Hypothetical Question

[Dasha]

So I'm writing a bit of a story with some other people about a group of friends living in San Francisco when a solar flare hit them. My character is a pilot and now I was wondering how and if an airplane could still fly without it's electrical systems. I know you probably won't be able to start the engines without electricity but once you've fixed that, will it fly?

In the game a plane already crashed because it lost engine power, coincidentally, two days before the T7 came down in SFO, which was a bit freaky.

Can anybody help me?



Dasha

[swiftus27]

Are we talking that an emp pulse hit the plane because a solar flare wouldn't do much more that give everyone a big sun burn.   Now any Navaids and comms could be affected too.   In terms of loss of power, I don't think that applies.    The atmosphere and magnetic field does a good job keeping most of the gamma and x rays from ever penetrating.   

I guess I'm saying that things in space could be knocked out but the odds of a engine and or control failure are slim

[Dasha]

The owner of the story described it as a solar flare which killed all electrical devices like phones, cars, radios and all that. Would planes that were on the ground at the time of the event still be able to fly?

It would disable navigation and communication but is it technically speaking possible to get an airplane airborne after such an event? It's a big vague I know was just curious on how that would go down. So let's say after an EMP Pulse.

[swiftus27]

What you're describing is more of an emp event.   Anything with fine circuitry is permanently useless.  No planes built with anything resembling a computer or circuit board could work.   Old planes would work as long as they're not digital.   So you may get an old Steerman or Swordfish back in the air but that's basically it.    

Modern liners would be useless

I suggest you look up the effects on electromagnetic pulses.   solar flares generally don't produce enough penetrating gamma rays to have an affect.   If this solar flare were to, as mentioned in this story, I'd be more concerned about living space in my underground bunker.  

[Dasha]

Hehe alright. Thanks for the answer.