economic- very expensive to operate and maintain resulting in high CASM
design flaw (or perhaps shortcomings)- the tire failure on AF4590 resulted in fuel tank rupture. One of four tire failures: "The NTSB described those incidents as "potentially catastrophic", because they were caused by blown tyres during take-off. The NTSB also expressed concern about the lack of adequate remedies, on the part of the French, as well as improper crew responses to those incidents." And "To save on weight, Concorde was designed to take off without the assistance of flaps or slats. That required a significantly higher air and tyre speed, during the take-off roll, which imposed a much greater centripetal force load on the tyres. That higher speed increased the risk of tyre explosion during take-off.
In any case, the Concorde was more about prestige than profit, at least for the operators.
In a Theocracy, there's little difference between the government and religion. The policies that are restricting internet freedom are colored by religious dogma. Whatever reinforces political power is preserving the divine power:
"From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state".
The balls to ask for 30% increase in two years is fucking insane. I work in the technology sector and we've essentially had a pay freeze at our company for three years. I'm making what I made three or four years ago, only its worth shit because of inflation.
Troll. Sounds like you should get a union where you work- maybe use collective bargaining to improve your pay and work rules...
Nevermind. It's far easier to bash the teachers union for asking for the same things.
blasting unions as greedy, corrupt, and featherbedding saps on the "American Dream". Too many people are unaware or uneducated about what they owe to unions for the battles fought in the past and for the issues harming us today. Here's a short list: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/03/05/148930/top-five-things-unions/?mobile=nc/.
Before some ignoramous says unions are no longer necessary, I'd ask you to take a look at the last decade and see what's happened to the middle class.
As for my perspective, yes I'm a union member and no I haven't had a pay raise for 10 years, my pension is gone, I work twice as much for 55% of the pay (in 2001). If the unions are so all-powerful and greedy, why has my standard of living dropped so much? Did unions in Wisconsin fare better? If union haters get their wish, the middle class is toast and the plutocracy will eventually prevail leaving the US with no backbone to hold it up. I don't have all the answers, but I know ragging on the unions and real attempts to bust them is a just wrong-headed.
I was going to post after reading the 50 or so comments, but I see finally someone gets it- you already said what I was going to say. Except that I'd also mention that the union had a 4% raise from the existing contract cancelled by the city prior to negotiations. It seems from the comments that whenever a union is involved, people automatically forget that unions are made up of non-1%ers, are middle class, and are just getting by while corporations are reaping huge profits (only in this case, Chicago is as bad off financially as the middle class). Too many are completely uneducated about labor and resort to knee jerk assumptions. I don't think the sticking point here is wages- at least not primarily. The teachers are indeed fearful of letting standardized test scores overwhelmingly influence their teacher evaluations and I think that's a valid concern- as you pointed out. I don't think it's too much to ask for a peer review system or to de-emphasize the scores as a means to evaluate.
It would be completely possible today to set up an autopilot that could take off, fly to a destination, and land.
Still, would you want to fly in the back of one? Pilots do more than push buttons. They're paid for their judgement and experience- something an autopilot will never replace. I've got 25 years of what I contend is priceless professional skills the majority of which are not related to manipulation of flight controls- that's what you you should be filling the cockpit with.
AirBus jets are about 1/2 step away from that already.
Boeing too. I've flown both. Neither is better than the other, but Airbus is more common among it's types and simpler to operate. As an aside Boeing's wings are much nicer- the flex more in turbulence making a smoother ride.
There's nothing you can do except try to find an altitude that has smoother air, which is basically just rolling the dice.
Again, with judgment and experience, a pilot can know whether a climb is better than a descent, what route is best to avoid, if taking extra fuel is more harmful than helpful, understands winds aloft, tropopause, and orographic phenomenon and their effect on turbulence, and a myriad of other vital information.
Not any more: http://www.willflyforfood.com/airline-pilot-salary//
I'm working twice as much for about 55% of what I made in the early 2000's, and I'm one of the lucky ones. Pay close attention to the contract carriers (express) where starting pay is as little as $20K and doesn't even break $100K by end of career (currently 65 years age). To illuminate my perspective, I've been at this for 25 years and have had no pay raise for 91/2 years.
I wonder, have we hit air pockets or wind sheers while the folks in the cockpit aren't paying attention.
Don't worry if we're not paying attention to "air pockets or wind sheers". CAT (clear air turbulence) is not visible anyway- PIREPs and turbulence forecasts are primary means of avoidance (assuming its not part of convective activity which can be seen). This is the part where you want your crew to be experienced and of sound judgement. You get what you pay for so quit wishing for cheap labor so airfares stay low... Wouldn't matter anyway as executives keep taking all the savings from labor to line their pockets.
IAAP (and we are using iPads in the same manner as AA), and I can tell you from firsthand knowledge that pilots are needed for their judgment and experience- both before and during non-normal ops -same as any profession relying on experience and judgement.
My favorite unusual aerodynamic effect on rotary wing aircraft is called "retreating blade stall"- the faster the rotor disk moves in forward flight, the slower the retreating blade passes through the air, eventually resulting in significant reduction in lift that can't be compensated for by angle of attack. Only way out is to slow down.
http://blogs.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/2012/01/high-speed-helicopters-come-of-age//. Somewhat off topic but interesting.
OTOH depending on how close the walls are to the rotors, they might encounter rotor wash backfilling the the rotors on the periphery which should have a negative effect on lift and lateral stability. Winglets are increasingly common solution to this effect of spillover on fixed-wing, but have more complicated aerodynamic issues on rotary wings when forward motion is involved.
http://blog.aopa.org/helicopter/?m=201106/
ADS-B is in use already and has been since at latest 2000 in the NAT system for position reporting while crossing the Atlantic though the advanced features are still not installed in most commercial aircraft. I'm not aware of any exploits of this kind as of yet- not to say TFA is wrong. Current ATC methods are exploitable and there are numerous and continuing incidences of meaconing and intrusion of VHF and UHF control frequencies (North Korea are famous troublemakers). Anyone with a transceiver can do this so I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. The concerns are likely valid but less significant than current vulnerabilities. What does surprise me is that we're still controlling aircraft in the same manner as when I started flying 25 years ago- I'm ready to embrace some improvements. The greatest annoyance: not having full duplex transceivers.
It's not there aren't many of us who get it, it's that those who don't get scarier every day. How did 50% of the country move so far to the right? If they succeed in electing Romney, the journey to ruin that is facing the middle class will pick up pace. Maybe there's something in the water.
I know I'll probably be modded down as Flamebait...
Offtopic, maybe. But not flamebait. Since your at +5 now, its not looking too bad.
You funny Pope.
With the way you see things, I'm betting I would laugh an awful lot if we were drinking buddies. Unfortunately for us, your humor is not far from the truth.
There is a potentially unlimited set of testing procedures, precursor missions, technological improvements, and other protective measures that could be implemented before allowing human beings to once again try flying to other worlds.
I'm not seeing the point of colonizing other worlds. Earth is home. We should devote more effort in preserving it than seeking a way off of it. I'm not being some enviro-nut, I just see that there might be only a moon or two in our solar system that we might stand a chance of inhabiting. And there seems little chance of us surviving a trip out of our own solar system- time and distance are to vast. Maybe things will change in the future, if we don't kill ourselves off first.
Brings to mind Northwest Flight 188 from San Diego to Minneapolis. The degree of distraction here was extreme to say the least. Though one peice of automation that was not installed would have saved them from this mistake: most new transport style aircraft models include a system that warns the pilot that they have not interacted with the aircraft in a specific amount of time. Like the following:
PILOT RESPONSE: Advisory message after 30 min in cruise, 8 min in descent.
PILOT RESPONSE: Caution message & beeper after 35 min in cruise, 9 min in descent.
PILOT RESPONSE: Warning massage & siren after 40 min in cruise, 10 min in descent.
Since the automation is so capable it should include features like this to keep the humans honest...
You may be referring to AF447. An important distinction in that case was that the automation lost the data required to control the aircraft, so as designed, it disengaged and informed the crew that they were now in control- of an aircraft in severely degraded operational state (direct law) and also in instrument meteorological conditions. Those conditions were what made it so challenging, but just transitioning from passive monitor to active control is not inherently difficult.
I'm not certain but I'm pretty sure computers are landing airplanes with the pilots overseeing the process.
Correct. However, it requires a pilot to program and monitor its progress as well as very specific requirements for onboard equipment, crewmember training and triple redundancy in the event of malfunctions. I've had numerous Cat III approaches to a safe landing and it works but I wouldn't say the computers are better than the pilots. Its only used when there is not adequate visual reference for the pilot to do it. After the aircraft finishes its rollout in a straight line using ILS, the pilot still has to find his way to the gate with visibility at only a few meters.
I considered installing a dash cam too, but then I realized it might be used against me (as in a court of law). Most would call me an asshole behind the wheel. Fair enough, though just like everybody else, I'm certain my driving skills are superior (only in my case they actually are;-). I've sincerely run out of patience with apathy and inattention. BTW, I extend the following courtesies to all fellow drivers even if they don't reciprocate:
stay right except to pass,
slower traffic keep right,
leave room for those turning right on red,
if I pull out in front of you, you will not need to apply the breaks, use turn indicators, pull off the road if I'm lost, forgive innocent errors, never use the horn instead of evasive action, merge at the same speed as traffic, use cell phone only to stream music to the car audio system...I love driving, I just wish everyone else did too.
Undoin my mods, but have to chime in here.
1) As to why the ACA (Affordable Care Act) ended up like this, one needs to consider the legislative climate. The R's were never going to allow socialized healthcare ala UK and Canada. Just listen to them now screaming about Obama being a "socialist" and keep in mind how vitriolic politics have been since conservatives have migrated off the edge of reality. They (R's) adamantly opposed jeopardizing big money insurance companies' source of revenue caused by creating a single payer (government) and were heavily lobbied to maintain the current scheme of private insurance. So the result was the "mandate" as a means to fund the program and simultaneously preserve the bag of money for highly profitable insurance companies.
Isn't it usual that if the government forces people to BUY something for whatever reason (eg: you have to goto drivers school to get a drivers license), then the thing they are buying will suddenly sky rocket in price?
No, not when the pool of insured individuals increases in size and consists of younger, healthier, historically less (medically) burdensome individuals. It will actuarially lower costs per individual participant for the insurer.
2) Answered above by another respondent.
3) Fuck if I know. Seems obvious to me, but conservative blowhards are effecting a massive reality distortion field that has destroyed the minds of many previously sane individuals. Keep in mind that government in America is overwhelmingly guided by money, and corporations are now people.
Slashdot Mirror
...no mod points and so very funny. What was his point again...
Not by chance related to Steven Wright, are you?
economic- very expensive to operate and maintain resulting in high CASM
design flaw (or perhaps shortcomings)- the tire failure on AF4590 resulted in fuel tank rupture. One of four tire failures: "The NTSB described those incidents as "potentially catastrophic", because they were caused by blown tyres during take-off. The NTSB also expressed concern about the lack of adequate remedies, on the part of the French, as well as improper crew responses to those incidents." And "To save on weight, Concorde was designed to take off without the assistance of flaps or slats. That required a significantly higher air and tyre speed, during the take-off roll, which imposed a much greater centripetal force load on the tyres. That higher speed increased the risk of tyre explosion during take-off.
In any case, the Concorde was more about prestige than profit, at least for the operators.
"From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state".
Thank you for illustrating my point so clearly...
Last I heard, teaching was a vocation not a charity.
Troll. Sounds like you should get a union where you work- maybe use collective bargaining to improve your pay and work rules...
Nevermind. It's far easier to bash the teachers union for asking for the same things.
As for my perspective, yes I'm a union member and no I haven't had a pay raise for 10 years, my pension is gone, I work twice as much for 55% of the pay (in 2001). If the unions are so all-powerful and greedy, why has my standard of living dropped so much? Did unions in Wisconsin fare better? If union haters get their wish, the middle class is toast and the plutocracy will eventually prevail leaving the US with no backbone to hold it up. I don't have all the answers, but I know ragging on the unions and real attempts to bust them is a just wrong-headed.
I was going to post after reading the 50 or so comments, but I see finally someone gets it- you already said what I was going to say. Except that I'd also mention that the union had a 4% raise from the existing contract cancelled by the city prior to negotiations. It seems from the comments that whenever a union is involved, people automatically forget that unions are made up of non-1%ers, are middle class, and are just getting by while corporations are reaping huge profits (only in this case, Chicago is as bad off financially as the middle class). Too many are completely uneducated about labor and resort to knee jerk assumptions. I don't think the sticking point here is wages- at least not primarily. The teachers are indeed fearful of letting standardized test scores overwhelmingly influence their teacher evaluations and I think that's a valid concern- as you pointed out. I don't think it's too much to ask for a peer review system or to de-emphasize the scores as a means to evaluate.
Still, would you want to fly in the back of one? Pilots do more than push buttons. They're paid for their judgement and experience- something an autopilot will never replace. I've got 25 years of what I contend is priceless professional skills the majority of which are not related to manipulation of flight controls- that's what you you should be filling the cockpit with.
Boeing too. I've flown both. Neither is better than the other, but Airbus is more common among it's types and simpler to operate. As an aside Boeing's wings are much nicer- the flex more in turbulence making a smoother ride.
Again, with judgment and experience, a pilot can know whether a climb is better than a descent, what route is best to avoid, if taking extra fuel is more harmful than helpful, understands winds aloft, tropopause, and orographic phenomenon and their effect on turbulence, and a myriad of other vital information.
Not any more: http://www.willflyforfood.com/airline-pilot-salary// I'm working twice as much for about 55% of what I made in the early 2000's, and I'm one of the lucky ones. Pay close attention to the contract carriers (express) where starting pay is as little as $20K and doesn't even break $100K by end of career (currently 65 years age). To illuminate my perspective, I've been at this for 25 years and have had no pay raise for 91/2 years.
Don't worry if we're not paying attention to "air pockets or wind sheers". CAT (clear air turbulence) is not visible anyway- PIREPs and turbulence forecasts are primary means of avoidance (assuming its not part of convective activity which can be seen). This is the part where you want your crew to be experienced and of sound judgement. You get what you pay for so quit wishing for cheap labor so airfares stay low... Wouldn't matter anyway as executives keep taking all the savings from labor to line their pockets.
IAAP (and we are using iPads in the same manner as AA), and I can tell you from firsthand knowledge that pilots are needed for their judgment and experience- both before and during non-normal ops -same as any profession relying on experience and judgement.
My favorite unusual aerodynamic effect on rotary wing aircraft is called "retreating blade stall"- the faster the rotor disk moves in forward flight, the slower the retreating blade passes through the air, eventually resulting in significant reduction in lift that can't be compensated for by angle of attack. Only way out is to slow down. http://blogs.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/2012/01/high-speed-helicopters-come-of-age//. Somewhat off topic but interesting.
OTOH depending on how close the walls are to the rotors, they might encounter rotor wash backfilling the the rotors on the periphery which should have a negative effect on lift and lateral stability. Winglets are increasingly common solution to this effect of spillover on fixed-wing, but have more complicated aerodynamic issues on rotary wings when forward motion is involved. http://blog.aopa.org/helicopter/?m=201106/
they are becoming more prevalent because of the globally warm oceans. OTOH maybe humans are just finding more places to exploit mother Earth.
ADS-B is in use already and has been since at latest 2000 in the NAT system for position reporting while crossing the Atlantic though the advanced features are still not installed in most commercial aircraft. I'm not aware of any exploits of this kind as of yet- not to say TFA is wrong. Current ATC methods are exploitable and there are numerous and continuing incidences of meaconing and intrusion of VHF and UHF control frequencies (North Korea are famous troublemakers). Anyone with a transceiver can do this so I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. The concerns are likely valid but less significant than current vulnerabilities. What does surprise me is that we're still controlling aircraft in the same manner as when I started flying 25 years ago- I'm ready to embrace some improvements. The greatest annoyance: not having full duplex transceivers.
I know I'll probably be modded down as Flamebait...
Offtopic, maybe. But not flamebait. Since your at +5 now, its not looking too bad.
You funny Pope.
With the way you see things, I'm betting I would laugh an awful lot if we were drinking buddies. Unfortunately for us, your humor is not far from the truth.
There is a potentially unlimited set of testing procedures, precursor missions, technological improvements, and other protective measures that could be implemented before allowing human beings to once again try flying to other worlds.
I'm not seeing the point of colonizing other worlds. Earth is home. We should devote more effort in preserving it than seeking a way off of it. I'm not being some enviro-nut, I just see that there might be only a moon or two in our solar system that we might stand a chance of inhabiting. And there seems little chance of us surviving a trip out of our own solar system- time and distance are to vast. Maybe things will change in the future, if we don't kill ourselves off first.
Brings to mind Northwest Flight 188 from San Diego to Minneapolis. The degree of distraction here was extreme to say the least. Though one peice of automation that was not installed would have saved them from this mistake: most new transport style aircraft models include a system that warns the pilot that they have not interacted with the aircraft in a specific amount of time. Like the following:
PILOT RESPONSE: Advisory message after 30 min in cruise, 8 min in descent.
PILOT RESPONSE: Caution message & beeper after 35 min in cruise, 9 min in descent.
PILOT RESPONSE: Warning massage & siren after 40 min in cruise, 10 min in descent.
Since the automation is so capable it should include features like this to keep the humans honest...
You may be referring to AF447. An important distinction in that case was that the automation lost the data required to control the aircraft, so as designed, it disengaged and informed the crew that they were now in control- of an aircraft in severely degraded operational state (direct law) and also in instrument meteorological conditions. Those conditions were what made it so challenging, but just transitioning from passive monitor to active control is not inherently difficult.
Have you not seen the Terminator series? Skynet felt the same way about humans...
I'm not certain but I'm pretty sure computers are landing airplanes with the pilots overseeing the process.
Correct. However, it requires a pilot to program and monitor its progress as well as very specific requirements for onboard equipment, crewmember training and triple redundancy in the event of malfunctions. I've had numerous Cat III approaches to a safe landing and it works but I wouldn't say the computers are better than the pilots. Its only used when there is not adequate visual reference for the pilot to do it. After the aircraft finishes its rollout in a straight line using ILS, the pilot still has to find his way to the gate with visibility at only a few meters.
I considered installing a dash cam too, but then I realized it might be used against me (as in a court of law). Most would call me an asshole behind the wheel. Fair enough, though just like everybody else, I'm certain my driving skills are superior (only in my case they actually are ;-). I've sincerely run out of patience with apathy and inattention. BTW, I extend the following courtesies to all fellow drivers even if they don't reciprocate:
stay right except to pass,
slower traffic keep right,
leave room for those turning right on red,
if I pull out in front of you, you will not need to apply the breaks, use turn indicators, pull off the road if I'm lost, forgive innocent errors, never use the horn instead of evasive action, merge at the same speed as traffic, use cell phone only to stream music to the car audio system...I love driving, I just wish everyone else did too.
Isn't it usual that if the government forces people to BUY something for whatever reason (eg: you have to goto drivers school to get a drivers license), then the thing they are buying will suddenly sky rocket in price?
No, not when the pool of insured individuals increases in size and consists of younger, healthier, historically less (medically) burdensome individuals. It will actuarially lower costs per individual participant for the insurer. 2) Answered above by another respondent. 3) Fuck if I know. Seems obvious to me, but conservative blowhards are effecting a massive reality distortion field that has destroyed the minds of many previously sane individuals. Keep in mind that government in America is overwhelmingly guided by money, and corporations are now people.