Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
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Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
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Re: Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
#2[deleted]
Re: Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
#3"In the midst of this pickle, along comes a fellow named Adam Englund. He’s a local lawyer..."
I wouldn't trust 20 billion of the taxpayer's money to a lawyer's vision. Give half of that to the Dyson vacuum cleaner guy. He'll come up with a design that works.
Re: Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
#4No mention of expenses for passengers. Given transportation to/from the coast, I'd guess a plane ticket in/out of here would be prohibitively expensive in both time and money.
And building a 4 story metropolis underneath doesn't make sense unless there is a reason to visit. Hotels, conference centers and shopping centers, wouldn't be enough, at least for me.
Re: Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
#5"In the midst of this pickle, along comes a fellow named Adam Englund. He’s a local lawyer..." I wouldn't trust 20 billion of the taxpayer's money to a lawyer's vision. Give half of that to the Dyson vacuum cleaner guy. He'll come up with a design that works.
It will work, and cost several times more than other things that also work. Take your pick.
Re: Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
#6No mention of expenses for passengers. Given transportation to/from the coast, I'd guess a plane ticket in/out of here would be prohibitively expensive in both time and money. And building a 4 story metropolis underneath doesn't make sense unless there is a reason to visit. Hotels, conference centers and shopping centers, wouldn't be enough, at least for me.
"No mention of expenses for passengers."
Nor of the time factor involved. Commercial flights already take the better part of a day, even for short jumps. I can't imagine having to arrive at the ferry terminal 4-5 hours before my flight so that I can get to the terminal in time to spend 2 more hours waiting for ticketing and security and all the other delays.
"And building a 4 story metropolis underneath doesn't make sense unless there is a reason to visit"
I think his comment about "free trade zones" hints at the reason for so much office space. It seems to me that it would be a conveniently located off-shore haven for businesses (especially from Asia) who do massive amounts of shipping in and out of the ports of SD and LA.
They could also build the Duty-free version of the Mall of America; 400-500 stores full of tax-free stuff that would appeal to international travelers.
It's an interesting concept, and in a way it seems like the only viable solution. With the massive sprawl surrounding SD I think you'd have to go a good 2 hours from the central city to find a big enough patch of land to build a new airport.
Re: Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
#7"In the midst of this pickle, along comes a fellow named Adam Englund. He’s a local lawyer..." I wouldn't trust 20 billion of the taxpayer's money to a lawyer's vision. Give half of that to the Dyson vacuum cleaner guy. He'll come up with a design that works.
"By any measure, $20 billion is a lot of money, but Englund claims his group isn’t seeking any government funding all they need from the Washington are airport rights to this swath of ocean."
Although it seems a little unlikely a request for government funding won't materialise in future it would seem that it wouldn't be for the entire amount.
Re: Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
#8No mention of expenses for passengers. Given transportation to/from the coast, I'd guess a plane ticket in/out of here would be prohibitively expensive in both time and money. And building a 4 story metropolis underneath doesn't make sense unless there is a reason to visit. Hotels, conference centers and shopping centers, wouldn't be enough, at least for me.
"No mention of expenses for passengers." Nor of the time factor involved. Commercial flights already take the better part of a day, even for short jumps. I can't imagine having to arrive at the ferry terminal 4-5 hours before my flight so that I can get to the terminal in time to spend 2 more hours waiting for ticketing and security and all the other delays. "And building a 4 story metropolis underneath doesn't make…
"Commercial flights already take the better part of a day, even for short jumps. I can't imagine having to arrive at the ferry terminal 4-5 hours before my flight so that I can get to the terminal in time to spend 2 more hours waiting for ticketing and security and all the other delays."
Presumably this airport could be used for flights that are long enough already that it doesn't matter nearly as much. Say, at least most of the way across the country. (And international flights, of course, where a few extra hours on top of 24 is unnoticeable.) SAN would be for the short hops.
The effectiveness of this depends entirely on the current distribution of flights on SAN, though, which I don't know. I've only done relatively short flights from SAN. For everything else I end up taking a commuter flight up to LAX (which is much, much faster than driving).
Re: Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
#9And if San Diego doesn't keep current on their fees the airport could go somewhere else, like Shanghai.
Re: Plan To Build Giant Floating Airport Off California Coast
#10Well, the Earth is over 70 percent water. It seems that expanding our habitable space to exist on a marine environment is more feasible than, say, building a colony in outer space.
Grumpy travelers' concerns aside, it could be a really neat concept akin to a destination in and on its own. Like an EPCOT center, but factoring in the economic, environmental and social issues of building a floating city. An engineer's dream . . ..