What makes planes fly at a certain height?

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coloradobusted

I work at an airport, COS. The answer to your ? is simple. All civilian aircraft have to fly at a mandated height set by the FAA. This ranges from 35,000 to 37,000 feet unless set different. With the military and police airspace being anywhere else. Police usually lower and military both lower and higher. The reason is to keep track of the radar images easier between the different types and to avoid mid-air collisions. So, hopefully, the air traffic control system will be upgraded to run on GPS and transponders.(If approved by Congress.) The system that's in place now, has been around since the 60's. In most cases using some of the same equipment from then with few upgrades. Still feel safe to fly. lol. Actually the chances of being involved in a mid-air collision is minimal. But the chances of being in a collision on the runway is way higher. There is about 100 to 150 accidents a year on the ground, resulting from death to just plain injuries, to just aircraft damage(which results in high ticket price I might add).

ANN F

so long haul flights don't get to close to domestic flights closer to the ground

YORKSHIRE

Cruising altitude is dictated by the aircraft type and Air Traffic Control.

Planes fly at the height that is most efficient unless ATC tell them otherwise. Cruising height for most modern airliners is 36,000ft.

dances with unicorns

The heading and altitude of planes is dictated by air traffic controllers; it's their responsibility to keep the planes a certain distance apart, depending on the type of aircraft, so that nobody runs into anybody else up there. I think they do an amazing job; my hat's off to them!

keefy

They can fly at whatever height they like up to about 50000ft. The higher they fly the more efficient they become because the air is thinner, they also need to be stronger because of the pressure difference inside and outside of the aircraft.

fivetoze

well, it's usually the pilot... who looks out of the thing in front called a window, and a co pilot who watches teh side looking radar, and a big map, supplied by air traffic control.

contrary to common belief the skies over England are divided up like lanes on a motorway. each lane has a height restriction..

you stick to them, or die spectacularly when you get T boned by a 757 thats on route... either that, or you hit the pylon at the end of our street like a 737 did 12 years ago. the fool didnt reset his altimeter...

Clarky

Its usually the pilot who decides

fahmey_eusoff

It depends on the approval of the flight plan from Air Traffic Control and DCA, depending on the plane specifications on how high it could fly for optimum performance.

As a rule of thumb, going west is on the even number of flight level and reverse for going east would be off flight level say FL30 means 30,000 ft above sea level.

Obviously this is to regulate air traffic. There are highways up there and it is three dimensional. We don't want them to bump into each other every now and then, do we?

Huggles [mozzafan]

its something to do with air under the wings that helps it fly

Ssp

1) To avoid birdhit and human hit (yes human beings try to fire a lot of things which can damage)
2) By flying above a certain height, the friction is very less so the plane can move faster with less fuel usage (more advantageous which outweighs the longer distance due to the higher level)
3) Traffic, regulations

blue just

there are special machines that make an airplane fly and i think they have to fly at a certain height because they have to follow a certain altitude in order not to collide with others.

TheDiciple

most of the comments here are the dumbest ive ever read. They have to cruse around 35K feet. Most commercial Boeing jets, private jets under a certain class fly anywhere from 10-20K feet. Just imagine a highway and class system for the air, they are designated to a certain class and height restrictions. Anything above 40K-180K is government air space and is restricted. Also at these heights you have a decrease in O2, which makes it harder on the turbines to burn fuel efficiently. planes fly at certain heights, commercial jets fly at higher heights, almost like an air highway transportation system, also helping jumbo jets burn fuel efficiently. hope this helps

aka

Planes fly at certain height because they are instructed by controllers, they cannot fly a bit lower or higher but they can ascend or descend to another level due weather or when there is another aircraft flying at the same level, either on the opposite direction or on the same direction,but the level of the two aircraft must at least 2000ft, this is called traffic separation.

dcgirl

There's a wide range of heights where a plane can fly efficiently and safely. The air traffic controllers assign a section of airspace to each flight to keep planes from colliding. In general, they do tend to fly above the weather patterns to minimize turbulence and only really short hops are flown at lower altitude (10,000 feet or so) though.

Bigdog

It is set by International government agreements and set as rules. There is a three dimensional highway up there. Planes flying North to South or East to West have different altitudes to fly in. If they didn't they might bump into each other more often.

Aircraft fly better at higher altitudes. Mostly because of thinner air which means less drag, and a smoother ride.

Planes with non-pressurized cabins (usually smaller private aircraft) don't fly very high because of lack of oxygen, and cold.
For an example lets say flying at 30,000 feet (about 5.6 miles up!)
The air is so thin and with lack of oxygen to breath, you would probably pass out. Suppose you are flying over a surface temperature of 90 degrees. At 30,000 feet the temperature would be close to -60 degrees. Notice the minus!

willow

FAA helo?

Thegustaffa

It's a simple matter of money. The higher the plane goes, the less wind resistance the plane encounters, which means less gas. Too high, not enough air to keep the plane flying (equals crash!). For the cheapest amount of money, planes fly at the altitude that they do.

edgarl

All aircraft are flying under the instructions of ground control. For lanes on the ground read layers in the sky. There are also areas with standing height restrictions.

GEORGE V

the pilot is told what altitude he should fly

I loathe YH answers

Because they need to get the CO2 emissions right up in to the atmosphere where it can do most harm.

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