Please Humour Me

[greg2424]

All,

One of my greatest and foremost fears of flying\turbulence is having one of the wings break off. Probably due to seeing the wings move violently in turbulence.

Can someone explain to me whether there is any chance of this ever happening, and also whether the wing is a continuous part across the plane, or whether the wings are actually separate parts fixed to the fuselage?

It must seem like a really thick question to several of you out there, but I can't seem to find any information on this....

Thanks

Greg

[B744drvr]

Hi Greg,

no chance of happening on a modern airliner, that's for sure. The wing is not a continuous part across the airplane, they are separate parts mounted to the wing box on the fuselage. This is by far the strongest part of the plane.
The flight maneuvering load acceleration limit of a Boeing 744 for example is between +2.5G and -1.0G, which is not likely going to be exceeded during turbulence. And those are certified limits, which means the plane probably can take more stress.
China Airlines did some nice maneuvers in 1985 on a Boeing 747SP, where the loads were somewhere near +5G and the wings didn't fall off just to give you an example of how much force an aircraft can take.
So there's no need to worry about the wings, the only thing to worry about on a plane is getting a good cup of coffee. And those are hard to find :-(

[greg2424]

Thanks for that B744drvr! I just had a look at the China airlines manouevre you mentioned.....I wouldn't have liked to have been on that flight! FYI - I'm flying on a 777 with AA, so I imagine the aircraft should be up to date!

As for your coffee issue, I'd recommend changing to OJ. :)

[B744drvr]

777 definitely a nice and modern aircraft, that's for sure! AA also always trying to find the smoothest level/route as I hear them talking a lot on frequency.
When I'm flying myself, I always have my own espresso machine with me (Handpresso). Works very nice, the only thing you need is hot water and a coffee pad. Pressurize with a hand pump and there's a nice espresso..:-)
2 disadvantages:
-The 'pumping' might look a bit strange to others :rolleyes:
-ALWAYS a bag check at TSA, it kinda looks like a weapon :mad:
But it's all worth it!

[greg2424]

All that for a cup of coffee! I dont drink coffee, but sounds like the airplane coffee must be as bad as the food!

One other factor for turbulence is the jet streams....We usually fly LHR to MCO in November/December which I believe is a northern route, but this year we're going to Miami which by looks of things is more southern......Any idea whether we would be more likely to experience turbulence flying to and from Miami or to and from Orlando?

[tb_neg]

MIA and MCO are so close it probably won't make a difference.