Eye-Opening Facts About Airplanes

Most of us have used air transportation via airplanes in our lives. How many of you guys out here have questions like why the airplane windows are round, why do all airplanes have different noses, or why do people board on airplanes always from the left side and not the right side?

Well, the thing is that everything related to airplanes is well planned and well thought of. This is the main reason that air travel is the safest mode of transpiration in the world.

Today we are going to answer some of the most bothering questions about airplanes. So scroll down to have a read of these eye-opening facts about airplanes.

Why are aircraft windows round?

Back at the start of the 1950s, the de Havilland company manufactured an aircraft named Comet which was the world’s very first jet airliner. The aircraft, in itself, was a miracle of engineering at that time. However, the aircraft met with a disaster when it fell apart one year later during its flight. In the coming 2 months of the first accident, 2 other Comet aircraft crashed.

To find out the cause of these in-flight crashes, engineers started diagnosing each and every screw of the aircraft and eventually found out the problem. The problem was that the ‘Windows were Square’. The matter of fact is that the pressure in the cabin built up more around the corners of these squared windows which was only increased when the aircraft was flying.

After this problem was diagnosed, the aircraft were built to have round windows and the aircraft since then, are much safer.

Why do planes have different nose shapes?

The noses of the military aircraft are normally pointed. A pointed aircraft nose means that the aircraft will have more speed but it comes with a price. The pilot is not able to see the runway properly. This is why the noses of the commercial passenger jets are made round.

However, that did not stop some Russian engineers to build an aircraft in the 60s that came with tilting nose. They invented the fastest passenger jet that was able to title the nose downward when taking off or landing. As for mid-flight, the nose was brought back to its original position for achieving high flying speeds.

Why planes are painted white?

Almost all the passenger airplanes are painted white. Well, there is a reason, actually quite a few, which are as follows.

Heat reflection:

An aircraft painted white accumulate less heat. This is not only good for passengers but also economically great for the airlines.

It’s less expensive:

Compared to other colored paints, white paint is relatively cheaper.

Prevents collisions with birds:

The white paint allows the bird to see reflection better as they are wired to see the reflection off the white surfaces much better than any other colored surfaces. This is the reason that not many birds collide with aircraft.

It reveals even small dents and cracks:

In case of an accident, the white paint reveals even the minor damages like cracks and dents more visibly.

Why is the exit on the left?

Although not all airplanes have the passenger entrance and exit on the left side, but most do. In order to explain this fact, there are actually three following theories.

Theory no. 1:

The right side is for luggage as the cargo hatch is located on the right side. This makes it unsafe for passengers to board or exit the airplane.

Theory no. 2:

Most people say that the reason is that it is a tradition of the past. Most ships in the old times had ramps on left sides.

Theory no. 3:

The captain of an aircraft sits on the left side. With the location of the entrance and exit door being also left, it allows the captain to park better for passengers to board or exit the airplane.

Why some airplanes are oddly shaped?

Most of you might have heard about special aircraft that are called stealth aircraft. These aircraft are oddly shaped for one simple reason; to make it appear less visible on radar, sonar, infrared or any other detection method made by man.

These aircraft are designed to carry more luggage and also be fuel efficient. The shapes of these aircraft are inspired by birds. Predatory birds like eagles and hawks use this position in order to increase their flight range as well as make their presence less visible.

How do planes look spacious?

Aircraft designers have gone to extreme lengths in order to make the airplanes look bigger and spacious from the inside than they actually are.

As an example, the walls of the airplane’s cabin are designed to reflect the light correctly. The reflection and thus the illumination between the ceiling of the cabin and the overhead bins actually make the ceilings look higher than they really are. These deigning tricks actually help those travelers who suffer from claustrophobia.