This harks back to my academy days, when I used to fly once, just single engine Cessna craft mind you. And why is flying far harder than driving a car? Because you are negotiating a space, not a surface.
Cars only steer in one dimension; planes steer in two. Even a level turn is hard [...]
BUMPF! Why flying an aircraft is far harder than driving a car
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 16 February, 2010 to the comment subset
Jet Airliner, photos of landing aircraft by Josef Hoflehner
Posted by John Lampard on Thursday, 5 November, 2009 to the photography subset
Josef Hoflehner’s photos of aircraft landing at Princess Juliana International Airport airport, in the Eastern Caribbean… these are great pictures.
Despite the need for speed jets are not getting any faster
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 13 October, 2009 to the technology subset
While contemporary military jets have forgone speed in favour of function and precision, and are slower than their counterparts of 40 years ago, I’m still all for looking at super-fast passenger jet-craft though…
But by the ’60s the ICBM had become routinized as the delivery vehicle for nuclear warheads and everyone realized that super-fast interceptors (and [...]
Conventional and fantastic aircraft cabin design
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 14 July, 2009 to the design and art subset
A look at some actual and also some (very) fanciful aircraft cabin design over the last 100 or so years.
Steel-tubed furniture made its first appearance in airplane cabins as early as 1915. By 1919, corrugated metal seats and cantilevered chairs appeared in the passenger compartments of Junkers airliners. These developments not only anticipate Jean Prouvé’s [...]
The mile high shower, try it on the Airbus A380
Posted by John Lampard on Friday, 21 November, 2008 to the comment subset
We looked at the cockpit the other week, now check out the rest of the Airbus A380, and glimpse the future of business and luxury air travel.
Is it just me, and my obviously one-track mind, but isn’t a shower on an aircraft asking for trouble somewhat?
Via Coudal Partners.
A 360 degree view of the Airbus A380 cockpit
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 4 November, 2008 to the design and art subset
Rotate, scan, and zoom, see the whole of an Airbus A380 cockpit. Very cool.
Thanks Crumpet.
Propeller engines, slower but environmentally friendly
Posted by John Lampard on Thursday, 30 October, 2008 to the technology subset
How’s this for a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same. Rolls-Royce has developed a propeller-driven engine that could significantly reduce aircraft greenhouse gas emissions.
Rolls-Royce recently cleared a major hurdle in testing its new design for a propeller-driven engine, involving a double rotor and new blade shape. Engineers have called [...]
I’m on the plane right now, be there in five (long) hours
Posted by John Lampard on Wednesday, 1 October, 2008 to the comment subset
Four out of five people said they did not like the idea of mobile phones being allowed on flights, according to a recent survey by totaltravel.com.
Travel website totaltravel.com asked 1490 people over four weeks whether mobile phone usage should be allowed on aircraft. More than 80 per cent of respondents answered no, saying that having [...]
If you ever have to land a 747, pray that it’s a 747-400
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 30 September, 2008 to the comment subset
The instruction sheet for landing a Boeing 747 look rather straightforward. Deceptivley straightforward, I should say…
Find the checklists in the side pocket of the pilot’s and copilot’s seat. If the plane is a 747-400, engage the Automatic Landing System (ALS). If it is not a 747-400, see below under “Landing Without ALS.”
