For months and maybe years it's been bugging me that the Australian flag on the right hand side of every Qantas plane is backwards. After staring at one while waiting to get off the plane in Sydney this morning I finally decided to Google and found this;

For US-based airlines, the flags on the right-hand side are also "backwards" (the stars are to the right instead of the left). The reason for this, and I assume this reasoning applies to QF as well, is that you should view the nose of the plane as a flagpole, and the flag flies in the "breeze" from that pole. The United States Flag Code specifies that the stars should be next to the pole. I don't know whether Australia has a similar law or whether they are merely copying the American convention.

I asked the flight attendants and some official Captain looking type pilots and they didn't have a clue. I know we have some aircraft engineering types on QGL so do you guys know if the above is why the flag is backwards?

Whatever the reason may be, i wouldn't lose sleep over it.

cool story booyah

Whatever the reason may be, i wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Could be educational for you to know which side of the plane to go Jihad'in on.

heh I've always wondered that myself, I just assumed it was a massive mistake that they just happened to make by sheer coincidence on every plane.

Could be educational for you to know which side of the plane to go Jihad'in on.

Yeah straight into your mum.

That doesn't make sense

Let me know if your mum wants me to demonstrate on her infront of you, so you can get the picture.

My bf is currently studying aviation, he said the reasoning behind the backwards flag is not the flagpole theory above, but more-so to identify the planes from the control tower - don't ask me how that works??

Interesting, I thought the massive QANTAS sign and the red tail would've identified it as a Qantas sign.

Oh dear.

a/s/l?

Well I heard they printed out heaps of flag stickers but then when they peeled it, realised it was backwards but decided to stick with them.

I have a bf doob :p

I'm a pretty big name around these parts, stick with me darlin i'll show you the ropes

It's so when other planes look at it through their rear-view vision mirrors they can tell which country the plane is from.

I'll keep it in mind doob :p

Your name looked better without the alternating caps and get rid of the asterisks and just make it poppy or something to save time as all online nicks eventually get shortened that way (back in the day my name was f***pot).

I heard it's because the planes were on a treadmill.

fpot: It was obligatory :)

last edited by Loki at 14:51:40 09/Nov/06

NOBODY SAW THAT COMING :P

I'm keeping this - but you may call me poppy if you want :p

I'm keeping this

Unless you're 16 years old or less it doesn't make sense to have alternating caps.

Alternating caps when you're < 16 y.o is like driving with L plates, it lets everybody else know you're still retarded.

Maybe a 16yr old guy, but chicks love it :) 21 btw :p

So I guess I would be 21/f/pop :p

My other half wouldn't be too happy about that, would he? :p

holy s*** 4 posts all at 4.03pm i am popular with the QGLers..
who is this other half, give me his name i'll eliminate him from the picture.

is it trog? it's trog isn't it.

What's trog?

this is getting a little surreal

the International Civil Aviation Organization decreed that flags painted on aircraft must face the direction of the flight so that it's aerodynamically and aesthetically correct. For consistency, the Flag Foundation recommends that flags or flag decals on vehicles, as well as flag patches on uniforms, should be displayed in the same manner.

we're losing our concentration here, like

I know GIRLS ARE FUNNAY but keep it on topic EH, or start a new thread to e-tune so the rest of us can laugh at your desperation

last edited by trog at 17:37:41 09/Nov/06

Someone want to put some pics up to show me what ya talking about?

not a great photo but you can see the backward flag

but this flag isn't backwards!

I always thought it was in case you're sitting at your desk in a very tall building and you see an aeroplane in the reflection of your monitor you can see what country it comes from before it hits.

but this flag isn't backwards!

Left side of plane yo!

oh right it's only backwards on one side; I missed that

^trog got pwned.









oh crap my postlimiters gonna go up now isnt it? :(

hey cainer, you're a LAME now for QANTAS aren't you?

I've almost finished the struc/mech course at Aviation Australia. I applied for QANTAS last week. Interviews start around the 4th of December iirc.

You wouldn't happen to know how many (and what sort) of apprenticeship positions are going in brisbane would you? :)
Or is that all HR stuff?

Let me know if your mum wants me to demonstrate on her infront of you, so you can get the picture.

Wouldn't you have to stone her to death afterwards. You know, cos it's her fault and everything?

hi bargain, I'd assume for brisbane there'd be somewhere in the range of 5-10 positions going for AME mechanicals, possibly 4-6 avionics and i think quite a few sheet metal positions going based on the current levels of staff we have in the place. just through the amount of attrition lately, an unusually large number (in my time anyway) of people have left to pursue alternative careers.

just a bit of advice, don't tick the sheetmetal box, most limited career path with in qantas. they earn good coin when they do 80hours of o/t a fortnight though (quite often)

last edited by cainer at 21:00:53 09/Nov/06

The americans take the flag very seriously: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Flag_Code

(Note that on military uniforms, where the flag is put on the sleeve of the uniform, the flag patch is displayed with the stars facing forward, in the direction the wearer is facing. This is done to give the impression of the flag flowing in the wind while being carried forward across the battlefield. This is known as the "Reverse Field Flag".)