5 ms·
A well-maintained airplane can work for many more years than this. They are not like cars. All the important functional parts are being replaced regularly and t
by Erlich_Bachman 6y ago
A well-maintained airplane can work for many more years than this. They are not like cars. All the important functional parts are being replaced regularly and the structure of the frame is checked and repaired if needed.
- dopamean 6y agoA car could work this way too.
- wiz21c 6y agoGiven the little environmental issues we have these days, a car must work this way.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- hedora 6y agoI was shocked when I saw that what percentage of car emissions are due to manufacturing. “Only” driving a car for something like 100,000 miles doubles the per-mile carbon emissions. (I can’t remember the exact number.). EV’s have more embodied carbon, so they’re removing less than half the emissions in that part of their life. This will drastically improve as the grid decarbonizes. However, we really should be focusing on swapping out the drive trains on 2000-2020’s most popular models.
- HPsquared 6y agoIn theory it could, the same principles and judgements are in play - it's just that the relative prices of keeping an old car vs. replacement are different to that of an airliner so the decision tends to be more towards replacing old cars. The equation is of course different for valuable collector's cars.
- notahacker 6y agoMore importantly, you are allowed to drive a car without aircraft-style inspection and part replacement regimes and periodic total rebuilds. If you weren't, few car accidents would occur due to poorly maintained vehicles, but fewer people would be able to afford to drive.
- quesera 6y agoAs it is already, very few car accidents are caused by poorly maintained vehicles. Humans are the weak link.
- manojlds 6y agoCould is the keyword
- ThinkingGuy 6y agoThis post on reddit from a few years ago describes what all would be required to maintain a car the same way as an airplane: https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/3v1hzj/how_do_old_planes_keep_flying_safely/cxk2sf4/ https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/3v1hzj/how_do_old...
- temporallobe 6y agoIndeed, a regularly maintained older aircraft is a virtual Ship of Theseus.
- 14 6y agoI love the Ship of Theseus story it reminds me of a Chrysler I used to own. Always replacing parts. I finally named my van Theseus. Then I got rid of it and went into a Toyota.
- rtkwe 6y agoThe airframe of the fuselage still remains largely the same though right so there's never really the moment where there's no original parts left.
- Aloha 6y agoA well maintained car can outlast an airplane ;-)
- Daho0n 6y agoNot in kilometers "driven".
- davrosthedalek 6y agoWell, except for that one Tesla, probably also not for kilometers flown ;)
- BoorishBears 6y agoThe airline has constant safety complaints and was a week away from losing the ability to fly over safety concerns some time in the last year https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2019-11-12/sriwijaya-air-severs-garuda-ties-raising-safety-concerns https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2019-1...
- jmnicolas 6y agoYes if I'm not mistaken B52 bombers are at least twice this age!
- dehrmann 6y agoYou're still subject to max pressurization cycles, though.
- ashtonkem 6y agoAverage flight length matters. The airframe wears out based on pressurization and depressurization cycles, not just age or flight hours. Planes associated with short hop routes tend to wear out faster.