Thanks for that info, Andrew. I’m going to take a look at that link. Those flights have to be charters, unless they started a regular service from Tampa. Anybody have any idea how long that LHR-HNL flight is, and if there are any stops involved?

Mike, Valujet grew way too fast, and the FAA did eventually discover some faulty maintanence records on their fleet at large. The best thing that could have happened to them after that crash, was ‘merging’ with Air Tran, who was a relative nobody at the time, even by loco standards. For all intents and purposes, the post-merger Air Tran Airlines is the old Valu-jet, and in no way resembles the old Air Tran Airways (yes, they did change from Airways to Airlines after the merger). The MD-95, errrrrrrrr, 717 launch order carried over, the old DC-9’s and 737’s are gone, and a few A320’s are even on example now. More importantly, they are maintaining their aircraft properly, and are a pretty darn good each cost loco, that competes with Delta head on at ATL and MCO where Delta virtually dominates. And yet, I digress… I really don’t think you can compare the UA situation to Valujet. Yes, the 9/11 thing does some some striking images, but it wasn’t their fault. V-jet, on the other hand, was relatively new, and most people in the U.S. who know nothing about aviation, can at least name most of the big airlines. Most people didn’t know who Valujet was, even though at the time of the crash, they had grown quite a bit. They needed a change. United has enough tradition to where they don’t necessarily need it, but in order to save costs in the long run, it might be a good idea.

At any rate Bmused, I know you didn’t mention it as Euro white, but a few in the thread said it was boring, not unlike Euro-white liveries. This is far from boring. The tail is really nice, especially. I was not aware that you were in the business. Did you just come up with those liveries with some software that you use in your job? Very nice.

Originally posted by Jeanske_SN
Still, I dont think Boeing is making profit on the -900 project.

They can’t be losing money either, considering it’s built alongside and uses pretty much the same parts as the rest of the NG family, of which the -700 and -800 has sold bundles.

Originally posted by skycruiser
Just for info, our LAX to HKG in the winter is sometimes 16 hours.

Just out of curiosity Skycruiser, why would winter weather jusify such a long flight time? Correct me if I’m wrong, LAX-HKG is roughly 7200 miles and change. Even with a headwind, LAX-SYD (which I’ve flown almost a dozen times in winter and summer months) which is just shy of 7500 miles, has never taken more than 14 hours (13 with a tailwind on the return).

Just to touch on ETOPS a bit; ETOPS is any segment flown ‘O’ver water (hence the ‘O’ in the acronym) regardless of the length of the flight. So unless you fly over a very large lake, or something, ETOPS doesn’t come into play over land (I think).

Originally posted by Shorty01

The comet window problems were to do with shape of apertures in the fuselage skin, not the size. They had “sharp” corners which caused stress concentrations leading to fatigue as the fuselage flexed. Pressurised airliner cabins were new then, mind you there was that unfortunate spectacular Aloha Airways incident in which the Stewardess sadly died when a large portion of the cabin roof disappeared. I believe that was attributed to the high number of cycles the aircraft had and the associated pressurisation/depresurisation, something like 20,000 cycles. Legend has it that the only thing that saved the aircraft was the extra strength given to the floor by the seat rails. Can anyone confirm this ?

Oh, you gotta’ love the 737 to be able to survive something like that. I saw a movie based on this incident which included some real life camera footage. The captain was actually female.

Who flies from London to Alakanuk, Alaska (AUK)? Are you sure you’re not referring to Aukland (AKL)? In this case, there is no non-stop flight from LHR. There has to be a stop in LAX (NZ) or SIN/BKK (BA). LAX-MEL is one of the longest to my knowledge, flown by QF. It is 7915 statute miles.

I was under the impression that TG was going to take 5 parked UA 744’s, but this was later canceled. Is that deal back on the table again, or is it with another model?

Originally posted by Hand87_5
GD , don’t you think that such a project would be as expensive as a “start from scratch” one.?

Well, I’m not an aeronautical engineer, nor do I work for the industry, so I can’t answer that for sure. However, I would think starting from scratch, in any scenario, would cost a great deal more. As far as engines go, they can use the A380/777 engines. There are aerodynamim implications by stretching the fuselage plus the upper deck, but that’s part of the design stage. Designing a new wing would be from scratch, obviously. The fly-by-wire task would be all internal, I’m sure that wouldn’t that great an obstacle. All in all, very doable. Again, I don’t work in the industry, so I’m just blowing smoke for all intents and purposes.

P.S. For all of you mourning “the loss” of the 757, you might want to put all that on hold. The 757’s will be flying for another 20-30 years. Just because production is about to cease, doesn’t mean it’s going to disappear.