Airport traffic

I meant whether a flight JFK to Singapore could get there by refueling at Gander.

Quote: Pacomartin

I am not sure if the US Secretary of State refuels in Shannon Ireland when flying to Madrid. He must certainly do so if flying to Eastern Europe.

Can he go trough customs at Shannon on the way back, or does he have diplomatic immunity on US soil as well ;)

Seriously, people are often surprised that there is customs and immigration when traveling internationally on private planes.

Quote:

The President of Mexico's new Dreamliner will actually have a longer range than the POTUS VC-25 (and be much more expensive).

If he ever sees it. There's been much editorializing and complaints in the press. The equivalent of the treasury dept. floated the idea of selling it.

Maybe they can buy a used Air Force No Longer One when Clinton is done with it :)

Quote: Nareed

I meant whether a flight JFK to Singapore could get there by refueling at Gander.

A Boeing 757-200 is listed at (7,222 km) or (7,600 km) with winglets. I think the VIP craft have extra fuel tanks.

I don't think the Mexican President can make it to Singapore by crossing the Atlantic (unless he refuels three times). Possibly with Tel Aviv as a refueling spot
5130 km Juarez Intl, Mexico City, MX (MEX) to Gander International, Gander, NF (YQX)
7350 km Gander International, Gander, NF (YQX) to Ben Gurion Intl Arpt, Tel Aviv, IL (TLV)
7970 km Ben Gurion Intl Arpt, Tel Aviv, IL (TLV) to Changi Intl Arpt, Singapore, SG (SIN)


It is much easier to cross the Pacific
6070 km Juarez Intl, Mexico City, MX (MEX) to Anchorage Intl Arpt, Anchorage, AK (ANC)
5500 km Anchorage Intl Arpt, Anchorage, AK (ANC) to Narita, Tokyo, JP (NRT)
5360 km Narita, Tokyo, JP (NRT) to Changi Intl Arpt, Singapore, SG (SIN)

Quote: Nareed

Maybe they can buy a used Air Force No Longer One when Clinton is done with it :)

I think they are probably headed for museums. The big question is will the Secretary of State and Vice President get a modified Dreamliner like the President of Mexico.
A plane with a 12000 km range can hit most of the world from Andrews Air Force Base
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4r7l039-pqHb1U4YnowSUxLeE0/view?usp=sharing

Quote: Nareed

Changing the subject, Singapore Air announced it will try to reestablish the world's longest flight, Singapore to NYC (or Newark??) on an as yet to be delivered A-350 900 something, with extra fuel capacity. The note I read specified the trip at 15,000+ km, give or take, and 19+ hours flight time.

Singapore Air has signed the contract with Airbus for the A350-900ULR (Ultra-Long Range), will ‎include a modified fuel system to increase the fuel carrying capacity.

So the nonstops from New York to Singapore will return in 2018.

Finnair has configured the first A350-900 XWB (ultra wide body) but not "ultra long range"
46 flat bed seats (Business) with 180 degree recline 78-81" pitch 21.0" wide (1-2-1)
43 standard seats (Economy Comfort) 35" pitch 18.0" wide (3-3-3)
208 standard seats (Economy) 31" pitch 18.0" wide (3-3-3)

Qatar Airways has configured their A350-900
36 flat bed seats (Business) with 180 degree recline 50" pitch 22" wide (1-2-1
247 standard seats (Economy) 31"-32" pitch 18" wide (3-3-3)

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The A340-500 had maximum capacity of 59,000 US gallons
The A350-900ULR has a maximum capacity of 43,600 US gallons
So that is 15,600 gallons right there.

It is expected that Singapore Airlines will return to the 100 seat all business class seating, but they have not said what they will do with the current one stop A380 via Frankfurt.
The A380 with the smallest number of premium seats is 12 first class, and 60 business class (399 economy).
Perhaps they will return the nonstop to Newark airport and leave the A380 in place from JFK.

Quote: Pacomartin

The A340-500 had maximum capacity of 59,000 US gallons
The A350-900ULR has a maximum capacity of 43,600 US gallons
So that is 15,600 gallons right there.

And a perfectly good explanation for returning to service that route.

But I wonder how many people will be comfortable flying for the major part of a whole day on only 2 engines.

Quote:

It is expected that Singapore Airlines will return to the 100 seat all business class seating,

They have to, unless they add a few first class seats as well. At 19+ hours straight, no stops and no hope of relief, they'd have to anesthetize anyone willing to fly economy (you really cannot sedate people for that long).

It's situations like this which make me think some public-spirited billionaire should shake loose several millions of dollars, or euros, to fund the development of the Larry Niven Stasis Field (pat pend). Instead of seats, you could have cubicles little larger than coffins. Step in, shut the door, and time stops for you until the attendant switches the field off, any number of hours later. Even your bags would be waiting for you. Or you could get a coffin on business for three times as much. It won't be any bigger or more comfortable, but there would be an attendant to close the door for you.

Quote: Nareed

They have to, unless they add a few first class seats as well. At 19+ hours straight, no stops and no hope of relief, they'd have to anesthetize anyone willing to fly economy (you really cannot sedate people for that long).

From 2004 until May 2008 there was a two class seating on the A340-500 with 181 seats. The second class was called Premium Economy. Concerns of thrombosis were very real.

Back in 2008 there was always an option. In the case of New York, a daily B747-400 three-class flight operated between Singapore and New York's JFK Airport.
Between Singapore and Los Angeles; there was a daily B747-400 three-class flight via Tokyo and a four times weekly B777-200ER two-class flight via Taipei. Both of these options have been replaced with A380.

Knowing that they always had an option to JFK makes me think they will return to Newark for the nonstop. Right now there is no discussion of restoring the nonstop to LAX as well.

Quote: terapined

Yup, I book travel all day and never get questions on equipment.

Let me see if I can put myself in your shoes. The Star Alliance people care about frequent flyer miles and getting upgrades. So if they are leaving from a few hundred miles of NYC they are used to driving or taking the train to Newark, or in transferring there from their local airport. They don't like JFK as much because it upsets their routine.

So when Singapore Airlines (member of Star Alliance) stopped their nonstop on the A340-500 they pulled out of Newark and now fly the A380 out of JFK. The A380 is not certified for Newark. While the flyer can still go to JFK and get ff points, now it is a less familiar airport and may not have as many connecting flights to get home. In addition he now has the extra three hours for the refuel in Frankfurt.

So the demand to restore the nonstop is higher in NYC than it is in Los Angeles where there is only one airport for ultra long international flights. So when Singapore Airlines gets the new A350-900 ultra long range models in 2018, they put their priorities on restoring non stop to New York City. Los Angeles will have to wait (possibly for years).

Does that sound reasonable?

Quote: Pacomartin

From 2004 until May 2008 there was a two class seating on the A340-500 with 181 seats. The second class was called Premium Economy. Concerns of thrombosis were very real.

Oh, I don't propose anesthetizing economy passengers on a 19 hour flight in order to prevent thrombosis (good luck with that!), but rather to keep them from wanting to open the cabin door and end it all.

Quote: Nareed

Oh, I don't propose anesthetizing economy passengers on a 19 hour flight in order to prevent thrombosis (good luck with that!), but rather to keep them from wanting to open the cabin door and end it all.

Brett Godfrey and Richard Branson (age 65) expect to see Virgin Galactic's suborbital shuttle bring the time from London to Australia to 2-4 hours within their lifetime.

I was on a military plane with low pressure (10,000' equivalent) for about 19 hours. We went from Washington DC to Florida to Texas to San Francisco to Honolulu at very low speed. One of the people I was with had scuba injuries and she was in agony. It saves the military a lot of money to keep the planes at low pressure, but the passengers pay badly with headaches and dehydration.

Quote: Pacomartin

Brett Godfrey and Richard Branson (age 65) expect to see Virgin Galactic's suborbital shuttle bring the time from London to Australia to 2-4 hours within their lifetime.

That's the one real productive use for suborbital planes, rather than thrill rides to "space" for a few minutes.

But is it even under development? To my knowledge Spaceship 2 would only be capable of 15 minute thrill rides to "space."

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One of the people I was with had scuba injuries and she was in agony.

How was she even allowed to board?

Quote: Nareed

But is it even under development? To my knowledge Spaceship 2 would only be capable of 15 minute thrill rides to "space."

I think it is more of a corporate vision. They have widely discussed the size requirements. I think they want to be able reduce the price of the thrill ride by a factor of about 30-100 before they talk about transportation.

Quote: Nareed

How was she even allowed to board?

Most conventional passenger jets set the cabin pressure at an equivalent of around 7,500 to 8,000 feet above sea level, which can still cause headaches, muscle aches, fatigue and even nausea” Normally the metal body of current aircraft wouldn’t safely be able to handle the fatigue induced by maintaining this pressure at high altitudes.
However, the carbon-fibre composite materials on the 787’s fuselage doesn’t suffer from metal fatigue and in turn allows for cabin pressure of about 6,000 feet .

A military plane is often very old. The one we were on still used propellers. It was basically a cargo plane for a test we were going to do, with a few rows of seats in the front. They pressurized it to 10,000'. She had blown out both eardrums in a SCUBA dive in Panama so she was in a lot of pain for the entire trip.