Questions tagged [aviation]

Typically pertains to the study of aircraft. Can relate to the theories, design, construction, behavior and use of such craft.

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Have there been any credible reports of unidentified flying objects?

A unidentified flying object is just that—a flying object that has not been identified. There need not be evidence of alien hi-jinx. My criteria for a credible UFO report would include: Verified by authentic photographic evidence or several…
Patches
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Does Turkey make the "structural steel frame" for the F-35 fighter?

In a tweet of Donald Trump (which was also carried without commentary in this regard by the Washington Post) he says So many people conveniently forget that Turkey is a big trading partner of the United States, in fact they make the structural…
Fizz
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Do airline pilots decide on flight plan and receive personal bonus for fuel saving?

On the question why MH17 flew over Ukrainian civil war zone, experts say: Malaysia Airlines, like a number of other carriers, have been continuing to use it because it is a shorter route, which means less fuel and therefore less money.…
vartec
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Have airlines as a whole been unprofitable over their history?

I recently overheard a discussion in which it was claimed that the airline industry has generated more losses than profits when we take its whole history into account. This is basically a repeat of Warren Buffet's claim in 1999: Here's a list of…
Innocent Haage
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Do contrails last long enough to explain chemtrails?

I often hear the claim that "chemtrails" have to exist, because normal contrails don't linger very long. Is there a definitive scientific explanation for why normal contrails sometimes do, in fact stick around and sometimes even seed very large…
mootinator
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Was Iran Air Flight 655 shot down by mistake?

Iran Air Flight 655 is allegedly a case of "mistaken identity". Is it possible for AEGIS with most advanced radar system ever put on a ship, not to be able tell a difference between an F-14 and twice as large Airbus A300? Annotated US Navy report.
vartec
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Do airplanes release biological or chemical agents, forming trails?

Since the topic of the week is conspiracy theories, here's one that I've had re-iterated at me a few times. Supposedly these white stripes after airplanes is created by airplanes releasing biological or chemical agents on a global scale for various…
Kit Sunde
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Were videos of the Flydubai Flight 981 crash published before the official crash time?

On March 19, 2016, Flydubai Flight 981 crashed in Russia. It is reported (for example on English Wikipedia and Russian Wikipedia to have crashed at 19 Mar 03:42 am MST (i.e. UTC+3) in City of Rostov-na-Donu airport. However, the first two videos…
Croll
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Is it okay to eat food that has been through airport x-ray scanners

I took 4 flights last week, and my chocolate was scanned 4 times in the baggage scanner. Is it safe to eat that?
Midhat
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Do hieroglyphs in Egypt depict aircraft?

In the article, Impossible? 3,000 Year-Old Hieroglyphics Depict Modern Day Technology! Markings of the Fallen Angels?, they claim that there are aircraft depicted in 3000-year-old Egypt hieroglyphs: Decorating an Egyptian temple wall at Abydos are…
ike
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How much has Magnetic North shifted in the last few years and would this affect aeronautics?

I was talking to a contractor at a major U.S. airport, a Project Manager who told that they were moving the runways due to the shifting of 'Magnetic North'. I have heard that the poles have shifted even after the Chilean quake that registered at…
Charlie Brown
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Do airlines have a "Do not pair" list of pilots who don't want to work with each other?

What happens when your pilots just don't get along? claims that there are "Do not pair" lists where someone can request not to work with another pilot. For this reason, co-pilots, or first officers, have a way to quietly avoid flying with a captain…
Andrew Grimm
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Was MH17 shot down?

It has been widely reported that the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 crash was caused by the plane being shot down. Example sources: Wired: Why Planes Still Flew Over Ukraine Until MH17 Was Shot Down The Guardian: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot…
Schkikli
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Was the 2010 Polish presidential Tu-154 plane crash set up?

In 2010, a plane crash killed many top Polish officials. It occurred over Russian soil, and involved an aircraft carrying many politicians and military officials with a strong opposition towards the Russian government, which is known to be dishonest…
Jules
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Are women in burqas never strip-searched by the TSA?

An article falsely attributed to Jeff Foxworthy has been doing the rounds: US Message Board The Political Insider Truth of Fiction Above Top Secret It makes various claims and one of the claims are is that women in burqa are not strip searched out…
user21795
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