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Comment Re:I have no idea (Score 1) 498

Well in some contries it is easier - in Iceland over 90% of the electricity generation capacity is hydro so that would be a pretty good bet (the rest is geothermal and the odd diesel powered emergency generator thrown into the mix). One enterprising farmer even built a wind generator but that blew down in a storm after about a week - said he'd try it again, though.

Comment Re:On top of that (Score 1) 911

1) A DC8 would be no better in turbulence than an A330. The regulations have not changed siginficantly in decades and no commercial aeroplane is allowed to fly (in the west) without fulfilling FAR / JAR 25. What has changed is a quantum leap in our capability to simulate the response of the structure to the applied loads and design the structure accordingly. 2) Stick shake when the plane is approaching stall has been included in any FBW aircraft for years. Artificial weighting to indicate the level of forces on the controls has been discussed but not used as far as I know. The inertia involved causes the response of the aircraft to be quite slow - the pilot therefore gives the aircraft a command with the stick and then returns the stick to its centred position while the aircraft performes the requested manoeuvre. Requiring the pilot to hold onto the stick fighting the artificial feedback the whole time would seem to be counterproductive.

Comment Re:It matters. But really it doesn't. (Score 1) 214

It doesn't take as long to service one large aeroplane as two smaller ones. The critical path comprises the loading/unloading of passengers and of fuel (these can not legally be performed in parallel). With several gangways and an efficient refuelling system this can be performed more quickly for one large aircraft that only has to be linked up to the loading/unloading "mechanisms" once, than for two small ones that are processes one after the other.

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