[URL]http://www.planepictures.net/a/TLS/1113114953.jpg[/URL] Behold, the Whalejet
Dunno I reckon its got more of a seal look to it personally. About as exciting as the new Dyson 'Ball' vacuum cleaner.
Has that thing been proven to actually FLY yet? You wait - one day there'll be a head-on between these bohemoths - and it'll be way worse than the 1977 Boeing 747s Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife carnage... What was it those guys said in the Bond Movie? "If God wanted us to fly, he'd have given us wings, Mr Kitt" I'm not scared of flying, but I *am* scared of our new national air traffic system....
bob - it got a little behind schedule and so flight tests haven't started yet. There's talk that it will be on static display for a couple of days at the paris airshow, but it won't spend a lot of time there as airbus want to use the time to catch up a little on the testing.
Nope - I'm fairly wary of car drivers, and buses (IN Exeter at least) are crap so it's quicker for me to walk. I use trains - much lower risk. Even cars and buses have the option to walk out of - how the hell can you walk off a plane that's in trouble at 35000 ft - you can't even breathe properly outside of a plane at that height! Even a sinking ship is escapable, but a plane? Nah - not convinced thanks! BTW - I've been on a plane 4 times in my life and it wasn't that bad (I'm no B A Barrackas!), although the last flight (on a DC10) was unnerving, as they had problems with the lower rear cargo door... Nice Paris crash in the 70s - not good signs for our 1992 flight from Verona!
It all went Pete Tong when they ditched those funny (Bedford??) minibuses and went to medium-format single deckers. The nail in the coffin was allowing those tossers known as Stagecoach to have the franchise - they're shit - plain and simple. Ask Lhatkins!!!
My (fading) memory tells me that buses in Exeter often failed to turn up, stopped running at about 11pm; and the fares were extortionate. Of course, most places in Exeter are within reasonable walking distance of each other, but I was stuck out near Cowley Bridge and it was a long stomp to Heavitree where my girlfriend lived.
When US airspace was cleared after 9/11 and all aircraft grounded the ground tempreture in the US actually cooled by 2-3 degrees C!
I don't believe that there could possibly be any relationship between the short term grounding of aircraft and the cooling of ground temperature.
I thought it rose by 2-3 degrees because the jet trail particles weren't there to reflect the sunlight back up again? Global dimming.
What amuses me is that, as the 747 before it, mock ups show olympic sized swimming pools next to your seat when we all know the reality will be 800 seats in goat class. bob
They're more likely (not swimming pools, but other things) on the A380. There's 50% more space than the 747, but payload is 35% more, so it can only take 35% more passengers. Most of the airline layouts published so far have had fewer additional passengers as compared to the 747 than that (typically around 500, rather than the expected 555), so there is more room to play with. Expect it to be used for first class and business before you see much benefit in cattletruck though. The plans published so far have been 2-4-2 on the top deck and 3-4-3 on the lower deck for economy. 3-4-3 is the same as a 747, but the cabin is 19" wider, so each passenger gets about an inch more width and wider aisles.
