Aircraft question!!?

Question

ok u know when u look in the sky sometimes and u see this long white line....like a trace behind a "plane"....its like white smoke.... anyway my boyfriend claims they r normal passenger planes but they're JETS... right?? can someone please tell me... i mean i searched on google images, and i wrote "jet in the sky" and there it was!!! those planes with the white stuff... so IM RIGHT... i mean check it out

http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&q=jet+in+the+sky&btnG=Search+Images

u can see what i mean... if google says theyre jets then theyre jets but he still says its a plane.... help

Answer 1

The word "jet" refers to the type of propulsion the airplane uses.  A jet airplane is propelled by jet engines, as opposed to propeller type engines.

So it's no argument.  "Jet" and "plane" are the same thing.  A "jet" (referring to the whole vehicle) is a jet-powered plane.

Okay?

Answer 2

It's called a Contrail.  Condensation  forms on the aircraft skin then trails behind. Most likely jets but could be a prop driven aircraft if its high enough.

Answer 3

The following is an excerpt from 'Ask the pilot' column in salon.com :

Contrails are formed when humid jet exhaust condenses in the cold, dry, upper level air. It's not unlike the fog that results when you exhale on a cold day. In other words, contrails are clouds. Water vapor, strange as it might sound, is a byproduct of the combustion within jet engines (and other engines too), which is where the humidity comes from. Whether or not a contrail forms depends on atmospheric conditions, mainly temperature and something known as vapor pressure, but generally the aircraft you see leaving them are at very high (i.e. cruise) altitudes.

If you live near a major airport and spy a contrail overhead, chances are the plane is merely transitioning the airspace en route to a more distant location. Here in Boston they are a common sight directly above the city, especially in late afternoons, and always aligned in the same northeasterly/southwesterly direction. That's because the majority of these white lines belong to jets destined for, or coming from, New York. Every day, dozens of flights to and from Europe serve Kennedy and Newark airports, and the transatlantic routings often carry them overhead Boston.

'Ask the Pilot' is a very famous column written by a pilot in which he answers the queries of airline passengers.

Hope this helps !

Answer 4

Google and your bf are half right...In the atmosphere, at high altitude there is sometimes moisture...It is can also be very cold (below zero)...The exhaust from an airplane engine is hot (several hundred degrees) and when it mixes with cold moist air, it produces a condensation trail similar to a cloud...The airplane engine can be either jet or reciprocating...If you look at old film from World War II, you'll see airplanes creating these trails and they did not have jet engines...They are known as contrails...And they do 2 things: 1. they give an indication of how much moisture is in the atmosphere and 2. they show the location or direction of travel of the airplane.

Hope this helps.

p.s. When I was in Alaska while in the Air Force, it would be so cold on the ground that jet airplanes would leave contrails while taking off....Brrrr

Answer 5

Yes, Larry is right. It is a contrail (short for "condensation trail"). There is water vapor in the exhaust from the jet engine, and as this vapor comes into contact with the very cold air at high altitude, it condenses (turns from vapor to tiny water droplets) into a line of fog. It's very much the same thing as your breath does on a really cold day.

Regarding jets vs. planes. A jet _is_ a plane. Most passenger planes are jets, except for some of the short distance commuter planes, which are usually turbo-prop powered. These could also generate contrails in theory, but in practice they don't, because they don't fly where the air is cold enough.

Answer 6

It could be any aircraft with a jet engine so it could be and probably is a passenger plane.  so you an your bf are right. and for all you guys shes not asking what it is shes asking if a passenger plane could do that.