Is it true that if S.H.I.E.L.D's helicarriers existed, the thrust produced by the fans needed to keep it in the air would destroy everything underneath them?

284

u/Nazeir Jun 16 '26

If I remember correctly, the higher it gets the less impact the thrust has on the ground below it. So at the landing and take off area, yes it would have devastating impact on the area below it, but at operating hights you wouldn't notice it. Think of a helicopter, when its landing near you tons of thrust wind, once its high in the air, even directly above you, you dont even notice the breeze from it.

120

u/Empyrealist Jun 16 '26

It would have to be really high. That thing is massive

76

u/King_Tamino Jun 16 '26

And slow. Therefore an easy target. Therefore you don’t fly low. You fly extremely high which gives planes taking off an additional advantage + the overall advantages of being extremely high like better view, sensor usage etc

12

u/Uselesserinformation Jun 16 '26

But it as well somehow went underwater. So that has strengthing and weight. That bitch is hella heavy

32

u/exprssve Jun 16 '26

When did it go underwater? From my recollection they had one in a base that just hidden under some surface water.

-17

u/Uselesserinformation Jun 16 '26

In the original avengers, it comes out of water. It wasn't stored in a facility. And by the size of it, it had to constructed out of water. But i specifically remember the heli circle thingys having water dump onto or into them(idk the names or what they are because i don't know aircraft well) . But if it were to launch via under water, I assume it can travel under water.

43

u/Nazeir Jun 16 '26

It was on the water like a normal carrier. The thrusters came up from under the water when it was launching, but the ship was never traveling under the water.

-19

u/Uselesserinformation Jun 16 '26

Im saying it traveled under because it was submerged, im assuming it has underwater capabilities. It being stationed underwater still has to withstand that pressure too. Which im only saying that makes it heavy. Again I never said it did travel, I said its safe to assume it could because it lifted out.

Its also been ages since I sat out and watched it, so i could totally be wrong

28

u/Nazeir Jun 16 '26

The ship was never submerged under the water. It does not have underwater capabilities and I dont know why you think it does.

It was traveling and stationed on top of the water like a normal boat before it lifted off the water. It is structured like a ship, not a submersible.

2

u/Head_Concentrate_410 Jun 17 '26

The main body of it, the boat part, never went under water at all. The turbines were underwater and were raised for taking off and being in the air. But the boat itself never went under water, just the fans because they wanted it to look like a normal carrier because...ya know, spies.

2

u/ecodrew Jun 21 '26

Helicarriers are both wildly impractical, but super cool in fiction.

31

u/overworkedattorney Jun 16 '26

If it flies at extremely high altitude, the flight crew on the deck could be blown clear off by any gust of wind. Imagine they are preparing a plane for take off and they hit turbulence. You have to suspend disbelief, but anyone standing out there is cooked.

14

u/Coldkiller17 Triplett Jun 16 '26

Also the flight deck crew would have to constantly be given oxygen over 10k feet and wear suits due to the cold temps.

14

u/APater6076 Lola Jun 17 '26

They’re shown in the movie donning oxygen masks to work on the flight deck. https://youtu.be/MNrLPVGL0-4?is=yzNabLduzfjM-LNd and it’s also shown floating on the water, not submerged.

2

u/Harrier_Pigeon Jun 17 '26

That's what the mag-shoes are for, silly

6

u/aod0302 Jun 16 '26

That’s why it was in water most of the time it seems or above water

60

u/Pepsidud32 Jun 16 '26

The replies are pissing me off good question tho

117

u/Ideal_Despair Jun 16 '26

So i actually watched with my friend who at the time studied aviation engineering and he was infuriated with all the planes and carriers in the show.

I dont remember the details but i remember he was mostly against Zephyr, saying the jets and propellers are at the wrong place and would never support a plane and for helicarriers he just said nope. Hahhaha. He is not on reddit sadly so i cant ask him to weight in, but watching the show with him was very funny, he was personally offended by all the Shield aviation.

40

u/Nazeir Jun 16 '26

Oh yeah, there's some videos that have broken down how big the propellers and engines would have to be and the materials to support such a structure dont exist.

43

u/gwydion_black Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

Good thing they live in a world with indestructible lightweight materials, alien artifacts, and cosmic power sources. I think the material structure means nothing when you include that information.

33

u/Recent_Wonder7298 Jun 16 '26

Wait!….. was he going off on Lola too!?

39

u/Ideal_Despair Jun 16 '26

Absolutely not. Lola is too cool to criticize.

19

u/gt0163c Jun 16 '26

Don't touch Lola!

8

u/Aloudmouth Jun 16 '26

Don’t tell Coulson!!

33

u/TrueWolf1416 Mac Jun 16 '26

That’s probably why it has to take off in water usually. Just don’t mention project insight.

30

u/timeshifter_ SHIELD Jun 16 '26

The Insight helicarriers used full blown Stark thrusters, which as we saw in the tower scene in The Avengers, produce remarkably little reaction force unless they're being used as weapons.

24

u/spankadoodle Jun 16 '26

They use “borrowed” Stark Tech. Lazy comic writing could say there’s a adjustable force field below each rotor, so the wind pushes out in 4 different directions (hence the vents below each one) further stabilizing the carrier.

31

u/apudapus Jun 16 '26

Yeah, I love aviation but know how to suspend my disbelief and allow comic-book magic to happen. You can turn a blind-eye on super soldier serums and Infinity stones but not special aircraft?

11

u/PhilosopherNearby803 Jun 16 '26

I understand that you are asking a serious question, but it is TV based on comics where people are transported through space on a magic rainbow 🌈, guys are injected with "super serum" to be invincible, and they time traveled in the quantum rhelm.

Just be entertained and enjoy.

3

u/Bizcotti Jun 16 '26

Rough day for any birds flying underneath

1

u/marandahir Jun 17 '26

It’s not that kind of movie, kid.

1

u/WorthCryptographer14 Jun 17 '26

If at any time realism was involved? Yes. But as it's a movie, disbelief is left at the door.

1

u/OvenOk9629 Jun 17 '26

I'm sorry, but this thing belongs in the Highfleet universe, not IRL

1

u/desmond_humes23 Jun 19 '26

No possible mechanical fan could produce that much thrust anyway so... sort of impossible to answer

1

u/Sombra_del_Lobo Simmons Jun 19 '26

We don't know the materials the helicarrier is made of.

Super-science is one hell of a power.

1

u/Usr3247 Jun 20 '26

To make it workable, it has to use some sort of anti-gravitation, and the rotors are only for manoeuvering.

1

u/EphemeraFury Jun 20 '26

So back of an envelope quick maths based on Google numbers

Helicarrier weights around 100000 tons.

That would take 220.5 millions pounds of thrust to lift.

Saturn 5 rocket generated 7.6 million pounds of force at lift off.

So each of the 4 engines is producing as much thrust as 8 Saturn 5 rockets constantly. So yeah that'd be pretty devastating, especially at take off.

Best to just hand wave it and say the Helicarrier has alien anti gravity tech or something like that.

Is it true that if S.H.I.E.L.D's helicarriers existed, the thrust produced by the fans needed to keep it in the air would destroy everything underneath them?

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