[PeakOiler]

...from my brother, a pilot for FedEx:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') had my longest flight of my career this week.. Memphis to Narita
(Tokyo), Japan.

Here are some numbers:

Show time for the trip: 1:57 am CDT

Time from push back to setting the parking brake at destination: 13:33

Weight of the jet at takeoff: 585,000 lbs.

Number of pounds of fuel at start: 256,000

Number of pounds at engine shutdown: 34,000

Fuel used (gallons): 33,134

Pounds of freight moved: 80,000

Number of First Officers: 3

Number of breaks: 2 three hour breaks for 2 pilots at a time.

Number of hours sleep I got during my breaks: 4 total.

Feet above the ground when the approach lights came into sight: 300.

Number of hours layover at Narita: 30

Number of hours I slept during that layover: 16
(and I never left the hotel.)

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', '.')..from my brother, a pilot for FedEx:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') had my longest flight of my career this week.. Memphis to Narita
(Tokyo), Japan.

Here are some numbers:

Show time for the trip: 1:57 am CDT

Time from push back to setting the parking brake at destination: 13:33

Weight of the jet at takeoff: 585,000 lbs.

Number of pounds of fuel at start: 256,000

Number of pounds at engine shutdown: 34,000

Fuel used (gallons): 33,134

Pounds of freight moved: 80,000

Number of First Officers: 3

Number of breaks: 2 three hour breaks for 2 pilots at a time.

Number of hours sleep I got during my breaks: 4 total.

Feet above the ground when the approach lights came into sight: 300.

Number of hours layover at Narita: 30

Number of hours I slept during that layover: 16
(and I never left the hotel.)

[Newfie]

I often think.....What is Boeing thinking?

There whole business model must be based upon denial.

[SeaGypsy]

Without doing the maths fully- the Hindenberg comparison is an obvious flop- 80,000 pounds cargo???

Probably the most efficient potential schedulable intercontinental travel in theory would be the WIG effect craft. Lighter than air vehicles are only efficient when moving with the wind near windspeed. Too much surface area and resistance.

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'W')ithout doing the maths fully- the Hindenberg comparison is an obvious flop- 80,000 pounds cargo???

Probably the most efficient potential schedulable intercontinental travel in theory would be the WIG effect craft. Lighter than air vehicles are only efficient when moving with the wind near windspeed. Too much surface area and resistance.

[SeaGypsy]

Totally agree. A point Orlov emphasizes besides the massive fuel-mass-miles savings of maritime freight- is the relative lack of infrastructure maintenance required, Rail track maintenence for carrying capacity must be vastly more efficient than road infrastructure also. WIG effect craft and gyro copters could replace a lot of emergency service vehicles in a post road infrastructure collapse (something I see as inevitable under eventual energy constraints- even the most efficient vehicles on wheels require very expensive roads infrastructure in $ and energy terms.