collision detection: How to safely land a plane -- by blowing one of its wings off

June 29, 2006

How to safely land a plane -- by blowing one of its wings off

An inventor in Bangkok has just patented a new way to safely crash-land a plane: By blowing one of its wings off and sending it into a spiralling dive, which -- he claims -- would give it a helicopter-like soft landing.

Here's how it works, in his words:

A signal from the altimeter will detonate the explosive charges, with the thrust forward 1, causing a controlled separation of the wing, and the thrust needed to cause a very strong force in the rearward direction of this wing. The explosive devices will provide enough to break the wing from the airplane at the fuselage 2. This force will then, make the whole airplane spin on a horizontal plane and in the direction of the missing wing 3. This spin will cause the following: [0006] (1) The spin will cause centrifugal force between the wing that remains intact and the fuselage. Thus maintaining the horizontal plane of the airplane while in a spiral spin. [0007] (2) The spin will cause the intact wing to work in the same manner as the rotor of the helicopter, producing lift, so that the airplane slowly decreases altitude, instead of a free fall descent.

"Attention, passengers. In the event of a need for a crash landing, please return to your seats, fasten your seat beats, and stow your tray tables -- before we rip the left wing off and turn this airplane into a shrieking, plunging PINWHEEL OF DEATH."

(Thanks to the New Scientist Invention Blog for this one!)

Posted by Clive Thompson at June 29, 2006 12:03 PM

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Comments

Sure, that's all well and good. Or you could just have Superman break off one of the wings and save the day.

In Superman Returns, however, after the hero broke off the right wing, the plane went into the described spin... and then the left wing snapped off and the plane became a bullet.

Would that be a risk in the inventor's scenario?

Posted by: Jg at June 29, 2006 2:22 PM

Oh great, so first you reduce the lifting surfaces in half. Then you spin it so the middle bit won't have any air flowing over it at all, so zero lift, and one side or the other will be presenting the back end of the airfoil to the wind. Yeah, this sounds like a great way of reducing the descent speed.

Does this guy know how fast planes descend in a flat spin? Much, much faster than they do in a nice controlled glide.

Posted by: ptomblin at June 29, 2006 3:47 PM

Man, I had no idea that happens in the movie! I haven't seen it yet.

Life imitates art! Or, insane patents imitate art. Or does the art imitate insane patents imitating life, or something?

Posted by: Clive at June 29, 2006 3:48 PM

ptomblin slipped in while I was posting! Excellent points ... I don't know much about aerodynamics, but yeah, that sounds about right.

Does the patent office just sort of give out a patent to anything someone submits, no matter how berserk?

Posted by: Clive at June 29, 2006 3:50 PM

Sorry about the spoiler, then. Although if you've seen any of the trailers for the movie, then you've already seen what I'm talking about. So I think I'm on pretty safe spoiler-proof grounds with that info, actually.

Go see it! It kicks ass.

Posted by: Jg at June 29, 2006 4:26 PM

Oh, and in response to ptomblin's post -- am pretty sure he's right about the increased speed of a flat-spinning plane. Can you imagine how the passengers would feel? If by some stretch of fate they landed safely, rescuers would pop open the door of the cabin and probably instantly pass out from the stink of airsickness splatter.

Posted by: Jg at June 29, 2006 4:28 PM

Yeah, I think you're safe from the spoiler ninjas -- the trailer shows the wingless jet. Personally, as someone who is always a bit nervous when I'm flying, the segment might be a little too much to bear, egad.

Posted by: Clive at June 29, 2006 5:40 PM

I'm sure the terrorists would love for us to make planes with built in bombs for them. Then they can travel light.

Posted by: Joost Schuur at June 29, 2006 8:06 PM

Lord yes.

Posted by: Clive at July 2, 2006 5:23 PM