Now the rounded shape of the portholes has become so familiar that it does not raise questions, but it was not always like this. In photographs of the middle of the last century, you can see planes with square or rectangular windows resembling vents. At that stage in the development of aviation, this was the standard, but over time, the height and speed of flights increased, the body of the aircraft experienced ever higher loads, which caused the metal to wear out faster. The turning point was the catastrophe — depressurization of the cabin due to the destruction of the metal in the corner of the window. After that, tests and studies began, which proved that this part of the body wears out the fastest due to the high stress of the metal in it. Then it was proposed to make the windows rounded to ensure even distribution of pressure and safety. New planes were produced only with rounded windows, which avoided many problems – after the invention of jet engines, the risk of accidents due to square windows would have been very high. 5 reasons why people are asked to raise window shades during takeoff and landing Why do flight attendants insist on raised seat backs during takeoff and landing? Now tell!
What happened?
