15 interesting things about planes and flights that will surprise you

Airplane flights have become a regular part of our daily lives in recent decades, although it is said that only 5% of the world's population has ever set foot in an airplane. In general, we don't think so much about these things, as long as we arrive safely at our destination. It is a fascinating business, however, and we would like to share with you in the following some of the most interesting and fun things about airplanes and flights.

1. What navigation lights do airplanes use?

Airplanes have the same navigation lights as boats, from small fishing boats to large container ships. Thus, you will find a red light (on the port side) on the left wing and a green light (on the starboard side) on the right wing, to signal the position of the plane.

The word "port" was used only after 1844, when it was adopted by the Royal Navy.
Airplanes also have a flashing white light to signal that the aircraft is in motion, similar to hovercraft or hydrofoils on the water that display a flashing yellow light to emphasize the high speed at which the craft are traveling.

2. When did commercial flights begin?

On New Year's Day, 1914, the first regular passenger airline made its maiden flight. The route was 34 km in Tampa Bay, Florida, and the first passenger was the mayor of Saint Petersburg, Abram C. Pheil, on board a flying boat.

3. What is the record for the shortest transatlantic commercial flight?

The engineering marvel of the Concorde supersonic plane set the record for the longest flight between London and New York City, on January 1, 1983, the journey lasting 2 hours and 56 minutes.

4. What is the busiest flight route in the world?

In the pre-coronavirus period, the South Korean flight route between Seoul and Jeju was the busiest on the planet. In 2018, there were 250 regular connections on this route with a distance of 449 kilometers, carrying over 14 million passengers per year. The route was so popular that there was a race every 15 minutes.

5. What was the busiest day in aviation history?

If we were still talking about congestion, it was the busiest day recorded in the history of aviation
July 24, 2019, a day in which over 225,000 flights took place.

6. How many cables are in an airplane?

An ordinary Boeing 747 airplane has over 240 kilometers of cables inside (to have a clear representation, the approximate distance between Bucharest and Costinesti). The longest electrical installation that can be found in an airplane, however, is the one in the Airbus A380 double-decker plane. The 514 km of electrical installation would reach from Bucharest to Vatra Dornei.

7. Why are airplane windows round?

The reason why airplane windows are round is not accidental. After a series of accidents in the first days of commercial flight, engineers discovered that the square windows, with sharp angles, compromise the safety of the aircraft. On the other hand, the round windows used since then can take the repeated pressure during a flight.

8. What is the fastest plane in the world?

Concorde may have been fast, but not as fast as the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, which has held the record since 1976 for the fastest manned jet aircraft, flying at 2,193 miles per hour (over 3,500 km/h ). We are talking about a type of military spy plane that operates at high speeds and altitudes (85,000 feet or 25,900 meters above sea level). Developed in the 1960s, the Lockheed SR-71 was designed to be fast enough to outrun missiles.

9. What was the first plane that traveled around the world?

The year 1986 marked an important stage in the history of aviation. A light aircraft with 17 fuel tanks in total, circled the world without stopping and without being refueled even once on the way.

Voyager Rutan Model 76 took off from California on December 14th and landed nine days later, just one day before Christmas Eve. The two pilots, the designer and the crew chief later received the Collier Trophy, the most prestigious award in aviation.

10. How long does the oxygen in the emergency mask last?

Emergency overhead oxygen masks are designed to provide only 15 minutes of oxygen, enough to allow the pilot to lower the plane's altitude to a level where the outside air pressure is breathable (about 10,000 feet or 3,000 meters ).

11. What is the dirtiest seat on a plane?

Do you have a phobia of germs? Following some recent studies, it was discovered that the dirtiest place in an airplane is the folding table in front of each passenger. In fact, eight times more bacteria were discovered on these tables than on the toilet flush button! So make sure that the next time you fly by plane, you have some disinfectant wipes with you.

12. Have there always been toilets on the plane?

The airplane toilet has come a long way, starting from the 1930s and 1940s, when aviation was just in its infancy. At first, there was no separate cabin or specific area where passengers could defecate, so both they and the crew used a paper box, which could spill during turbulence. According to various myths and stories, the pilots even peed in their shoes or through a hole in the cabin floor.

In the 1930s, the Royal Air Force used a flying boat nicknamed the "whistling toilet". The Supermarine Stranraer was equipped with a toilet that opened directly to the outside air. When the toilet lid was lifted, the air stream made a hissing sound, hence the nickname.

13. How long was a flight from London to Singapore in the 1930s?

A flight from London to Singapore today takes about 12 hours, which might seem like a lifetime to some people. In 1934, the same journey took eight days and included 22 stops to refuel the plane, such as Athens, Baghdad, Calcutta and Bangkok, among others.

14. Chicken, beef... or caviar?

Lufthansa buys more caviar than any company on the planet. Its first class and business class passengers consume 10 tons of caviar annually.

15. When did the first transatlantic flight take place?

The first flight that crossed the Atlantic Ocean was made in 1919 by the US Navy. The entire trip lasted 24 days and had five stages - it started in New York state and continued through Nova Scotia, Azores, Lisbon and Plymouth, Great Britain.

Less than ten years later, in 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly across the Atlantic in a solo journey, non-stop. His plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, took off from New York on May 10, and landed in Paris less than 34 hours later. Lindbergh was 25 years old when he crossed the Atlantic.