What is the reason airplanes can only reach a certain altitude?

Question

What is the reason airplanes can only reach a certain altitude?

Answer 1

There are a number of factors involved starting with the design of that particular aircraft. Think of it this way you wouldn't take a skateboard (cessna 182) on the interstate trying to keep up with a tractor trailer (boeing 777)

Cabin pressure must be maintained above 10,000 feet or you pass out there by crashing also a small engine can only produce so much thrust so then you have 80 mph vs 1500 mph which could go higher?

Answer 2

As altitute increases so does the amount of air available to the engine.

Edit:  c**p, just realized that I misworded this, lol.

As Altitute increases, the amount of air decreases.  There we go, lol.

Answer 3

As you get higher there is less oxygen, and the air molecules are less dense.  This makes it so the engine can only run so fast, and the loss of air density means that the wings have to move faster to get the same lift as at a lower altitude...or have a larger surface area, and thus weigh more.  So...the engine can only work so hard, and haul so much airplane up there, and thus the wings can only be so big.  This sets how high they can go.  Note that rockets, which supply their own oxidizer, and produce their own molecules to push off of, can go higher....

Answer 4

It has to do with the engine power and the pressure per wing area, and an properly sealed air cabin

Answer 5

as altitude increases the air gets thinner, and the difference in air pressure from the bottom of the wing to the top lessens, giving less and less lift until there is no more lift to be had...

Answer 6

At 18,000 feet there is half the atmospheric pressure there is at the surface. At 36,000 there one quater the pressure. Aircraft engines need air to provide power therefore the higher you go the less air density there is to climb higher. Which means the AC cannot climb above X altitude.

To be able to climb is just having excess lift which you can only have by having excess power.

Just think, a P-51 can go to FL410 (41,000 feet) because it has a two speed supercharger. If it was normilly asperated it could only go to 15-18,000 feet. Throw the supercharged air into the engine that was just sucking weezing the thin air at 18,000, now it has air density getting forced into it like was down at sea level. Now he goes higher.

Answer 7

Many good answers regarding thin air. But there is one regulatory reason for an aircrafts certified maximum altitude. Aircraft certificated under FAR 25, all airliners are, must be able to descend from it's max altitude to 14,000 feet in less than four minutes in an emergency descent.

Answer 8

The air is thinner at higher altitudes, providing less oxygen for the combustion that powers the engines and less lift for the wings.

When you reach the altitude at which the wings cannot produce more lift than the weight of the airplane, or the engines cannot produce enough thrust to propel the airplane at an adequate speed to produce lift, or both, the airplane cannot climb any higher.

Answer 9

the engine will stop working because of the altiude and cause if it goes to high into the earths atmosphere it will burn up

Answer 10

As the plane's altitude increases, the air density decreases. Aircraft need a certain amount of air volume and density in order to fly. As air passes over the planes wings, it creates negative pressure due to the shape of the wing (also called an airfoil). Without this air passing over it or not as much, the magnitude of the negative pressure decreases and it would not be enough lift force for the plane to fly. This is why all planes and helicopters have a "ceiling." A rocket is different because it works off of thrust and not lift, thrust is just a direct force and it will work in the absence or presence of air.

Answer 11

also, as altitude increases beyond 10,000 feet there's not enough oxygen in the air to breathe, so unless the cabin is pressurized everyone will die.