Text 7111, 90 rader
Skriven 2006-10-31 18:40:52 av Barbara McNay (1:382/48)
     Kommentar till en text av Glen Jamieson
Ärende: AIRLINE WOES 428 61031
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 >  -=> Quoting Barbara Mcnay to Glen Jamieson <=-

 >>>  BM> Well, but this was late WWII/just postwar that I heard these booms.

 >> supersonic
 >> fighters were being produced.  In crowded Britain, in
 >> particular, the
 >> resulting booms caused the residents around RAAF bases
 >> to complain
 >> that cows were being stressed and not producing milk,
 >> and the fowls
 >> were being put off the lay, so pilots had to be
 >> trained to direct
 >> sonic booms out to sea or other uninhabited areas.

 >  BM> Eh?  And so nobody noticed or cared whether any marine or terrestrial
 >  BM> wildlife was affected?

 > People had been blowing each other up in their
 > millions on land and
 > sea for several years, so no one then cared about the
 > well-being of a
 > few birds, sea animals or other wildlife!   Cows and
 > chooks, otoh,
 > were directly connected to economics - and, of course,
 > votes.

Well, I guess that's true.  And I don't suppose that will ever diminish during
a future war.

 >> since that time has been directed to reducing the cost
 >> per passenger
 >> mile by building bigger and more luxurious subsonic
 >> planes, but no
 >> faster than the original 707, DC8 and their
 >> equivalents.

 >  BM> In order to do that, they had to make great improvements in fuel
 >  BM> consumption to move the increased bulk and weight, I assume.

 > The original, skinny, pure jet engines were very
 > thirsty, noisy and
 > inefficient, particularly at lower speeds.  Then the
 > short, fat,
 > by-pass, or "fan-jet" engine was developed, which gave
 > much greater
 > thrust at low speeds, used less fuel and was quieter.
 > This greater
 > thrust allowed larger, heavier planes to be got off
 > the ground, and
 > the improved fuel consumption resulted in longer
 > range.   Reliability
 > and times between overhauls have been steadily
 > improved, and engines
 > and therefore planes have been getting bigger.  All of
 > this has
 > resulted in the cost per seat mile steadily dropping,
 > to the extent
 > where the Pacific Ocean can be crossed non-stop, and
 > long distance
 > travel has become affordable to ordinary people like
 > MLoo and me.

That sounds wonderful the way you put it, but understanding this sort of thing
isn't something I do well:  Why, then, are the airlines going bankrupt?  Too
many of them for the traffic, or is it a problem of excess compensation to the
upper management?

 > It is my firm conviction that the most effective
 > preventive of future
 > wars is improved communication between the ordinary
 > inhabitants of
 > nations, and in this, long distance air travel plays a
 > most important
 > part.  The exchange of ideas and food talk over
 > bulletin boards is
 > also highly effective in preventing world wars - apart

Agreed, though it's balanced by the like benefit to the opposition.

 > from chili and
 > similar non-bloody wars, which are fun.  (Whew!  How's
 > that for
 > dragging the subject back to food?!)

Yes.  Who was it who didn't like that *lovely* recipe for eggplant:  cut them
up and run them through the disposal. <g>

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 * Origin: T E X A S ! (1:382/48)