|
Fifty years ago today, The Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet flew for the first time.
So ... if you were born after 1969, the plane you flit around the world in is an older design than you are ... 
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
|
|
|
|
|
and it was about 5 years later when the first one crashed (excluding hijacks) and even that was put down to crew missing / misreading a warning light. Barely any issue can be attributed to equipment failure (almost none if you disclude sub-par maintenance & repairs), and of those equipment failures most are engine issues.
These days we know better: modern testing measures, test to point of failure, automated testing, pre-release test audits/checklists/signoff etc etc etc and ...
...they not only knew how to build properly back then, but how to test too.
50 years on and still safer to fly in a 747 than cross a road.
(50 years ago cars' brakes were not as good as today, but OTOH back then we were smart enough not to bury our faces in them stoopid smart phones.)
Message Signature
(Click to edit ->)
|
|
|
|
|
Lopatir wrote: 50 years ago cars' brakes were not as good as today
The brakes on my car are so "good" that if I try and brake in snow they are as good as useless and just cause the car to judder and skate across the road as the "AI" ABS system kicks in 
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
|
|
|
|
|
I remember what Ford Cortina brakes were like: they were very unlikely to lock up (no ABS, remember) even on flat ice, lt alone on nice grippy snow!
Trust me, modern brakes that stop the car are definitely preferable. Mine even has EBA which "takes over" when I try to do an emergency stop and stops a lot shorter than I do! I've used it twice and it's extremely good, to the point of leaving seat belt bruises. 
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
|
|
|
|
|
I find ABS terribly frustrating. When someone cuts me off I used to accelerate up behind them and slam on the brakes to get a very satisfying screech out of the tyres, now the ABS cuts in and the perp gets away in silence.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
|
|
|
|
|
Brilliant . . . ?
| Ravings en masse^ |
|---|
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
Quote: Want to feel old?
...birthday approaching... 
|
|
|
|
|
Another couple of weeks, thankfully.
But it's a phenomenal plane, and that goes back to the design which was definitely "right first time". Think about how much it has changed in 50 years, and compare that to the cars of the era. :shudder:
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
|
|
|
|
|
He posted about buying his own present a couple of days ago... 
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
|
|
|
|
|
Yeah, but that was an EARLY purchase. 
|
|
|
|
|
After the birthday would still be early for the next one, don't you think? 
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
|
|
|
|
|
That would be E A R L Y.
|
|
|
|
|
EARL greY ? yes... I think it is a good tee, too
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
|
|
|
|
|
I like it ("My least-hated, most favourite tea would be Earl Grey").
|
|
|
|
|
I believe my first flight was in a 727.
Got my site back up after my time in the woods!
JaxCoder.com
|
|
|
|
|
so modern! my first was in a Fokker Friendship.
Message Signature
(Click to edit ->)
|
|
|
|
|
Really showing my age now. My first was a DC3 
A Fine is a Tax for doing something wrong
A Tax is a Fine for doing something good.
|
|
|
|
|
RossMW wrote: My first was a DC3
Mine was a DC-10...right after that spate of engines falling off. 
|
|
|
|
|
You got me there, you old fart!
Got my site back up after my time in the woods!
JaxCoder.com
|
|
|
|
|
My mentor at my first job out of school had worked at Boeing and was involved in the development of the autopilot system for the 747. He told me a story about one of the early tests of the autopilot when they flew out of Boeing's airport in Tacoma which is/was right on Puget Sound. When they took off they set their altitude as 0 feet since they were right by the ocean. They flew around a little bit and then came back to land. Of course, they let the autopilot land the plane and when it came in for its approach it did everything right except for one little detail. Their target altitude was zero but the runway was actually built about ten feet above the water so when the plane came into land it was too low and it sheared all of its landing gear off and slid down the runway on its belly. My boss wasn't on the plane but his boss was and he said it was quite a ride.
The interesting thing is planes have had autopilots capable of landing themselves for over fifty years but they are never used. Ever. Somehow, even with RADAR and all of the other navigational equipment, planes are never allowed to land themselves. Flights can still be "fogged out" of airports.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
|
|
|
|
|
I am surprised at that information.
I have read somewhere that pilots won't use autopilot during takeoff but would allow autopilot to land the plane.
Landing in a fog requires lot of guidance equipment on the ground. Not all airports are equipped with them and that may be the reason why fog causes planes to miss their destination and look for alternate destinations.
New Delhi airport, notoriously fog-bound during winter, has not been affected as much now as it has been historically. I had to sit out 6 hours in Karachi in 1974 (inside the plane; the Pakistanis wouldn't allow the passengers to stretch their legs inside the airport) but nowadays most flights land in New Delhi during fog (up to certain levels of visibility). Take-offs are no problem.
A doctoral dissertation at Stanford several years ago showed that it is perfectly feasible to land a plane using GPS signals as the satellites provide latitude, longitude and altitude information. I believe the researcher programmed the autopilot of a commercial plane to utilize the information from an on-board GPS device (military grade, accurate to within a foot) and use it to land the plane.
|
|
|
|
|
Its just about a year since the last US operator ceased 747 operations  According to This, there's only a dozen airlines still using them.
|
|
|
|
|
OriginalGriff wrote: Want to feel old?
No thanks. Don't need any help there.
OriginalGriff wrote: the plane you flit around the world in is an older design than you are
The design pre-dates me by almost an octade. But my "design"[^] pre-dates aeroplanes by roughly 350,000 years.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
|
|
|
|
|
I fear that many have veered far, far outside the original design tolerances.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
|
|
|
|
|
27. Soft debts can be devout (5)
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
