Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

We've had some great questions lately and I'm finally getting around to answering a couple of them this week. If yours hasn't been answered, I probably have it in the que for later.

Fallyn begins:

I somehow found your site yesterday and have not gotten any work done since. I myself do not like to fly. Terrified all the way till landing. I'm sure you meet a lot of people on here that are the same way as me. I do fly though and a lot compared to most people.

I was sitting next to a nice flight attendant and he told me (because I hate take off) that autopilot takes off. This calms my nerves but now after reading [your Plane Answers feature about autopilots] I am fearful again.

To me the autopilot would know if there was a problem because computers know when there are problems but how can a human know there's an issue with something they can not see.

Really it's just take off that bothers me, as soon as I see the flight attendants moving around and the seat belt sign off I begin to relax. So I guess my question is how do you know it is safe to take off and that everything is in working order. I love traveling, it's what I live for.

Oh yeah I love your blog, it's awesome. I have read many many blogs and I have never emailed or commented on someone's before.

Fallyn

Thanks for the nice comments, Fallyn.

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Dr. Roland asks:

Hello Kent,

I've been flying for years and can't get an answer to my question on the oxygen mask demo given by the flight attendants. Apparently, after you place the mask over your nose and mouth and breath normally–my favorite part–the plastic bag may not inflate. So why have this mask if it may or may not inflate!?

By now, we've all heard the flight attendants inform us that the bag on an oxygen mask may or may not inflate. But I really had to stop and think about why this is the case. In fact, since we use a completely different oxygen mask in the cockpit, it was time for a bit of research into the mechanics of a passenger mask.

It turns out that the oxygen flows continuously into your mask from chemically driven 'oxygen generators' as opposed to a tank of air. When you exhale, that oxygen would normally spill out the sides of the mask. So the bag is designed to collect the oxygen that isn't being used while you exhale, which increases the total amount of oxygen available and corrects for irregularities in breathing. It does this with a one-way check valve that prevents the oxygen from leaving the bag and entering the mask while you're exhaling.

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Bud vents a little frustration:

There is no data whatsoever that cell phones interfere with airplane navigation systems. In fact, there have been tests with cell phone signals amplified ten fold and without interference. So every time the flight attendent comes on the intercom and tells the cabin to turn off cell phones because "they may interfere" with the airplanes navigation system, I simply stop and think to myself, that if they would lie to me about something that doesn't hurt at all, how much can they be trusted to tell me the truth about something that really might be harmful. I think that if you will lie about a small thing, you will lie about a big one. And since the Captain allows the lie to be broadcast, who can you really trust? Reminds me of the government agent arriving on a doorstep and saying "trust me, I'm here to help you!" Yeah! Right?

I don't agree with your logic, Bud. The most frequently quoted study was done by Carnigie Mellon University in 2003. Their comprehensive findings were summarized as follows:

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Paul asks:

Hi Kent,

My question is about winglets. We see most of the RJ's have winglets and many airlines are either retrofitting or purchasing their 757's and 737's to include winglets.

If these are such a performance enhancer and fuel saver, why don't we see winglets on 767 and 777 aircraft? There are many of these aircraft in the air today so one might assume an opportunity for fuel reduction and cost savings is being lost. What's your take on this?

That's a very good point, Paul. I asked about the 777 a few years ago and I've been told that the wing design on the large Boeing won't accept winglets. I'm not sure if it couldn't handle them structurally or if the wing was already efficient enough that winglets wouldn't help.

I do know that the wingspan of a 777 was a significant concern for airlines when they were planning the gate spacing before the airplane was delivered. Since the 757 with winglets has a 10 foot longer span, I would think it might be a problem with our infrastructure at certain airports.

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

When I started Plane Answers a few months ago, one of the most common questions was how a person might go about learning to fly, getting their ratings and gaining enough experience to be noticed by an airline.

Before I've even had the chance to answer that, the industry has taken a sharp turn for the worse and now I'm getting questions about whether or not it's even worth it to pursue a flying job.

Here are two such questions:

Michael asks:

I've been reading your column for a couple of weeks now, yet I haven't noticed you talk about the state of the industry for college students who want to become professional pilots. I'm enrolled in a pilot training program at Arizona State, and on track to receiving an internship when I graduate. In your opinion, with the way the airline industry is now, do you think I should still pursue a career as an airline pilot?

And Steve asks:

Kent,

My grandson would love to be a airline pilot. He is building flight
time and attending college at the same time and it's a very expensive
burden for the family. With the layoffs and pay cuts that pilots in
the industry are recently experiencing-is he wasting his time and our
money?

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Tom asks an interesting question:

Hi Kent,

I am a big fan of your website and your weekly additions here. Great stuff. But my true question comes down to this. I had a seizure two weeks ago and they did all the testing and EEG and MRI and CT scans and blood work and all came back negative. They are thinking that it was once in a lifetime type of thing. So I started wondering will I be able to still receive my First class medical if I have no seizures and I am on no medications and the doctors told me I am fine?

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Martin asks:

Upon landing a bigger plane...

Is there a sensor or gauge/indicator that shows the pilot the distance between the airplane's wheels and the runway?

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Mike asks an interesting question:

Hi Kent, I know you've probably seen the video going around on YouTube of the 757 landing at Tegucigalpa, and also a great video of the landing from the cockpit. I was wondering if landing at a challenging airport like that involves any special requirements. Is the Captain the only one allowed to make that landing for example?

Great question, Mike. Especially in light of the recent accident of a TACA A320 that overran the end of the runway killing five of the 135 people on board. As a result of this accident, the Tegucigalpa airport is restricted to aircraft with 42 seats or fewer. For the next two months, San Pedro Sula will pick up the slack until the Soto Cano Air Base is ready for commercial traffic.

Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Kent:

I know a lot has been written lately about airport delays, I have also read something about "Free Flying." With TCAS is ATC obsolete? Should ATC be more focused on ground operations, to get planes in the air? I know from most recent articles the ATC system is operating on antiquated systems and in need of a massive overhaul. I am interested to hear your opinion, is "Free Flying" in our future?

-Justin

Thanks Justin,

We're not able to navigate or adjust our spacing using our Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). This device, which is almost like a radar screen showing the other traffic within 40 miles of our airplane, is solely to keep us from running into someone. Think of it as a backup to the Air Traffic Control system. And just like passengers aren't generally interested in pilotless airplanes, pilots may not be interested in a world without controllers directing traffic and keeping us safe.

The ability for airplanes to fly directly to a destination is one thing that would shorten travel times, but it's important to put the benefit in perspective. The FAA is hoping to develop a system that would allow for a direct routing versus today's system of waypoints and VOR's that define a more jagged path, but it will only save a few minutes of flight time.

The FAA is even more interested in the ability to space flights closer when near the airport using a new technology called NextGen. Why are they so excited about this?

Because it's low hanging fruit.

Even at $20 billion, it just might offer the best answer to the capacity problem. Using computers and GPS, we can have more direct flights and airplanes can take care of their own spacing as they approach the airport. Take a look at this video on "NextGen" by David Pogue for CBS News that explains what the FAA is trying to do (after the jump):

This week we've had many questions that all ran along the same lines; how to overcome Aviophobia, or the fear of flying. Most people who suffer from this fear are well aware of the statistics that show that air travel is the safest form of travel, and no amount of assurances and facts are able to calm their fears. But I've been told that understanding more about what happens in an airplane does go a long way towards quelling some of the anxiety associated with flying.

Jenna asks:

My stepmother refuses to fly. Her explanation for this is one time when she was in a plane, it dropped 10,000 feet. The other day, I was talking to my friend Nora, who said her mother had a similar story. How often does this happen and what causes a plane to lose control for so long? I am also afraid of flying, so I would love to know. Thank you for your time!

Thanks Jenna. You can assure your stepmother that planes don't just drop. It's analogous to driving in your car and suddenly finding yourself on an interstate two miles away. The media and so many movies have reinforced this idea that airplanes can hit 'air pockets' and drop hundreds or thousands of feet.

As I mentioned in a previous Plane Answers post about turbulence, even during some of the roughest air, we don't gain or lose altitude generally.

There are some astute readers who will point out that there have been occasions that airplanes flying near their maximum capable altitude needed to descend rapidly to regain airspeed, but even in these instances the airplane hasn't lost control.