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Post by bunnywailer on Feb 17, 2011 16:56:56 GMT -5
There are a lot of non-obvious reasons why most airplanes are designed with the tube-and-wings configuration. Everybody thinks they have a better idea until the time comes to turn it into a certified, manufacturable, profitable product. Well, certainly, engineering and business processes are more rigid and structured in all large companies nowdays. The sole purpose being to extract maximum profit at the least amount of cost and risk. Software re-use, business metrics, risk analysis, etc.etc.etc. are all things that are part of today's engineering world. But all that comes at a price. No more taking big risks. No more putting it out there. Skunkworks - would any company be willing to put forth that kind of capital outlay to tell a bunch of uber technical engineering geeks "Hey here's all the money you want, and all the resources you want, go out there in the desert and create a buncha cool %*$# for us..."
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 17, 2011 18:08:07 GMT -5
Skunkworks - would any company be willing to put forth that kind of capital outlay to tell a bunch of uber technical engineering geeks "Hey here's all the money you want, and all the resources you want, go out there in the desert and create a buncha cool %*$# for us..." If I knew the answer, I wouldn't be allowed to tell you anyway.
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Post by pedro el leon on Feb 17, 2011 19:10:03 GMT -5
Weight to profit ratio always favors passengers, why is the entire bottom of the fueselage dedicated to container loading on widebody aircraft? The problem is that passengers aren't always there to fill up the plane as is, freight is ALWAYS available to carry. Besides, with today's overpowered airliners, weight really isn't an issue anymore. The 747-8f was recently tested with 200% weight capacity, that's how ridiculously overpowered they are.
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Post by bunnywailer on Feb 17, 2011 20:21:58 GMT -5
Weight to profit ratio always favors passengers, why is the entire bottom of the fueselage dedicated to container loading on widebody aircraft? The problem is that passengers aren't always there to fill up the plane as is, freight is ALWAYS available to carry. Besides, with today's overpowered airliners, weight really isn't an issue anymore. The 747-8f was recently tested with 200% weight capacity, that's how ridiculously overpowered they are. Only partially true. Yes, air freight is always available for transport. However, with the emergence of mega-carriers like FedEx and UPS having their own fleets, commercial airlines do not make as much business on air freight and packages as they used to 20 years ago, and then again only in certain markets that are not serviced by the hubs of FedEx and UPS. The standard index for the airlines is called Revenue Passenger Miles (RPM), which is a formula by which airlines measure how profitable they are on an given route. RPM can be affected by passenger capacity, fuel costs, competition in the market, and equipment that are servicing that route. For instance, in United Airlines has a certain capacity of seats in the LA-ORD market and are using Boeing 777s on their daily departures but these aircraft are only running at 50% occupancy, then United can increase their RPM by changing the equipment on the route to Boeing 767s which have less capacity while switching the 777s to a different market that might need more capacity, for instance LAX-HNL during the summer, or ORD-JFK. At any rate, passengers still make the airlines more money than shipping air freight.
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Post by pedro el leon on Mar 20, 2011 13:21:59 GMT -5
First Flight:
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ingoodstanding
Junior
"The constitution is not a living organism," Hon. A. Scalia
Posts: 399
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Post by ingoodstanding on Mar 22, 2011 21:26:28 GMT -5
I'm not purposing to be antagonistic (scouts honor) : Can I say, that, "I for one TRULY miss this plane." Boeing and its history of monopolies...geez.
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ingoodstanding
Junior
"The constitution is not a living organism," Hon. A. Scalia
Posts: 399
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Post by ingoodstanding on Mar 22, 2011 21:28:21 GMT -5
This one too for that matter...
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Post by mikegarrison on Mar 22, 2011 22:49:08 GMT -5
You have a thing for outdated trijets?
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ingoodstanding
Junior
"The constitution is not a living organism," Hon. A. Scalia
Posts: 399
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Post by ingoodstanding on Mar 23, 2011 16:19:44 GMT -5
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Post by mikegarrison on Mar 23, 2011 16:42:02 GMT -5
I toured through a Concorde a couple months ago. Interesting airplane.
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Post by BearClause on Mar 24, 2011 12:29:09 GMT -5
OK. MD-11s and L-1011? What's the world coming to? Nobody is bringing up the 727?
I flew first class on an MD-11 once. We got a special fare that cost as much as coach. Nothing quite like asking for Krug Champagne and Sevruga caviar (it tasted like fish eggs).
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