Aviation questions

Thanks a lot !

Equipped with the most powerful jet engines ever made , can a Boeing 777 reach supersonic speeds in spite of its design ?
 
skyhawk said:
Thanks a lot !

Equipped with the most powerful jet engines ever made , can a Boeing 777 reach supersonic speeds in spite of its design ?
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Yes, for brief periods of time. No commercial airliner is permitted to fly supersonic though and is highly dangerous.
 
skyhawk said:
Flight levels relevant to a airliner travelling from New York to Seoul.
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Uhmmm, really? Flying from Worcester/Robertson (in the Western Cape) to Cape Town (also in the Western Cape :D) usually requires the use of Flight Levels even though the transition altitude is 6500ft (which is pretty high)...
 
Double post. Most airliners would be incapable of travelling beyond Mach 1. The friction on the fuselage becomes too high and the aircraft fuselage would start to expand and contract in ways that it was not designed to withstand.

Supersonic jets often leak on the ground. Only when they are flying fast do the panels actually expand into their correct positions.
 
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skyhawk said:
Hi !

I am writing a short story and have questions regarding planes:

1) If a plane changes direction to avoid bad weather , by how long is the flight delayed (approx) ?
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1 or 2 thunder cells will only delay a flight by 3 or 4 minutes. Aircraft fly at roughly 8 nautical miles per minute, so for every 8 extra track miles, you add a minute of flying time. These storms would usually only require a 10 or 20 degree course deviation.

A large cold front is difficult to get around, so the delays can be a lot longer. You literally have to fly along the edge of the front until you can find a gap through. We have flown from Cape Town almost as far as Gaberone just trying to find a way to Lanseria. These delays can add 20 minutes of flying time if you are unlucky, but that would be in an extreme situation as described above.

The biggest delays are caused when the storm is over the runway. The wind swings around unpredictably, so it is not safe to attempt a landing. Aircraft then enter holding patterns around the airport and wait for the storm to pass. Departing aircraft wait on the ground because too much of a tailwind could prevent the aircraft from getting airborne before the end of the runway.
 
Idiosyncratic said:
Hell no... Breaking the sound barrier would cause major (probably irreparable) structural damage.
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The Concorde was a supersonic airliner. Does it mean a B777 needs to be made of the same metal as the Concorde which is an aluminum alloy called RR58 ?
 
If you are prepared to visit Centurion, I can arrange for you to talk to our pilots and flight engineers for some proper info. PM me for details.
 
Tbh, a Fedex freighter went supersonic in a dive once,
So it's possible, however unlikely....

As for bad weather, one never knows, depends on aircraft,runway and pilots training.....
 
Remember the 2010 Volcanic ash in Europe that grounded flights in several countires for several days ? Can weather cause that kind of disruption ?
 
skyhawk said:
The Concorde was a supersonic airliner. Does it mean a B777 needs to be made of the same metal as the Concorde which is an aluminum alloy called RR58 ?
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It's more about the design than the alloy, although, yes, that plays a role. Everything plays a role :)

eg2505 said:
Tbh, a Fedex freighter went supersonic in a dive once,
So it's possible, however unlikely....

As for bad weather, one never knows, depends on aircraft,runway and pilots training.....
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Source please? I'm a pilot who tells lots of stories but haven't heard this one yet :D
 
"...it is plausible that the plane would begin to disintegrate once the speed surpassed its so-called "design limit."
There's the answer everyone has been waiting for ;)
 
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