Why Planes Don’t Fly Directly Over The Pacific & Other Interesting Plane Facts!

 

have you ever wondered why planes don't  fly over the Pacific Ocean  maybe you wanted to know about strange  things tsa has found well you're in luck  today we're giving answers to these  burning questions and more as we discuss  interesting facts about airplanes number  10 open waters let's start by answering  our first question why don't planes fly  directly over the Pacific Ocean well the  short answer is the earth is round  let me explain if you take a piece of  string and connect Los Angeles  California and Tokyo Japan on a globe  the string will curve upwards towards  Alaska because the earth is round now if  you take that same path and project it  onto a flat map instead of a globe it  will no longer look like a straight line  but rather a line that arcs high up  towards Alaska and then back down so on  the flat map it looks like the plane is  flying out of the way while on a globe  you can see that the plane is actually  taking the shortest route straight lines  make for surprisingly longer trips so  they take the long way pilots will also  plan flight paths as close to as many  airports as they possibly can so in our  example the pilot would fly directly up  the west coast of the United States over  Alaska parts of Russia and then finally  Japan another factor that keeps planes  from flying in the perceived straight  line is a no-fly zone called ETOPS 120  and ETOPS or extended twin operations is  a section of open water that planes  cannot fly over in a plane that is not  certified to fly more than two hours  with a failed engine thus some of the  flights take an even wider arc to detour  around those zones number nine  penny-pincher if you've flown recently  you've probably noticed increased prices  or decreased weight limits to baggage  these are just a few things that  airlines have altered to cut costs in  their companies one of the most famous  ways an airline has cut costs was  proposed over 30 years ago when a  self-proclaimed penny-pincher Robert  Crandall projected the company could  save forty thousand dollars annually if  they cut just one olive from the  first-class salad and it did in fact  some sources say it was closer to  $100,000 United Airlines recently  changed the paper in its in-flight  magazines making the magazine weight  just one ounce less than it did  before this saved the airline 290  thousand dollars per year in operating  costs the thought process behind this is  the lighter a plane is the less fuel it  uses to get from point A to point B the  less money the airline spends on travel  the more money we as passengers safe  number eight how many did you know there  are around 5,000 flights in the air at  any given time according to the Federal  Aviation Administration it's true to put  this into perspective the busiest  airport in the world as of 2019 is the  hartsfield-jackson Atlanta International  Airport in Atlanta Georgia for the 21st  year in a row it had more than 170  million passengers last year Chicago's  O'Hare International Airport dethroned  Atlanta for most aircraft movements  that's takeoffs and landings handling  nearly nine hundred and four thousand  movements in 2018 also in 2018 Airlines  flew nearly 45 million different flights  worldwide number seven I'll have what  he's having  pilots and co-pilots are prepared  different meals and are not allowed to  eat the same food to avoid the  possibility of food poisoning while this  rule isn't regulated by the Federal  Aviation Administration most individual  airlines have their own rules incidents  involving food poisoning are extremely  rare but once in a while it does happen  once in 1982 a bad batch of tapioca  pudding incapacitated 10 crew members  including the pilot copilot and flight  engineer but luckily the flight was able  to turn around and land without any more  problems one airline stated that the  pilots can have the same meal as long as  they eat it at different times some  airlines allow their crew to bring their  own meals and snacks to help prevent  further incidents a tidbit of history  regarding in-flight meals the first  airline meal was served on a handley  page flight from London to Paris in 1919  which served a sandwich fruit and a  piece of chocolate costing three  shillings number six how it began the  Wright brothers invented and flew the  first airplane in 1903 their design  simply called the flyer had a  four-cylinder water-cooled 12 horse  powered engine with two wooden  propellers that spun in opposite  directions the first flight was about 12  seconds and covered 120 feet the record  and most famous flight the Wright  brothers performed was 59 seconds at a  distance of 852 feet it was the first  time a man had  flown today's planes are capable of so  much more the newest Boeing 787 for  example can fly 10,000 miles on a single  tank of gas some other notable points of  aviation history include the first  cross-channel flight made by Louis  blériot in 1909 the first female pilot  baroness raymond de la roche of france  received a ticket number 36 in 1910 and  a year later the first female US pilot  Harriet Quimby with ticket number 37 in  1919 there was the first transatlantic  flight and the first flight around the  world in 1924 more recently in 2007  Barrington Irving of Florida flew a  Columbia 400 plane named inspiration  around the world in 96 days 150 hours  making him the youngest and first black  pilot to fly solo around the world there  were other two firsts in black history  1917 was the year the first black combat  pilot flew with a French Flying Corps  Eugene jacques bulid received the Legion  of Honor among many other decorations  just a few years following that in 1921  Bessie Coleman receives her pilot's  license becoming the first u.s. black  female pilot number five she did what  everyone has heard ridiculous stories  about what people have tried to smuggle  onto airplanes but this one might take  the cake a woman from Sweden once tried  to smuggle 75 live snakes in her bra  sounds too wild to be true right well  you're right it was only 65 snakes and  then they found six other lizards the 42  year old woman told TSA agents she was  planning on starting a reptile farm  I guess the movie snakes on a plane is  partially based on truth another story  involves a loving pet who wasn't ready  for his owner to fly away  a chihuahua was sleeping in the other  room as the owner was packing as she  went through security the bag set off an  alarm and was inspected by TSA they were  shocked to find a small chihuahuas  the dog was not injured and was able to  be reunited with its owner who was just  as surprised to find her puppy in her  bag if you want to hear more stories  like this one check out the TSA s  Instagram they post all sorts of  ridiculous things they've confiscated  throughout various airport terminals  number four cleared for  and not all runways are made alike some  are set on sand others on salt others on  busy thoroughfares but the one thing  they do have in common  is the definition a defined rectangular  area on a land aerodrome prepared for  the landing and takeoff of aircraft the  length of a runway varies by type of  plane that each airport supports the  shortest runway in the world is located  on the Caribbean island Sabah Kuan Shoei  raus Qin airport's runway is only 1200  99 feet long which is way too short for  jets that need runway at a minimum of  10,000 feet any aircraft planning on  landing there needs special permission  contrariwise the longest paved runway in  the world is located in China this  runway belonging to the condo BOM de  airport is 18,000 45 feet long the  runway is usually thicker than the  taxiway the area where planes drive to  drop off passengers the landing zone has  to be able to withstand the force and  weight of the landing aircraft and keep  it from cracking or buckling usually  runways are made out of concrete and  topped with asphalt that's about two to  four feet thick while taxiways are  thinner only about 18 inches of concrete  number three lights camera action have  you ever wondered why planes don't  collide midair at night it's because  planes have colored lights on the tips  of its wings Green for right and red for  left these lights let the pilot know if  a plane is coming or going  and how close it might be these  navigation lights are not just found on  planes but also on ships and spacecraft  aircraft also have an anti-collision  light on the bottom of the craft that is  either a strobe or rotating beacon to  aid activities and poor visibility that  twinkling star at night might just be an  airplane number 2  fear of flying some people are  absolutely terrified of flying this  phobia is called aerophobia or a via  phobia and can be debilitating if you  love to travel  most air phobics start experiencing  symptoms as they reach the airport  showing signs of irritability or shown  signs of panic attacks while others  don't start experiencing the phobia  until they're already on the plane but  fear not my frightful fliers there are  many things that make flying incredibly  safe for instance did you know that  airplanes are lightning proof the body  of an airplane is designed like a  Faraday cage  that blocks electric magnetic fields  which allowed the lightning strike to  pass safely from tail to tip causing no  damage to the plane or any of its  contents still not convinced  well in that case you might want to  select a seat in the back of the plane  statistics show that in case of  emergency landings which is already  ultra rare the middle seat near the back  of the plane is the best and safest  place to sit and the best place if  you're worried about turbulence is right  over the wing it's the most balanced  area of the plane and experiences less  movement than the front or the back of  the plane if you have this phobia no  you're not alone some famous arrow  phobics include Ben Affleck Sean Bean  Sandra Bullock and Whoopi Goldberg  number one naps on the clouds did you  know that some planes have secret  compartments above the passenger  compartment on some larger planes these  compartments exist for the crew and are  mostly used for transatlantic flights  that are longer than eight hours  pilots are given FAA mandated break  times for rusting and will either sleep  in one of the cabins take a first or  business class seat designated for them  or a cabin seat that reclines and has  leg and foot supports sometimes the  pilot is allotted for a small rest while  in the cockpit this is why there are  always two pilots aboard while one pilot  sleeps the other will man the controls  but sometimes the pilot will wake up and  see that his copilot has accidentally  drifted off as well luckily most planes  have an autopilot feature this computer  system charged the best course for the  craft and keeps the fuel usage down what  was your best experience on a flight  what was your worst let us know in the  comments below and as always thanks for  reading  you