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Overcoming Fear of Flying

Lesson 2: Airplanes and Outside Influences

Aircraft Construction and Redundant Systems

Before we discuss the plane itself, we should know something about the air it flies through. Air isn’t just empty space. It has mass, which means earth’s gravity attracts it and gives it weight.

Air is colorless, odorless, and has no taste. It’s composed of nitrogen, oxygen and some other gases, including water vapor. It has currents and pressure that create the ability to float. (Picture an inflated balloon floating away when you let go of the string.) You can feel air movement on a windy day. Air is the sea that we are submerged in.

So how do planes rise and navigate this sea of air? First, and most important are the wings. No matter how big or small they are, all planes fly on the same principle. Their wings are shaped and tilted so the air moving over them moves faster than the air moving under them. The faster moving air above has less pressure than the slower moving air below and the higher air pressure pushes the wing up.

It will probably surprise you to know how flexible the wings are. Many people are afraid the wings will break. I watched an airplane construction video and one of the things they showed was testing the wings of a new plane. Pressure far greater than any plane will ever experience was exerted on the wings without any problem. There are moveable surfaces on the plane’s wings and tail that let the pilot maneuver the plane and control its altitude. For instance, the tail fin (vertical stabilizer) keeps the plane aligned with its direction of motion. The rudder helps to turn the plane. Flaps and slats – which you’ve probably heard of – help the plane during takeoff and landing by increasing or decreasing the curve of the wings.

What would a plane be without its engines? A glider! Did you know that a plane flying at 35,000 feet can glide 99.43 miles in the extremely unlikely event both engines failed? The higher a plane is flying, the farther it can glide. Jet engines are very reliable and even if by some chance one failed, the likelihood that both would fail (or all three, depending on the plane) is miniscule.

A commercial, two engine plane can easily fly on one engine. Even if the engine fails during takeoff, the pilot can still fly the plane. It’s procedure for the pilot to return to the airport and land as quickly as possible but there is no danger during the return to the airport.

In the construction video I watched, they also showed how they test the engines’ ability to handle birds by firing dead chickens directly into the engines. It’s possible that a large flock of birds can damage an engine, but the pilot would just shut that engine down and fly safely on the other one if that happened.

Some people are afraid that the door of the plane might open during the flight either by accident or by someone attempting to open it. The door cannot be opened during a flight. Pressure holds the door in place and no person is strong enough to open it. You should also know the windows of a plane are made so strong they can’t break. There are three separate layers to them and the two inner ones are backups for the outer one.

It’s very important to know that every airplane has redundant systems. That means that everything important is duplicated for safety. For example, the pilot and copilot have duplicate controls and there are spare compasses, altimeters, hydraulic pumps that operate the controls, at least two systems to lower the landing gear and more. Planes even have at least two times the amount of power they need to fly.

The FAA has manufacturing standards that each plane must meet and there are inspectors to make sure the planes meet those standards. Manufacturers routinely exceed those standards, including the requirement that the wings support at least one and one-half times the weight of the plane.

Airplanes are also equipped with special safety features such as:

  • Ground warning alert proximity systems – warn the pilot if the plane is coming too close to the ground with a “pull up” alert.
  • Wind shear detection devices – warn the pilot if the plane is in a wind shear situation so he can take evasive action.
  • Traffic and collision avoidance systems – back up air traffic control to avoid midair collisions. It monitors other planes in the vicinity of a plane and gives the pilot directions to avoid it. To learn more about this system, you can visit: http://www.caasd.org/proj/tcas/
  • Weather radar – one source of weather information that pilots are taught to interpret and thus avoid thunderstorms, etc.

    Manufacturers put planes through vigorous tests before the planes ever see a passenger. They continually make sure the planes can fly safely under extreme conditions. I wish they did that with cars.

    Optional Reading
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