The plane's windows are round to prevent it from falling apart. The windows on the plane are round in order to prevent it from falling into pieces. What is the name of the round sealed window on the plane?

Jet aircraft manufacturing was just beginning in the 1950s. The first airliner was the Comet, the brainchild of de Havilland (British aircraft manufacturing company; approx. mixednews). It was an ultra-modern jet passenger aircraft with technical characteristics unique for that time and a pressurized cabin. Unfortunately, in 1954, two Comets broke up mid-flight, killing a total of 56 people.

The reason is ridiculously simple: square windows. It was one of those annoying little things that are easy to miss when designing; but as soon as something happens, they become obvious even to a child.

The square window consists of four 90-degree notches, which means it has four weak points. If there was pressure on your house, the crack would certainly go through the corner of some window.

Have you noticed that the windows on all planes are round? This is not done for beauty - the round shape does not allow the plane to be torn into pieces. The pressure is distributed along the entire curve instead of cracking at the corners (as it turned out) and tearing the plane to shreds.

Believe me, it wasn't easy to find out. Experts had no idea why the plane's structure was falling apart until they tested the structure by repeatedly simulating cabin pressure. Of course, the fuselage eventually burst, and the rupture began precisely from these notorious corners. Since then, all aircraft have only round windows.

7 useful lessons we learned from Apple

10 deadliest events in history

The Soviet “Setun” is the only computer in the world based on a ternary code

12 previously unpublished photographs by the world's best photographers

10 Greatest Changes of the Last Millennium

Unattractive Tutankhamun

Pele was so good at football that he “paused” the war in Nigeria with his play.

Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thank you for that
that you are discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us on Facebook And In contact with

Why are airplane windows round? Why are the tips of the wings curved upward? And why do passengers enter from the left side of the board?

Everything related to aviation is thought out to the smallest detail. Perhaps this is why the plane is the safest form of transport. And yet why is it designed this way?

website answers the 8 most popular “whys” about airplanes.

1. Why are airplane windows round?

In the early 1950s, de Havilland produced an aircraft called the Comet. An airplane that was considered a true miracle of aviation. However, a year later it fell to pieces in the air. A few months later, the same thing happened to two more aircraft.

Engineers ran diagnostics on every cog in the plane and found the problem. The cause of the disaster turned out to be the plane's windows - they were square. The fact is that the corners of the windows bear a large load, which increases even more during the flight. Engineers solved the problem by rounding the corners of the windows. Thanks to this, flying has now become much safer.

2. Why are the tips of the wings curved upward?

During flight, the pressure from below the plane is higher than the pressure from above. Therefore, the air strives for equilibrium and tries to move from an elevated area to a lower one. The easiest way to do this is on the wings of an airplane. It was only when the air reached the tips of the wings that it broke off and created strong turbulence.

The nose of a military fighter is sharp. The sharper the shape, the more streamlining and the faster the plane. But because of the long nose it’s hard to see runway, which is why regular passenger planes have a rounded nose.

But British engineers solved this problem and in 1969 made one of the fastest passenger aircraft, the nose of which can change its inclination. During takeoff and landing, the nose is lowered, and during flight it is brought to a vertical position.

This strange design is made for one reason only: this way, pilots can better see the runway during takeoff and landing.

4. Why are planes white?

Most planes are white, and for good reason. There are several reasons:

• Heat reflection. If an airplane is painted white, it accumulates less heat. This is better for passengers and more economical for the airline.
• White paint is cheaper. Painting an airplane white is several times cheaper than painting it in any other color.
• Bird strike prevention. Birds see reflections from white surfaces better and do not collide with aircraft.
• It's easier to see cracks and dents on white. White parts are easier to recognize in a crash and damage to the hull is easier to spot.

5. Why is the entrance on the left?

Not all, but many aircraft models have the main passenger entrance on the left. There are 3 versions of why this is the case.

• Version 1. Luggage is loaded on the right side (luggage hatches are on the right), so it is also unsafe to let passengers on the right.
• Version 2. There is an assumption that this migrated to airplanes from ships: passengers entered along a ladder onto the left side of the ship.
• Version 3. Previously, the commander always sat on the left. The location of the passenger door, also on the left, gave him best review and made it possible to more accurately adjust the aircraft to the passenger area.

6. Why are some planes so strangely shaped?

You've probably heard about the plane, which is also called invisible. It has such an unusual shape for one simple reason: it flies as one solid object. This makes it faster, can carry more luggage and uses less fuel.

The design of airplanes is inspired by birds. Birds of prey adopt this posture to increase their flight range and be less noticeable.

However, the production of an aircraft of this shape is very expensive, so it is not used in civil aviation.

7. Why do planes seem spacious?

Round windows to provide access to light, built into the sides of airplanes and ships, are a common sight. It is difficult to imagine that they did not always have such outlines. So why are the portholes round? There are a number of explanations for this.

Portholes on ships

The windows built into the sides of ship hulls were not always round in shape. In historical photographs you can see ships with square and rectangular windows that look like traditional vents.

The rounder shape that is more familiar to us is due to higher strength parameters. Roundness makes it possible to evenly distribute the load created by differences in pressure and temperature. This “negates” the risk of cracks and, as a consequence, rupture of the ship’s hull. For the same reason, all load-bearing parts of ship hulls, as well as doors and hatches, are rounded.

The second reason for the widespread use of round windows is ease of manufacture.

Previously, window frames were made from cast brass blanks, followed by processing on lathes. The round pieces were much easier to make. In addition, during installation it was easier to seal them, protecting them from leaks.

Modern round portholes on ships are completely waterproof. As additional protection in severe weather or rough weather water element portholes are equipped with storm covers made of metal or removable shields.

Windows on airplanes

Even before the middle of the last century, square windows were installed on passenger planes. Airplanes such as the Caravel even had triangular windows.

The turning point was the tragedy that occurred in 1953. In those years, the jet aircraft industry was actively developing. One of the first to enter the world market was a supersonic airliner called Comet. By technical specifications in those days he had no equal. But contemporaries remembered the supersonic airliner for the reason that it crashed at the moment of takeoff. 56 passengers died. Over the next year, two more similar disasters occurred. "De Havilland Comed" was removed from flights, discontinued and the causes of the accidents began to be investigated.

As it turned out later, the key cause of the tragedies was the depressurization of the aircraft body due to microcracks that appeared in the corners of the windows. To understand, as the plane climbed to altitude, there was a rapid drop in external pressure, while the pressure inside the plane remained more stable. The pressure difference provoked the expansion of the housing. As a result, tension was created in the body material, and it began to gradually change its shape. The square window acted as a kind of obstacle to the distribution of stress, forcing it to change its direction and thereby causing an increase in pressure. Peak stress points formed at the corners of the square windows, causing cracks to form in these areas.

After this, the windows on the plane are made exclusively round or oval. They distribute pressure along the entire curve, minimizing the risk of deformation.

In fact, the windows of modern passenger aircraft, such as the wide-body twin-engine Boeing Dreamliner, are more likely not round in shape, but rectangular with beveled and rounded corners. This engineering solution allows you to “bypass” places where fatigue stresses are concentrated.

It is noteworthy that according to the instructions, the window curtains must remain open during takeoff or landing of the aircraft. This precaution allows you to solve two problems at once: it allows passengers to more easily and quickly adapt to the natural light outside, and crew members at any time, with a quick glance, visually assess the condition of the aircraft and, if necessary, take appropriate measures in a timely manner.

In addition, the polymer curtains should be pulled back for the reason that if emergency situations at the moment of mechanical damage, do not injure nearby passengers.

Today, the need to use curtains on windows has practically disappeared, since round windows on airplanes are made automatically darkening. The degree of darkening of the windows is determined by the crew. If it is necessary to dim by 99%, you can program in just a couple of minutes both all windows at the same time and selectively individual windows in the cabin.

Many people wonder: why are the windows on an airplane rounded, and not square like regular windows or, for example, not triangular?

The answer is elementary simple. The very shape of the aircraft without corners, the rounded shape of the windows, as well as hatches and doors, is necessary for safety. The roundness allows you to evenly distribute the load from the difference in temperature and pressure, which prevents the occurrence of cracks, and subsequently the depressurization of the cabin and the tearing of the aircraft into pieces.

To explain it in more scientific terms, it looks like this: as a plane gains altitude, the external pressure drops faster than the internal pressure - this creates a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the plane, causing the body to expand.

When the material of the housing changes its shape, tension is created in it. The material expands due to the fact that the stress constantly increases, eventually the stress reaches the limit that the material can collapse.

On airplanes, the shape of the windows greatly affects the voltage level. Voltage easily passes through the material without damage if there are no obstacles such as a window in its path, this place it needs to change direction, and this causes an increase in pressure. This is called stress concentration.

By comparing the effect of round and square windows on stress concentration, you can see that square windows create a greater barrier to stress passage. This means that tension is created at the corners of square windows.

The extreme increase in stress concentration causes the formation of housing cracks in these places. Such cracks led to tragic disasters until studies of destroyed aircraft made it possible to study the nature of the occurrence of stress in materials. That is, based on this, it becomes obvious why today on airplanes the windows are round, as well as all the load-bearing parts of the body, hatches, and doors are rounded. It’s good that the designers came to such a decision, and the passengers are now safe.

We love flying airplanes! But it turns out that in flight everything is far from so simple 😉 We will tell you a few interesting facts, which you've most likely never heard of before 😉 Let's go!

1. There is often an ax on board an aircraft, which is part of the safety equipment and is stored in the cockpit behind the captain's seat.

2. Flight attendants demand to raise the window shades not at all so that you can admire the take-off picture, but in order, in extreme cases, to see a fire.

3. An airplane wing is actually very flexible and can bend at enormous angles. So if the wing sways during flight, everything is fine 😉

4. On board an aircraft, the captain has unlimited power and can detain, fine, and much, much more.

5. You will never be able to land a plane on your own, even following the prompts of air traffic controllers. Most likely, you won’t even understand how to contact them... And the autopilot, by the way, does not work completely autonomously during landing.

6. It is possible that the body of a deceased person or organs that someone needs for transplantation may be flying on the same plane with you.

7. The porthole window is triple glazed to protect against pressure changes, regulate air flow and protect against internal damage, respectively.

8. A flight attendant or steward can always open the toilet door with ease, because... There is a secret handle hidden under the name of the room.

9. The pilot and co-pilot cannot eat the same food and share it with each other. This was done to avoid the possibility of poisoning both crew captains.

10. The table in front of you is not nearly as clean as it seems. We strongly advise against placing food or personal items on it!

Did you like the article? Scroll on and see a photo selection of those with whom you would definitely not want to be on the same plane! 😉

If you cannot afford to fly business or first class, there is nothing left to do but choose economy class... where, to be honest, it is not always convenient and pleasant. And all because there are many other unusual people and more flying with you.

WuzzUp brings to your attention the 20 most annoying passengers you can meet on an airplane.