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by Barcaluv on August 2nd, 2007
The material that the black box is made of is too heavy. A whole plane made of the same material (All stainless steel), it would have a hard time getting off the ground and would be ridiculously expensive.
Here is an amusing take on this:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_001.html
by yoho05 reminds you to DYOH on October 18th, 2006
This question was already asked here :
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/34515
to quote :
It's not just the material that the black boxes are made of that makes they so likely to survive a crash, it's also the way they are made. If you tried to make a whole aircraft of those kinds of materials and that kind of construction, it wouldn't be able to fly.
The other thing is that all the black boxes have to protect are relatively small recording devices that are designed to be fairly impervious to damage. Human beings are much more easily damaged, and can't be cocooned inside special materials, the way the black boxes are.
by Ramblin Ricky on November 23rd, 2009
The weight would triple the cost.
by Tveg on October 9th, 2009
The plane would be far to heavy! Even if it was made to be as rugged as the orange colored black box, the passengers could not survive more g-force than they could right now. Survivability would actually decrease in g-force related deaths as a more resilient material would transfer life ending g-force instead of absorbing / deflecting it through deformation, causing an actual decrease in survivability.
If I recall correctly, aortic rupture typically occurs at around 21 G's. If that force is exceeded for any reason, it's permanent lights out.
by Z-Weezy on November 23rd, 2009
The main reason is that the "black box" (they are actually usually orange) is made of stainless steel. If the entire airfram was made of steel, rather than aluminum and practice, it wouldn't be able to take off.
Flight data recorders are typically a quarter inch of stainless steel in thickness and on commercial aircraft are often surrounded by a liquid filled bladder to prevent loss of data in the fire. +3
by Sunshine in a COAT of Sunshine on November 23rd, 2009
What a great idea. Dont know if it would fly...But wouldnt it be Nice.
by randomness - is now a Maestro on November 23rd, 2009
It would be expensive, and I'm not sure if the planes would be light enough to fly.
by Roundtree on January 22nd, 2009
Cause its re-inforced iron. It weighs way to much to make a plane out of.
by DukeG on November 15th, 2008
It would be too heavy to fly.
by Seraphim Shinobi on August 2nd, 2007
its too heavy to make the plane out of the same material
by Anonymous on August 2nd, 2007
it would be way to heavy to take off. and the black box is actually orange
by agent1337 on August 2nd, 2007
i would guess that the plane would be too heavy and the black box is small which means its harder to break.
by Ramblin Ricky on November 23rd, 2009
If the english language was a computer Operating System, it would be Windows.
by Im Alec has abandoned this account on September 24th, 2009
1. Black boxes sometimes are destroyed. That is why they usually have at least two black boxes, one in the front and one in the rear of the aircraft, so that one of them will escape the worst of the crash or fire.
2. The aircraft would never get off the ground, because they would be too heavy. Same reason police don't wear armour suits: a fully bulletproof suit would weigh tons.
by Tom 47 is back in his bear COAT on September 24th, 2009
Quite simply, it would be too heavy to fly....
by More2Be on September 24th, 2009
Aircraft must be made out of specially designed composites, or the lightest metals, to get maximum lift and minimum drag. Pigs, dogs, and tanks do not fly, even if you put wings on them. The black box is one insignificantly tiny non-composite heavy item in the main of light materials.
by Tsamaya is on semi-retirement on January 10th, 2009
if you made planes out of it they'd never crash because they'd weigh too much to get off the ground.
by Thinker on August 31st, 2008
"Black boxes" are made of the same materials as conventional aircraft are. They are constructed in such a way to withstand high impact loads and to an extent fire resistant. In actuality they are painted red.
by Sheepingly needs no handy men only hugs on August 2nd, 2007
Cuase it wouldn't fly
by KagomeShuko on March 19th, 2007
Because our "brilliant" scientists and aerodynamic engineers haven't figured out how to make that black box material light enough for the plane to fly in the air.
by fliPPinSOLEk1d on February 24th, 2007
lol
by Zandalee.Lonely.Lunatic.3yrs-here on December 7th, 2007
too heavy.... and expensive.
by Costantinus on December 7th, 2007
Making a little indestructible box isn't that difficult as you can make it fairly heavy but making a whole plane would be impossible, a plane has to be light to fly, and making indestructable planes wouldn't save any more lives. Look at cars, the more they crunch the more they absorb the impact while older cars would never crunch up so the passengers would get the full impact.
by POLICE...IN HOT PURSUIT on December 7th, 2007
Honestly?...it comes down to cost, and the aerodynamics of flight.
by koldkanuck on December 7th, 2007
Make it cheaper and lighter.
We have the technology!
by Drastic on October 29th, 2007
The black box is made out of very heavy material (I'm not sure what exactly), but the plane would be too heavy to fly if it was constructed of the same stuff.
by Constel on October 27th, 2006
Surely too exensive.
by tinybubbles is sitting on the carpet read on November 4th, 2006
It just can't be done, it would be very expensive.
by Fun on October 29th, 2007
I asked someone this once and they said that the plane would be too heavy to fly. It sounded feasible.
by Rickster is victorious on January 17th, 2008
Great idea!
by Nanoo on November 15th, 2008
Why do we still use flight to travel..Im sure there are magnetic propulsion systems that are much more efficient to run and better for the environment, would this be a better solution to global travel..
by dancer on September 24th, 2009
I thought this was an excellent question. Why not? Why were you DRd? +5
by Bob on September 24th, 2009
it would take a crane to move it and lift it. good thinking.
by Thriftymaid on October 9th, 2009
Dont't know but good question. +5
by Rollie on January 22nd, 2009
You then would have a flying tank. We do not yet have anti-gravity technology which would be needed to get it to fly. That technology would be a safeguard for the passengers also since it would prevent falling when the motors fail.
by Ruh Roh on November 15th, 2008
Can i get a car made out of it? I dont drive 165 mph ;)
by Merry Walker on October 24th, 2005
It's not just the material that the black boxes are made of that makes they so likely to survive a crash, it's also the way they are made. If you tried to make a whole aircraft of those kinds of materials and that kind of construction, it wouldn't be able to fly.
The other thing is that all the black boxes have to protect are relatively small recording devices that are designed to be fairly impervious to damage. Human beings are much more easily damaged, and can't be cocooned inside special materials, the way the black boxes are.
by Nemo_S on November 15th, 2008
for starters the "Black Box" is not indestructible thats why they have at least 2 and sometime 3 on board, secondly F=MS^2 so different materials would not make that much of a difference since any object inside the cabin traveling at 165 miles per hour or there abouts is a deadly combination when it hits your body ..
Now redesigning the seats and the belly structure might improve survivability, which they have in some cases but then there's the fire issue, and personally I would rather die on impact rather than sit there and be burned alive in my seat ...
~Nemo~
by carman727 on August 31st, 2008
lol- damn dude your shot out...i like that!
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You're reading If black-boxes are the only things that survive a plane crash, why don't they make airplanes out of the same material that they make black-boxes out of?
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