Why pilots love flying in cold weather

Telegraph

06-04-2025

While some seasoned passengers display nonchalance – whether natural or studied – there's inevitably seat-gripping, gasps or even squeals around the cabin whenever an unexpected plane movement or sound occurs.
'The weirdest noise you'll hear? If you're on certain Airbus models, just before take-off and after landing you'll hear what sounds like somebody sawing a plank of wood in the hold. It's actually the mechanism lowering or raising the wing flaps,' said Tom, a UK-based First Officer with eight years' experience.
'I heard of one pilot making an announcement before take-off, saying it was the 'Phantom Flying Carpenter' working in the hold,' she added.
The truth is that flying can be full of such worrying instances. We spoke to Tom, as well as an Etihad A380 Captain, about some of aviation's other curious sounds and sensations.
'As pilots, we do everything we can to make a flight as smooth as possible, and modern airliners are designed to mitigate climatic conditions, whether it's the controls and systems, or even the materials aircraft are made of,' Tom said.
'In a business in which efficiency is crucial – after safety, of course – the way we fly the airplane is aimed at making your flight or holiday cheaper by using fuel economically and the engines sparingly to avoid earlier-than-planned maintenance.
'Sometimes unexpected influences, for the passenger that is, affect the performance of the aircraft, and can mean unfamiliar movements from the second the take-off roll starts.
'For instance, hot and sunny weather is what many holidaymakers are travelling for, but heat can be a real nuisance if you're at the controls. When the air gets warmer it's less dense. That thinning of the air gives the aircraft's wings less 'bite' through the air.
'It means the aircraft may need a higher take-off speed to generate enough lift to get off the ground. Because we rarely use full power to take off – for noise reasons, fuel usage or simply avoiding engine wear – that means we use more runway to reach take-off speed. That can mean passengers who don't fly very often may start to worry about seemingly interminable take-off rolls.
'On the other hand, pilots love clear, cold weather: the air is dense, the wings get a better bite on the air, take-off rolls can be shorter because we generate lift sooner, and the aircraft is more responsive to fly.'
Different challenges
Captain Jihad Richard Matta, Head of Crew Recruitment, Performance and Support at Etihad, also captains an A380 for the airline.
'Hot and cold weather bring their own challenges and affect how an aircraft flies. For example, high temperatures will impact the performance of the engines, which in turn affects the aircraft's performance. The hotter the temperature, the more limited your take-off weight will be,' he said.
However, cold weather doesn't always provide a performance advantage.
'Cold, rainy, snowy or slushy weather can affect the aircraft's performance and limit its take-off weight. In extreme cold weather, de-icing the aircraft may be needed as ice, slush or snow can affect the plane's aerodynamics,' he added.
'The airports most affected by temperature are at high altitude, hot weather ones or hubs with short runways. Each of these are affected by temperature in different ways, which can limit the aircraft performance, resulting in reduced take-off weights.'
Airports in the Middle East, the Tropics and southern USA have comparatively long runways to allow for regularly-experienced extreme heat.
Heatwaves in the likes of Arizona or central Spain may push temperatures high enough to cause flight delays or cancellations – the clue sometimes being passengers asked to close window blinds, against normal take-off procedure, because it's so hot the air conditioning can't cope.
Evolving technology
But aircraft design features which mystify or even alarm are worth knowing about, particularly the wings of new-generation airliners such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner or Airbus A350.
Some would argue the Dreamliner has the most efficient wing in the skies, because of its 'blended winglets' – the semi-vertical aerodynamic efficiency aids at the end of the wing – and how much the wing bends.
To somebody flying on something like a 787, A350 or A380, possibly for the first time, looking out of the window and seeing just how far their wings bend can be a bit of a surprise.
Captain Matta said: 'Aircraft wings are an amazing example of how technology has evolved, with the ones we see today made of mainly lightweight materials such as aluminium alloys or composite materials, allowing them to be flexible.
'When an aircraft encounters turbulence, such wings can bend so they experience less stress which in turn dampens the feeling of turbulence. The more rigid a wing is, the more turbulence passengers will feel.'
First Officer Tom said: 'I'd say that wings are tested to destruction during the design stage, but, frankly, it's almost impossible to bend a modern aircraft wing to breaking point.'
Some airports affected by heat or terrain require pilots to undergo extra specific training before they can fly an aircraft into or out of them. Atlantic islands Madeira and Cape Verde, as well as ski destination Innsbruck, are examples.
Regardless of the airport, some takeoffs and landings may feel dramatic. But they're well within the capabilities of both aircraft and flight crew, who'll take no chances - either delaying take-off, or, if it gets bumpy or too windy during approach, they'll abort the landing and execute a 'go-around'.
'My recommendation?' says Tom. 'Do some research online to understand aircraft noises and movements to reassure not just yourself, but others in your travelling party.
'And be assured no airlines have Phantom Flying Carpenters.'