From: Charlie Stross (charlie@antipope.org)
Date: Tue May 28 2002 - 13:35:58 MDT
On Mon, May 27, 2002 at 12:41:34PM -0700, spike66 wrote:
> >Chuck Kuecker wrote:
> >I seem to remember reading somewhere that fuel tanks on jetliners are
> >pressurized with combustion bleed from the engines - which is much
> >lower in O2 than the atmosphere. Sort of a natural fire preventer...do
> >I misremember? Chuck Kuecker
>
> I understood that they are pressurized but not to 1 atmosphere.
> The pressure in the tank would be lower at cruise altitude than
> on the deck. spike
Pedantic point: the cabin isn't pressurized to 1 atmosphere, either!
Ever wondered why you need to swallow while the airliner's descending?
Or gone through the experience with a head-cold, for that lovely
ice-pick-in-each-ear sensation that takes hours or days to clear?
Airliner cabins are pressurized -- to about 12,000 feet. That's high
enough that virtually nobody suffers altitude sickness, but reduces
fatigue effects on the airliner compared to pressurizing to sea level.
You'd sure know about the reduced cabin pressure if you had to jog
round the inside of a 747 twenty times, or boil a cup of water. (It's
one of the reasons tea served on airliners always tastes lousy: it
isn't brewed properly because the water boils at under 100 celsius.)
-- Charlie
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