How does an airplane flying around the world remain at the same altitude?
Q. Maybe this is a stupid question, but I started thinking about this and I know there probably is a simple logical answer. The world is round, so how does an airplane that flys from New York to Japan at 30,000 feet remain at the same altitude if the world is round? Gravity? I am not asking how the airplane flys or stays straight & level
Asked by tommy - Tue May 1 18:47:15 2007 - - 9 Answers - 0 Comments

A. It would be much easier if you start picturing atmospheric flight as a summation of discrete legs of straight lines. The flight around the globe at 30,000 feet will be flown along small tangents off a circle of radius 20,908,126* + 30,000 feet. It is a continuous feed back loop, altitude will be gained or lost in each short leg of straight line flight, but attempted to be corrected in the next. Or in other words, the flight around the world is not in a circle, but along a polygon. *mean radius of earth (6,372.797 km or 20,908,126 feet)
Answered by Firefox - Wed May 2 04:36:31 2007

Resource to determine the cost of owning an airplane?
Q. What sites/resources are available to determine the real cost of owning an airplane? This can be some sort of guide or calculator and it can cost money. I need the best way to figure out the total cost of owning and operating an airplane. (Don't have a specific model in mind yet)
Asked by Blake - Mon Jun 16 15:44:17 2008 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Besides obvious things like fuel consumption, a lot of your costs are going to depend on local prices for fuel, hangars / tiedowns, and maintenance, so do some research at your local airport to get a firm idea of those costs. Be sure that you factor in your cost of getting to and from an airport too, especially if you have more than one airport to choose from. Insurance is another cost that you need to figure out before you buy an airplane, so get some ballpark quotes from at least a couple of insurers for several different airplanes. Rates greatly depend on your flying experience and ratings as well as the airplane you want to insure, where you intend to fly, whether your plane will be hangared or tied down outside, etc. The amount of… [cont.]
Answered by Ben Dere Dun Dat - Mon Jun 16 16:41:05 2008

Aviation experts: Which types of airplane are inherently unsafe?
Q. Yes I know all types of commerical airplane are supposed to be extremely safe, but surely it is the case that some are inherently less safe than others by design. A few examples: Aircraft with outwards opening cargo doors. Single and twin-engine aircraft with a poor power-to-weight ratio. T-tail aircraft. Get my drift? So can someone give me a list of aircraft that the paranoid flyer should avoid?
Asked by nectar_pepsi - Mon Apr 7 22:17:31 2008 - - 15 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Just remember, the video on youtube of the auto pilot crashing the jet into the trees...that was an air bus. That airliner that crashed in New York, after shedding the vertical stabilizer... also an air bus. See where I'm going with this? Anyway, back to the question at hand. Every airplane is safe, when operated within it's intended performance envelope. Fly a plane equipped for vfr only into ifr conditions, and it's unsafe. All of the things you've listed are untrue, as there are certain safety and performance standards around which all aircraft are designed and built. I've got 450 hours in a seminole (T-tailed twin) and the company I was flying them for uses them exclusively for over 15k flight hours per year on all of the airframes… [cont.]
Answered by FreeFlyinFool - Mon Apr 7 23:38:41 2008