket. He doesn't have to buy one until the flight attendant comes down the aisle to ask him, "Round trip?" Was air travel really this casual back then, like getting on a train?

Why do the pilots at Airtran always fly the plane like they stole it?

UMDirector — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:50:39 -0800

Why do the pilots at Airtran always fly the plane like they stole it? No matter where they seem to hammer the takeoffs and come in hot on landing. So far I have only experienced it on 717's but I have had it happen on multiple flights and airports. It's not a negative I just know they seem to really haul hot and fast through the sky and ground.

As an LCC I know time in the air and turns are important to them but still seems higher than SW or others.

Do they recruit from a specific division of the armed forces such as the Navy that does hot and fast take-offs/landings?

Any other ideas?

The Weapons that Won the Eastern Front

EatTheWeak — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:37:24 -0800

Please recommend resources about Soviet and Nazi weapons! Hi AskMe. I'm looking for some help in pinning down some authoritative, well-researched works on the weapons of the Red Army and airforce and the Nazis fighting in Russia during the Second World War (or, the Great Patriotic War, if you prefer). I'm most interest in the air forces and infantry weapons, but I wouldn't be much of a war nerd if I asked that we leave out tanks.

I'm really interested in how differences in engineering played out in the battlefield, the more detail the better. I want to explore firepower, obviously, but I'm also curious about how things like engine design, materials used and maintenance realities contributed to the outcome of the war.

So, I'm interested in whatever you got - books, articles, documentaries, websites - anything with solid research on the weapons the Soviets and the Nazis used to fight for control of Russia - planes and infantry weapons preferred, all categories welcome. The more affordable the resource, the better.

Thank you! Happy Victory Day!

How much Ativan is really necessary?

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:23:14 -0800

How much Ativan to take for a plane flight? I'm afraid of flying, and I'm going on a trans-Atlantic flight soon. The flight has three legs on both the departure and return trip. The first leg is 2 hours, the second around 8 hours, and the third around 1 hour.

I asked my doctor to prescribe me some anti-anxiety medication, and he gave me generic Ativan. I've been reading up about the drug, and I'm scared of the side effects/dependency. He prescribed me .25 mg pills.

My intent is to take one pill at the gate for the second leg, then take another while I'm in the air. Would this be enough to calm me/knock me out? I'd like to take medicine for all of the legs, but I don't think that's realistic.

I'm taking distractions like a NDS and an MP3 player, but the last flight I took I cried all during take-off and landing.

Coping tips are appreciated (I read the other recent thread) but I'm especially concerned about the Atvian dosing.

Also, the old adage that, "Planes are safer than driving! You should be more afraid of getting in your car, yadda yadda," doesn't work for me. I don't like cars either.

Here is my throwaway address: ativanfears@gmail.com

How far in advance should I buy my plane tickets?

voltairemodern — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:24:28 -0800

AirfareFilter: I need to go to Montana in May. At what time between now and then will tickets be cheapest? Not much more detail to provide, really. My wife and I need to get to Montana at the beginning of May, and want to buy our tickets when they'll be the cheapest. I know prices fluctuate a lot, and that buying farther away from the date isn't necessarily the best choice, but I don't know much more than that. Should I wait until the last minute, or three weeks out, or a month and a half? Is there a science to the pricing, or is it too arbitrary to predict?

In sum: how far in advance will I find the best prices on airfare?

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.

It's nice to be wanted, just not all at once

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:29:42 -0800

It's MBA hiring season. I have been selected to attend second round interviews with three different companies in three different cities on three consecutive days. This is the schedule:

City 1: 9:00am - 4:00pm Eastern on a Wednesday
City 2: 6:00pm Wed. evening and 8:00am - 4:00pm Central on Thursday
City 3: 4:00pm Thursday Evening and 8:00am - 3:00pm on Friday

Each city is separated by a 2 hour flight, not including extra time to get to and from the airport. I have committed to attend the interview in City 3 since they notified me first and it is my first choice job. There isn't much of a conflict with the interview in City 1, but it would be nice to leave early to get to City 2. City 2 and City 3 were originally scheduled for the same days at the same times, but City 2 agreed to move back a day, but not enough to prevent overlapping with Thursday evening in City 3.

If I am unable to make it to City 2, they have indicated that they will "see if any positions remain" after interviewing the candidates who are able to make it. I interpret that to mean there's not much of a chance of getting another opportunity if I can't make it for the interview.

Short of chartering a private jet, should I tell City 2 "thanks, but no thanks?" I would prefer not to in this economy, but the timing of these interviews is so tight that a simple flight delay could ruin my chances at two companies.

Any other additional thoughts or approaches would be appreciated.

Anon email: itsnicetobewanted@gmail.com

Help me see some of Europe!

bDiddy — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:07:06 -0800

I need advice for planning a trip to Europe next summer. The wife and I are looking to see some of Europe next summer. Neither of us have ever gone. She wants to see Prague and I want to drink beer in Brussels. So, here's what I think is the best plan, but I don't know. This is where I need advice.

Fly into Prague and spend a few days there. Take the train through Germany, spending a night in some of the cities the train goes through. (Berlin, maybe Koln?) Then continue on to Brussels for a few days there. Then, if time permits maybe continue on to France.

So, as I've never planned a trip like this ever, I have a few questions.

Is it easier to fly in and out of the same city or can I land in one city and depart from another? Would it be significantly cheaper to do it one way vs the other?

Should I book train tickets in advance or when we're there? I've seen the seat61.com site so I know the Eurail pass isn't always the best bet, but maybe it will be for us.

Is it worth renting a car in Belgium? I want to see more than just Brussels. I'd LOOOOOVE to see some of the abbeys and some of the smaller breweries there. And getting up to the coast would be nice too.

How early should I be looking at booking this? And would a travel agent be any help to me? I've used a travel agent twice and I find them somewhat helpful, but not sure if it would be worth it for a trip like this.

Any other advice is welcome. Thanks in advance.

Help me remember this movie...

smoothvirus — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:45:54 -0800

I'm trying to remember what the title of this movie was. I think it was made in the 1960's or 1970's in the U.S. I remember watching it on TV on the Sunday Matinee show in the 1980's. The plot involved this millionaire who wanted to attack the Soviet Union, he had a small force which was to attack Russia by driving trucks across the polar ice cap. All I can remember was that in the end of the film his plan is thwarted by the Soviets, who send planes to bomb the ice, and the trucks sink to the bottom of the ocean. Any ideas?

How to find an obscure literary term

miss-lapin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:58:32 -0800

Years ago when I took a classical mythology course, my professor used a literary term for a being who can travel between planes of being at will. (To tell you how long ago it was she used the crow, the bird not the character, in the film by the same name as an example.) I've searched through my notebooks, hunted through reference books, and asked friends but I can't find it. Does anyone know what this term is? If not, any tips on how I can finally find this term and move on to my next obsessive quest?

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!

Ashtrays in planes

citybuddha — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:20:09 -0800

Why are there still ashtrays in airplanes?

Christmas gift for traveler who loves the nitty gritty details of travel plans?

ocherdraco — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:54:28 -0800

I need a good, creative Christmas gift idea for my dad. He's really into travel by air and rail--not the vehicles themselves so much, but their schedules, the logic behind putting a particular model on a particular flight, etc. My dad travels constantly (domestically and internationally), and since his college days (when he was a team manager for football, lacrosse and soccer) he's gotten an inordinate amount of pleasure in figuring out (and scheduling) how he's going to get from place to place: finding the best way to do it, and understanding the reasoning behind the way the system works. He loves drawing up itineraries (even if the most exciting thing on them is an irregular flight number) and executing well-made plans.

This is the kind of thing that really gets him excited--how can I parlay this into a really good Christmas gift?

I live in New York (in Astoria), so stores in the city (in addition to those online) would be lovely.

How were cell phone calls completed from hijacked planes on 9-11?

Pastabagel — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 08:20:35 -0800

9-11 Technology Filter: I have never been able to even get signal on my Blackberry 8200 (GSM) within 10 seconds of liftoff, so how were cell phone calls completed from hijacked planes on 9-11? Specifically, given the prevailing handset, carrier, and tower technologies present in the Boston, NY, and DC metro and intervening areas at the time, and given the flight paths and altitudes of the hijacked planes, how were passengers able to complete cellphone calls to loved ones? On the radio this morning, I heard some conspiracy theorists posit that proof of the 9-11 hoax is that all the evidence of the hijackers comes from cell and AirFone calls from the planes. They claimed that one of the planes was not equipped with AirFones, but that nonetheless descriptions of that hijacking came from passengers calling loved ones and their own voice mails on their cell phones (I don't not remember which plane they claimed didn't have airphones). All I could find online that was remotely coherent was here but it is very light on the technical details which would seem to put this issue to rest conclusively.

Some my questions are as follows:

A. How was it possible to for passengers to complete these calls at high altitudes? Were phones and towers more powerful then? Did they use a different encoding scheme that was more robust? (Analog vs. Digital, CDMA vs. GSM, etc.) The more technical the response, the better.

B. Were any of these calls from passengers recorded? What about the infamous "Let's Roll" (or "let's roll it"?) call? Are the voice mails available online?

C. Is a map available of the flight paths of the four planes that (a) includes their altitude, and (b) includes tower locations from 2001 from the major wireless carriers?

D. Has anyone been able to complete a cell phone call from an aircraft at any time between a minute after takeoff and a minute prior to landing? What carrier and phone?

E. If you have ever worked near the top of a very tall building (i.e. much taller than surrounding buildings and far above the ground, i.e. Transamerica in SF, Sears Tower in Chicago, Empire State or WTC in NY, Petronas Towers, Taipei 101, etc), have you experienced poor service that was explained because of your floors height above the surrounding towers?

F. Do cell towers not broadcast or receive signals from above? I assumed that towers broadcast signal radially and would therefore be subject to the inverse square law. Am I wrong? Are towers in rural areas significantly higher and stronger than towers in urban areas? Why?

Sorry if this is too long or inappropriately formated for AskMe. There is very little I could find about this on the web, so any help would be appreciated, and as I said, the more technical, the better.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop dropping acid

scaryblackdeath — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:43:56 -0800

After an awful flight from Denver to Seattle last night, my ears still feel plugged. Any suggestions on how to get them to pop? I had the usual "plugged" feeling on the flight, but as we were coming in for a landing it got to the point where my left ear really, really hurt. I've never felt pain from pressurization before. Eventually the pain ended and there was a partial pop, but...

I have tried swallowing. Tried the yawn, tried pinching my nose & closing my mouth and such. All to no avail.

Any suggestions? Must I wallow in this pain and misery???

(Oh, and as an aside, I had a terrible time with both US Airways and Frontier...)

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?

Whose jurisdiction am I under when making a connection at a foreign airport?

runkelfinker — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 03:24:34 -0800

I always assumed that, when making a connecting flight in an international airport, I was under international jurisdiction - the logic being that I clearly haven't 'entered' the airport's host country (haven't got a visa/filled out a landing form/whatever). My personal experience and now recent events suggest otherwise, so what are the rules about this, and do they vary from country to country? My personal experience being that I once had a scary amount of hassle from US authorities while simply 'changing planes' in New York (going home from Mexico City to London)...

Was this a near miss?

valleys — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 16:42:34 -0800

A plane I was on seemed to have a very close encounter with another plane. Is it possible to find reports of 'near miss' incidents online? Yesterday I flew Vancouver - Ottawa, sitting in a window seat on the left of the plane. At one point, just as I happened to look out the window, a plane flew past us closer than I've ever seen another plane while flying.

My instinct tells me that it was less than a football field's length away, but given that my estimating skills may not be perfect, let's say it was 250' - 500' away. Exactly the same altitude as my plane - we went through it's vapour trail very soon (maybe 5 seconds) after passing it, with associated turbulence. On a clock face, if we were travelling 6 -> 12, it was travelling 2 -> 8. My plane did not take any noticeable evasive action. As I did not see the other plane's approach (only after it passed us) I don't know if it had to. My instinct also tells me that anybody looking out of the window on the other side of the plane might have had a few anxious moments.

What constitutes a near miss? How far apart should planes be when at the same altitude? Can I find out if this warranted any report by the pilot?

Beware la migra.

cloeburner — Wed, 31 May 2006 19:14:31 -0800

Quick question: I plan on moving to England for an indefinite but legal period of time, do I need a round-trip ticket to get clearance into the country? I'd prefer to buy just one-way seeing as it is cheaper. Additionally, are there any other quirks which might prevent me from getting in?

Any other advice for a naive immigrant?

Who does the Lufthansa "Relaxation Program"?

Your Time Machine Sucks — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 03:00:32 -0800

FearOfFlyingFilter: Do you fly Lufthansa? Do you listen to their "Relaxation Program" on the in-flight radio? Do you have any idea who does the guided imagery on it? Or, have any other great suggestions for calming things I could listen to at 30,000 feet? So, I hate to fly and, indeed, I'm generally a fairly tense individual. I have listened to a few "relaxation CDs" but I haven't liked the ones I've heard. However, a few years ago I flew trans-Atlantic with Lufthansa and they had this amazing guided imagery/hypnosis/relaxation program; after listening to it for about 15 minutes, I fell asleep and woke up only as the plane was landing, feeling better than I had when I left.

The Lufthansa program alternated between an English version and a German version, but both speakers were women and the speaker on the English version (about whom I am interested in learning more) had a fairly region-neutral British accent, and instead of the therapeutic "wonderful" voice that most of these speakers affect, she had a crisp-er, almost narrative style, as if she was telling a good story. The imagery was about a walk in a field with a stream and a bench IIRC. So, the first part of my question is, if this description rings any bells for anyone or they happen to have the Lufthansa inflight magazine lying around, I'd be grateful to know the speaker's name so I can attempt to buy any commercial recording she's made (if she's made one), since I have several lengthy non-Lufthansa flights coming up and the prospect is stressing me.

The second part of my question (i.e. the part that isn't a major long shot) is: can anyone suggest any similar guided imagery/hypnosis/relaxation recordings that I might find helpful? This is a bit tricky, because my criteria for whether I can stand them (speaker is a woman who doesn't go overboard with the "wonderful" voice, non-US accents a plus) rules out at least 95% of the ones that are out there.

The "wonderful" voice, in case anyone desires clarification, is the soooothing, breathy, weird-dictioned "Berkeley therapist" style: "yooou are walking?" (odd pause here) "through a beauuuuutiful gar-den..." (odd pause here) "full." (odd pause here) "of fragrant flow-ers."

There's absolutely nothing wrong with it (I've known some lovely therapists from Berkeley!), but it has the opposite effect on me that it's meant to.

Suggestions for non-spoken relaxing things to listen to (nature sounds, music) are also _very_ welcome. Other approaches (drugs, meds, herbs) are beyond the scope of this question, but the thought is appreciated. Thank you very much!

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.

Up, up...

o2b — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 13:11:12 -0800

I'm looking for blogs written by pilots of (or about) planes, helicoptors, blimps, etc. Got any links?

Planes, helicopters

jimmy — Fri, 25 Feb 2005 07:27:49 -0800

Is a plane easier to pilot than a helicopter? If so, why?

Assuage fear of flying on a small plane

amro — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 20:59:25 -0800

I had a terrifying flight on a small 50-seater plane today. Heavy turbulence, people screaming, lights dimming... I am supposed to fly home on Sunday and although I know it's ridiculous, I just don't think I can step back on a plane so soon. I am planning to rent a car (to drive about 8 hours v. one-hour flight), but am finding this really embarassing (not to mention a waste of time and money). Can anyone offer any advice or online resources that may be of aid and reassurance? [mi] I did see a similar question posted on AskMeFI but I was hoping for some fresh insight, since most of the answers involved alcohol (flight is at 10 am, and drinking would just make me feel ill anyway), prescription drugs (even if I thought they'd work I am away from home and only have a few days, not sure I could get anything) or longer-term treatments.