Via AVWeb: Boeing has put up a 787 Dreamliner simulator that allows you to (virtually) sit in the cockpit. You can check out any of the instruments, look out the windows, and listen to the cockpit crew.
Someday you might even fly in a real one.
Last month, United Airlines and the Star Alliance held a multi-day outing for some frequent fliers that included a couple legs on a 787:
They were bankers, lawyers, programmers, film distributors, entrepreneurs and all-around aviation buffs or, as they lovingly call themselves, geeks. Most were men. All of them had signed up for a MegaDo, a retreat organized by and for travel fanatics who scour Web sites like Milepoint, particularly frequent fliers for whom it is a hobby to accrue miles and learn every last detail about their preferred airline.
The first MegaDo was in 2009. This one, Star Alliance MegaDo 4, had a European leg that wasn’t on a Dreamliner and a domestic leg, and sold out in two minutes. Tickets for the United States portion were $999 to $1,999 and included meals and behind-the-scenes talks and tours with airline and hotel executives. All the proceeds go to charity. Those who did manage to score a Star Alliance MegaDo 4 ticket would ultimately fly on a Dreamliner, party in an airplane hangar, learn how to de-ice a plane, visit United’s headquarters, barely sleep and consume copious amounts of alcohol.
The average traveler has probably never heard of MegaDos, but they have become so significant within the travel industry that, as one of the founders, Tommy Danielsen, put it: “United gives us this plane a week and a half after they introduce it.”
But even occasional fliers will find themselves on Dreamliners in the coming years as more airlines integrate them into their fleets. United, the first domestic carrier to receive the Dreamliner, has two so far and at least another 48 on the way. International carriers including Japan Airlines and Air India have been flying the planes for months.
Unfortunately, American Airlines won't receive any 787s for at least another 18 months or so, and I'm unlikely to fly on United before then. So I'll be patient and wait. Unless USAirways hurries up and buys American already...
A French appeals court has ruled that neither Continental nor mechanic John Taylor bears criminal responsibility for the 2000 Air France Concorde crash outside Paris:
According to the original ruling, mechanic John Taylor fitted the wrong metal strip on a Continental DC-10. The piece ultimately fell off on the runway in Paris, puncturing the Concorde's tire. The burst tire sent bits of rubber flying, puncturing the fuel tanks, which started the fire that brought down the plane.
On Thursday, Judge Michele Luga overturned the 2010 manslaughter conviction of Continental and the mechanic, saying their mistakes didn't make them criminally responsible for the deaths.
Even if Taylor knew that the metal strip could become detached, "he could never have imagined a scenario where this simple titanium blade could cause such a disaster," Luga said in court.
The French court that convicted Continental and the mechanic in 2010 for the crash imposed about €2 m in damages and fines on the carrier. The appeals court upheld Continental's civil responsibility and ordered it to pay Air France €1 m in damages and interests.
I'm not sure I understand how the trial court came to convict Taylor in the first place. One small piece of debris on a runway should not cause a transport-class airplane to burst into flames. I don't know enough about French law to speculate about the trial judge, however. I do know that in the French system the trial judge has a much more active role than in the Anglo-American system, and can even act as prosecutor.
Anyway, this has to be a relief for Taylor, and for United Continental. It also marks the end of the Concorde's story.
The long-time aviation blogger thinks the movie was a disservice:
I’ll be told, perhaps, that I need to relax, and that the movie ought be judged beyond its technical shortcomings. Normally I would agree, and for the average lay viewer it will hardly matter at all. I’m happy to allow a little artistic license. We should expect it, and some light fudging of the facts can be necessary, to a degree, for a film like this to work. Honestly, I’m not that much of a fussbudget. The trouble with Flight is that the filmmakers seem to have hardly tried.
I’m not sure who gets the bigger screw job here: viewers, who are being lied to, but who may or may not care; airline pilots, whose profession is unrealistically portrayed; or nervous flyers, whose fears this movie will only compound.
The entire piece gets into specifics.
One of the benefits of visiting a small city in the off-season: you get a great hotel room for £98. So let it be with Cardiff. I think during the summer, this kind of view of Cardiff Bay goes for many times more. Combine a great room with a camera that has mind-boggling low-light capabilities, and voilà:
See? You thought I was going to post about the election.
Air New Zealand has a hobbit of making awesome safety videos; here's the latest:
First, while I knew this existed, it still took me aback:
At the location the BBC used as the Torchwood 3 main entrance, the good people of the world have put up a shrine to fictional character Ianto Jones, which the Mermaid Quay management have sanctioned. As much as I found Torchwood to be an entertaining television show, and even though I went to Cardiff in part to see some of their shooting locations in person, I find this...creepy.
Cooler, significantly, were these props, at the Doctor Who Experience:
From left to right, those are baby Weeping Angels, a wounded Angel (both from the most recent Doctor Who episode, "The Angels Take Manhattan"), and the Oswin Dalek from "Asylum of the Daleks."
All right, you think it's cool too. Admit it.
I've been a little swamped since getting home, so not until just now, when I have a few minutes to watch a deployment go out, have I had time to go through my Cardiff photos. Why Cardiff? I hear you cry. Well, I'm not ashamed to admit it:
Yes, that's the only place in the world that has the original TARDIS:
It was also a lot of fun to see Roald Dahl Plass; in particular, this:
Points if you know exactly what this is, and why I've included it. Major points.
More UK photos tomorrow.
That was the Space Shuttle Carrier's call sign last month. Just watch:
Apparently the weekend I just spent in the UK did not actually change the number of hours I have to work this month. Oops.
Wales photos tomorrow, I guess...