A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
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Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#2That was a fascinating read. Thanks for sharing!
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#3Have the movie rights been sold yet? I can totally see this movie in my head already.
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#4Previous discussions:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10804868
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15537891
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#5I made a map that shows all the stops: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1v33AaNDltEQmHGiP29...
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#6Similar articles have been posted before. All of them are based on the book "The Long Way Home". I bought it for my 88 year old grandfather last Christmas. He power read through the thing in a couple of hours and handed it back to me, telling me to read it too.
Certainly an interesting read. But with a little more historical context, you will find that even as early as the 1930's, the US was worried about dominance in the Pacific. They used the consumer travel market and Pan Am as an excuse to built bases and refueling networks all across the Pacific. Quite good foresight that certainly helped out once WWII broke out. (there's another book with these details but I can't remember the name of it)
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#7"...with a wingspan of over 150ft, the Boeing 314 was (and remains) one of the largest aircraft ever to take to the sky"
"Remains" is stretching the point. The original 747 (1975) was 195ft wingspan. Modern 787s are also around 195ft. The 767-200 (1981) is comparable at 156ft.
By weight, the 314 was small by modern standards: 84000 lbs MTOW, less than a 737-200 at 128000 lbs MTOW.
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#8That was a fascinating read. Thanks for sharing!
Came to say exactly that
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#9Similar articles have been posted before. All of them are based on the book "The Long Way Home". I bought it for my 88 year old grandfather last Christmas. He power read through the thing in a couple of hours and handed it back to me, telling me to read it too. Certainly an interesting read. But with a little more historical context, you will find that even as early as the 1930's, the US was worried about dominance i…
>They used the consumer travel market and Pan Am as an excuse to built bases and refueling networks all across the Pacific
Lol that's funny when you read about China building a cruise ship wharf in Vanuatu a few weeks back. No its not for military use at all. :) https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/10/asia/vanuatu-china-australia-...
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#10I made a map that shows all the stops: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1v33AaNDltEQmHGiP29...
Thank you! I'm always amazed at stories that lack the proper illustration, usually a map. Quite an omission for a story all about flying over land and water. I suppose they're harder for the authors to make than just using stock photos.
PS: you are missing the stop in Karachi, now in Pakistan. I only saw this because I looked at your map repeatedly while reading the story, to get a feel for each leg of the flight.