sundevil777

Evacuation from the upper deck of either the 747 or the A380 would be, well, a thrill. Wouldn't want to do it if it was an ordered evac just because of like running off the runway and getting stuck in mud or something. I think I'd want to sneak down to the lower level. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Some good and scary pics. Very much reminds me of living just north of the Seattle airport (except for no severe turn was needed). For some sick reaon they put an airport where the ground rises for quite a way to the north. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Later versions of the 777 have about that level of thrust, the A380 is big enough to need four of them. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Somewhat of a contradiction, I think, for a big guy to go to the trouble of using ripcord, because they think some aspects of it are safer, and then to have mini 3 rings also part of such an obviously custom rig. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I think the 747-400 is the only version now available, and I think it is only available with winglets. For SFC, In an all tourist class config, the 747 can hold about 550, that is how many died in the JAL crash in '85, and that was in an older version without the extended upper deck. The lazy B claims that the 747-ER has a little longer range than that (14,205 km) From the Boeing.com site http://boeing.com/commercial/747family/lr_back/lr_2.html 747-400ER Passenger Version The first 747-400ER rolled out at a special ceremony at the Boeing Everett, Wash., factory on June 17. The 747-400ER is the Boeing answer to customer demand for a more capable 747-400 with new features yet is easy to integrate into existing fleets. The 747-400ER has an increased takeoff weight of 910,000 pounds (412,770 kg). This allows operators to fly about 410 nautical miles (760 km) farther or carry up to 15,000 pounds (6,800 kg) more "payload " -- extra cargo or a full load of 416 passengers. The 747-400ER passenger airplane has a range of 7,670 nautical miles (14,205 km). People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

During the debates, Bush could also have admitted that getting on the Segway was a mistake That would have been great! People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

The bottom just fell out of the Neptune market, I think. At the prices advertised by Bad Dog, a used pro-track should now go for well under $100. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

So, I suppose that for the people that choose to not modify their rigs, they will face a hassle from some riggers that will not be willing to repack their reserve. Especially for the larger reserve containers, and containers that are not 'overstuffed', which apparently are less vulnerable to this problem scenario, it seems like a very reasonable decision to just make sure that riggers pay attention to the tips from Mirage on the issue. After all, they admit that they debated the merits of just issuing/reinforcing good packing practices. Rigs usually look terrible when the reserve is simply too big for the containe. I could understand riggers having some problem if a really tight container doesn't have the SB done, but I wonder how many riggers will be OK with it. Also, some DZs may enforce the application of the SB. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

That looks like a pretty good source for general info, the Seattle Times is better than most rags on aviation issues. Even better is the Aviation Week & Space Tech site, try a search there: http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/ People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Don't they use radios? People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

During the debates, when asked to admit a mistake during his administration, he should have said, "Trading Sammy Sosa". Of course it wasn't during his 'presidential' administration, but it would have been the sound bite of the debates. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Most of the off airport rentals are just a few miles away, and they all will give you a ride to their location. 9PM is not a very late arrival. Really, this should not be a problem. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Thanks, enough said. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

The Concorde flew at over mach 2. The sonic cruiser would have been subsonic, most airliners cruise at around 0.84-0.87 mach I think, so not nearly so much of an advantage. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I received this from a friend, it looks fake to me. Any info? People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Right, the slightly faster, but still subsonic airliner (all airliners now are subsonic). It would have cut down travel time a bit, especially for the really long flights of course. They thought it would be a hit, but not enough advantage from the airlines pespective of extra operating cost. The new generation of 737s (737-600/700/800 I believe) are faster than the old version. The couple of 'tenths slower mach number was a hassle when trying to get clearance for higher altitudes populated by planes with more normal cruising speeds. They were slowed by some aerodynamic things like the main landing gear wheel wells were not fully covered with the gear up. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I think you mean to say 'supersonic', right? Speed is definitely good, everything else being equal, but flying at well over 50,000 feet like supersonic jets would/did do is not a good idea if you have a depressurization. The Concorde never had one, thankfully. I think many people would die from the 'bends'. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Yup, you're right. Thanks for the correction. I don't know how I got that wrong. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

747s in an all tourist class configuration can hold 550, I believe. Some Japanese airlines use them like this for short domestic flights. They can't be used in the states like this because they don't meet the evacuation rule for getting out in 90 sec, if my memory serves me right. I suggested to the organizers of the Boeing evacuation tests to try to get a few hundred skydivers to be the passengers during the tests (we know how to get out fast), but they thought the FAA would take a dim view of that (Boeing uses employee volunteers for the tests). The JAL flight that crashed into the mountain many years ago when the whole tail fell off (after a bad repair following tail strike damage on an aggressive take-off, the many layers of metal and rivets weren't actually all riveted together right) had about 550 on board. He had just a little bit of control, actually, even without any tail behind the aft pressure bulkhead. In hindsight, the pilot probably should have tried to do an intentional water landing, instead of thinking that he could actually put it down on a runway. I have a few issues with the Airbus cockpit (this applies to all of their fly-by-wire planes A320/A330/A340 series also, things that I think are a bad idea for a commercial airliner. 1) The sidestick controllers They give no feedback when the autopilot is flying - no movement. I think that seeing the control column/wheel move is a great way for the pilot to know what the autopilot is trying to do. There is also no force feedback as you try to make the plane do more severe maneuvers. When a pilot moves from right to left seat, they have to 'train' their other arm/hand to use the sidestick controller (it is on the outboard side). I think this is inherently a bad idea, for a commercial airliner. The sidestick controllers are not linked, so when one pilot is flying, the other stick does not move. So what happens if both are trying to fly? There is software logic that decides this, and it is indicated which side is in control with an indicator light, and the pilots can override/take command on their side with the push of a switch. The thought of the logic not working and the pilots pushing buttons to take command is not comforting to me. 2) The autothrottle They do not move in the normal mode, meaning that as the autopilot adjusts power, the handles stay in one position. You can see by instruments what it is trying to do, but not by movement of the big handles. In the normal mode, it is just a big rotary switch. Again, I think seeing the throttles move is a great way for the pilot to know what the autopilot/autothrottle system is trying to do. 3) Envelope protection/limiting (fancy term for the computer doesn't let you do stupid maneuvers or overstress the plane) I don't think it is a good idea to have the fly-by-wire system prevent the pilot from putting too much stress on the plane. We are talking about a airliner, not a fighter. The pilots will never overstress it just for practice. If they need to go beyond the design structural limits to try to get out of a dive, for instance, then I say they should be allowed to try. Airbus was so confident of their 'envelope protection' that it caused a crash of an A330 many years ago. An airline CEO and top pilot were being treated to a demonstration flight. Airbus decided to impress them with how the plane could not be made to stall, so they planned to take off very aggressively and immediately idle one engine and turn off one of the hydraulic systems. However the flight control engineers had never figured on such an aggressive, very high pitch rate climb being combined with the other 'failures', and the plane could not stop the stall. They ran out of altitude. The investigation found fault in how the Airbus pilots decided to create their own scenario during the pre flight briefing that would impress the customer, completely confident that the plane could not be stalled (as they had been claiming). This incident received much less attention than the crash of the A320 at the Paris air show because no normal passengers were on board. The Boeing fly by wire system on the 777 still uses a traditional control column/wheel. There is some distinct advantages to the sidesticks, such as reduced weight, and much more room in front of the pilot for a worktable to use maps/manuals/etc, It was tempting, however Boeing decided that it was a bad tradeoff overall. Boeing also decided that strict envelope protection was a bad idea, and that increasing force feedback (it is 'artificial') was a better way of preventing pilots from doing stupid things while not limiting their ability to fly the plane how they see fit. Both Boeing and Airbus have a switch on the overhead console that puts them into a 'direct' mode that cuts out the complex flight control logic and uses separate/simpler software that results in a less 'refined' feeling for the pilot. This requires time to activate it, and I would rather the pilots have complete control to try what they want without having to look up and back to activate a switch first. It probably will not surprise you to learn that I used to be an engineer for Boeing in their flight deck group during the development of the 777, hence the 777 in my username. Of couse Boeing has had problems, such as 737 rudder reversals, 747 cargo door latches, and uncommanded 767 thrust reversals. However, I think their choice on the column over the sidestick controller, and the flight control logic are examples of interesting, and important points of discussion. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

This DZ's home page has a link to the a skyride page. Might this mean that the DZ is at least partly owned by them? People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

How does the SB make small Mirages harder to pack? Is the Mirage issue understood well enough to know if this concern is more likely to cause an actual problem for small reserve containers compared to large? I am surprised that nobody is offering opinions about whether similarly designed (cutter placement) rigs might deserve a similar change. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

RUSH - Moving Pictures People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Since the new sports stadiums were built, they passed some extra taxes on tourism. You know, it is easy for residents to want to tax non-residents. You will have better prices from the really small companies, especially the ones that don't have their cars on the airport itself. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Congrats Adam, I don't remember seeing her at the DZ, Is it just my bad memory? Has/is she going to jump? People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Moving your lower legs (below the knees) to the side can turn you also. Think of your knees staying fixed, rotating your lower leg at the knee to act as a 'rudder'. It is especially effective with booties. I think this is much better than raising a knee. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am