3 ms·
I guess you can make it hit the runway, if you want. I watched a doc with them testing planes and they, quite literally, put some lumber on the tail to protect
by KGIII 9y ago
I guess you can make it hit the runway, if you want. I watched a doc with them testing planes and they, quite literally, put some lumber on the tail to protect it from damaging the metal when they hit the runway with the tail. As in, they were intentionally trying to hit the runway with the tail.
- mikeash 9y agoYes, the actual answer to the question is "because the pilots are trained not to hit the tail, since it's expensive and makes the passengers nervous." It's a decent little article but it seems to not quite be on the same topic as the headline suggests.
- nopzor 9y agoYes, pilots are trained, and the design helps too. You first rotate the airframe at Vr speed (velocity rotate). Pilots are trained on their aircraft how much to rotate, and the design of the rear fuselage allows for initial rotation. Once you have rotated (ie. nose up) you wait for positive rate of climb, and you depart the earth, and possibly even increase your rate of climb. All without hitting the runway.
- KGIII 9y agoYeah, someone has added a video of this and it's currently at the top. I don't think I'd like to try that.
- mikeash 9y agoI know of at least one major crash caused by a tail strike, although the problem took years to manifest after a bad repair job: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_123 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_123 (Worth noting that this airplane's tail strike happened on landing, not takeoff, but it's bad either way.) Definitely best to avoid them if you can....
- eternalban 9y ago"Explosive decompression": https://youtu.be/awMHJ_ZZF5Y https://youtu.be/awMHJ_ZZF5Y