Adding to the Stable...Er Hangar

The Piaggio P.180 is a great plane, but when you need intercontinental range, it's time to go a bit bigger.





Airbus A319CJ Corporate Jet and Piaggio P.180

Kiskaloo wrote:The Piaggio P.180 is a great plane, but when you need intercontinental range, it's time to go a bit bigger.

Don't you work for Boeing ?

Awinnell wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:The Piaggio P.180 is a great plane, but when you need intercontinental range, it's time to go a bit bigger.

Don't you work for Boeing ?

Yes I do, but this is Michele and he buys "local".

Interesting. I would have thought a LearJet series 25 would have been the bird to take flight on...

That's way to small for Michele. Heck, I think his P.180 is larger than that.

Minimum would be a Gulfstream V.

lol,imagines Kiskaloo being forced to only fly on Boeing planes under contract !
which will be harder from now on as Airbus outsold Boeing this year !

I actually fly a healthy mix of Boeing and Airbus: A320-200, 737-800, A340-300, 777-200ER, 777-300ER, 747-400, 747-400LCF and the occasional A380-800.

Kiskaloo wrote:I actually fly a healthy mix of Boeing and Airbus: A320-200, 737-800, A340-300, 777-200ER, 777-300ER, 747-400, 747-400LCF and the occasional A380-800.

Gotta suss out what the competition's doing as well right? ;P

It's more that my primary airline to Japan is United (so 777-200ER) and to Europe it is Lufthansa (so A340-300 and 747-400). Within Europe I fly Lufthansa (the A320 family) and within the US I fly Continental (737 Next Generation family).

On occasion I can swing Singapore Airlines from Japan to Italy and All Nippon from the US to Japan, so that's the 777-300ER for both. I take the 747LCF (used to ship 787 parts) where possible since it saves the company money and it gets me home a day early so I get a free paid day off (what would normally be my "travel day" home).

And I get the A380 when visiting Australia.

Always good to stretch your legs from time to time.

I so could not do your job... I hate flying long distances. I think I'd rather be loaded into an intercontinental artillery shell.

Well, there used to be the Concorde, it made trips across the Atlantic pretty fast. However, I also seem to remember reading that tickets cost about $16,000 a piece towards the end of it's career. (I think that might have been in Canadian currency, but still...) Is it any wonder supersonic airliners haven't caught on?

I flew Concorde a fair bit. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't amazing (due to the small space and short timespan of each flight).

Piero wrote:Well, there used to be the Concorde, it made trips across the Atlantic pretty fast. However, I also seem to remember reading that tickets cost about $16,000 a piece towards the end of it's career. (I think that might have been in Canadian currency, but still...) Is it any wonder supersonic airliners haven't caught on?

Its not the cost of the tickets that killed supersonic flights, it was public pressure and maintenance costs (which is reflected on the price of the ticket).

Public Pressure kept the Concorde and other could have been super sonic projects (Boeing had they own SST on the drawing board) kept it from flying over land ah-la "NO SONIC BOOMS OVER MY HOUSE" Protests.

High Maintenance Costs because they stopped making parts for the aircraft and they had to kill other Concordes for their parts when they could not be repaired because their parts were no longer being made. It was a sad death for the Concorde. I loved that plane.

Airbus (as the successor to BAC and Aérospatiale) provided full parts and maintenance support for the Concorde up until BA and AF decided to withdraw the plane from service, at which point Airbus announced they would stop support, as well (which is why none are airworthy).

In the end, it just became too expensive to fly them. The retrofitted repairs after the loss of F-BTSC were very expensive and paid customer demand dropped precipitously after the crash and 9/11, making the type uneconomical to operate.

If they'd kept it going, chances are it would have done well since the mortgage re-finance market drove a good bit of premium cabin air travel. But once the economy crashed, Concorde would have been leveled as demand would have effectively totally dried up.

So while I planned to upgrade Michele in Pactio from his P.180 to a Bombardier Global Express or a Gulfstream G550, doing some research, the Airbus A319CJ is actually about the same price and offers shedloads more space to allow for a queen-size bed and a shower.

Though such a plane would probably be more a "fractional ownership" thing (like the P.180), since I can't see Michele needing one of a regular basis (and therefore needing to own it outright).

Why not a 737-BBJ?

ElfenMagix wrote:Why not a 737-BBJ?

Michele's mother worked for Airbus so he has a natural fondness for their aircraft. Also, the A319CJ supports higher take-off weights so it can fly farther than the BBJ1. It offers a wider cabin. The avionics package is a bit more advanced and it's Fly-By-Wire controls.

Also, the Italian Air Force has two of them for use by the Italian Government and the Holy See, so Michele would have first-hand experience with them (I figure he flew with the PM to the G8 Summit in London where Kara/Kumari was injured in the London Underground bombings). And Airbuses have "common cockpits" so his A319CJ rating would carry over to the rest of the A320 family, as well as the A330, A340 and A380 (not that the Italian Air Force has any of those).

Kiskaloo wrote:So while I planned to upgrade Michele in Pactio from his P.180 to a Bombardier Global Express or a Gulfstream G550, doing some research, the Airbus A319CJ is actually about the same price and offers shedloads more space to allow for a queen-size bed and a shower.

Kara: What was that about a queen-size bed?

Yes, that would be a major plus for her. With the smaller bizjets, she'd have to sleep in the forward compartment since the aft bed is only a single.

Oh dont tell me Kara's a kicker in her sleep (like Ferro is!)

Kara is more of a snuggler/cuddler.

With Mighty Cyborg Grip!

Spoiler:

Speaking of Aircraft: airliner for dummies.









Seemingly Kulula in South Africa got a re-branding... originally via Swiss Miss

PandaBirds Are Go!!!

When FX performs transport of Giant Pandas between the US and China, they apply a special "Panda Express" decal to the plane. In this case, it was applied to one of their new 777 Freighters to take Tai Shan and Mei Lan back to China from the National Zoo in Washington D.C.

I decided to upgrade Michele's uncle's ride in Flight Simulator:


Template created by Ian Steele.

I haven't seen one of those new A380's yet...they must be an impressive sight. During my years in the Air Force I always joked that something as big as a C-5 couldn't actually fly...they just loaded us inside...changed the scenery around outside and opened the doors a few hours later. We're here!

If Max Biaggi keeps doing as well as he has so far this season Alitalia may have to paint an aircraft in his honor. "The Roman Emperor" took home-soil victory for Aprilia in both World Superbike races at Monza this weekend.

One for Michele when he needs to do remote area work. Design Q's Avro Jet concepts... with fold-out balcony:





Via Luxist

That's damn nice...

Alfisti wrote:One for Michele when he needs to do remote area work. Design Q's Avro Jet concepts... with fold-out balcony:

Kara: (wincing) But the over-wing design, it's so...cargo plane-ish.

Michele: We'll get you some khaki shorts and a bush shirt.

Monty: Yeah, it's "Safari-Chic," get it?

Kara: Oh, okay...when you put it that way...

Monty: Honestly it'd work better with a mkI Landie and a DC-3 but hey, this could fly too.

Jethro: (quietly to Monty) Ten bob says you can't talk her into doing Geek-chic by the end of the day.

Alfisti wrote:Jethro:[/b] (quietly to Monty) Ten bob says you can't talk her into doing Geek-chic by the end of the day.

If Monty knows that Kara thinks she is the coolest cyborg in the Agency, Blacker better have that handy.


That being said, what is "geek chick"?

Kiskaloo wrote:

Alfisti wrote:Jethro:[/b] (quietly to Monty) Ten bob says you can't talk her into doing Geek-chic by the end of the day.

If Monty knows that Kara thinks she is the coolest cyborg in the Agency, Blacker better have that handy.


That being said, what is "geek chick"?

That sort of cute, kinda-twee, indie-pop, geeky look... think big glasses:



Vintage looking accessories:



Matt Smith has it down to a fine art as Dr. Who:




Basically anything that makes someone look kinda eccentric and academic but in a way that actually looks good... carefully crafted nerdiness.

Yeah, that could work for Kara.

Kiskaloo wrote:Yeah, that could work for Kara.

Personally it's a style I really like... Though not something I could really picture Monty wearing. She tends to take looks that are either a bit more Mod or with more slink.

Damn, now I'm getting the horrible urge to go sew some leather patches onto my tweed jacket again

Alfisti wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:Yeah, that could work for Kara.

Personally it's a style I really like... Though not something I could really picture Monty wearing. She tends to take looks that are either a bit more Mod or with more slink.

Late 1960s and early 1970s looks seem to really suit her. "Classic" Bond Girl.

Kiskaloo wrote:Late 1960s and early 1970s looks seem to really suit her. "Classic" Bond Girl.

Monty: What was that you just called me Mister Kiskaloo?


Despite Monty's protests, that's pretty much where I try to keep her looks... classic era Spy-fi, with a little classic heist-caper film thrown in for good measure.

Alfisti wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:Late 1960s and early 1970s looks seem to really suit her. "Classic" Bond Girl.

Monty: What was that you just called me Mister Kiskaloo?

Lassie, if you knew men like I know men, you'd be blushing at the compliment.

Alfisti wrote:Despite Monty's protests, that's pretty much where I try to keep her looks... classic era Spy-fi, with a little classic heist-caper film thrown in for good measure.

Exactly. Monty would look seriously..."out of sorts"...if she wore the outfits I've shown Kara in (both using Chiaki Kudou and other models). They just don't fit the image you've created for her and implanted in our mind's eye.

It's one of the reasons Kara admires her. She can't pull off Monty's look, though at times she wishes she could. She recognizes it as something really fashionable and trendy in it's own way.

BTW Kisk: your aeroplanes leak

There's a vintage fly-in up at Tagoolawah this weekend. The Lotus club was headed up for a look but sadly uni work says I don't get to go play.

However, one upshot is that there's a lot of interesting stuff flying over our house, including one of these:



Honestly I think the later Rapide was prettier, but not complaining...

I can see Michele buying this on the insistence of Kara, and then lending it to Jethro for various missions.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/08/19/futuristic.flying.yacht/index.html?cid=mkt_out_tech&iref=obnetwork
and
http://www.beautifullife.info/automotive-design/luxury-hi-tech-flying-yacht/

ElfenMagix wrote:I can see Michele buying this on the insistence of Kara, and then lending it to Jethro for various missions.

Well that would be able to replace both the M/Y Bright Star and his P.180 / A319CJ...

Kiskaloo wrote:

ElfenMagix wrote:I can see Michele buying this on the insistence of Kara, and then lending it to Jethro for various missions.

Well that would be able to replace both the M/Y Bright Star and his P.180 / A319CJ...

This would make an epic gunship of both the naval and aerial variety. Easily mount a couple Bofors 40mm and 106mm recoiless rifles on that thing.

MP5 wrote:
This would make an epic gunship of both the naval and aerial variety. Easily mount a couple Bofors 40mm and 106mm recoiless rifles on that thing.

Michele: Aww come on! Isn't it bad enough Voodoo made my yacht into a field hospital!?

Henrietta: Mr. Pagani, where do you want us to put these torpedoes?

Michele: Back on the damn dock!

MP5 wrote:This would make an epic gunship of both the naval and aerial variety. Easily mount a couple Bofors 40mm and 106mm recoiless rifles on that thing.

I dunno... looks kinda fragile to be hanging any sort armament off. Boat wise it's definately one of those things that I wouldn't be comfortable taking for more than a quick weekend jaunt up the French Riviera.

The position of the tail fin/rudder is also worrying me regards landing and taking off. Either way it's awesome and kinda reminds me of what people thought aeroplanes would look like in the future during the early years of flight... and of course I'm a sucker for any sort of flying boat (radial engines prefered). Even if not this one, expect to see the odd seaplane rock up in J+M's adventures

A Question; one targeted mainly at our resident Boeing representative.

This is the in-flight seat-pocket card from one of your 777-300ER's.


I draw your attention to the prohibitions at the top of the page...I can only assume this means "no operating remote controlled cars."

Has this really been an issue? I know people will push the limits of stupidity whenever possible, but has this actually happened?

I would not put it past people since I have heard during the Safety Briefing on some airlines where they note R/C vehicles are not allowed.

Bottom line: if it's stupid and makes you wonder "Why on EARTH would they put this in here?" = Someone's done it.

Officer_Charon wrote:Bottom line: if it's stupid and makes you wonder "Why on EARTH would they put this in here?" = Someone's done it.

As Terry Pratchett (I think) put it: if you made a large red button, and buried it in the deepest cave in the remotest place on earth, then put a sign on it that said "End of the universe button, DO NOT PRESS"... the paint wouldn't even have a chance to dry.

More to the point though, whether it has happened or not, now that the warning's there if someone is stupid (and I wouldn't put it past the human race at large) enough to try it they can legally say "we told you so".

Sometimes it is the pilots that one has to worry about, especially those that say on the loudspeaker, "Let me show you some life saving tricks I learned in the war!"