A weid question about airplanes?

Question

I know it sounds like a dumb question, but do airplanes need oxygen to fly??? haha...

Answer 1

just to clear up the statement made regarding the requirement for Oxygen above 10.500'. While some folks might NEED it at that pressure altitude, the regs say different.

§ 91.211   Supplemental oxygen.

(a) General. No person may operate a civil aircraft of U.S. registry—

(1) At cabin pressure altitudes above 12,500 feet (MSL) up to and including 14,000 feet (MSL) unless the required minimum flight crew is provided with and uses supplemental oxygen for that part of the flight at those altitudes that is of more than 30 minutes duration;

(2) At cabin pressure altitudes above 14,000 feet (MSL) unless the required minimum flight crew is provided with and uses supplemental oxygen during the entire flight time at those altitudes; and

(3) At cabin pressure altitudes above 15,000 feet (MSL) unless each occupant of the aircraft is provided with supplemental oxygen.

Answer 2

Don't be stupid.

Engines need air .

Answer 3

Whats so funny?

I am an airline pilot, your question is not dumb at all!

The guy above me is correct.

Answer 4

pretty much what every one said. by the that wasn't a very dumb question, some people don't know and some have a hard time using common sense.

Answer 5

The short answer is yes.

Most powered aircraft require oxygen to operate; they are called "air-breathing" for this reason, and in order to distinguish them from aircraft powered by rockets or other systems that are self-contained.

Actually staying in the air doesn't require oxygen, it only requires that the aircraft move forward.  However, engines keep the aircraft moving forward, and most aircraft engines require oxygen to operate (they mix oxygen with fuel and burn the mixture in order to provide power).

Airliners generally have jet engines that suck air into the front of the engine and compress it in order to get enough oxygen to operate. These aircraft can operate at high altitudes.  Smaller aircraft have turboprops (essentially jet engines connected to a propeller) and can operate at nearly the same altitudes; they don't go quite as high because propellers don't work as well at high altitudes as jet engines.

Light, small aircraft (the kind used by private pilots) use piston engines. These also require oxygen, and standard piston engines are limited in how high they can go and still operate; this limits the maximum altitudes of these small aircraft.  Some small aircraft have turbocharged piston engines, which are engines that incorporate a compressor to get more air (and oxygen) to the engine; these aircraft can climb a lot higher.

Answer 6

Yes.

Answer 7

While any gas would do to give the planes wings lift. Most planes need Oxygen to run there engines be they jet prop or rocket. but some planes run on electricity and thus they need no oxygen.

Answer 8

Yes.  All aircraft engines burn fuel, and oxygen is obtained from the air to do so.

Answer 9

as everyone has said - the engines need air/oxygen -

but depending on the real question behind what you asked - the wings and propellers (or turbines in a jet) all need air (a gaseous environment) to work. Bernoulli's principle - they work by causing the stream of air to move faster on one side compared to the other, so the faster moving stream of air makes a low pressure zone and the wing/blade/foil gets pulled into that low pressure area away from the higher pressure on the other side. So even if you hooked oxygen tanks to the pilot and the engines, if you were in space, the pilot and engine could breath and run, but the airplane could not fly anymore.    

Answer 10

Well, The engines need air so combustion can take place to make the power needed to produce thrust. Air contains approximately 21% Oxygen, so you could say "yes" most airplanes need oxygen to create the thrust in order to fly. There are solar powered electric aircraft that fly extreme distances and altitudes (NASA). Those do not need Oxygen.

Do most aircraft need air to fly, yes. Does the air need to contain Oxygen, no. If the engine has it's own Oxidizers (rocket engines) then it does not need Oxygen to allow the airplane to fly.

This is just a simple answer to your question.

Remember:

Air is matter, it has mass. It has enough mass and is dense enough to support aircraft. "air" is a mixture of gases. (and solid pollutants) that surrounds our planet. An aircraft can fly in a gas dense enough to support it's weight. Air behaves much like a liquid such as water.

Not a stupid question, actually it's pretty good.

Answer 11

ya inorder for the engine to eglite the fuel it needs oxygen and without it the engines would stall. engines are like humans they need fuel and oxgen to work

Answer 12

No.. Airplanes do not need oxygen to fly. Their passengers do, every person I've ever met requires oxygen.

Most airplane engines need oxygen to run, internal combustion (piston engines) engines need oxygen, so do jet engines. I'm not too familiar with the technology, but I believe scram jets do not need oxygen, or extremely little, because of the pressures they create. Any engine could run with a monopropellant, or a fuel which releases its own oxygen when compressed and/or ignited. Nitromethane is an (expensive and impractical) example of a fuel that could in theory work.

A glider can absolutely fly without oxygen, provided the matter it is flying through (air here on earth) is dense enough to support its weight. Other aircraft can fly without oxygen. There have been several experimental planes flown by nasa that have been powered by rockets. Electric airplanes exist and I expect to see more with advances in battery technology, they do not need oxygen. The space shuttle is absolutely an airplane and it requires no oxygen at all to fly.  But you average every day kind of airplanes we all know and love do need oxygen.

Answer 13

All piston, turbojet, and turboprop engines rely on the chemical reaction between the fuel they carry and the oxygen in the air.  So in that sense they do need oxygen to fly.

There have been a few rocket-powered research airplanes that carried their own oxygen for combustion or relied upon some other chemical reaction for power

In addition, the crew and passengers of airplanes require either supplemental oxygen or cabin pressurization for breathing above a certain altitude, which varies from one individual to another.  Aviation regulations in most places set the oxygen requirement altitude at 10,500 feet above sea level..