Intercontinental Airplane flight?

Question

I`ll squeeze in 2 questions for price of one, (see if I can get awa with it, he-he) I flew several times from Chicago to Bangkok, and every time flight did not go straight east across Pacific Ocean, but went, what seems to be longer route, north east across Canada, Alaska, then south east along Asiatic coast down south to Thailand, how come?...and while on these long flights over 11 hours does the plane take in fresh air somehow, or just recycles same air, so passengers are breathing in possibly air exhaled by deseased passengers?

Answer 1

For your first question, unless there is some territorial limitation from a country along the route, planes usually fly what is called a 'great circle' route.  It is the shortest route between the 2 destinations.  Flying between Bangkok and Chicago, the shortest distance is up through Alaska.  To illustrate this take a string and place it on a globe with the end points of the string on Chicago and Bangkok. Pull it tight and move the string back and forth until it settles out.  That is the shortest path.  You will be surprised at the result.

For you second question,  the cabin air comes from the jet engines.  Its removed from the compressors and sent to the aircraft through pneumatic ducts.  The pilots can control the air mixture. 100% new is ideal. 50/50 mix is common.  However, with the increased fuel costs airlines are more pron to recycling more of the existing cabin air as it saves on fuel costs.  Bad for catching you neighbors cold.

Answer 2

The route is determined by three factors:

1) Ideally, you want to go the shortest route, which is the Great Circle Route.  On a rectangular world map, an inch of horizontal distance near the equator is much farther than an inch of horizontal distance near the North or South pole.  Think about it - to walk around the world on the equator is 24,000 miles, but to walk a lap around the North pole would only take a few seconds - in either case you're passing through all 360 degrees of longitude and thus the entire width of the rectangular map.  Take a look at this:  http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=ORD-B...

2) You don't want to fly over countries that don't like you.  So they may avoid going over N. Korea, for instance

3) If it only has 2 engines, your plane will have an ETOPS rating which basically says "this plane has to stay within x minutes of an airport".  180 is common.

Answer 3

Intercontinental Flight route varies based on the load factors. Pilot primary concern to arrive at the destination with sufficient fuel and against both the Headwind or Tailwind, weather along the flight path, etc

Pilot will navigate based on the payload of the aircraft and input into the on board computer navigation system to calculate the actual mileage based on the fuel intake.

Most aircrafts flies within the safe zone flight path for navigation and constant radio contact with the ground Air Controller. Therefore flight route varies again based many factors.

Most Intercontinental Flight Carriers now flies with their most advance technologies aircraft. Air ventilation and cabin compressed air constantly being circulated during the flight. This mandatory are strict compliance by the FAA. Passenger can be rest assured with the strict maintenance requirement to be adhered for the safety and comfort for their passengers.

Clean Air enter the cabin from the floor air vent and exit through the cabin ceiling air vent.

Answer 4

AS far as the flight route. Since the earth is ROUND, it is shorther to actually go north and then back down when you are going around the world. Take a look at a globe, and you will see why.

AS far as air circuation, yes it circulates the air, but most planes have very advanced systems to help with this.