Earlier quoted context omitted.
Came to say exactly that
The way to do this on HN is simply to upvote the story. Comments should be substantive. Otherwise we'd be overrun by "me to" comments.
I agree
/s
A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
21–30 of 52 posts
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#22Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#23Whatever happened to large sea planes? I imagine they were phased out because they were too expensive, unsafe, or for some other logistical reason, but it seems like they would still be practical for some purposes.
There's probabally other limitations, but as I understand it one of the limiting factors is takeoff and landing speed. Even on a good day and in a still harbor, water is pretty bumpy, which means you need to be out of it at a pretty low speed. This leads to all sorts of tradeoffs elsewhere in the airplane design (mostly, again - as I understand it, in wing design) that hamper the airplane in other ways.
In the end, it's more practical to deal with the problem of finding an airport (after all, there are a lot of airports) than to solve the other problems of making a large sea plane.
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#24Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#25Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#26"...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.
True. It was a big bird for its time. It is a shame that none were preserved, though that isn't much of a surprise because even just one of them would be expensive to store and maintain in a non-flyable state.
There is a full size mockup though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_314_Clipper#Surviving_a...
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#27Whatever happened to large sea planes? I imagine they were phased out because they were too expensive, unsafe, or for some other logistical reason, but it seems like they would still be practical for some purposes.
> or for some other logistical reason
The development of a system of airports (+ new planes that could fly trans-oceanic flights without stop-overs in far-flung locations).
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#28I made a map that shows all the stops: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1v33AaNDltEQmHGiP29...
Give this man a cigar!
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you missed that they went to New Caledonia on the way back?
New Caledonia is the "Nouméa" stop in the "Outbound" direction.
Seems to not be rendering correctly, then. I although I see "Nouméa" in the return trip, it renders as going directly from Auckland to Gladstone.
Re: A Plane That Accidentally Circumnavigated the World (2014)
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
New Caledonia is the "Nouméa" stop in the "Outbound" direction.
Seems to not be rendering correctly, then. I although I see "Nouméa" in the return trip, it renders as going directly from Auckland to Gladstone.
Ah, I missed that in the article. Fixed.