from the that-is-a-long-time-in-a-winged-cigar dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
On Friday, Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce issued a public "challenge" to the companies to extend the range of Boeing's new 777X, which is slated for 2020, and the planned "Ultra-Long Range" version of Airbus's A350, which rolls out next year. Qantas hopes to take delivery of such a plane and begin its Sydney to London service in 2022, the company said as part of its full-year income results.
Qantas noted that both planes "can get close" to the requirements needed for London and New York missions. The public prodding is designed to make one or both manufacturers revisit technical schemes to edge out even greater range.
A nonstop flight from Sydney to London would shave almost four hours off current travel times that involve a stopover; for New York, travelers could save nearly three hours. Airbus, in an emailed statement, said it was equal to the challenge.
[...] Qantas flew its first so-called "Kangaroo Route" from Sydney to London in December 1947, flying a Lockheed Constellation. The trip took four days. In a few years, the kangaroo-flagged carrier hopes to do it in just over 20 hours.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @01:24AM (15 children)
Blood clots in the legs due to long periods of inactivity. [google.com]
(Deep vein thrombophlebitis)
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Monday August 28 2017, @01:40AM (1 child)
That's why there's a jogging track, in first class.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @03:56AM
It's the in-flight showers that really make that work.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @01:48AM
I've honed my body for this, training by sitting in front of a computer all day long.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday August 28 2017, @01:53AM (9 children)
More to the point, it's so impatient privileged people can shave precious seconds off of their airtime as well as avoid contact with other filthy humans on the ground.
There are some reasons for it besides luxury. National Security, or C-level exexs who need to be somewhere else to fix a major fucking problem and fast. But if anything I see this as a symptom of a problem -- much like recreational space trips -- too much wealth concentrated in the hands of an increasing few.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @02:01AM (1 child)
With Quantas travel prices, you almost hit home even for economy class.
The company can stay in business only with low fuel prices.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday August 28 2017, @10:19AM
ITYM "With Quantas travel prices, you almost have to sell your home even for economy class". I was stunned at what they charge for something as basic as a round trip to LA.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @03:36AM (4 children)
Dude, you're starting to sound like some kind of fuckin' commie. Please, just stick to your regular race baiting we've come to know and love, and leave the politics to professional idiots.
As for the longest flight, there used to be (and soon to be resumed) nonstop flights from Singapore to New York, 21 hours in an A340. Fucking ridiculous that we still don't have supersonic transport. We are so goddamn primitive... This is what you get for electing psychopathic chimpanzees...
(Score: -1, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday August 28 2017, @03:39AM (2 children)
Suck my dick, nigger boy. I sound how I want to, and if you don't like it, too fucking bad. I'm not about to adapt my style to conform to your standards nor those of other fucking conformists.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @04:29AM (1 child)
:-) There ya go... That's what I like to hear. The real you... Good to see you haven't completely lost it. But watch yourself next time. Politics just ain't your forte.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday August 28 2017, @05:23AM
You might have struck a nerve...or a cilia, considering this IS ol' "single-helix" Eth we're talking about here :D
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday August 28 2017, @07:37PM
> nonstop flights from Singapore to New York, 21 hours in an A340. Fucking ridiculous that we still don't have supersonic transport. We are so goddamn primitive...
Oblig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHaVqQfMkxY [youtube.com]
Seriously. You can do NY to Singapore in less than a fucking day, without selling a kidney, with a quasi-certainty of getting there alive, fed, and usually on time.
Sure, I'd rather go supersonic, but I wouldn't call safely circling the planet "primitive"
(Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Monday August 28 2017, @11:28AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @12:32PM
Right there in TFS: "would shave almost four hours off current travel times that involve a stopover". Four hours, not precious seconds.
And "C-level exexs (sic) who need to be somewhere else to fix a major fucking problem" is exactly what business jets exist for -- two or three refueling stops are more than made up for by a plane that leaves on your schedule -- no security bullshit, and no waiting for the next scheduled flight.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday August 28 2017, @05:29AM (1 child)
Thank you for pointing that one out. I was going to if no one else had, and seeing it as the first post is heartening.
To help avoid DVT:
- Get up and walk up and down the aisle for a few minutes every hour if at all possible
- Even if not, and *especially if not,* do exercises that flex your calves and ankles in your seat for several minutes: move your ankles in circles, flex them up and down, pull your knee up to your chest and hold it there with your hands under it for 30 sec/leg 2-5 reps, etc.
- Drink a lot of water. WATER. Not soda, alcohol, coffee, etc
- If, and ONLY if, your body can handle this and it will not cause complications later, have an aspirin before you get on the plane. Ask a doctor about this one.
- Don't sleep if you can avoid it
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by driverless on Monday August 28 2017, @10:21AM
You forgot the most important one:
- Don't take 20-hour flights in cattle class.
That, more than anything else, will help you avoid DVT.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @01:49AM (4 children)
In terms of leg room, quality of food, and other amenities, I'd wager the Connie was a more comfortable trip.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Monday August 28 2017, @01:57AM (1 child)
Frequent stops in exotic locations.
Little, if any, customs and certainly no "Border Force".
No freeze-dried food.
Leg room.
Smoking. (Hmm.. good or bad?)
occasional crashes in unihabited places like deserts or the middle of an ocean.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday August 28 2017, @03:26AM
I worked with a woman who had been a trolley dolly on the Coral Route. [wikipedia.org]
The novelty wore off pretty quick, but she said they were paid really well, and she was a bit sad when the service ended.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @02:05AM (1 child)
I've flown in a Connie. You would lose that wager.
(Score: 2) by goodie on Monday August 28 2017, @02:17AM
lol I was just thinking that. My grandma and my dad traveled in those back in the days to go across the world. Surely the layover part was the best part of the trip from what I was told. Between the noise, the smells, the cigarette smoke, and the constant air bumps, it was no joy ride from that I've been told!
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @04:54AM (7 children)
There still won't be any direct flights from south america to africa or newzealotand. There won't be any flights over the south pole.
If you want to know why, you'll search and get a bunch of flat-earth nonsense. The truth is that the earth is bigger than they told us. Just like, "You'll fall off the edge" was used to trap people in Europe even though Romans knew about America, we're told "Civilians can't explore below the 60th parallel" and "There's nothing to see beyond antarctica" to keep us trapped on this globe that's too small.
The flat earth crowd has become a thing because no one can find the curvature predicted by a globe that's 25,000 miles in circumference. Not even Steven Hawking. [youtube.com]
Wake me up when we actually circumnavigate north to south to and back again. Won't happen. The geometry forbids it. That's why flights from south america to africa go north up the coast then south again. It's why undersea cables take that same route even though the latency would be less with a straight shot. It's why planes don't need to have any "Longest Flight" extended. Because then we'd have to explain why they fly the long way around (which is the shortest way on a globe that's much bigger).
Sent from Australia, which is still in the northern hemisphere of a much larger sphere. Dismiss this post. You fuckers don't care to research shit. Anti-scientific as all fuck.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @05:17AM
what do all those polar orbit satellites do, then? What will all the nucular missiles do that the US & Russia have aimed at each other when theyre finally launched? What about the nucular submarines that routinely do when they sail under the Arctic ice cap?
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @05:27AM
As a fellow Australian, I want to remind everyone that very few of us hit the crack pipe this hard.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday August 28 2017, @10:25AM
Apart from the existing regular scheduled flights on that route, you mean?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday August 28 2017, @11:38AM
Well, what is the correct radius then?
I'll note in support of the supposedly incorrect model that Antarctica experiences months long periods of night just like the northern polar region does and we're able to use our supposedly incorrect model of Earth to exactly predict sunrise and sunset for anywhere in the world.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday August 28 2017, @12:05PM (1 child)
Ever consider matters of safety? If you have to land in the middle of Antartica, particularly in the winter, then you are dead. Overflying Antarctica means that there's a long stretch where there are no options if the plane can't stay in the air. At least in the ocean, you can land at island airports or ditch at sea and hope for a sea rescue from anyone happening by.
(Score: 1) by WillR on Monday August 28 2017, @06:32PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @05:00PM
Have you heard of "The Continental Drip Theory"?