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Old 09-18-2007 | 09:06 PM
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Default RE: How does a fuel tank work? help?


ORIGINAL: usafloadc17

so just off the top of you're head, how long will it stay running before it dies at a nose down attitude? Is a minute normal then?
A minute is an eternity in airplanes. Consider this. If you are at an altitude of 200' and you point the nose down to the ground. I'm going to use 60 mph has a nice round figure for an example here, and it is a realistic number too. At 60 mph the plane will travel 88 feet per second. So from 200 feet to altitude to the ground will take just a little bit over 3 seconds. See what I mean about the minute being an unrealistic number. There is almost no way you are ever going to be in a nose down position for a minute or longer while the plane is in the air. You'll smash into the ground long before you hit a minute's time.

Ken