Question about flying lessons and physics

I have a question.

A man recently told me that he had been taking flying lessons.

And that one of these lessons included flying downwards with an airplane
in such a manor that a matchbox which was placed on the "dashboard" started to hang/float loosely in the air before him.

Further more, his instructor told him to try and steer the plane so that the floating matchbox would land in the chest-pocket of his shirt.

And finally, that he actually had mastered this.

Only problem is, i don't belive it.

It just sounds so crazy!

Like taken out of a movie or a cartoon!

So can any of you confirm or deconfirm this?

Is it possible at all?


Thanks for your help.

Well it is possible to simulate non-gravity in an aeroplane for short amounts of time. However being able to do the rest you claim... Sounds not likely. horgen123

Amateur. I once did that with a lighted match, and lit the cigarette in my mouth (this was when you still could smoke on planes).Engrish_Major

I r pilot (for real), and that's definitely not something you'd ever be doing during lessons...

The only times that you'd lose altitude fast during training would be during a stall (in which case you'd be more involved in recovering from said stall than catching a falling matchbook), and during IFR training where the instructor will tell you to look away and then do something drastic to the orientation of the plane (like put it into a steep dive) that you then have to fix (without seeing outside the plane, since it's IFR training).

Unless this guy was taking aerobatic lessons, he's probably lying. It's very possible to do; it's just not anything you'd do in a lesson.

Possible with practice I suppose, I've done zero-g arcs many times and different control inputs can in fact "steer" anything that's floating. If he's flying a gravity fed, high wing trainer, then he'll stave the engine of fuel after a little bit though (done that too, shhhh..) Penguinchow

Really? If so, how much practise are we talking here? Cause he didn't take enough lessons to complete his flight sertificate. Would it be plausible fora beginner to achive this?

Do you ride roller coasters? If so, you can see how one would float. Those lap or shoulder bars are there for a reason. Others have already stated how you could maneuver the object to a pocket.

I r pilot (for real), and that's definitely not something you'd ever be doing during lessons...

The only times that you'd lose altitude fast during training would be during a stall (in which case you'd be more involved in recovering from said stall than catching a falling matchbook), and during IFR training where the instructor will tell you to look away and then do something drastic to the orientation of the plane (like put it into a steep dive) that you then have to fix (without seeing outside the plane, since it's IFR training).

Unless this guy was taking aerobatic lessons, he's probably lying. It's very possible to do; it's just not anything you'd do in a lesson.

Dark__Link

Hmm, sounds reasonable enough. I firmly belived that this was IMPOSSIBLE to do no matter what, and that this guy was just making up the whole thing so he could act like a big shot.

But now im starting to think that it's at least possible.

Im suprised!

Do you ride roller coasters? If so, you can see how one would float. Those lap or shoulder bars are there for a reason. Others have already stated how you could maneuver the object to a pocket.

WhiteKnight77

I know, i just thought that a diving airplane would travel way faster than a falling matchbox and so the matchbox would be stuck in the roof of the cockpit instead of floating in the air.

[QUOTE="WhiteKnight77"]

Do you ride roller coasters? If so, you can see how one would float. Those lap or shoulder bars are there for a reason. Others have already stated how you could maneuver the object to a pocket.

Tony-F

I know, i just thought that a diving airplane would travel way faster than a falling matchbox and so the matchbox would be stuck in the roof of the cockpit instead of floating in the air.

Gravity affects everything equally. The old question of which would hit the ground first, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead applies here.

[QUOTE="Tony-F"]

[QUOTE="WhiteKnight77"]

Do you ride roller coasters? If so, you can see how one would float. Those lap or shoulder bars are there for a reason. Others have already stated how you could maneuver the object to a pocket.

WhiteKnight77

I know, i just thought that a diving airplane would travel way faster than a falling matchbox and so the matchbox would be stuck in the roof of the cockpit instead of floating in the air.

Gravity affects everything equally. The old question of which would hit the ground first, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead applies here.

[QUOTE="WhiteKnight77"]

[QUOTE="Tony-F"]

I know, i just thought that a diving airplane would travel way faster than a falling matchbox and so the matchbox would be stuck in the roof of the cockpit instead of floating in the air.

xaos

Gravity affects everything equally. The old question of which would hit the ground first, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead applies here.

If he wants the object to float, he can't do a power dive. The typical plane that new pilots learn in is a Cessna 172 and has a stall speed of 54 MPH. Most roller coasters run faster than that (and are getting faster). It does not take a lot of speed to get something to float. It can even happen in cars on the ground.

Im really not sure what to think here...

I belive it is possible, but im still not sure about how easy/hard this is to achive.

Is it likely that this stunt, or a similar one has been done before, by anyone?

Is it like a world record or something, or is this 'standard procedure' in the world of flying?

All pilots are taught stall recovery training. Spin recovery training is taught to military pilots. A pilot has to know how to recover the aircraft if the normal flight envelope is exceeded to where there is a departure from normal flight. Watch aerobatic pilots, they typically fly outside the envelope to begin with and practice such flight in order to know when to recover so an accident does not happen. The typical pilot will not take his/her Cessna, Piper or Beechcraft out of the flight envelope for their aircraft to do so and suffer an accident, especially one that results in a death, is negligent.