Selfie 7+ miles high

On an Airbus A330/A/340 about 2 hours out from our destination (Newark).

Clare & I recall Louis CK telling of an air passenger who was upset because the onboard internet, which was new at the time, wasn't working. As Louis is apparently known to say, “You're sitting in a chair in the sky…” Indeed!

Consider this aircraft.
» It's a metal tube 193' long and 18½' wide with wings almost 198' from tip-to-tip.
» The aircraft alone weighs about 266 tons empty (242 metric tons).
» Its fuel capacity is 36,743 gallons. That's 119 *tons* just for fuel (at 6.8 pounds per gallon jet fuel).
» It can carry a few more than 250 souls, weighing how much per person, 130 pounds (59 kg)?
» Now add checked and carry-on luggage.
» Add two meals & beverages per person.
» And don't forget the weight of supplies for running on-board toilet systems!
See http://www.airbus.com/aircraftfamilies/passengeraircraft/a330family/a330-200/specifications/

Now get all that weight or mass off the ground and fly as many as 7,000 miles (6,083 nautical miles (11,265 km) without having to refuel! (This flight is only about 3,956 miles.) Is this not a modern miracle? And consider that the Wright brothers' first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, NC was not-quite 112 years ago. Louis CK has it right: “You're sitting in a chair in the sky…” Not only that, but you're getting real-time information about altitude, ground speed, air temperature and time to arrival on a touch screen!

Okay, I *was* seriously disappointed about one thing on both of my SAS flights: the camera's were *not* working! Apparently the airline or the aircraft has one camera showing what the cockpit crew sees and another camera pointing downward to the ground. Neither camera was working on either my east- or west-bound flight over the Atlantic. Pfft.

1 year ago (“How many of you can relate?”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2014-10-27
2 years ago (“For the second guest room”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-10-27
3 years ago (“Not where I expected to spend time this weekend…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-10-27
4 years ago (“More fall splendor”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-10-27

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[Rick Schies]

That's a lot to think about