Keep Oppo 777

"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform) 08/27/2015 at 23:33 • Filed to: None

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On second thought, let’s throw in some 747 porn as well.

Spaceball-Two > TheHondaBro 08/27/2015 at 23:41

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Frickin lazer beams!

BoulderZ > TheHondaBro 08/27/2015 at 23:54

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Oh, man. Throw in a 787 and you’d have hat trick of my favorites. Love those planes (all three).

someassemblyrequired > TheHondaBro 08/27/2015 at 23:54

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Good choice of 747 for oppo (Clipper Neptune’s Car).

BoulderZ > Spaceball-Two 08/27/2015 at 23:56

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Or, for light going the other way...

Spaceball-Two > BoulderZ 08/28/2015 at 00:00

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I believe this one is still in use.

BoulderZ > Spaceball-Two 08/28/2015 at 00:06

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SOFIA? Yes, a big staple in the NASA stable. A colleague of mine uses it on occasion, if/when his proposals get approved, for Kuiper Belt work. Really amazing how much better the atmospheric seeing is at airliner altitudes, and the tracking/vibration issues turn out to be fairly tractable. Is the USAF one still in use in that config, or was it just a quick test, convert to something else?

TheHondaBro > BoulderZ 08/28/2015 at 00:06

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Really the quintessential Boeing fleet. One is fucking massive, one is forward-thinking, and the 777 is just cool.

BoulderZ > TheHondaBro 08/28/2015 at 00:09

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I remember sitting in some biz meeting at my former job, and fleet investments, operating costs, and return for passenger miles and hours of operation got up on some b-school spreadsheet chart. I couldn’t believe what a great performer the 777 was, as a plane, and as an asset. I felt so lucky to get a long-haul 747 flight spring of last year. They won’t be in regular passenger service much longer. I wish I could get my son on one, but at his age now he’d never remember it.

TheHondaBro > BoulderZ 08/28/2015 at 00:12

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The 747 is really a fantastic experience. I’ve been on a few to Iran a few times. The drone inside the cabin from those FOUR engines is just mesmerizing! The jumbo jet played such a pivotal role in air travel history, it’s a shame it’s being phased out in favor of smaller, more efficient planes like the 787.

BoulderZ > TheHondaBro 08/28/2015 at 00:27

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That’s a really good point. The 4-engine sound is really a mesmerizing drone, not a painful roar or whoosh, even in the back. Unlike a 737, where the back third of the plane always has me thinking “Hmmm, Bose sound-cancelling prices are really reasonable.” (Not to fault the 737, it does a great job getting a ton of people where they need to be. Just not as comfortably as other options now.)

promoted by the color red > TheHondaBro 08/28/2015 at 02:04

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EMBRAER MASTER RACE INVADIN’ UR POSTS

facw > BoulderZ 08/28/2015 at 03:55

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The YAL-1 is hanging out at Davis-Monthan (and has obviously been stripped of some parts):

It simply wasn’t practical with the tech at the time (but also not worth converting an older 747 back to other use).

Tyler had an article about a possible successor system earlier this month:

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-airborne-l…

facw > TheHondaBro 08/28/2015 at 04:00

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Not a huge fan of the 777 but here, have a 747-8i:

And also the 747’s weirdest feature:

The ability to install a 5th (non-functioning) engine pod allows it to self-transport its spare engines.

facw > BoulderZ 08/28/2015 at 04:05

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787 is a great looking jet. It’s so swoopy with those incredibly flexible wings (don’t listen to Alistair, swooping isn’t bad):

The 757 has pretty graceful proportions as well:

facw > promoted by the color red 08/28/2015 at 04:32

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By far the most comfortable regional jet IMO. Have to wonder if Boeing and Airbus were right to ignore the regional jet space, these larger ones are big enough to potentially steal some 737/A319 sales.

Be careful where you park it though:

Nonster > TheHondaBro 08/28/2015 at 10:03

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I’m running an FEA analysis on a part of this “little” guy right this second!

Spaceball-Two > BoulderZ 08/28/2015 at 10:51

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No they scrapped it because of funding. The cost to power that laser was astronomical and in recent years they’ve found ways of using smaller applications. I believe it’s sitting in the desert stripped of all it’s useful pieces.

BoulderZ > Spaceball-Two 08/29/2015 at 00:39

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That’s kind of a bummer, but I sure understand it. We fly three instruments on our little (leased) planes, and we just constantly bump up against space, power, time, and fuel constraints. Running sophisticated airborne systems is inescapably expensive.