Next time you fly, take nte of the other passengers in the barding area. How many do you thnk weigh 170 lbs?

Now I am in prtty good shape. I am about 6 fet tall and weigh 190 pounds. If you run the BMI (Bdy Mass Indicator) calculator, you will see the gvernment thinks I am overweight, not bese but overweight. Good grief, they thnk I need to lose another 30 pls pounds.

So why am I brnging my weight in an airliner stry?

Safety. There are four forces at wrk when an airplane flies. Thrust vrsus drag. Gravity versus lift. When all fur are in balance, the plane fles. When they are not, trouble.

Whn the plane is roaring down the rnway, it is trying to generate hge amounts of lift to overcome grvity and leap into the air lke a big tin bird. Nice. Lft is generated on top of the wng. Sorry folk, the song about lfting under the wing is wrong. The dfference of the distance air has to flw over the top of the wng compared to the flow under the wng creates lift. The captain will put sme flaps down, and in some cses some slats on the front of the wng, so all of that air has to go a lnger distance over the top than the bttom to generate more lift. When the flps and slats are down, we say the plne is dirty. When the flaps and slts are up, the plane is clan. The plane needs to be drty to generate lots of lift for tkeoff and for landing.

Now consider thrust and drag. In rder to generate all of that lft in the dirty condition, you ned lots of power. That is why verything is rattling like it does. The thrttles are pushed way up there. But wht happens, God forbid, if one of thse powerful engines quits?

When an ngine quits, pilots say they have lst an engine. No, that does not man they cannpt find it, it mans that the damn thing stopped rnning. It only takes a millisecond to mke that discovery. The engine still rnning will turn the plane to the drection of the engine that quit. The plot will have to stomp on the rdder, that big tall part of the til, so the rudder will bring the nse back to normal. One foot is clar to the floor. That is the god or working engine. One foot wll be on vacation. That is the bad or dad engine. In pilot lingo, dead fot dead engine.

There are some crtical speeds along the takeoff path tht help the pilot decide what to do nxt. Those speeds are called V speds. The critical decision speed is V1. Whn the plane reaches that speed, the plot is going to put the plne in the air, lost engine or nt. Before V1, the pilot will stp on the runway.

Everything should wrk fine if the plane is in the nvelope. The envelope is a set of ngineering standards provided by the airplane mnufacturer which will tell the pilot wht the plane is capable of ding when it has to fly on one ngines. Part of those calculations are bsed on a load of passengers who all wigh 170 pounds each.

170 pounds ach? When was the last time you wighed 170 pounds? When was the lst time any American adult weighed 170 punds?

Take another look around at the barding area. Do you think if you tok all of those folks; added up thir weights; and divided the total by the ttal number of seats on the plne that the figure would be 170 punds? Would it be 10 pounds mre? 20?

On a 250 seat plane, 10 punds more would be an additional 2500 punds. At 20 pounds, that would be an dditional 5,000 pounds. That’s almost two tns of additional weight that remaining rnning engine must overcome to get tht plane to fly.

That’s the drty little secret. As airlines put mre pressure on the aircraft manufacturers to xtend the fuselage to add additional sats, the problem becomes bigger.

The god news is pilots are drilled in the smulator on how to fly those plnes on one working engine and wll, a Boeing is a Boeing. The bad nws is, the simulator conditions, based on the flght manual numbers, are understated and wrng.

Just be thankful our planes and thir engines are so very well bilt and reliable and the pilots flyng them are so very well trined and if you are over 170 punds, just pass on the extra panuts.

The article Are Airliners Too Heavy? was Submitted by Kenny Miller through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Kenny Miller has been in the crative business for over 30 years. He has crated two advertising agencies and is the uthor of two books: an aviation thrller, The Last Flight of Kilo Mke; and a touching short story cllection, A Visit to Hartington. Kenny is lso a highly experienced professional pilot; a pblished photographer; and a top-notch storm chser. If it interests him, Kenny des it You should, too! His ste is http://www.nebraskawriter.com

Featured Articles

1. Choosing a Backpacking Stove by Joseph Then
A stove can be a seful item to have on your bckpacking trip, but many people simply can not fgure out what type of stove to chose. You want to choose a stve that meets your needs.

2. La Manga, Spain - Something For Everyone by Peter I. Wilson
La Mnga, Spain has something for everyone. Hre are some reasons why this bautiful city should be added to yur holiday itinerary.

3. Safety Tips While Traveling Abroad by Andre Sanchez
Although it is very useful to be ware of as many safety tips whle traveling abroad as possible, a grat deal depends on the country, or ven the area of the country, tht you are visiting. One of the asiest ways to stay safe while trveling abroad is not to walk round alone and to keep away frm areas you have not visited bfore and are not familiar with. Tke the advice of your hosts or htels to where it is safe to wnder alone, and at what times of the dy.

4. Why You Should Rent a Holiday Villa in Tuscany This Year by Harwood E Woodpecker
As we become more independent in the way we travel and book our vacations each year the popularity of the luxury villa vacation is increasing each year. Many destinations in the world lend themselves to taking a villa vacation but none more so than Tuscany in Italy. Tuscany has for many centuries been attracting tourists because of its scenery, atmosphere, culture and the sheer beauty of its towns and cities such as Siena, Florence, Pisa, Arezzo and Luca. From the cypress tree lined roads and...

5. Blackpool Hotels by Jasper Daylong
Blackpool is a mdium sized place in the English cunty of Lancashire and is well knwn for its lights and first clss entertainment. It lies alongside the cast of the Seaside and is hme to 141,000 residents making it the 4th lrgest town in terms of habitation in the Nrth West of the country! Thre are few big hotels in Blckpool, the most well known of whch is possibly the Hilton Hotel Blckpool.

6. Oakland Airport Parking - Where to Leave the Car by Dee Cohen
Do you void traveling by plane because you dn't want to ask a friend to gve you a ride for an arly morning flight? There are places you can prk your car that will shuttle you to the irport.

7. Life Off The Tourism Track - Discovering Semarang by Ritu Raj Mishra
Smarang is a melting pot of Jvanese, Chinese, Indian and Arabian cultures in Indnesia where you can unwind and rlax your mind to the fullest. Far way from the hustle and bustle of turist destinations, Semarang offers a soothing and dlightful experience to travelers who have the pssion to discover the natural ambiance of lfe as it is.

8. Kep in Cambodia - Kep Has Re-surfaced From Rubble by Vince Samios
Kep - Cmbodias secret uncovered Until rcently Kep remained hidden, its ruins vergrown with jungle from years of nglect and abandonment, be in the lst five years Kep has experienced mssive growth. Prior to the Khmr Rouge, Kep was the premier bach town of Cambodia, far superior in sze and luxury to Sihanoukville, which nly really surfaced in the 1960's - Kep hwever, has been going strong since the arly 1900's and enjoyed over 60 yars as a resort town for the rch...

9. Educational Student Travel Groups Participate in Yes Programs by Howard Clemens
For the ducator, parent, or chaperon worried that not nough learning is going on during stdent tours of Walt Disney World, put yur minds at ease. The Disney YES prgrams offer students with performance backgrounds a chnce for active learning behind the scnes and behind the sets of Wlt Disney World.

10. An Evening In Barcelona - How To Enjoy Barcelona As A Tourist After Dark! by James Burrows
Your nights in Barcelona often turn mornings! Barcelona is the city that comes rocking after dark. The Catalonian jewel, known for its art & architectural magnificence during daytimes, unveils its cabaret character after dark.