That’s the built in leaf blower to make sure that the runway is clear for autumn landings. Most airports have their own de-leafing crews, but not all of them.
They were mandated to be installed after a string of landing crashes in the 90s got people making “fall” jokes too often, which upset the FAA.
Yeah, an Auxiliary Propulsion Unit. Seeing one deployed is pretty normal, but when an aircraft has two or more out at the same time, you should be leery of deeper problems with the main engines.
Instead of 257mph, they lower this one to go 257.5mph. it makes a big difference. I see your confusion on this topic. Sometimes they lower its big brother windmill and then the plane cat reach speeds closer to Mac book 7pro.
It's an emergency propeller, when the main engines lose power.
It's also the reason I never sit in the emergency exit row. The reason they give you extra legroom is so passengers can use the pedals that pop up from the floor when the masks are dropped. When they ask if you're willing and able to help on an emergency, this is actually the most common thing you'll have to help out with.
Everytime I've been in a crashing airplane, I just lean back a few degrees and laugh at those poor suckers who traded for a couple inches of extra legroom and now have the responsibility of saving the rest of us.
The turbine engines are there to look big and make noise to have the passengers feel safe. Big turbines also allow airlines to charge extra, and generate bigger profits. CO2 emissions are also intentionally raised to justify higher pricing.
Well yeah, the government needs that "emissions tax" and the airlines can now compete over "efficiency." But honestly, they don't need any fuel at all because they have wind. Cars need fuel because of friction with the ground, airplanes don't.
That propeller is only needed for takeoff and landing to make sure the plane gets consistent speed. Wind can be a bit gusty, and passengers don't like being tossed around.
The incoming bird sensor first senses any incoming birds; then, its cushioned robotic hand (think an oversized Mickey Mouse hand) gently smacks them out of the way of the plane's path.
There's one on each side of the plane, of course, but it's for redundancy only, as the Auxiliary Steering System can be used in forward or reverse, allowing one unit to rotate the plane to both port and starboard.
It act like the small training wheels in bikes. New pilots struggling with those big noisy engines put this small training propeller and feel confident.
As the aircraft moves through the air, this turbine harvests some of the relative difference in airspeed to convert it to energy that is then used to jam the radio frequencies of all the drone birds in the area that would otherwise disrupt the comms between the pilots and the controllers.
It's for helping out those ground-based fans for sheep; every so often they stall, so an aeroplane drops by and pops out it's ram air turbine to get it going again. There's another one installed on other planes called a bovine_air_turbine when the same thing happens to those fans for cows.
I tried to find a Scary Go Round archive with the whole subplot of the communist robots having a party at the bus station and fucking the buses, but it is too old to be available, I think 😢
( David Attenborough voice)
After the passenger jet has migrated to its fertility grounds it is ready to give birth.
Unlike human babys, the passenger jet leaves the mother sideways. This way it can gather some draft before its heavy seat area touches the air. At this point, The mother needs to hover near enough to the Earth's surface not to endanger the newborn fall, as it's propellers are far from fully developed and can't sustain proper flight yet.
New green propulsion pushed by the left, they want to make our planes slower and quieter and less smokey. Look, it even resembles their dumb little wind farms.
It's the auxiliary retractable engine, for STOL operations. It gives the aircraft turboprop like performance in takeoff and landing, with no detrimental effect on cruise performance.
that's a barometer for landing. it measures relative air speed, then subtracts the plane speed. there's another one on the other side for plane speed that measures relative air speed, then subtracts the wind speed calculated from the barometer.
This is just a retro flying mod for those who want to have the Spitfire/Messerschmitt experience. If not that it's an Anti-drone snipper, cutting off the little wings of a drone.