Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Airplanes

Since the first plane created by the Wright Brothers, they have changed a great deal. Those wood and cloth contraptions of the past are entirely different from the massive sleek looking Boeing Dreamliner of this modern era.

With all the advancements being made in the aerospace technology with each passing day, it’s hard to keep track of all the amazing things that the planes of today are capable of doing.

Today for our readers we have gathered a bunch of amazing facts about airplanes that they might not have known.

Scroll down to educate yourself with these facts you probably didn’t know about airplanes.

Airplanes have no Safest Seat:-

According to FAA, there is literally no safest seat on an airplane. Still, according to a study, the middle seats of an airplane have been deduced to have lowest fatality rate in a plane crash. The research revealed that the seat in the back of the airplane have a fatality rate of 32 percent while the middle third and front third seats have the fatality rates of 39 and 38 percent respectively.

Still, there are lots of variables that make it impossible to exactly know which seat is actually safest to survive in a plane crash. However, air travel has been deemed as the safest mode of traveling in the world.

Secret Bedrooms in Airplanes:-

On the long haul flights, cabin crew may be forced to work for up to 16 hours. To help them combat the fatigue of the long journey, some airplanes like Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner, have outfitted tiny bedrooms where the cabin crew can actually rest for a little bit.

These bedrooms are accessible only by a hidden staircase that ends up to a small, low ceiling room with 6 to 10 beds along with a bathroom and even an in-flight entertainment.

Airplane tires are designed to not blast upon landing:-

The tires of the airplane are designed to withstand an incredible weight load of up to 38 tons. The tire will need to hit the ground more than 500 times at the speed of 170- mph on the ground before needing to get changed.

In addition to this, the tires of the airplanes have a pressure of 200 psi which is six times the pressure of the tires in a car. If there is a need for a new airplane tire, the ground crew just like a car, will jack up the airplane and replace the old tire with a new one.

Dim lights of the Cabin upon landing:-

When an airplane makes a landing at night time, the cabin crew deliberately dims down the interior lights of the cabin. This is done for an unlikely event that if a landing goes bad and passengers need emergency evacuation, their eyes will already be adjusted to the darkness.

Also, the flight attendants ask the passengers to raise their window shades during the landing so they may be able to see the outside situation in case of an emergency to see which side of the airplane is suitable for better evacuation.

Ashtrays in airplane bathrooms:-

Although the FAA has banned the smoking on an airplane many years ago, there are still ashtrays in airplane lavatories. The reason provided for placing these ashtrays is that despite a no-smoking policy and numerous no-smoking signs, airlines have figured that at some point some chain smoker passenger might decide to light up a cigarette on an airplane. If they do so, they will do it in a confined place like bathroom of an airplane. As for disposing the cigarette butt, they would them dispose it in the ashtray instead of the trash can where it may start a fire.

However, be advised as there is a huge fine for smoking in the bathroom of an airplane.

Tiny Hole in the airplane windows:-

There is a tiny hole in all the windows of the airplane. This is there to regulate the cabin pressure. Most of the airplane windows are made up of three panels of Acrylic. The exterior window keeps the outside elements outside while maintaining the cabin pressure. If something unlikely happens to the exterior pane, then the second pane acts as an emergency option.

The tiny hole in the interior window is to regulate the pressure for the middle pane to remain intact until an unlikely event occurs.

The reason why airplane food tastes so bad:-

Anyone who has ever had done air travel complained about the airplane food. However, the food is not to be blamed for it as the problem lies with the plane. According to a research study, the environment inside of an airplane actually alters the taste of the foods and drinks making sweet items taste less sweet and salty items tasting saltier.

The recycled air in the cabin also adds to the bad taste. This air makes the cabin environment less humid making everything taste dull and smell bland.

It is recommended that when flying, try to skip the meal and drink a glass of tomato juice instead.

Trails left by airplanes in the sky:-

The white lines that the planes leave in the sky behind them are actually trails of condensation. This is why they have been named as ‘Contrails’. Engines of airplanes also leave the water vapors as a part of their combustion process. When those hot water vapors are pumped out of the exhaust of the aircraft and come in contact with the cooler air outside, they create those puffy white lines.

This is the same as the thing when you are able to see your breath when it is cold outside.