Commercial Airliners

Status
Not open for further replies.
Saw "Flight" starring Denzil Washington last night.
Would it be possible for a commercial aircraft to have been flown inverted or was that pure fiction?

Generally, no. I haven't seen that movie so I don't know what maneuver was proposed, but aerobatic (or acrobatically competent) aircraft tend to have high thrust/weight ratios, have high structural integrity (can take high force loads), and frequently straight wing design (i.e., more like the Spitfire* and less like the Concorde). But if you can keep g-loads down, and you have enough altitude to work with, even a heavy airliner could potentially do some upside down flight**. (And by "do some" I mean recover without structural failure and before ground-induced sudden deceleration)

But you can definitely fly upside down with very low g-loads, if you know what you're doing



It also helps that Bob Hoover flew like a god among men

*The Spitfire may be the most beautiful wing ever designed for its purpose, but was very expensive to design (all elliptical and near-elliptical designs are). For reference, the F22 wing is almost a modern version of the elliptical design, although some of this design is for low radar signature as well as low drag

**although I've been told that many commercial airliners could never do a barrel roll and at best could accomplish a split S if they were ever upset and inverted

 

For reference, the F22 wing is almost a modern version of the elliptical design, although some of this design is for low radar signature as well as low drag
Mate. That is not the F-22. What you are linking there is the Northrop/McDonald Douglas YF-23 (i mean, the aircraft is even labelled!!), the competitor to the eventual F-22 for the ATF program. It was stealthier and faster than the YF-22 but not as agile. That particular YF-23 is Black Widow II.

This, however, is the F-22:

1444842379440.png
 
Mate. That is not the F-22. What you are linking there is the Northrop/McDonald Douglas YF-23 (i mean, the aircraft is even labelled!!), the competitor to the eventual F-22 for the ATF program. It was stealthier and faster than the YF-22 but not as agile. That particular YF-23 is Black Widow II.

This, however, is the F-22:

1444842379440.png

Haha, whoops. RTFL?
 

Norwegian Airlines Dreamliner knocked 53 minutes off it’s scheduled crossing of the Atlantic today between NYC and Gatwick and setting a new record of 5hrs 13 mins for a normal subsonic airliner.....ably assisted by a 202mph tailwind. That is some push! I imagine flights going to the US were somewhat long and bumpy today if they had a similar headwind
 
Norwegian Airlines Dreamliner knocked 53 minutes off it’s scheduled crossing of the Atlantic today between NYC and Gatwick and setting a new record of 5hrs 13 mins for a normal subsonic airliner.....ably assisted by a 202mph tailwind. That is some push! I imagine flights going to the US were somewhat long and bumpy today if they had a similar headwind

Shear stress between fast moving and slow moving air causes a lot of turbulence, but it's possible that fast moving air itself isn't too turbulent, if you stay in the jetstream. That's some tailwind.
 

We've had a GOT crewmember go missing, something about losing a baby in a barrel roll (although I somehow missed that post, so I'm recounting the story third hand). If you can help pick up the slack all of the forum will be in your debt.
Was this a mis-post? I have no idea what is going on here......beer maybe?
 

Status
Not open for further replies.

Welcome

Join Grand Old Team to get involved in the Everton discussion. Signing up is quick, easy, and completely free.

Shop

Back
Top