I want to know about - Aircraft

Mile for mile aircraft provide the safest form of transportation available today.  Modern aircraft are so reliable that flights are rarely delayed because of aircraft technical problems.  Remember that although many delays in the aviation world are attributed to technical reasons this rarely means a technical problem with the aircraft itself - see what we mean by watching our video 'technical delay'.

Aircraft are the result of years of painstaking research and development and they are built to withstand forces and uses far beyond those that are allowed or even likely to occur in normal airline operation.  The fact is that an aircraft will operate within a tiny band of its actual capabilities.

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Aircraft are the result of years of painstaking research and development		They are built to withstand forces and uses far beyond those that are allowed or even likely to occur in normal airline operation		Maintenance is carried out between flights that's why you might see an engineer looking into the engine compartments while you're waiting to board		Aircraft are the most reliable bits of mechanical equipment you'll ever use.

Many fearful fliers worry about the number of engines a plane has. If it has two they fear that it can’t fly on just one. If a plane has four engines they think there’s more chance of a problem because of the extra engines that could malfunction. Both fears are unfounded.

Nor is there any need to be concerned about whether an aircraft can lift of the weight of the passengers, fuel, freight and their baggage.  Before take off the maximum take off weight for the runway in use, is calculated and departure procedures will not allow that weight to be exceeded.

The fear of flying shouldn't be the result of misunderstanding these sorts of facts.

As for on board computers, you should remember that modern digital equipment onboard aircraft cannot be compared with home computers and game machines.  The demands made on in-flight computers is far less than on an average home PC so you need not worry about them.  Maintenance on modern aircraft is often carried out between flights and that is why you might see an engineer looking into the engine compartments while you're waiting to board... you should see this as a safety feature not a problem.

After a specified period of flight time an aircraft will be returned to the hangar for overhaul and checking where it will be examined in the minutest detail.  Because of the very high mileage that aircraft to the maintenance schedule is not based on distance like your car but on the number of hours it has flown.

It’s worth knowing that an aircraft described as fly by wire has a different way of sending information around the aircraft compared with previous generations of aircraft.

In flight you won't unbalance the plane by walking around neither will you fall through the floor and by the way you don't have to hang on to the arm rests to keep the plane up.

Finally…aircraft are the most reliable bits of mechanical equipment you'll ever use.