If its "bad" to turn on cameras during takeoff & landing why is YouTube FULL of vids about them?

cheechm · 15 Oct 2011 at 17:27

And dimming of the cabin lights is to adjust your eyes if its dark outside.

Amp34 · 15 Oct 2011 at 17:35

KatanaDV20 said:
Yea I know - and the signs are very clear as well. Nice big diagrams. But the FA always asks the person if he/she is prepared to help in emergency. And if they say "no" they are seated somewhere else.

What I was getting at is - you feel a little safer when you see the person seated there looking at the door...noting the signs...reading the leaflet etc. I saw a woman doing this once and its so good to see. She was mentally already getting ready in case ___ hit the fan.

On the other hand you see other people just nodding and going back to their book.

Not always, in fact rarely have I been asked that. It may depend on the airline though... I've had it once or twice when I was sat next to an emergency door (try and get those seats because I'm tall) but normally I'm not asked. TBH though I fly enough now that I am probably one of those "business" types you mentioned. I get a book out straight away and ignore the safety briefing, just glancing to see where the exit is, how to open the door and where occasionally where the lifejackets are...

Aod said:
No. the doors retract inwards before hinging open, when the aircraft is at altitude the cabin has significantly higher pressure than the external atmosphere, making opening the door practically impossible.

That's what I always assumed however the diagrams on the emergency doors I was sat next to the other day didn't show this, they looked very much like they just open straight out... I was a little tempted to open it to find out but decided it wasn't a good idea.

I know how the main ones close however.

MrMoonX · 15 Oct 2011 at 17:58

petrol stations are the worst, signs saying no mobile phone use, yet the guy at the till has 5 mobiles and takes calls while your paying speaking a different language

Aod · 15 Oct 2011 at 18:59

MrMoonX said:
petrol stations are the worst, signs saying no mobile phone use, yet the guy at the till has 5 mobiles and takes calls while your paying speaking a different language

Racism and stereotypes aside, the "no mobile phones in petrol stations" thing is a complete farce.

Mobile phones are some of the most electrically neutral electrical devices in existence.

Vonhelmet · 15 Oct 2011 at 19:56

Aod said:
Racism and stereotypes aside, the "no mobile phones in petrol stations" thing is a complete farce.

Mobile phones are some of the most electrically neutral electrical devices in existence.

I could understand it if mobile phones were likely to produce loads of sparks... They should have a "No rotary dial telephones" sign instead.

KatanaDV20 · 15 Oct 2011 at 20:03

Did Mythbusters check out the EMI of devices like digicams , MP3 players & laptops on avionics? They prob have..lol.

Amp34 · 15 Oct 2011 at 20:08

KatanaDV20 said:
Did Mythbusters check out the EMI of devices like digicams , MP3 players & laptops on avionics? They prob have..lol.

Yep, well they started testing in June 2009 but decided not to air the results...

Werewolf · 15 Oct 2011 at 20:09

KatanaDV20 said:
Did Mythbusters check out the EMI of devices like digicams , MP3 players & laptops on avionics? They prob have..lol.

IIRC they did the mobile phone one, but came to the "inconclusive" result as they only had a limited range of equipment to try it with, and didn't have the miles of cabling that aircraft typically have linking all the systems together.

Yas786 · 15 Oct 2011 at 20:28

simulatorman said:
Last time I stopped in a petrol station my sister was smoking in the back and had her window open. I asked her to put it out and she replied why should I.

Should have slapped her really for that stupidity...or should have said, have you got a death wish because i sure as hell havent

Vonhelmet · 15 Oct 2011 at 20:31

Werewolf said:
IIRC they did the mobile phone one, but came to the "inconclusive" result as they only had a limited range of equipment to try it with, and didn't have the miles of cabling that aircraft typically have linking all the systems together.

Apparently a modern passenger plane has about 150 miles of wiring in it, so yeah... Your phone's chattering is going to get picked up somewhere.

2bit · 15 Oct 2011 at 20:39

Why would low level microwave transmissions have any effect whatsoever on long lengths of cabling do you think?

Vonhelmet · 15 Oct 2011 at 21:05

2bit said:
Why would low level microwave transmissions have any effect whatsoever on long lengths of cabling do you think?

Sit your phone next to your PC speakers, and see how long it is until you hear some clicking through the speakers. That's your phone interfering with the signal in the speaker cabling and electronics. Exactly the same thing will happen on a plane, and when there is that much wiring the signal is going to interfere with something, somewhere, particularly when all the kit on a plane is as sensitive as it is.

Mickie · 15 Oct 2011 at 21:08

maybe they stopped people filming take off and landings because they think there are enough vids on youtube, any more would spoil it.

2bit · 15 Oct 2011 at 21:33

Vonhelmet said:
Sit your phone next to your PC speakers, and see how long it is until you hear some clicking through the speakers. That's your phone interfering with the signal in the speaker cabling and electronics. Exactly the same thing will happen on a plane, and when there is that much wiring the signal is going to interfere with something, somewhere, particularly when all the kit on a plane is as sensitive as it is.

But surely that's just audio interference?

How many electronic or computer systems can you crash by holding your mobile phone up to them?

In fact if you could impact so strongly on systems with just a mobile phone then surely the whole would fall apart quite quickly?

Sin_Chase · 15 Oct 2011 at 21:35

Vonhelmet · 15 Oct 2011 at 21:37

2bit said:
But surely that's just audio interference?

No? Your phone is chattering away to the mast using microwaves and the signal is disrupting the signals in the speakers.

2bit said:
How many electronic or computer systems can you crash by holding your mobile phone up to them?

None, so far, but I don't want the first one I succeed with to be a plane I'm on.

2bit said:
In fact if you could impact so strongly on systems with just a mobile phone then surely the whole would fall apart quite quickly?

Well, yes, that's true, but my point is that the hypothesis that a mobile phone could interfere with a plane is technically sound, even if in practise it doesn't appear to matter.

FreeStream · 15 Oct 2011 at 21:37

Yosiah said:
Someone recently told me that it's just to keep passengers focussed in case there is an accident during take-off or landing, and nothing to do with electronic interference.

This.

Having recorded/photographed on a number of flights from Cessnas to 767s and nobody has ever said anything or cared.

They have said they don't like photos of the cabin tho on some flights, which is fair enough I suppose.

But it's polite to ask the Cabin Crew anyway.

Blue160 · 15 Oct 2011 at 21:39

Audio interference in your headset wouldn't be great when you're trying to talk to air traffic control though would it.

Edit: massively too slow

KatanaDV20 · 15 Oct 2011 at 22:01

Audio interference in your headset wouldn't be great when you're trying to talk to air traffic control though would it.

I remember a pirate radio station in London that pilots @ Heathrow could pick up on their way to the runway! A lot of complaints were received about the station. Everyone on the airplane doing the pre-takeoff checklists and then in comes the hardkore choonage @ 180BPM.