airplanes

Neat Video Shows Two Passenger Jets Landing Side-By-Side at the Same Time

The best part about flying on an airplane is that moment during the final approach: you look outside your airplane window and see the city where you’re about to land from way up above, and comment on why so many people have pools in their backyards and see how big the freeways are and delight…

Sploid Casey Chan Jun 13

How Can Budget Airlines Be So Cheap to Fly?

Budget airlines like JetBlue and Southwest in the United States, and Ryanair and Easy Jet in Europe, are often significantly cheaper to fly compared to legacy airlines like Delta and British Airways. How is this possible? Flying is expensive! The simple answer is that budget airlines simplify as many costs as possible. Sometimes it’s obvious…

Sploid Casey Chan May 31

How Do Stealth Airplanes Work?

How does radar not detect a B-2 stealth bomber? How can an aircraft with a 172-foot wingspan register as small as just a large bird, if anything at all? The Northrop B-2 Spirit escapes radar by being specifically designed to reflect radio waves away from the source so it’d never be detected. But the stealth…

Sploid Casey Chan May 24

Forensics Official: Flight MS804 Evidence ‘Points Towards an Explosion’

Since last Friday, search teams have been gathering debris from the crash site of Flight MS804. Now, an Egyptian forensics official has admitted that from what’s been recovered so far it seems likely there was an explosion aboard the airplane. Speaking to Reuters, an anonymous Egyptian forensics official explained that “[t]he size of the remains…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe May 24

EgyptAir Plane Carrying 66 Crashes Into Mediterranean Sea [Updated]

An EgyptAir Airbus A320 with 66 people on board has disappeared from radar above Egyptian airspace, somewhere over the eastern Mediterranean. The airline says that flight MS804 left Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on Wednesday at 23:09 local time and was scheduled to arrive in Cairo at around 03:00 local time. Radar contact was…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe May 19

Thanks TSA: Airport Security Lines Are Now 3 Hours Long [Updated]

Flying this week might make you reconsider your decision to ever leave home. While the federal government scrapes together the cash to hire the 6,000 new TSA workers needed to get the airline industry through the summer travel season, airports are telling passengers to suck it up and wait. And wait. And wait. Why are…

Tech News Alissa Walker May 17

Watch an Airbus A380 Abort a Landing When It’s Incredibly Close to the Ground

Here’s a British Airways Airbus A380 attempting to land at the Vancouver airport. You can see the world’s largest passenger airplane make its final approach and come so, so close to the ground—but then decide to abort and make a go-around instead. It’s crazy impressive to see such a big plane make a maneuver like…

Sploid Casey Chan May 16

Solar Impulse Has Made It to Tulsa

Solar Impulse has chalked up another 1,000 miles in its bid to circumnavigate the globe. The all-electric solar-powered airplane successfully flew from Phoenix to Tulsa, landing in the dead of night. The flight took just over 18 hours, with the airplane—under the control of Bertrand Piccard—managing to hit an average speed of just 54 mph.…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe May 13

Watch the World’s Most Patient Model Maker Build Flawless Airplane Replicas

When it comes to a steady hand and an impeccable attention to detail, David Damek’s model making skills rival brain surgeons when it comes to the precision of his work. His YouTube channel is full of lengthy videos detailing his wonderfully detailed builds, but be forewarned if you’re racing towards a deadline at work, you…

Sploid Andrew Liszewski May 12

Why Do Airplane Wings Curl Up at the End?

Have you ever noticed that airplane wings curl up at the very end? Why is that? Called winglets, the curled tips shrink the vortices at the end of the wing, which in turn improves its fuel efficiency. What’s cool is that this wingtip design is stolen from nature: birds curl their wings when they fly.…

Sploid Casey Chan May 11

What the Heck Makes Flying So Expensive?

Is it the fuel? Not really. Even though giant passenger jets do guzzle down fuel at a ridiculous 0.67 miles per gallon—seriously, they need 1.5 gallons of jet fuel for every mile traveled—there are so many people on an airplane that the fuel cost gets split down to a much more reasonable price: a per-person…

Sploid Casey Chan May 10

This Badass Photo of a Fighter Jet Looks Like a Comic Book

Just a great photo. Here’s the wall of fire display at the 2016 Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The silhouette of the plane against the giant dark orange and black flames makes it look more like art from some comic book than a real life shot. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow…

Sploid Casey Chan May 4

Solar Impulse Safely Made It to Arizona

After restarting its bid to fly around the world last week, the team behind the all-electric solar-powered airplane Solar Impulse has now made it from California to Arizona. This 16-hour flight was short compared to the previous leg of trip, which saw the craft travel for 62 hours across the Pacific Ocean. The airplane was…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe May 3

The Airplane Seating Arrangement that Triggers ‘Air Rage’

New research shows that the mere presence of a first class cabin on an airplane—plus the added experience of having to shuffle through this cabin while boarding—contributes to “air rage,” both among economy and first class passengers. Air rage typically describes disruptive or violent behavior committed by passengers and airplane crew. Flight attendants often have…

Tech News George Dvorsky May 2

This Blue Angels Stunt Looks So Insanely Dangerous

The Blue Angels are no strangers to suicidal-looking formations and dives. But this one in particular really stands out as looking quite incredibly dangerous. In this photograph, two of the squadron’s pilots perform over the Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. It’s a trick of the angle, of course: The airplanes aren’t actually…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Apr 26

Solar Impulse 2 Successfully Landed in California After 62 Hours in the Air

After taking off from Hawaii at 6:30am, pilot Bertrand Piccard reported that he felt great after a day of travel, and after a total 62 hours of flight time, he successfully landed at Moffett Airfield, California. The solar-powered aircraft is working on circumnavigating the planet, and was grounded 9 months ago after its record breaking…

Tech News Andrew Liptak Apr 24

This Is How an Airplane Picks Up a Banner While Flying in the Air

Ever wonder how those advertising airplanes that annoy you at beaches get their flying banners attached to the airplane? Me neither. I thought the planes just had those banners attached when they took off. Not the case! Apparently, the planes have to first be flying before they hook onto a specific target in order to…

Sploid Casey Chan Apr 20

Interesting Animation Explains How Airplanes Are Able to Fly

Drag. Thrust. Lift. Jet engines. Propellers. Wings. This animation breaks down just exactly how an airplane flies and it’s pretty damn interesting. Each design element of the plane basically solves a law of physics and is part of the reason how an airplane can fly. Take the shape of a wing, it produces lift from…

Sploid Casey Chan Apr 20

A Prototype of DARPA’s Badass Vertical Take-Off Aircraft Can Already Fly

Earlier this year, DARPA unveiled its latest concept design for a new vertical take-off and landing craft. Now, a working scale prototype has already made its first successful flight. Aurora Flight Sciences has been working on the new vertical take-off aircraft—which is called LightningStrike according to The Verge—since it was awarded the second phase of…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Apr 19

This Is What Earth’s Air Traffic Looks Like From Space

Satellites get a wonderful view of the Earth and since October 2015, one in particular has been tumbling through space while keeping a watchful eye on the planet’s air traffic. This is what its seen. The European Space Agency’s GomX-3 CubeSat is a little modular satellite that’s equipped with a distinctive helical antenna. It uses…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Apr 8

Neat Video Shows Two Passenger Jets Landing Side-By-Side at the Same Time

How Can Budget Airlines Be So Cheap to Fly?

How Do Stealth Airplanes Work?

Forensics Official: Flight MS804 Evidence ‘Points Towards an Explosion’

EgyptAir Plane Carrying 66 Crashes Into Mediterranean Sea [Updated]

Thanks TSA: Airport Security Lines Are Now 3 Hours Long [Updated]

Watch an Airbus A380 Abort a Landing When It’s Incredibly Close to the Ground

Solar Impulse Has Made It to Tulsa

Watch the World’s Most Patient Model Maker Build Flawless Airplane Replicas

Why Do Airplane Wings Curl Up at the End?

What the Heck Makes Flying So Expensive?

This Badass Photo of a Fighter Jet Looks Like a Comic Book

Solar Impulse Safely Made It to Arizona

The Airplane Seating Arrangement that Triggers ‘Air Rage’

This Blue Angels Stunt Looks So Insanely Dangerous

Solar Impulse 2 Successfully Landed in California After 62 Hours in the Air

This Is How an Airplane Picks Up a Banner While Flying in the Air

Interesting Animation Explains How Airplanes Are Able to Fly

A Prototype of DARPA’s Badass Vertical Take-Off Aircraft Can Already Fly

This Is What Earth’s Air Traffic Looks Like From Space

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