AboutDottie Norkus Expertise I can address questions concerning: airline pilot employment & entry level airline careers in the Unites States, women pilots, flight training, pilot certification, flight scholarships (mostly for women), aviation & airline safety topics, aviation accident investigation, air carrier accidents and airline operations.
***Please note, I cannot address flight training or career queries from outside the United States. If you are not in the USA, please direct your question to the message boards at www.PPRUNE.org as you can surely find an answer there. For those in India try http://www.indianpilots.com
Also, I cannot address questions about aero engineering degree programs/careers or aviation management careers.
Experience U.S. Regional Airline Pilot. I have also had 15 years previous experience in airline ground operations, as well as a part 91 commercial skydive pilot and ferry pilot.
Organizations I belong to I am a charter member of Women In Aviation International as well as the International Organization of Women Pilots: the Ninety Nines. I keep a database of flight scholarships for women (mostly SW USA) and mentor student pilots.
Education/Credentials Embry Riddle Aeronautical University certificate in Aviation Safety/Accident investigation.
I was wondering why it is airlines have to turn the lights out when they land and take-off at night. A friend told me it is to conserve power, but I don't think that's very viable! Is there a legal reason why they do it, or a technical reason?
Secondly, and this is a silly question, but what would the acceleration times of a jet airliner be? (talking 0-60mph, and using maximum possible power, which I know would not be used in real life!) Would it vary from aircraft to aircraft?
Many thanks!
Answer Adam
I.
Light are absolutely NOT dimmed for "power conservation"! That would be like turning off the radio in your car so it would go faster- simply ridiculous. Aircraft electrical is run off engine driven generators, alternators or transformer rectifiers. Items using power from them have no effect on the thrust or power the engine produces. So you are right, it isn't a viable explaination.
During the take off and landing phases are when most emergencies happen. If the lights were on in the cabin, you would not be able to see the conditions outside the aircraft as well as if they were off if an evacuation were to become necessary. Evacuating into an unsafe condition like fire, water or an obstruction ect is not a wise idea! During the day the cabin lights can reflect off the windows making outside conditions difficult to see. At night, low lighting would improve your night vision making the dark outside much easier to see from in the dimly lit cabin. Hence, they are dimmed for both day time and night time takeoffs and landings to improve visibillity in case an emergency were to occur.
II.
The time for an aircraft to accelerate to a given speed would vary on a number of factors like: aircraft weight, temperature, density altitude and power setting used. You would have to know all those variables to truly figure out the time it would take.
You might visit the videos at www.flightlevel350.com. Search for "takeoff/cockpit view videos" and time a few different aircraft to see, as an example, of how fast they accelerate. "80 knots" (about 92 mph as 1 mi/hr=0.87kt/hr) is a usual call out, so that would be a good benchmark to use.
BTW-Max possible power is usually not used on most take offs to conserve engine life. A reduced power/thrust setting that is appropriate for that weight of that flight, the runway, altitude and temperature is used instead.
