• Futurama@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    It’s an emergency propeller, when the main engines lose power.

    It’s also the reason I never sit in the emergency exit row. The reason they give you extra legroom is so passengers can use the pedals that pop up from the floor when the masks are dropped. When they ask if you’re willing and able to help on an emergency, this is actually the most common thing you’ll have to help out with.

    Everytime I’ve been in a crashing airplane, I just lean back a few degrees and laugh at those poor suckers who traded for a couple inches of extra legroom and now have the responsibility of saving the rest of us.

  • FleetingTit@feddit.org
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    1 month ago

    These deploy in case of total engine failure to provide enough thrust to get the aircraft to the next airport.

    • warbond@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Yeah, an Auxiliary Propulsion Unit. Seeing one deployed is pretty normal, but when an aircraft has two or more out at the same time, you should be leery of deeper problems with the main engines.

  • Skymt@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    When becoming aroused, the plane exposes its clitorotoris. This is natural and nothing to be ashamed of.

  • model_tar_gz@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    As the aircraft moves through the air, this turbine harvests some of the relative difference in airspeed to convert it to energy that is then used to jam the radio frequencies of all the drone birds in the area that would otherwise disrupt the comms between the pilots and the controllers.

  • Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    When a plane loses power this lowers into the airstream to make brrrrrrrrrr sounds to keep the illusion of engines.

    Edit: I feel I should expand on this. Like a hockey card in your bmx spokes.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    It’s actually a siren to warn people on the ground that it’s a Boeing.

  • LordGimp@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    Brake cooling fan. It looks really far away but it’s a trick of the camera. This brakes get REALLY hot without the fan.

  • Caveman@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    This is an addition that came late in GTA V which allows you to score a pretty humiliating kill on another player.

  • ShortFuse@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    This actually propels the plane.

    The turbine engines are there to look big and make noise to have the passengers feel safe. Big turbines also allow airlines to charge extra, and generate bigger profits. CO2 emissions are also intentionally raised to justify higher pricing.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      Well yeah, the government needs that “emissions tax” and the airlines can now compete over “efficiency.” But honestly, they don’t need any fuel at all because they have wind. Cars need fuel because of friction with the ground, airplanes don’t.

      That propeller is only needed for takeoff and landing to make sure the plane gets consistent speed. Wind can be a bit gusty, and passengers don’t like being tossed around.

    • hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      It is only also used on lift-off and landing, to accelerate and decelerate the plane. During the flight it’s not needed due to the plane relying on Newton’s 1st law of motion: “when it go it no stop til stopped”

  • tobogganablaze@lemmus.org
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    1 month ago

    It’s a tactical windmill that can be deloyed to cause cancer in the overflown area. And kill birds drones.