Word: takeoff
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Nothing so demonstrates modern man's need for myth as the superstitions created by "rational" technology itself. Hardly anyone is more superstitious these days than the supposedly no-nonsense men who fly huge jetliners at multimile altitudes. Aviators frequently cross unused seat belts prior to takeoff, or spit on a wheel after their preflight inspection-thus indulging the old belief that saliva is an offering of the spirit to the gods. Some auto racers don't like peanuts or women in their pits. In keeping with the belief that new machines cause sterility, U.S. servicemen blithely took sexual...
Beset by problems from its inception, the American SST will not go into service for at least two years after its originally scheduled takeoff date of mid-1974. Boeing, understandably red-faced, denies somewhat defensively that it has made a final decision. But the economics of its swing-wing B-2707 has forced the Seattle company to put practicality over pride. Although wind-tunnel tests showed that the movable wing could perform well aerodynamically, it developed an insuperable weight problem. Carrying the 313-passenger payload envisioned for it, the 375-ton swing-wing SST would have had about one-half...
...that some scheduled flights will have to cancel temporarily-and no airline is anxious to cut service. Some hard bargaining will have to take place since the FAA order will force the airlines to make schedule reductions of some sort, like it or not. Moreover, since every landing and takeoff has to be reserved in advance, the FAA rules may cut into Eastern Air Lines' popular Washington-New York shuttle service. It accommodated 3.3 million passengers last year, on the premise that if scheduled shuttle planes are filled, another and another and another plane will be wheeled out. Under...
Neatly lettered in yellow across a new airstrip that opened last week at New York's La Guardia Airport gleams the word STOL, an acronym for short takeoff and landing. La Guardia's STOLPORT, as the 1,095-ft. runway has already been dubbed, is first of its kind in the U.S. to offer commercial airplanes those desirable qualities...
Over the years, scores of STOL and V/-STOL (for vertical short takeoff and landing) airplanes have been designed and flown in wind tunnels around the world. Only a few have gone into production, and none has shown as much promise as the McDonnell Douglas 188, priced at about $4,000,000, on which Eastern Air Lines is pinning its hopes. The plane, developed by the French Breguet works and originally called Breguet 941, was renamed by its U.S. licensee, the St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas Corp. For the tests, the 188 is being loaded with the latest in electronic...