Why don't you get pushed back into your seat in a plane after takeoff?

Question

When its taking off you feel a push back, but once in the air travelling at 500mph why don't we get pushed back?

Answer 1

What you're feeling is acceleration, or change in speed.  The faster the rate of change of the speed, the more you'll feel.

It's just like being in a car.  If you have been in a car that accelerates real fast from a stop, you have that same sensation of being pushed back into your seat.  But once the car is going 70 miles per hour, you don't feel anything other than the bumps in the road.  And then when you brake hard, you feel strain against the seat belt because the speed is changing.

Answer 2

This is due to one of newtons three laws of motion. Once the aircraft is moving at 500 mph your body is moving at 500mph this is why when you land and reverse thrust is applied you slide forward because your body is still moving at the speed the airplane was moving at before reverse thrust was applied and this goes on until the airplane completely decelerates.

Answer 3

During take off, the plane is

(1) slightly tilted back

(2) accelerating.

Once the plane reaches cruising speed, it is no longer accelerating (the pushed back feeling).

Good Luck...

Answer 4

Because speed is no longer increasing.

Answer 5

You'll learn this when you take high school physics.

Answer 6

after takeoff = less acceleration = no further pushing back in seat feeling

Answer 7

I've always thought of it as "you catching up with the airplane."

Once we're at speed, no more push back....

Answer 8

You are only pushed back when accelerating. Take a physics class instead of spending your time on here.