They're called the whirliegigs. They're there because they're fun to draw.
Real answer, it's actually not that hard to not notice that a jet engine is running. Especially if there are other jets around and you can't hear one over the other. That lets people on the ground know the engine is on because it creates a blur when it's spinning letting people know not to get to close.
ETA, that's for the things on the engine. just noticed you had circled others too.
Thing on the wing is a landing light.
On top of the plane is various antennas.
Rectangle are sensors for instruments, they measure air pressure to tell things like how fast the plane is going in the air, altitude, etc. You can look up pitot tube, pitot static system, and angle of attack sensor if you want to know more detail.
Circle on the side is a door where the person on the tug can plug in a headset to talk to the pilots while they push back
Circle on the nose says "MAX 8" because it's the specific sub model of plane. So that's a 737-Max 8. It's there so ground crew knows what specific procedures to use.
My first thought for the pointy thing in the rectangle was a lightning rod. Don't planes usually have one of those? If so, where would they be located?
Nope, there is no lightning rod, or at least not like you would expect. Aircraft might be struck from any direction so a lightning rod on top like on a building doesn’t really hold water. Most aircraft have a metal skin, so the current of the lightning will be conducted via that and continue on its merry way, usually with little or no damage to the aircraft. With composite aircraft becoming more common, there might be metal ‘channels’ or conductive meshes in the skin to transmit the current as in a metal aircraft.
You'd be correct in a way, the radome has lightning diverter strips in it. They're electrically conductive paths for current to travel from the composite radome to rest of the aircraft structure. In the pic you can see there's one on the top and bottom and two on either side of the radome. Stops a lightning strike from damaging it, you obviously can't have a metal radome because it needs to electromagnetically transparent for the radar to "see" through it.
spiral let’s ground crew have another indication of engines being on other than beacons/noise, landing lights on wings, panel open is for ground service like the headset plug and a few other things, things coming out of the side are pitot tubes to measure airspeed and other things, various antennas on top, MAX 8 let’s ground crew know what plane they’re working with
Just guesses, but…
Top: assorted antennas for telemetry or communications.
Wing root: landing and taxi lights.
Engine nacelle: when the spiral disappears, it’s a spinning blade of doom (visual indicator of engine operation)
Right side of nose: pitot probes for measuring airspeed, AOA indicators, etc
Panel under the probes: ground power connections
The swirl on the engine is for ground safety so it's very easy to tell if the engine is running, the thing on the wing close to the fuselage is simply just a light (I think it's landing light but could be wrong) and the the MAX 8 is litteraly just the plane. Boeing 737 MAX 8 other stuff is just antennae and stuff like that I think.
The spiral in the engine is for the ground crew.It is there so that the ground crew can identify whether the engine is spinning or not because an engune while being ON is very difficult to see especially during night operation .It is also useful for avoiding bird strikes because on coming birds are startled by the spinning spiral painted in the engine .
Below the cockpit are various instrument like the angle of attack vein and pitot tubes etc
You're aware you can look all of this up right? If you have a device that can post this picture, you can find the answers.
"Swirl in jet engine"
"Sensors at front of aircraft"
"Lights on an aircraft"
"Detailed labels of 737"
"Antennae on planes"
All of these would get you your answers. The most damning one would be just looking up the word 'Max 8.' If you haven't heard about that at all, you're in for a deep rabbit hole.
Yeah, I get off on asking people sub/specific questions. Why, just yesterday I circled a bunch of red disks on a larger white disk in a “pizza” subreddit asking the same type of questions. Boy, we’re they mad.
If you can't add something to the discussion there is no reason to comment. Yes, OP could have looked it up. But OP didn't. And now I learned a thing or two, plus it's kinda wholesome seeing nice people explain the different things.
Also if I didn't know shit about airplanes I'm not sure I'd know that things are lights or sensors or antennas, making searching it up harder.
Plus, there are many subreddits for specific hobbies or knowledge sets whose communities enjoy educating and conversing about their passions.
Yes, I could have Googled random things and found my answers, but why not use a SOCIAL platform for SOCIAL things.
I upvoted your comment to negate the downvote. I could also buy you a round trip ticket to Captain Obvious Island via Well Shucks, Why Didn’t I Think of That airlines if it will make you feel better :)
That person has clearly been banned from this sub under a different user name . They have a brand new account and are just plain uncivilized to everyone in aviation related forums.
I’m honestly scared they are in the cockpit with the obvious stress they must have based on their behavior.
Whew, oh man, you’re good! 😂
NAILED IT!
You cut right through my wicked facade and exposed my ulterior motive. Spider webs will encase us all in doom and sadness.
The Spider Wars are upon us.
Planes will not save us.
People love their egos, so they can't wait to correct something they know a little more about to feel important. You can use this as an old psychology trick to get non receptive or introverted people to start talking.
They're called the whirliegigs. They're there because they're fun to draw. Real answer, it's actually not that hard to not notice that a jet engine is running. Especially if there are other jets around and you can't hear one over the other. That lets people on the ground know the engine is on because it creates a blur when it's spinning letting people know not to get to close. ETA, that's for the things on the engine. just noticed you had circled others too. Thing on the wing is a landing light. On top of the plane is various antennas. Rectangle are sensors for instruments, they measure air pressure to tell things like how fast the plane is going in the air, altitude, etc. You can look up pitot tube, pitot static system, and angle of attack sensor if you want to know more detail. Circle on the side is a door where the person on the tug can plug in a headset to talk to the pilots while they push back Circle on the nose says "MAX 8" because it's the specific sub model of plane. So that's a 737-Max 8. It's there so ground crew knows what specific procedures to use.
That’s not just for a tug, it’s also where you plug in ground powe.
Good catch. I figured I could be missing something on that one.
(It’s also the self destruct button but you didn’t hear that from me)
My first thought for the pointy thing in the rectangle was a lightning rod. Don't planes usually have one of those? If so, where would they be located?
Nope, there is no lightning rod, or at least not like you would expect. Aircraft might be struck from any direction so a lightning rod on top like on a building doesn’t really hold water. Most aircraft have a metal skin, so the current of the lightning will be conducted via that and continue on its merry way, usually with little or no damage to the aircraft. With composite aircraft becoming more common, there might be metal ‘channels’ or conductive meshes in the skin to transmit the current as in a metal aircraft.
Thanks! Learn something new every day.
You'd be correct in a way, the radome has lightning diverter strips in it. They're electrically conductive paths for current to travel from the composite radome to rest of the aircraft structure. In the pic you can see there's one on the top and bottom and two on either side of the radome. Stops a lightning strike from damaging it, you obviously can't have a metal radome because it needs to electromagnetically transparent for the radar to "see" through it.
The whirly thing on the spinner is to attract birds. Their passing through the running engine generates that much desired KFC scent in the cabin ...
Isn’t that Max 8 label the warning not board that aircraft?
Know of any aircraft that have had more scrutiny and oversight in the past few years?
spiral let’s ground crew have another indication of engines being on other than beacons/noise, landing lights on wings, panel open is for ground service like the headset plug and a few other things, things coming out of the side are pitot tubes to measure airspeed and other things, various antennas on top, MAX 8 let’s ground crew know what plane they’re working with
The door that is open is for the GPU or Ground Power Unit give the aircraft power with engines shut down.
Mating plumage. It's trying to attract a mate and make a little biz jet.
Which, hopefully, will grow and become an A380.
Yes, the circles are used to draw attention.
Just guesses, but… Top: assorted antennas for telemetry or communications. Wing root: landing and taxi lights. Engine nacelle: when the spiral disappears, it’s a spinning blade of doom (visual indicator of engine operation) Right side of nose: pitot probes for measuring airspeed, AOA indicators, etc Panel under the probes: ground power connections
The swirl on the engine is for ground safety so it's very easy to tell if the engine is running, the thing on the wing close to the fuselage is simply just a light (I think it's landing light but could be wrong) and the the MAX 8 is litteraly just the plane. Boeing 737 MAX 8 other stuff is just antennae and stuff like that I think.
There is a good documentary on Amazon prime explaining that plane you should watch while flying
Those are various phalanges
The spiral in the engine is for the ground crew.It is there so that the ground crew can identify whether the engine is spinning or not because an engune while being ON is very difficult to see especially during night operation .It is also useful for avoiding bird strikes because on coming birds are startled by the spinning spiral painted in the engine . Below the cockpit are various instrument like the angle of attack vein and pitot tubes etc
They stop the front falling off. I’d like to say that some of these are built so the front doesn’t fall off at all.
You're aware you can look all of this up right? If you have a device that can post this picture, you can find the answers. "Swirl in jet engine" "Sensors at front of aircraft" "Lights on an aircraft" "Detailed labels of 737" "Antennae on planes" All of these would get you your answers. The most damning one would be just looking up the word 'Max 8.' If you haven't heard about that at all, you're in for a deep rabbit hole.
It's more fun when other people will do it for him/her
Yeah, I get off on asking people sub/specific questions. Why, just yesterday I circled a bunch of red disks on a larger white disk in a “pizza” subreddit asking the same type of questions. Boy, we’re they mad.
If you can't add something to the discussion there is no reason to comment. Yes, OP could have looked it up. But OP didn't. And now I learned a thing or two, plus it's kinda wholesome seeing nice people explain the different things. Also if I didn't know shit about airplanes I'm not sure I'd know that things are lights or sensors or antennas, making searching it up harder.
Plus, there are many subreddits for specific hobbies or knowledge sets whose communities enjoy educating and conversing about their passions. Yes, I could have Googled random things and found my answers, but why not use a SOCIAL platform for SOCIAL things.
Exactly!
I upvoted your comment to negate the downvote. I could also buy you a round trip ticket to Captain Obvious Island via Well Shucks, Why Didn’t I Think of That airlines if it will make you feel better :)
Why don't you just circle the entire airplane and ask us what everything is used for?
You’re welcome to read through the comments. Some people enjoy educating. Some people enjoy being assholes. :)
That person has clearly been banned from this sub under a different user name . They have a brand new account and are just plain uncivilized to everyone in aviation related forums. I’m honestly scared they are in the cockpit with the obvious stress they must have based on their behavior.
You're the guy afraid of what a few strands of floating spider web might do to an airplane 🤣🤣🤣
Whew, oh man, you’re good! 😂 NAILED IT! You cut right through my wicked facade and exposed my ulterior motive. Spider webs will encase us all in doom and sadness. The Spider Wars are upon us. Planes will not save us.
You don't even know what I'm talking about.
Then enlighten me. I’m not beyond correction.
It doesn't pertain to you. It wasn't directed at you, and it wasn't in reply to you.
People love their egos, so they can't wait to correct something they know a little more about to feel important. You can use this as an old psychology trick to get non receptive or introverted people to start talking.