Gate 41Things that look scary but have an explanation
Why does the plane tilt in turns?
The whole world just tilted. Are we sliding sideways?
An aircraft cannot steer by pushing sideways on the air like a car. It banks. Tilting the wings tilts the lift force: one part still holds the aircraft up, the other part pulls it around the curve.
Airline turns are gentle: typical bank is around 15 to 25 degrees, and rarely more than 30 in normal operation. A full 360 degree turn at the standard "rate one" takes two minutes.
In the cabin your drink stays put, because the combined force of gravity and the turn still points straight into the floor. At 30 degrees you weigh only 15% more. What feels alarming is the horizon tilting in the window.
A little deeper
Load factor n = 1 / cos(bank). At 30 degrees n = 1.15, at 45 degrees n = 1.41 and at 60 degrees n = 2.0. Stall speed rises with the square root of n, which is why airliners avoid steep banks.
Turn radius is v2 / (g tan(bank)). Faster means wider. Pilots and ATC plan turns around speed, terrain and other traffic.
The rudder is not what turns an aircraft. It keeps the nose aligned with the airflow so the turn is smooth and coordinated.
See it in Gate 41, in the cabin
Related questions
People involved
- Captain Imani OkaforCaptain (pilot in command)
- Ruth KowalskiAir traffic controller