turbulence

[scrumpy78]

where is the best place to sit ona plane to feel the less turbulence. we've booked seats next to exit for legroom and have choice of either front, back or middle of plane?

[ganesh]

Well I always think over the wings, but I'm no expert.

[delboy3]

I would have thought that turbulence affects the whole of the aeroplane, not just certain parts of it

[tim20054]

Scrumpy78, I would have to agree with Ganesh. The best place to sit on a aircraft to avoid turbulence is in the middle of the aircraft or over the wings as this is the centre of gravity on the plane.

[matt_london]

Delboy is right. The whole of the plane is affected because turbulance affects the wings, which, being in the middle of the plane cause the whole plane to lose height.

[dzug]

It may affect the whole plane, but the rear certainly moves about more - side to side as well as up and down if conditions are bad. Almost as if the plane were wagging it...

[Clanad]

If I may, dzug has hit the answer pretty squarely. Of the three modes of motion inherent in any aircraft, the yawing motion, the movement around the vertical axis can cause the most discomfort. As turbulence occurs, all aircraft, large and small, have a tendency for the nose to move to the left and right (and hence, the tail). All large, transport category aircraft are equipped with electronic sensing equipment called yaw dampeners which do a pretty good, but not totally thorough job of eliminating this discomforting motion. Most passengers can deal with the bumps and jolts that produce up and down movements, but the side to side movement can produce airsickness more easily. This is most pronounced the farther one is away from the center of motion, which is usually over the wing area...

[tatie]

I always ask for the back of the plane as you can stand up and do a bit of walking and stretching without the feeling that a thousand pair of eyes are upon you. Can't say that I've ever experienced more turbulence in these seats than in any other, I'm talking about long haul flights.

[tomtech]

i always try to sit near the black box, as this always seems to get through any turbulence and indeed fatal crashes.

[Memore]

I have always found worse turbulence over Atlantic and near Thailand but I thought it affected whole plane