(no subject)

[plonq]

My co-worker is obsessing over the new Airbus this morning.  Apparently they showed it on the news last night, and now he's digging up all sorts of little factoids on it.  It's kind of cute, but I wish he wouldn't keep interrupting my work with little informative exclamations.  "It holds over 800 passengers!"

He went quite for several minutes, and I thought he was done until he randomly blurted, "It's got 24 wheels!"

Comments

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

And...it carried 22 tons of test equipment on it's maiden flight.

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

And it carried a Flying Dutchman!

[smrgol-t-kirin.livejournal.com]

It's not going to do well.

Boeing could have double decked the 747 years ago but determined that the market was not there.

Airbus seems to think that travellers should be taken to one place en-masse and then take connecting flights from that point.

The current usage seems to point to smaller planes on direct routes.

I can see this beast on trans-Pacific flights or the like, but not much else.

It'll also take several billion dollars to upgrade airports to handle the plane. Where is THAT money going to come from? Not to mention upgrading each terminal that the plane will serve. Of course, any upgrading is potential work for me, so I can't really complain about that aspect.

I still think it's an answer to a question that was never asked.

[marmelmm.livejournal.com]

Eh, Derek Meddings did it first and did it best in one of the Captain Scarlet episodes back in 1968...

-MMM-

[anthony-lion.livejournal.com]

Why not toss some facts back at him?

The Antonov 225 has 32 wheels, can take 250(!) Tons of cargo, and while it has never carried more than about 500 passengers(on a relief flight) if could be fitted out for 1500 seats.(estimated)

And that one doesn't even NEED a runway...
(Well, not a paved one, at least)

How big is the cargo hold?
It can take the fuselage of a 737 in one piece, and is the only plane ever to transport a complete Diesel locomotive(109Tons)

[gedrean.livejournal.com]

"It's got 24 wheels!"

The BEST quote I've seen in a while.