Helicopters pretty much rock. One of the downsides is they can be a bit slow. No more says Sikorsky! The Sikorsky X2 takes helicopter speed to the next level. This video was taken on September 15, 2010 and it is a test flight of the X2 where it reached 260kts during a shallow dive and 250kts in level flight.
Shoutout to the Seattle PI for this one.
A Boeing 757 with its nose off in for work at Delta Tech Ops. Click for larger.
You hear a lot of complaints from folks about companies outsourcing. In fact, its known within the airline community that many airlines not do their own maintenance. Delta Air Lines works just the opposite. Not only do they not outsource their maintenance, but they also in-source work from other companies from around the globe.
Delta’s Technical Operations (TechOps) is located on the west east side of the airport and is about 1.5 miles long. My tour guide, Anthony Black, thankfully opted for a golf cart, since we had a lot of ground to cover.
Hartsfield’“Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is like its own city, but so is Delta TechOps. The TechOPs is so large, it has its own credit union, mini-hospital and interior roads complete with stop signs.
Delta Tech Ops has many engines worth millions of dollars each. Click for larger.
Delta flies many different aircraft types with a variety of engines. Down a long hallway are signs with different engine-types hanging from the ceilings (photo). Engines are located all all over the facility in different states of being repaired or overhauled.
Engines are very complex pieces of machinery composed of many different odd-shaped parts. Technicians need to be very careful of labeling each part to make sure they can put the engine-puzzle back together when completed (photo). When the composite fan blades are removed, they are stored separately and not allowed to touch (photo). Just be careful… each blade is worth about $20,000.00.
When the engine is done, it is moved into one of five test cells in the facility (photo). The test cell is a large wind tunnel and each engine will be run for about 8-12 hours to simulate a flight and to make sure it is ready to go back on an aircraft. After it gets the thumbs up, it is either placed on an aircraft waiting at the facility or packaged up and possibly shipped anywhere in the world for a customer (flight-line photo).
Delta's paint hangars have lifts come down from the ceiling (shouldn't they be called "lowers" then?). Click for larger.
The facility doesn’t just do engine work. They also work on anything from replacing small nuts and bolts, adding winglets and completing an overhaul of an aircraft. About 150 different companies will in-source maintenance at the TechOps center, meaning they keep busy.
Our next stop was taking a look at the paint hangars. They have been very busy recently with the merger with Northwest Airlines, getting all the planes painted over to Delta’s livery. I wasn’t able to see any Delta aircraft being painted, but I was able to check out a Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 767 that was in for a new coat of paint (photo). The hangars have lifts that come down from the ceiling to allow workers to efficiently paint aircraft. This saves time, since the painters are easily able to work around the aircraft with their mechanical lifts.
The Delta TechOps is one impressive place. Not only with the size of the facility, but the scale of their operations. Next time you are flying to ATL, be sure to take a look out the window and see if you can check out some of the action happening at the TechOps.
Check out more photos of the Delta TechOps.
What’s better than a Boeing 787 Dreamliner first flight video? One with commentary from Boeing employees, including the lead pilot Christine Walsh. The sixth 787 Dreamliner took to the skies on October 4th and had a successful (yet shortened) first flight.
Source: Boeing
Heavy bags cost the airlines more to fly.
When I first thought about airlines charging based on overall passenger weight, I thought, “No way…no airline would have the guts to do it.” But after thinking about it some and after all the recent weight-related airline news, I think this could actually work. Hear me out…
I couldn’t see Southwest or United doing something like this, but maybe someone more like Ryanair or Spirit would be willing to try it. Or at least they would advertise that they might do it in order to get free publicity, but never actually do it
Weight equals money. The heavier the plane, the more fuel it takes to move it and the more it costs. Just a little change can mean big savings for an airline. Think about shipping a package. Most of what you are paying for is weight. They will put your package on a scale, find out where it is going and give you the cost. The more it weighs, the more you pay. Why shouldn’t airlines do the same?
Already, some airlines have gotten a little creative with reducing weight. From Qantas installing carbon fiber seats to cut down on weight to ANA recommending that passengers use the restroom before their flight.
If airlines are looking at creative ways to reduce weight, why couldn’t one take it to the next step and charge for a passenger’s overall weight to get from point A to B?
Should a 80lb child with 10lbs of baggage pay the same amount to fly across country as a 250lb person with 150lbs of luggage? It almost doesn’t seem fair when you think about it. Yes, a child and 250lb person might take up a seat, but it won’t cost the airline the same amount to fly each across country.
I am not just talking about charging a passenger based on how much they weigh, but how much everything weighs that they are transporting. If you don’t weigh much and have no bags, your ticket might be extremely cheap. Where someone at 250lbs with bags will cost a bit more.
This game plan of course has its faults. Here are some of my major concerns:
* Would it cause people to do unhealthy behaviors to pay less? Like not eat for a few days or sweat out weight?
* How about passengers with documented disability of being overweight?
* At some point passengers will have to be weighed. Will they be willing to do it? They might… when flying on small prop aircraft, many will ask weight.
* What if a price cut off is at 200lbs and you are at 201lbs? That would be really frustrating.
* People would totally be upset about this. Bitch and moan and say they will never fly the airline. However, this happened with checked bag (and carry-on) fees, yet people still pay them. So short-term anger followed by acceptance would most likely be the course of action.
* Mary Kirby brought this one up…what about items you buy after you check in and are in the terminal. Like food, duty-free items, etc?
I would envision a big scale at the ticket counter. You step on it with all your gear. Only the ticket agent sees the total number. Or heck, maybe they don’t even see it and it just tells them how much your ticket will cost. Possibly, the first 150lbs get to fly for a cheap base fare and anything after that would get charged an extra $1 per pound. Someone who has a total weight 150lbs might pay $100.00 for a ticket and someone with 300lbs of total weight would pay $350.00 for the same flight.
Is this idea crazy? Possibly. But if it costs less to fly you and your stuff across country, why should you pay to fly someone else who has more weight? I would be willing to bet top dollar that airlines have already discussed this as a possibility. There might be some upfront costs, but I think a smaller airline might be able to make something like this work.
Think we might see this anytime soon? How would you react? Okay… time to hit the gym.
Image: DrBakker
It is super sweet to board a Boeing 747-400 from the tarmac. Hold on...it's a long way up. Click for larger.
I have never flown on the upper deck of a Boeing 747. I have flown plenty of times on the lower level, but I have never had the opportunity to climb those stairs (photo) to the upper echelons of air travel.
Well, I still haven’t flown on the upper deck of a 747, but now I have been up in one. I have to admit, it is pretty darn awesome. During my recent trip to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to hang out with United Airlines, I was invited to check out the top deck and cockpit of one of their Boeing 747-400’s that was being set up for a 15 hour flight to Sydney, Australia.
Ah. The upper deck of a Boeing 747-400. Great seats, total exclusivity and an amazing view. Click for larger.
The upper deck is a world of its own. Even though there were only about 30 people (invited guests, United employees and cleaning crew) it was obviously quieter up top. Speaking with a flight attendant she said she loves working the top deck since it has a more laid back atmosphere than the much longer bottom deck. All the seats on this United 747 upper deck were International Business Class — which weren’t too shabby at all. The First Class Suites were all located in the nose section on the bottom deck (photo). Yea, the location isn’t as cool as the upper deck, but those first class seats are crazy-big.
Anyhow, back up top, the seats and service might be pretty slick, but the coolest part is up front… the cockpit. The cockpit isn’t just for flying, there is a lot of room to invite guests and take a nice little nap. Heck, I think it might have had more square footage than my first apartment (ok not really). Part of the cockpit houses a set of bunk beds for pilots (photo) to get some rest. There is also plenty of extra seating for the relief pilots. Flights over 8 hours will require one relief pilot and flights over 12 will require two. So there needs to be plenty of room up front for everyone to be comfortable and well rested.
Heck yes. The best seat in the house! Click for larger.
The Boeing 747 is one of my favorite aircraft. Even though the Airbus A380 might be larger and carry more people, it just doesn’t have the same awesome presence that the Boeing 747 does. I am very excited for Boeing to introduce the new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (video), which will allow the Boeing 747 to fly well into the future.
A special thanks for United and their employees for flying me down to LAX to enjoy this and other fun adventures.
More Goodies:
* All the photos from my LAX visit with United.
* Time lapse video of new Business/First class seats being installed in a UAL Boeing 747-400
* Video from United 747-400 upper deck of take off from Chicago.
* Photo of United Boeing 747-400 in original Tulip livery in 1989