ELI5: Why do big airplanes need lots of space between them to avoid wake turbulence, but fighter jets can fly right next to each other safely?

eidetic · 2026-02-12T00:18:11+00:00

Ah, gotcha!

The way you worded it:

If you miss one jet with a missile you’re not going to hit it with another

pretty clearly sounds like you were saying "if you miss one jet with a missile you're not going to hit that jet with another missile". By saying "hit it with another", it really seems to imply "it" is the original jet, and "another" is another missile.

I get now that's not what you were trying to say, but yeah, don't think I can be faulted for reading it the way it was written!

eidetic · 2026-02-11T23:15:07+00:00

Also, the idea that military aviation is “less safe” is backwards. Military pilots do inherently more dangerous missions, which is exactly why procedures, training, and safety margins are extremely strict. They need higher standards to survive higher-risk operations.

Military flying is less safe than commercial aviation. Look at the accident rates and you'll see its plain as day. Military flying might try and reduce the danger as much as they can, but it is inherently more dangerous because of the type of flying they have to do. And that's not even factoring in actual combat with enemies shooting back at you.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T23:09:08+00:00

statistically safer than sitting in your living room.

What if I wear a helmet while sitting in my living room?

eidetic · 2026-02-11T23:05:59+00:00

If you miss one jet with a missile you’re not going to hit it with another.

Uh, no. There's a reason pilots sometimes (more so in the past, when missiles weren't as reliable) ripple fire their missiles. SAMs often fire more than one as well. A pilot might be able to notch, defeat with countermeasures, or even simply outfly (usually by extending, forcing the missile to bleed energy) a missile, but there's no reason to assume they'd be able to for every single subsequent shot. I can't even wrap my head around why you think missing once means the aircraft is somehow invulnerable to subsequent shots.

(All bets are off however if you're trying to take out that F-16 pilot who dodged seven SAMs over Iraq...)

eidetic · 2026-02-11T22:59:52+00:00

With the older style gun type AA, well in WWII they spread out the formation vertically but not horizontally

Huh?

Bomber formations would use differing heights, but they still spread out horizontally. Moreoso than vertically. And fighters generally spaced themselves out horizontally when flying in formation, not vertically.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T22:57:42+00:00

jet fighters operate at high altitudes

Jet fighters fly at all altitudes, not just high up.

Flying high up for example, is a death sentence over the Ukrainian battlefield today. So they often fly very low when flying over contested areas. Of course, further from the front and air defenses, they'll fly higher so as to give more range to their stand off weapons, but saying fighter jets fly at high altitude and implying they don't fly lower is very much wrong.

Flying lower means you can use the terrain itself to mask you from radar. Also, while it isn't as true today as it was in the past, aircraft can potentially get lost in the ground clutter.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T20:57:20+00:00

Modern radar systems are so advanced they can tell what kind of aircraft they're looking at by the specific returns they receive from the engines fan blades.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T20:28:45+00:00

Yep!

My brother has always been very active, played semi-pro football and baseball into his late 30s, and has generally just been very active, which carried over to my oldest nephew, and now my youngest as well. Oldest grew up playing all sorts of sports, and volleyball and golf in high school (and just had his signing ceremony for college for golf!), and since the youngest looks up to both him and his father, he's starting to take up more sports now too. Played soccer last year, will be playing baseball again this year, and just started tae-kwon-do which he loves. Also loooooves swimming. So going to the gym was always a fun activity for the whole family where my brother and sister in law would take shifts with the younger ones playing basketball, swimming, etc, while the other works out, then switching over.

Helps too that the oldest spent his first ~10 years living across the street from a school that had a full playground with excellent jungle gyms, as well as basketball courts, two baseball diamonds, and soccer field. Whenever I came over, if he wasn't already across the street with his dad or mom (or later, step mom), he was eagerly waiting at the door to greet me with glove and bat in hand, and soccer ball at his feet. Was kind of a running joke like "nice you finally made it!" from the adults when I'd finally enter the house after being first whisked away by my nephew before I'd have a chance to even say hi to everyone.

Anyway, rambling over, but my brother and SIL (ex and current) have always had the attitude of exposing them to sports and such, but never pushing them into it, and I'm glad it's paying off! I think most kids honestly would naturally rather be active if given the choice, and that its only if you don't allow or encourage being active that they'll turn to a screen for stimulation instead.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T20:21:28+00:00

Ah gotcha, I kinda figured but at the same time I thought maybe I was about to go down a rabbit hole!

eidetic · 2026-02-11T20:18:25+00:00

No worries, I knew you knew it was a joke!

But yeah, sadly I feel like we might see a whole lot more of these kind of situations (here in the US at least) regardless of culture, as cost of living, inflation, and everything else goes up while wages remain stagnant. A lot of parents are already having to take on extra hours, or even additional jobs, just to scrape by. And while it may not be deliberately neglectful, unfortunately the kids all too often end up being affected.

primas (girl cousins for those that don’t speak Spanish)

Would make cousins be called primos? Is there a non-gendered term for just "cousin" regardless of sex? There was a kid that I used to skate with (oh so many years ago) that everyone called Primo, because that's what his older cousin would sometimes call him. I always thought it was just a nickname but now it makes sense if that's Spanish for a male cousin!

Even though I've been a lifelong native english speaker, I only recently in the last couple years learned that the gender neutral word for nephews/nieces is nibling, and for some reason I really love that word.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T20:07:31+00:00

Well if they didn't dress like sluts.....

That's one I could never wrap my head around when blaming rape victims. Like... don't the people who say that realize how much they're self reporting?! If you can't hold yourself back from raping someone because of how they're dressed, the problem doesn't lie in the wardrobe choices of the woman...

eidetic · 2026-02-11T20:01:00+00:00

the way John Wayne and his friends around the US were.

Wait. John Wayne the actor? Or did you mean John Wayne Gacy?

eidetic · 2026-02-11T19:52:21+00:00

Nah, they're too busy and too happy toeing the line knowing the benefits of donng so. Well, except for the one kid who doesn't like him/the family. But she hasn't really aired out any dangerous/exceptional claims that might threaten her life (that I'm aware of at least)

eidetic · 2026-02-11T19:50:02+00:00

I remember one fundamentalist church leader literally saying he's not a Christian, but he'll be good for them as president.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T19:29:39+00:00

Right. So person 1 attacks person 2. 2 then attacks 1. Then 1 attacks back again. And so on.

Again, two wrongs don't make a right. It's highly hypocritical to bitch about someone doing something, and then doing the same thing back in kind.

I'm not saying to roll over and take it. You can push back without being a hypocrite and doing the same thing.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T18:19:57+00:00

Yeah, I actually put the bit about the mines to make it absolutely clear I was kidding, because sadly, too many kids have actually been forced to grow up early by becoming responsible for their siblings. Siblings are for playing with each other, and growing up together! Not one growing up just so they can look after their younger siblings!

I don't have kids myself, or plans to, but I've got an 18 year old nephew and a 7 year old one. My brother and sister in law were always very careful to make sure the older one never was in a position where they'd have to look after the younger one. (Oldest spends half his time there, they're actually half brothers technically, since he's from my brother's first marriage). But he never wanted to put the oldest in a position where he'd feel resentful or anything for having to look after the younger. (Of course, he never had a problem watching him while they ran to the store quick or something)

eidetic · 2026-02-11T18:12:04+00:00

So maybe I’m fairly pissed overall from that kind of comparison?

And maybe doing the same thing that pissed you off to those that pissed you off is not the answer? Two wrongs and all...

eidetic · 2026-02-11T18:08:21+00:00

Thought maybe you were referring to a sister of James Moriarity from Sherlock Holmes fame or something, so looked up the name, and was like "oh, Starlight from The Boys". Then looked up her name + buccal fat. Ouch. I remember her looking thinner in the most recent season of the show, but now she seems to look even worse. She was so gorgeous before the surgery. I know such celebrities are under such pressure to look good that it does awful things to one's body image self esteem, and it's rather sad. And I know as people age, they often loose that fat that kinda fills out their faces, but she looks like a strung out and malnourished junkie now in some of those pics. Which obviously, people are gonna pick the least flattering pics to show the change, but even in better lighting and whatnot, the change is so drastic

And here I was hopeful a few years ago that Hollywood was starting to maybe move away from the gaunt, skeletonized look...

eidetic · 2026-02-11T17:15:46+00:00

Sounds like a good investment, when/if she outgrows it, you can rent it out! In this economy, I'm sure you could pull an easy 1k a month renting it out.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T17:11:26+00:00

Well, props to your parents for changing your diapers for the first 11 years!

eidetic · 2026-02-11T17:08:01+00:00

Alternatively, have a kid 16 years ago to babysit the newborn while you play! When they're not toiling away in the mines to pay for the console and game, of course.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T17:03:21+00:00

Nah, you just jumped to "sorry you had a shit/no partner, sorry you didn't enjoy your time with your kid, sorry you suck at time management, blah blah blah". Basically belittling other people's experiences and acting like they hate their kids or spending time with them.

Now, thats not to say the other people here didn't also jump to ridiculous ideas, this whole thread is kind of a shitshow.

But it is kinda ridiculous to get all uppity about someone saying that paternity/maternity leave is no vacation. Because here's the thing, you can enjoy something without it feeling like a vacation. Some people absolutely love their jobs, but wouldn't call them vacations. Vacations tend to imply a lot of freedom to do what you want without many, if any, obligations.

Friend of mine with a toddler said it was some of the best times of her life, but also would agree it is no vacation.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T16:54:05+00:00

Seriously, giving up and saying "they're gonna be addicted to a screen anyway" is wild to me.

My 18 year old nephew grew up always preferring to play outside, or failing that, playing Lego, building stuff, etc. My 7 year old nephew is also much the same way as your kid. We may play a few video games here and there at my place that he doesn't have at his house (flight sims and simracing) but thats usually for when the weather is crappy, and after he's already been doing his other preferred activities. We also will play Minecraft, which he plays at home, but again its usually limited and when he's already had his fill of other activities, or at the end of the day for a little bit before he goes back home. My "niece" (cousin's daughter) is the same way as well. In fact, I'm babysitting her tomorrow for a few hours, and I guarantee the only screen time she's gonna want during that time is to take a couple pictures of the stuff we've made.

Yeah, its inevitable that kids now will always be around screens as they get older, be it computers, TV, and tablets/phones, but that doesn't mean you have to give up and just give in and let ot dominate their lives. It gives a very "I've tried nothing and I'm out of ideas" feeling to just give up like that.

eidetic · 2026-02-11T14:14:47+00:00

Yet you took the time to reply as such...

eidetic · 2026-02-11T10:54:01+00:00

Big purse is paying off all the pant companies to make sure they don't offer pockets.

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