Airplanes

If you’ve ever been bumped from a flight because there are more people on the plane than seats, you know how frustrating it can be. Cheddar explains how airlines get away with this practice on a regular basis, and why there’s little chance it will change.

The Q decided to see if he could build a larger-than-life version of a paper airplane that actually can fly. To pull off the build of his 122-inch long airplane, he ended up using polystyrene foam and glue, so it’s not exactly paper, but he scores points for airworthiness.

If you have any doubts that flying drone near aircraft was a bad idea, watch this footage from the University of Dayton Research Institute, who recently conducted a test to see just how much damage a drone could do to an airplane wing at even a relatively slow flight speed.

A look at the ginormous Antonov An-225 Mriya jumbo jet as it came in for a landing at Oakland International Airport. Apparently, the massive airplane was hired by the US Government to pick up typhoon relief supplies bound for Guam, and had to stop to refuel on its way from Kiev.

This flashy airline safety video from Turkish Airlines features the characters we know and love from The LEGO Movie series. Number one safety tip – use your seatbelt, not Kragle to remain in your seat. Also, don’t show this video to Minifigs while in flight.

Aircraft maker Airbus presents video footage of its funky looking A330-based jumbo jet as the first plane makes its way through the factory. The BelugaXL’s unusual shape is designed to provide cargo capacity for large airplane parts like wings. Watch it take flight here.

More cars than ever are relying on electricity for propulsion, but using electric motors and batteries for aircraft poses challenges. Real Engineering explores whether a pure electric flyer would be possible, and why it’s so difficult to achieve. Caution, physics equations ahead.

It costs over a billion dollars per year to run an airport. With that kind of investment, you’d think they must be making bank. And that’s exactly the case. Wendover Productions breaks down where airports get their revenues and the tactics they employ to increase them.

The cloudy white lines that aircraft sometimes leave behind in their wake are commonly known as chemical trails, or chemtrails. But they’re technically called contrails, short for condensation trails. As Reactions points out, that’s because they’re mostly made of water.

Project Wingman is an upcoming flight combat game for Windows in the vein of Ace Combat – easy to pick up and play, fast-paced and single player. The final game will have over 20 aircraft and over 40 weapons to play with. Download the demo here.

…and not just any plane. The Boeing 787-9 is a passenger airplane mostly made of carbon laminate, but it still weighs over 280,000 lb. The Tesla Model X P100D managed to tow the beast, setting a Guinness World Record in the process. Cue “yo mama” jokes.

A look at one of the most incredible LEGO models we’ve ever seen – a 36 foot-long replica of the US presidential 747 jumbo jet. Apparently, it was built from a 1 million bricks. The model has been making the rounds at LEGO expositions in Poland since 2016.

Jason over at JK Brickworks came up with this fun idea – a kinetic sculpture which features two airplanes flying through the air. After lots of positive feedback, he created an alternate version based on the trench run in Star Wars. Vote for The Pursuit of Flight kit on LEGO Ideas.

Want to fold some awesome paper airplanes? Learn from the best. John Collins aka “The Paper Airplane Guy” got together with WIRED to show off some of his stunt flyers, and how to fold your own. Be sure to check out the second video for more detailed folding instructions.

Real Engineering usually teaches about how things work. But here, they explain some of the bad things that can cause complex systems like airplanes to fail and plunge from the sky. Despite the gloomy premise, the truth is that flying is safer than it’s ever been.

The perfect gift for aviation fanatics, this set of round nickel coasters features images of four critical instruments from an airplane cockpit – the turn indicator, the attitude indicator, the heading indicator, and the altimeter. Backed with felt to protect your coffee table.

RC Media World presents footage of a remote-controlled airplane replica, based on Howard Hughes’ 8-engine H-4 Hercules aka “Spruce Goose.” Builder Jürgen Schönle’s surprisingly quiet flyer has a 12-foot wingspan, and can take off and land on water, just like the real deal.

The short answer? Secondhand airplanes. Hundreds of secondhand airplanes. Wendover Productions gives us an overview of the huge networks of airports that FedEx, UPS and DHL operate to make overnight shipping possible and affordable.

The military aircraft simulator Digital Combat Simulator World (DCS World) is preparing to launch its “most authentic and detailed simulation” yet. Developed with the help of Boeing, this upcoming add-on introduces the versatile F/A-18C Hornet.

Airplanes that can lift off vertically, then fly horizontally are quite fascinating, doing away with the need for long and tactically-vulnerable runways. Real Engineering takes a look at the history of Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft and how they work.

Comedy duo Tripp and Tyler envision a world in which the first-world problems of air travel are everyday occurrences, even when carpooling to work in the back of an SUV. We can so relate to that neck bend thing when waiting to deplane.

A video has been making the rounds showing what it’s like to open an airplane slide from the passengers’ point of view. That’s interesting and all, but this clip of a slide being opened without an airplane attached is far more entertaining. Stabilized version here.

A few days ago, Peter Sripol shared a video of him doing short hops on his homemade electric airplane. It was a sight to behold but technically… that wasn’t flying. This is. Peter got better batteries and finally gave the people what they want. Amazing stuff.

Flight fanatic Peter Sripol has built his share of small, unmanned flying machines, but he’s now turned his attention to something a bit bigger, building himself a single-seat aircraft powered by electric motors, and airworthy enough that he was willing to be its test pilot.

This amazing remote-controlled model plane was a dead ringer for an Airbus A330-300 jetliner, and it looked absolutely fantastic flying about for the first 3+ minutes of this video. Sadly, something went horribly wrong right before landing, and the plane is no more.

By strapping a turbine powered delta wing R/C plane to a catapult, these guys were able to fly a model aircraft at speeds up to 451 mph, making it nearly as fast as a full-size jet plane. We’re impressed that the pilot was able to control and land it.

Pilot and adventure seeker Linkerius shared this footage of what he sees when flying in a huge formation of more than 20 single-engine military planes during an air show. It amazes us that that so many planes can fly so closely to each other and with such coordination.

A pure-electric 2-seater jet plane designed to take off and land without a runway. The Lilium Jet can transition from hover to airplane mode once airborne, and is expected to offer speeds up to 300 km/h (~186 mph) and a 300 km (~186 mi) range, if and when it goes into production.

Aviation International News shares an informative look at FlexSys‘ morphing wing flap technology, which improves the aerodynamics of airplanes by eliminating exposed hinges and rivets. Apparently it’s made using a carbon fiber honeycomb core and a flexible composite skin.

These clever picture frames from South Korean design house TEEV turn any wall into the cabin of an airplane, looking out over the sky. You can load your own images, though it appears they do make them with a selection of cityscapes as well. Sold in a set of three.

The dudes from Dude Perfect prove they’re not just good at sportball, and turn in some impressive trick maneuvers with the help of some well-aimed lightweight foam gliders. The breakaway bottles were a bit of a cheat though.

During the 2017 EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, WI, a B-1B bomber took to the skies, and flaunted its mighty afterburners for the crowd. That cloud you see around the plane is a vapor cone formed by instant condensation. Kudos to Airailimages for the awesome video.