Airplanes

After having fought multiple wars European nations were finally able to unite as a union. A logical next step was to collaborate on military research and development. A number of military projects have since come out of the EU. These are the 6 best European fighter jets. Fighter aircraft are a critical part of any

We are so used to many of the conventions of modern airplanes that we often don’t give them a second thought. That said, the moment someone stops to ask you “why do airplanes have round windows instead of square ones?” you start to wonder why you didn’t wonder that yourself. In retrospect, it seems like

Hey, who are you calling heavy? While all pilots like to treat their aircraft like the ladies they are, thankfully planes are much more accepting of bluntly descriptive language. What Does “Heavy” Mean? Aircraft are classified based on their maximum takeoff weights (MTOW). A “heavy” aircraft is one whose takeoff weight is more than 300,000

No one really likes going to the bathroom on an airplane, and no one really wants to think about what happens when you unleash that tremendous suctioned flush. Where Does Airplane Waste Go? They store it onboard for the duration of the flight. Once landed, a special truck comes and sucks out the contents of

We don’t tend to think much about airplane windows, and when we do, it’s often for the wrong reason. If you aren’t a pilot or airline industry insider, you can hear all sorts of horror stories about windows cracking, but surely they’re stronger than that, right? Well, thankfully, yes – airplane windows aren’t made from

Retard means reduce engine thrust to idle. Here is why Airbus jets call RETARD at 20 feet on landing, and what Boeing shows on screen instead.

It has been a little over 130 years since the Wright Brothers first flew, and a little over 50 years since Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Both the Wild Blue Yonder and the Final Frontier have long excited the imagination, but why aren’t they one and the same? Why can’t planes fly into

It’s all too easy to take the pace of air travel today for granted. Trips that took days or weeks to complete in the era of steamships and steam engines can be completed in mere hours in the age of commercial jetliners. Yet planes aren’t seem to be getting any faster. Why don’t planes fly

We think of airplanes today as being able to take us anywhere. We expect planes to be able to take everywhere from Boston to Berlin to Baghdad to Beijing and beyond, but there are limits to this. Extremely hot weather can leave flights grounded. So why can’t planes fly in extreme heat? Reduced air density,

Flying in icy conditions can be dangerous under the best circumstances. If possible, storms and cold conditions are best avoided. However, that simply isn’t realistic for pilots in cold weather climates. As such, pilots need to make sure that their planes are as ice-free as possible, which means de-icing them. Why Are Planes Deiced? For