I think this is an excellent site you have going. I am going to be flying on a plane quite soon to the sunny island of Cyprus. I can't wait.
I have two questions I would like to ask.
The first one is, what would happen in the event of a tyre blow out just as the plane was about to take off?
The second question is a little strange. I was having one of those conversations with a friend and we came up with a theory. If say for example you weigh 12 stone (168 lbs) at sea level, would your weight be a little less at 39,000 feet due to being a little further out from the earth's gravity? Or maybe it doesn't work like that?
Many thanks and take care.
Derek
Hi Derek,
If you have a tyre blow out during take-off, the plane would continue to take off without much issue. The pilot’s decision to continue or reject the take-off would depend on the speed when the blow out occurs. If it happens below 100 knots, the flight would be aborted. If the tyre burst came about above the safety speed, the plane would continue with the take-off for it is more risky to abort the take-off.
Yes, if you were at a higher altitude you would weigh a little less because gravity decreases with altitude. The higher you are means the greater distance from the Earth's center.
According to the wiki source here “an increase in altitude from sea level to the top of Mount Everest (8,850 meters/ 29028 feet) causes a weight decrease of about 0.28%."
So at 39,000 feet, you would weigh about half a pound less or around 167.5 lbs.
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