I wonder what kind of contingency plan is in place when these pilots are testing new commercial jets in case the thing fails and crashes and burns. I assume this first Boeing 787 that took off - was it yesterday? - must have been flying over water or uninhabited land. Still, I would think there would be some sort of edginess on part of the pilots who - from my view - are risking their lives to fly for the first time a totally untested aircraft.
Who knows if the thing's wings are going to fall off after the behemoth gets off the ground? Especially with this composite material they are using to build these things now - even moreso when you consider that had to delay the first take off the plane on more than one occasion - but one of them being that they had to strengthen the area where the wings are attached to the fuselage.
At least the figured this out BEFORE the plan ever took off. It's fascinating stuff to me - I wouldn't want to be on that first takeoff - but I would have loved to stand there and watch it.
Today is allegedly another trip to Tucson. Apparently they couldn't fit the pipe onto the transfer truck that comes up every Wednesday. Yeah, I'll bet. Load the truck correctly and that pipe could have been draped over the top of everything, securely tied down and safely transported up here without a hitch. I know the driver - I'm not a big fan. I dunno, but I have to go to the jobsite first with another load, then another jobsite and THEN head to Tucson. If the Tucson trip is still a go, this is going to be a long day. I don't mind going down to Tucson, that isn't the point - the point is a waste of man-hours, fuel, wear-and tear on the truck - etc etc etc when it could have just been brought up on the truck that is already coming.
Oh well. I don't run the company, I do express my views at times. The contractor is apparently not happy that they have to wait for the rest of the pipe - though, from the beginning - the contractor was informed of the time it was going to take to manuacture this pipe and get it ready to go, it is no surprise. The contractor, howwever, apparently has a crew of people who are going to be doing - nothing - apparently.
By the time I get everything done and get back from Tucson, this day will be cashed and that pipe will probably not get delivered until tomorrow morning.
Well, onto other things. Not much else going on, really.
In fact, I have only a few minutes left and want to read about the now widely held belief that Iran is on the brink of being able to produce a nuclear weapon.
THAT is a bit scary.
G'day, folks.
ben
5 comments:
One of my very best friends lives in Tucson.
Merry Christmas Ben,
Bobby
I wondered the same thing myself...about the new airplane. Or is it an airbus? Whatever they call it, I would be a bit hesitant too being on board on its maiden flight.
What is scary is that it is likely the same people saying Iran has nukes who said that Iraq had wmd.
And engineers with pocket protectors and slide rules and wind tunnels have been able to hook wings on that stay for decades. One would hope that folks using computers could do as well...
Merry Christmas back to ya, Bobby!
It's definitely a Boeing and I think they're calling it a Dreamliner - 787.
Yes, I had thought of that, but it's not only the U.S. saying it this time.
I understand about the wings - but they are using some sort of composite material, just curious how that stands up to the stresses and pressures over time.
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