Return of the blimp/zepellin

[Kristopher]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

If he didn't, I did.

 

He left out the obliviots (love that word) traveling with kids. You know the ones that say "hey we're traveling on a holiday with children, so let's leave the small compact and light weight stroller at the house" and instead take the "1 million ton mega impress the neighbors look at me" stroller. The three wheeled one that uses full sized bicycle wheels. And when the person at the desk asks all parents traveling with children under 14 to come to the front so she can count them and get a estimated weight. Why, you are an adult with children, so just ignore her because that twinky you are inhaling is much more important than actually getting on the plane.

 

God, it was a nightmare of idiots. If you want to impress the in laws with an SUV sized stroller, check it. You can impress them when you get there. The regular small stroller will fit in the side pouch.

 

I am not exaggerating. The flight was already late getting in from the east (storms and such). Then when we could have been boarding we wasted an entire HOUR while the ticket counter tried to get the idiots with kids rounded up and on the plane. They needed to see how much weight so they could determine how many standbys they could take.

 

Then we discovered, as I was boarding I looked at the strollers, that the average stroller is no longer small and portable. It is huge and weighs more than the Titanic. From my window I could see them trying to load them, some required TWO people to lift. They were actually pulling off luggage to make room. Unbelievable. I expect the industry to impose size limits to strollers that can be used up to the gate. Especially on smaller aircraft.

 

All in all, my Little Rock flight was delayed 1 hour due to weather and 55 minutes due to birth control failure.

 

My Denver connection was delayed 1.5 hours due to weather and a little over an hour due to the same stupidity.

 

All in all due to the inability of the average idiot to pay attention I landed in Seattle at around 1130pm vice 7pm. If it had been just weather delays it woudl have been 9-9:30pm

 

Of course I also got the privilege of listening to the screamer in the next seat for the entire duration of the flight. One would think the parent would discover a pacifier or something, or maybe the kid would have passed out after the first hour of constant screaming.

 

Grrrrr.....

 

After the first hour, all of my control would be gone, and I would summon an attendant and tell her that something was wrong with the plane. When she asked me to elaborate, I would say "Don't you hear that terrible screaming noise? There must be a leak in the pressure seal somewhere."

 

And people wonder why I don't want kids.

[Teflon Billy]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

After the first hour, all of my control would be gone, and I would summon an attendant and tell her that something was wrong with the plane. When she asked me to elaborate, I would say "Don't you hear that terrible screaming noise? There must be a leak in the pressure seal somewhere."

 

And people wonder why I don't want kids.

And you would have been better served keeping your mouth shut and ignoring it like the rest of those on the plane.

 

Air travel is NOT that hard. Shut your mouth, wear comfortable easy to remove shoes, put EVERYTHING in your carry on when you go through the x-ray machines, except for your laptop (which you put in one more plastic bin on the conveyer), and get on the plane ignoring everything going on around you.

 

Do anything else and you are only inflicting misery on your fellow passengers, YOU are not that important.

 

TB

[Markdoc]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

And you would have been better served keeping your mouth shut and ignoring it like the rest of those on the plane.

 

Air travel is NOT that hard. Shut your mouth, wear comfortable easy to remove shoes, put EVERYTHING in your carry on when you go through the x-ray machines, except for your laptop (which you put in one more plastic bin on the conveyer), and get on the plane ignoring everything going on around you.

 

Do anything else and you are only inflicting misery on your fellow passengers, YOU are not that important.

 

TB

 

Actually Kristopher was complaining about the people who inflict misery on other travellers. And he's right.

 

I travel a lot (I was in Goteborg in Sweden last week, I'm going to les Diablerets in Switzerland tomorrow, my next month's travel includes Seattle, Palamaner, Hampi and Bangalore). I AM that one-bag, belt-off, loose-shoes, computer-ready-for-the-bin guy who knows where he's stashed his tickets and passport, who goes through security in 30 seconds.

 

When I finally get to the front of the queue.

 

There are far too many people traveling with kids that they either will not or cannot control - to everybody else's discomfort. They load themselves down with all sorts of kiddie crap that's strewn over the aisles and floor, they can't find everyone's tickets, they take enormous strollers that can't be folded into standard luggage lockers which delay the flight while staff try to load them, they have 3 bags each and don't see why they can't take them onto the plane, they carry formula into security and then spend ages arguing with the security checkers that they should be allowed to take it onto the plane, despite the giant "no liquids" signs (and I've seen one hurl it to the floor, leaving formula splattered everywhere - including on other people), etc etc.

 

THESE people make air travel far slower and less pleasant than it could be. Not everyone with kids falls into this category. But the majority of unpleasant flight experiences I've had in the last many years featured people traveling with kids to a greater or lesser degree - and it shows a basic disregard of other people on the part of the parents.

 

cheers, Mark

[Spence]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

After the first hour, all of my control would be gone, and I would summon an attendant and tell her that something was wrong with the plane. When she asked me to elaborate, I would say "Don't you hear that terrible screaming noise? There must be a leak in the pressure seal somewhere."

 

And people wonder why I don't want kids.

 

I don't..wonder that is

 

The big problem is it wouldn't help. At all. For some reason as soon as an obliviate wanders in with a kid, they immediately get a pass and are no longer required to extend any microscopic bit of courtesy to anyone.....

 

Actually Kristopher was complaining about the people who inflict misery on other travellers. And he's right.

 

I travel a lot (I was in Goteborg in Sweden last week, I'm going to les Diablerets in Switzerland tomorrow, my next month's travel includes Seattle, Palamaner, Hampi and Bangalore). I AM that one-bag, belt-off, loose-shoes, computer-ready-for-the-bin guy who knows where he's stashed his tickets and passport, who goes through security in 30 seconds.

 

When I finally get to the front of the queue.

 

There are far too many people traveling with kids that they either will not or cannot control - to everybody else's discomfort. They load themselves down with all sorts of kiddie crap that's strewn over the aisles and floor, they can't find everyone's tickets, they take enormous strollers that can't be folded into standard luggage lockers which delay the flight while staff try to load them, they have 3 bags each and don't see why they can't take them onto the plane, they carry formula into security and then spend ages arguing with the security checkers that they should be allowed to take it onto the plane, despite the giant "no liquids" signs (and I've seen one hurl it to the floor, leaving formula splattered everywhere - including on other people), etc etc.

 

THESE people make air travel far slower and less pleasant than it could be. Not everyone with kids falls into this category. But the majority of unpleasant flight experiences I've had in the last many years featured people traveling with kids to a greater or lesser degree - and it shows a basic disregard of other people on the part of the parents.

 

cheers, Mark

 

As a fellow "one bag and through security in 30secs" traveler I must say, very well said

[Kristopher]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

And you would have been better served keeping your mouth shut and ignoring it like the rest of those on the plane.

 

Air travel is NOT that hard. Shut your mouth, wear comfortable easy to remove shoes, put EVERYTHING in your carry on when you go through the x-ray machines, except for your laptop (which you put in one more plastic bin on the conveyer), and get on the plane ignoring everything going on around you.

 

Do anything else and you are only inflicting misery on your fellow passengers, YOU are not that important.

 

Wow, what brought that on? How do I become the target of your rant against your fellow air travellers, after posting a comment about people who can't keep their damn spawn under control?

[Clonus]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

I've also heard of plans to use these sorts of craft to haul huge loads of cargo... probably cheaper than an 18-wheeler per unit.

 

Not without a good tailwind.

[Kristopher]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Actually Kristopher was complaining about the people who inflict misery on other travellers. And he's right.

 

I travel a lot (I was in Goteborg in Sweden last week, I'm going to les Diablerets in Switzerland tomorrow, my next month's travel includes Seattle, Palamaner, Hampi and Bangalore). I AM that one-bag, belt-off, loose-shoes, computer-ready-for-the-bin guy who knows where he's stashed his tickets and passport, who goes through security in 30 seconds.

 

When I finally get to the front of the queue.

 

There are far too many people traveling with kids that they either will not or cannot control - to everybody else's discomfort. They load themselves down with all sorts of kiddie crap that's strewn over the aisles and floor, they can't find everyone's tickets, they take enormous strollers that can't be folded into standard luggage lockers which delay the flight while staff try to load them, they have 3 bags each and don't see why they can't take them onto the plane, they carry formula into security and then spend ages arguing with the security checkers that they should be allowed to take it onto the plane, despite the giant "no liquids" signs (and I've seen one hurl it to the floor, leaving formula splattered everywhere - including on other people), etc etc.

 

THESE people make air travel far slower and less pleasant than it could be. Not everyone with kids falls into this category. But the majority of unpleasant flight experiences I've had in the last many years featured people traveling with kids to a greater or lesser degree - and it shows a basic disregard of other people on the part of the parents.

 

cheers, Mark

 

There seems to be, amongst some/many parents, a sense of entitlement simply because they have children.

[CorPse]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Not without a good tailwind.

 

Care to elaborate...

 

... seems like a big truck with a low mpg engine vs. a big container hauler that neutralizes the weight of the cargo with a gas-filled chamber would give the advantage to a lighter than air craft.

 

It probably wouldn't be quite as fast as a truck and you'd, of course, need to provide thrust with the engines, but I'm guessing you'd end up burning less fuel.

 

You'd still need to get the cargo into trucks at some point, but hopefully, you'd end up with a system where stuff went into the truck much closer to it's destination.

[Spence]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

There seems to be' date=' amongst some/many parents, a sense of entitlement simply because they have children.[/quote']

 

I tend to believe the sense of "undeserved entitlement" is a more general problem. I see them everywhere, from the super important woman that runs into her also super important friends and decides that rather than step off to the side, she will update them on her very important stuff by blocking the entire entry way. They also get miffed if you ask them to let you by. If you use words like "Excuse me, may I get by?" they really throw a hissy. How dare you want to use the door as a door Then you have the guy at work, parking is extremely limited and he insists on parking up front and makes sure by coming in early. No problem with that, but since his pickup is better than everyone else's vehicle, he of course parks in two spots, and then is upset when he gets a parking ticket. How dare they, don't they know how important he is?!? And be careful, if you make the mistake of opening a door and holding it for a woman these days, prepare to be blasted.

 

Sometimes I wonder why I even try to be polite anymore. Habit I guess.....

[Querysphinx]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

I tend to believe the sense of "undeserved entitlement" is a more general problem. I see them everywhere' date=' from the super important woman that runs into her also super important friends and decides that rather than step off to the side, she will update them on her very important stuff by blocking the entire entry way. They also get miffed if you ask them to let you by. If you use words like "Excuse me, may I get by?" they really throw a hissy. How dare you want to use the door as a door Then you have the guy at work, parking is extremely limited and he insists on parking up front and makes sure by coming in early. No problem with that, but since his pickup is better than everyone else's vehicle, he of course parks in [b']two[/b] spots, and then is upset when he gets a parking ticket. How dare they, don't they know how important he is?!? And be careful, if you make the mistake of opening a door and holding it for a woman these days, prepare to be blasted.

 

Sometimes I wonder why I even try to be polite anymore. Habit I guess.....

 

Spend some time in Japan. They will absolutely kill you (in a good way) with politeness. Of course you will never ever get a straight answer from anyone about any topic more controversial than the weather, but the circumlocutions will be very polite.

 

As for cargo transport, what we need to do is improve our (the U.S.) rail system. Ever since the govt gave control of the rail lines back to the rail companies they've been doing their level best to choke every last "now" penny out of their track while utterly ignoring the "later" dollar they would make from investing in new track/properly upkeeping existing track. (You can't spell "stupid" without U.P.)

 

Good rail makes more sense than dirigibles for cargo transport.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Honestly the role I see for Airships in the 21st century is as a luxury travel option, similar to cruise lines. A VERY green travel option, potentially.

 

I've love to captain my own big arsed Carbon Nano-fiber solar powered Zeppelin around a circuit of major cities and resort town with a sort of "Moulin Rouge meets Hedonism III meets The Pirates of the Caribbean" vibe onboard.

 

Who cares if it takes a few extra days to route around bad weather? We worry about schedules WAY to much in this modern era.

[Old Man]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Wow' date=' what brought that on? How do I become the target of your rant against your fellow air travellers, after posting a comment about people who can't keep their damn spawn under control?[/quote']

 

Because they're kids, dude. They're gonna make noise, and they have just as much right to be on the plane as you do. And before you answer: please understand that unless you have kids, or have taken care of kids, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, so your complaints make you sound both ignorant and selfish. Please understand that I'm not trying to be condescending or arrogant when I say you have no idea what you're talking about. It's just a fact, just as it would be if you were a virgin complaining about sex. You just don't know, and I hope you take that into account when dealing with your fellow humans in the future.

[jtelson]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

It's looking like this Zepplin may be on the fast track, errrr lazy tailwind, to NGD.

[Curufea]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Speaking of carbon fibre - it would be possible to construct blimps/zepellins in any shape if we manage to create buckyball surrounded vacuums. There's nothing more lighter-than-air than a vacuum.

[Kristopher]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Speaking of carbon fibre - it would be possible to construct blimps/zepellins in any shape if we manage to create buckyball surrounded vacuums. There's nothing more lighter-than-air than a vacuum.

 

Is the structure of a buckyball tight enough to keep air molecules from passing through?

[Kristopher]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Because they're kids' date=' dude. They're gonna make noise, and they have just as much right to be on the plane as you do. And before you answer: please understand that unless you have kids, or have taken care of kids, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, so your complaints make you sound both ignorant and selfish. Please understand that I'm not trying to be condescending or arrogant when I say you have no idea what you're talking about. It's just a fact, just as it would be if you were a virgin complaining about sex. You just don't know, and I hope you take that into account when dealing with your fellow humans in the future.[/quote']

 

Meh. Any kid who can't control himself shouldn't be out in public, especially in an airplane where others can't walk away. Too many people drag kids who aren't ready for it into restaurants, theatres, and evidently airplanes. One of the many reasons I don't fly.

[jtelson]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Is the structure of a buckyball tight enough to keep air molecules from passing through?

 

If you work with them as nested tubes or overlaid/layered graphene sheets it should be possible to minimize helium loss you'd want to avoid hydrogen even if you use a cell structure because of the semi-conductive properties of the Si (The Cell structure would almost certainly require Buckytubes rather than balls).

 

From a game perspective though you get the added bonus of potential quantum effects which are always fun

[jtelson]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Now that I'm thinking about it, there is some interesting research going on with spooling nano-wires. Once that's up to a manufacturing level (years & years & years) you could just weave a Zepplin; The Dirigablity would be pretty high.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Meh. Any kid who can't control himself shouldn't be out in public' date=' especially in an airplane where others can't walk away. Too many people drag kids who aren't ready for it into restaurants, theatres, and evidently airplanes. One of the many reasons I don't fly.[/quote']

 

I'll agree that there are too many kids in restaurants and theaters that should have been left with a sitter, but with airplanes it's not always so easy. My wife had to fly to her father's funeral with my 18 month old daughter and my three week old son, and short of not attending, she didn't have any way around it. And since I'm reasonably sure my son didn't stop crying for the first year and a half of his life, people were probably annoyed, but screw them.

[Markdoc]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Usually, I agree with you, but in this case, I have to comment.

 

Because they're kids' date=' dude. They're gonna make noise, and they have just as much right to be on the plane as you do.[/quote']

 

Wrong and wrong. Badly behaved, badly disciplined kids make noise all the time. There seems to be some sort of misapprehension that you can't make kids obey simple commands. However, having spent time in culture and with families who do teach politeness I know that it's actually quite possible. Babies are a slightly different case. But in situations where you know you're going to be in a confined space with other people for hours, it's simple to get an infant sedative in advance.

 

As for "as much right as you" - nuh-uh. Until kids pay adult fares, I'm subsidising them every time I buy an airticket. Now I don't have a problem with that: I like the idea that families should be able to afford to travel. But when I'm helping underwrite that travel, asking for a certain level of responsible behaviour is not unreasonable.

 

 

But I HAVE taken care of kids - and I still agree with Kristopher. Saying "I have annoying kids - deal with it" is entirely equivalent to saying "I just took a dump under your chair - deal with it."

 

To quote Brian Hennigan:

WHAT is the difference between having noisy, uncontrolled children and a noisy, uncontrolled drunk on an airplane? After a business flight last Wednesday to Amsterdam, I struggle to find a genuine difference.

 

At any rate, airlines are starting to work out that disruptive children on flights hurt their business and do something about it. Continental recently threw a mother and her child off a flight from Atlanta to Oklahoma because of the child's disruptive behaviour, while AirTran dumped a family in Florida because their daughter threw a tantrum on the plane and refused to get in her seat. When the family went public to try and shame AirTran, the airline got over 14,000 emails - overwhelmingly in support of AirTran.

 

Now that sort of thing is no fun for anybody - maybe the airlines could have handled those situations without dumping the passengers: I wasn't there so I don't really know. On the other hand, delaying a flight for a disruptive child might mean that dozens of people miss their onward flights - so just maybe the decision to kick the troublemaker out was the right one.

 

In my experience - and I'm writing this from Geneva airport, if you get my drift - most people are happy to extend courtesy to families traveling with children. I've given up my seat to allow people with kids more room, I've helped them maneuver their strollers and baggage, I've patiently waited for them to get their stuff on or off the plane. Families with kids get priority boarding, and extra attention while on the flight - and that's fair enough. But expecting a little courtesy in return is not unreasonable.

 

 

Cheers, Mark

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Meh. Any kid who can't control himself shouldn't be out in public' date=' especially in an airplane where others can't walk away. Too many people drag kids who aren't ready for it into restaurants, theatres, and evidently airplanes. One of the many reasons I don't fly.[/quote']

 

Amen, My kids know they better be polite and good in public or they'll be hell to pay and you know it works!

[Spence]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Kristopher Must spread.......

 

 

Markdoc Very well put. And Very Very true!! and I must spread.....grrrr...

 

 

steamteck I'm glad to see there are a few honest to gosh parents out there still. Why aren't you ever traveling when I do? repped

[Spence]

Re: Return of the blimp/zepellin

 

Back to the topic

 

I remember reading something a while back talking about zeps using lightweight rigid envelopes that were streamlined and stronger than a traditional design that also acted as lifting bodies at higher speeds.

 

I was looking to find something current, but my google-fu is weak....