Why do planes fly at 36000 feet?

Cruising at 36,000 feet helps with that. The higher altitude means thinner air. Thinner air means there's less of a drag against the plane. And that means it can keep going at the same speed without guzzling more gas.

What is the highest altitude a plane can fly?

Question: What is the highest altitude an airplane can fly? Answer: The highest commercial airliner altitude was 60,000 feet by Concorde. The highest military air-breathing engine airplane was the SR-71 — about 90,000 feet. The highest airliner flying today reaches 45,000 feet.

Why do commercial planes fly at 35000 feet?

The biggest reason for this altitude lies in fuel efficiency. The thin air creates less drag on the aircraft, which means the plane can use less fuel in order to maintain speed. Less wind resistance, more power, less effort, so to speak. Spending less on fuel is also great for airlines, for obvious reasons.

What happens if a plane flies too high?

Sudden cabin depressurization: A loss of cabin pressure can occur if a plane flies too high, and if that happens, passengers and crew—including pilots—can lose consciousness.

Can planes fly at 50000 feet?

The highest certified altitude of an airliner was Concorde's 60,000 feet. Today some of the corporate jets can fly at 51,000 feet.

Why do planes usually fly at 36,000 feet?

What do pilots see when flying?

Whether flying at night or during the day, pilots need to see some kind of horizon. They use this to determine the airplane's attitude. At night pilots will turn their gaze from outside to inside and use the artificial horizon. The artificial horizon is normally a simply globe split into two hemispheres.

At what altitude can planes no longer fly?

Although, of course, air traffic control in each airspace has ultimate authority over an aircraft's precise altitude. Most commercial aircraft are approved to fly at a maximum of around 42,000 feet.

Can a plane accidentally fly into space?

Most Airplanes Need Air To Fly

Additionally, the jet engines of airplanes actually work by sucking air through them. All of this means that for almost all airplanes, space flight is impossible. You just can't take the air out of airplanes!

What happens if a plane window breaks?

In brief, it's all to do with air pressure in the cabin. Without compressed air, passengers would be unable to breathe due to a lack of oxygen at over 10,000ft. When a window breaks, the seal holding this compressed air inside it breaks, and it rushes out to equalise conditions inside the cabin with those outside.

Why do planes do not fly over the Pacific?

Because of its vast size, crossing the Pacific Ocean requires a staggering quantity of fuel. However, most commercial aircraft do not fly directly over the Pacific Ocean; instead, they choose what are known as 'curved paths'. These paths offers a faster, more efficient route given the curved nature of the earth.

At what altitude does turbulence stop?

So what's the best altitude to minimize your exposure to moderate or greater turbulence? Well, considering both in-cloud and out-of-cloud turbulence, flight between 8,000 and 12,000 feet will allow for the smoothest ride, on average.”

Why do planes stay still in mid air?

Airplanes stay in the air because of one simple fact-- there is no net force on them. And with no net force, an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays that way, even if it's in midair 10 kilometers above the Earth's surface.

Do planes fly lower at night?

Generally, aircraft that are flown at night will operate within the same altitudes as aircraft flown during daylight.

Do planes fly over Everest?

Tim Morgan, a commercial pilot writing for Quora says aircraft can fly above 40,000 feet, and hence it is possible to fly over Mount Everest which stands at 29,031.69 feet. However, typical flight routes do not travel above Mount Everest as the mountains create unforgiving weather.

What is the highest altitude a person can breathe?

It is the lack of oxygen rather than the reduced air pressure that actually limits the height at which we can breathe. An elevation of about 20,000 feet above sea level is the maximum height at which sufficient oxygen exists in the air to sustain us.

What airline has not had a crash?

Running since 1929, Hawaiian is among the oldest airlines in the world but, remarkably, it has never suffered a single fatal crash or hull loss.

Where is the hardest place to land a plane?

Paro, Bhutan

Planes can only land during the day at Paro. Cantilevered 7,364 feet above sea level, Paro is Bhutan's only international airport -- yet few pilots are cleared to land there, so tricky is the approach.

What is the most brutal aircraft accident?

KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736, March 27, 1977

This crash remains the deadliest ever, claiming the lives of 583 people when two 747s collided on a foggy runway on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

How cold is the space?

According to data from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, the temperature of space is 2.725K (2.725 degrees above absolute zero).

How many miles up is space?

A common definition of space is known as the Kármán Line, an imaginary boundary 100 kilometers (62 miles) above mean sea level. In theory, once this 100 km line is crossed, the atmosphere becomes too thin to provide enough lift for conventional aircraft to maintain flight.

Can airplanes fly in rain?

Yes, planes can fly in rain. Nowadays, airplanes are designed to fly in most weather conditions, even heavy rain. Even small planes can comfortably fly in heavy rain. Rain only becomes a threat when associated with other weather conditions, such as snow, thunderstorms, or ice.

What's the slowest a plane can fly and stay in the air?

Technically this is the so-called 'stall speed', where air passes over the wings fast enough to sustain altitude, and for small planes this can be less than 50km/h (31mph).

How cold is it at 40000 feet?

After all, commercial airplanes can cruise at an altitude of nearly 40,000 feet, where temperatures hover around -70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Why do planes fly so low?

Why do the aircraft fly so low? Aircraft have to fly low in order to properly line up with the runways and execute safe landings.