Content tagged with “air-travel” under “The Interesting List”

“ Turns out that the environment inside a plane in flight makes us subconsciously crave certain foods and drinks. ”

“ At a testing center in Upstate New York, the US Air Force has mounted a bunch of planes upside down to test their antennae and communications systems. ”

“ Noise and space requirements make it very hard to build new airports, but we still manage to increase passenger capacity through bigger planes, faster turnarounds, and better air traffic control. ”

“ Due to a change in investigative policy, it’s become much easier to determine the root cause of air incidents. The key was to not try and blame anyone. ”

“ In 1986, the Air Force flew a human heart a long distance, very, very fast, so it would survive until it got implanted. ”

“ A long analysis of the disappearance of Malaysia Air Flight 370 provides evidence that pilot suicide is the most likely scenario. ”

“ A fictional airline has been used in dozens of TV shows and movies, often in situations where something bad happens to one of its planes. ”

“ The U-2 spy plane is so difficult to land that they need fast chase cars to follow it down the runway to tell the pilot how things look. This is a video from one of those cars. ”

“ A detailed look at the planes, helicopters, and ground vehicles used to transport the president, and how they themselves are transported. ”

“ The Ghana aviation authority got upset at the continued mechanical issues of a single airliner and banned it from being flown into their country. ”

“ A damaged plane jettisoned a nuclear bomb off the coast of Georgia in 1958. It has never been found. It has been confirmed to contain enriched uranium, but may or may not be capable of detonating. ”

“ It turns out that one of the most practical ways to transport a jet engine is to simply bolt it under the wing of another plane. ”

“ A comprehensive tour of a full-size Boeing 767 turned into a private jet. ”

“ There were some strange airlines in the past, that catered to very specific passenger demographics. ”

“ In 2004, two pilots tried to push an empty airliner to its performance limits. It did not end well. ”

“ The world’s shortest scheduled commercial flight lasts 1 minute, 20 seconds and flies at 350 feet. ”

“ Airlines make little money on ticket sales. Most of their profits come from selling miles/points to marketing partners like credit cards, hotels, and car rental agencies. ”

“ In 1977, a German tourist accidentally de-planed in Bangor, Maine, and spent three days thinking he was in San Francisco. When the truth was discovered, he become a brief sensation. ”

“ A simple picture of Air Force One resulted in a long, forensic discussion about whether the plane was taking off or landing at the time. ”

“ Some fighter jets have a false cockpit painted on the bottom of the fuselage to make it harder to figure out its orientation and direction. ”

“ Microsoft’s Flight Simulator 2020 is so detailed that it’s hard to pick it out from real life. Here’s a side-by-side comparison. ”

“ A plane attempting to land on an aircraft carrier snaps the arresting cable, thus demonstrating why pilots momentarily go to full power at the instant they catch the cable. ”

“ There is a specific height at which an aviator is considered an astronaut, at which point different laws apply. ”

“ For over 12 years, one guy has been working on the same paper model of a Boeing 777. ”

“ There’s an airline that is forced to fly a single route by a decades-old treaty. It tries very hard to hide its own existence. ”

“ All the details behind how the most famous flying gun in the world works. Hint: it’s as simple as possible, and designed to do one thing really well. ”

“ Lots of air cargo is carried in the holds of passenger flights, so it’s a problem when passengers stop flying. Here’s an analysis of how the industry has adapted. ”

“ The size difference demonstrated between a Soviet-era Mil Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter and a more common passenger helicopter. ”

“ An unexpected tailwind got a 747 across the Atlantic a full 80 minutes ahead of schedule, breaking the five-hour mark. ”

“ A factual explanation of why helicopters crash more often than planes. ”

“ A full-length documentary about the establishment of an airport and commercial air service on the remote island of St. Helena. ”

“ Spoiler: no passenger has ever landed a large commercial airliner like in the movies, but it’s happened several times with smaller planes. ”

“ There was once an attempt to make a commercially viable autogyro. ”

“ A deeply uncomfortable truth is that many commercial aircraft are poorly maintained and pilots depend so much on automation that they simply don’t know what to do when something unexpected happens. ”

“ The process of ejecting from a fighter plane is far more intricate than you would think. More violent, too. ”

“ A fascinating conference presentation where a guy (sometime hilariously) explains the insane process of how to land a Space Shuttle. ”

“ In 1983, an inexperienced pilot in British Harrier couldn’t locate the aircraft carrier he was supposed to land on, and had to set down on a Spanish cargo ship before he ran out of fuel. ”

“ This short video of a landing at Gibraltar International Airport shows the only way a tiny, narrow country can fit an airport runway – by bisecting an active city street, at which cars have to wait for the landing plane to cross (at 0:43 in the video). ”

“ Fascinating look at the logistics of flying NFL teams everywhere, and how this might play out if the league completes a rumored expansion to London. ”

“ An attempt to find evidence of something which seems inexplicably fabricated. ”

“ The headline question doesn’t really get answered, but this does shed some new light on what happened, and what state the recovery efforts are in. ”