Palace_Hero
Refugee, Note: Troll-like
...appreciation thread!
Let us all appreciate the wonderful coming together of entities in my friend Aardie's Interference name.
In the first place, we have Aardvarks, wonderful creatures. The Aardvark is a nocturnal mammal of the genus Orycteropus, sole representative of the order Tubulidentata. There are two species, one in central Africa and the other in S Africa. The aardvark, about 6 ft (180 cm) long, has a long snout, large erect ears, an almost naked or sparsely haired body, and a long tail. Its forefeet are adapted for making burrows in the ground and for clawing open the nests of ants and termites in order to capture the insects with its long sticky tongue. Its cylindrical teeth are continuously growing and without enamel or roots. The aardvark resembles the New World anteaters but is not closely related to them. It is also called ant bear or earth pig. Aardvarks are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Tubulidentata, family Orycteropodidae.
Now on the other hand we have the 747 part of his name. The 747 model of the Boeing was for years the most impressive passenger aeroplane in the skies. The 747 was born from the explosion of air travel in the 1960s. The era of commercial jet transportation, led by the enormous popularity of the Boeing 707, had revolutionized long distance travel and made possible the concept of the "global village." Boeing had already developed a study for a very large airplane while bidding on a US military contract for a huge airlifter. Boeing lost the contract to Lockheed's C-5 Galaxy but came under pressure from its most loyal airline customer Pan Am to develop a giant passenger plane which would be over twice the size of the 707. In 1966 Boeing proposed a preliminary configuration for the airliner, to be called the 747. Pan Am ordered 25 of the initial 100 series. The design was a full length double decker, but due to issues with evacuation routes this idea was scrapped in favor of a wide-body design.
At the time, it was widely thought that the 747 would be replaced in the future with an SST (supersonic transport) design. Boeing took the shrewd move and designed the 747 so that it could easily be adapted to carry freight, knowing that when sales of the passenger version dried up, it could remain in production as a cargo aircraft. The cockpit was moved to a shortened upper deck so that a nose cone loading door could be included, creating the 747's distinctive "bulge." However, the supersonic transports such as Boeing's failed SST and the Concorde never lived up to their promise, being too expensive to operate profitably at a time when fuel prices were soaring. The upper deck was initially used as a luxurious first-class lounge/bar area, but is now most often used for extra seating capacity. After being expected to become obsolete with only 400 sales, the 747 outlived many of its critics and production passed the 1,000 mark in 1993. The expected slow-down in sales of the passenger version in favor of the cargo derivative has only happened in the early 2000s.
The development of the 747 was a huge undertaking. Boeing did not have a factory large enough to assemble the giant aircraft, so the company built an all-new assembly building near Everett, Washington. This factory is the largest building ever built. Pratt and Whitney developed a massive high-bypass turbofan engine, the JT9D, that was, in the beginning, exclusively for the 747. To appease concerns about the safety and flyability of such a massive aircraft, the 747 was designed with four backup hydraulic systems, split control surfaces, multiple structural redundancy, and sophisticated flaps which allow it to use standard-length runways.
Initially, many airlines regarded the 747 with skepticism. Boeing's rivals, McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed, were working on wide-body three-engine "tri-jets", which were significantly smaller than the proposed 747. Many airlines believed the 747 would prove too large for an average long distance flight and instead invested in tri-jets. Furthermore, there was worry about whether the 747 would be compatible with existing airport infrastructure.
Another issue raised by the airlines was fuel efficiency. A three-engine airliner burns significantly less fuel per flight than a four-engine, and with airlines trying to lower costs, fuel efficiency was an important issue that would return to haunt Boeing in the 1970s.
Boeing had promised to deliver the 747 to Pan Am by 1970, meaning that it had less than four years to develop, build and test the airplane. Work progressed at such a breakneck pace that all those who worked on the development of the 747 were given the nickname "The Incredibles". The massive cost of developing the 747 and building the Everett factory meant that Boeing had gambled its very existence on the 747's success, and the company was nearly bankrupted in the early 1970s. The gamble paid off, however, and Boeing enjoyed a monopoly on very large passenger transports that was only broken 35 years later with the advent of the Airbus A380.
Ladies and Gentlemen (or perhaps Men and Gentleladies), I urge you to consider how on earth this fine specimen of an Inteferencer isn't held up in the highest regard by all. If I had signature privileges I would be certain to make the addition of an Aardvark for President banner. But alas, this dream shall remain in my huuuuge Craig from Big Brother sized head.
Let us celebrate the culmination of the Aardvark and the Boeing 747 in a U2 fan!
Let us all appreciate the wonderful coming together of entities in my friend Aardie's Interference name.
In the first place, we have Aardvarks, wonderful creatures. The Aardvark is a nocturnal mammal of the genus Orycteropus, sole representative of the order Tubulidentata. There are two species, one in central Africa and the other in S Africa. The aardvark, about 6 ft (180 cm) long, has a long snout, large erect ears, an almost naked or sparsely haired body, and a long tail. Its forefeet are adapted for making burrows in the ground and for clawing open the nests of ants and termites in order to capture the insects with its long sticky tongue. Its cylindrical teeth are continuously growing and without enamel or roots. The aardvark resembles the New World anteaters but is not closely related to them. It is also called ant bear or earth pig. Aardvarks are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Tubulidentata, family Orycteropodidae.
Now on the other hand we have the 747 part of his name. The 747 model of the Boeing was for years the most impressive passenger aeroplane in the skies. The 747 was born from the explosion of air travel in the 1960s. The era of commercial jet transportation, led by the enormous popularity of the Boeing 707, had revolutionized long distance travel and made possible the concept of the "global village." Boeing had already developed a study for a very large airplane while bidding on a US military contract for a huge airlifter. Boeing lost the contract to Lockheed's C-5 Galaxy but came under pressure from its most loyal airline customer Pan Am to develop a giant passenger plane which would be over twice the size of the 707. In 1966 Boeing proposed a preliminary configuration for the airliner, to be called the 747. Pan Am ordered 25 of the initial 100 series. The design was a full length double decker, but due to issues with evacuation routes this idea was scrapped in favor of a wide-body design.
At the time, it was widely thought that the 747 would be replaced in the future with an SST (supersonic transport) design. Boeing took the shrewd move and designed the 747 so that it could easily be adapted to carry freight, knowing that when sales of the passenger version dried up, it could remain in production as a cargo aircraft. The cockpit was moved to a shortened upper deck so that a nose cone loading door could be included, creating the 747's distinctive "bulge." However, the supersonic transports such as Boeing's failed SST and the Concorde never lived up to their promise, being too expensive to operate profitably at a time when fuel prices were soaring. The upper deck was initially used as a luxurious first-class lounge/bar area, but is now most often used for extra seating capacity. After being expected to become obsolete with only 400 sales, the 747 outlived many of its critics and production passed the 1,000 mark in 1993. The expected slow-down in sales of the passenger version in favor of the cargo derivative has only happened in the early 2000s.
The development of the 747 was a huge undertaking. Boeing did not have a factory large enough to assemble the giant aircraft, so the company built an all-new assembly building near Everett, Washington. This factory is the largest building ever built. Pratt and Whitney developed a massive high-bypass turbofan engine, the JT9D, that was, in the beginning, exclusively for the 747. To appease concerns about the safety and flyability of such a massive aircraft, the 747 was designed with four backup hydraulic systems, split control surfaces, multiple structural redundancy, and sophisticated flaps which allow it to use standard-length runways.
Initially, many airlines regarded the 747 with skepticism. Boeing's rivals, McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed, were working on wide-body three-engine "tri-jets", which were significantly smaller than the proposed 747. Many airlines believed the 747 would prove too large for an average long distance flight and instead invested in tri-jets. Furthermore, there was worry about whether the 747 would be compatible with existing airport infrastructure.
Another issue raised by the airlines was fuel efficiency. A three-engine airliner burns significantly less fuel per flight than a four-engine, and with airlines trying to lower costs, fuel efficiency was an important issue that would return to haunt Boeing in the 1970s.
Boeing had promised to deliver the 747 to Pan Am by 1970, meaning that it had less than four years to develop, build and test the airplane. Work progressed at such a breakneck pace that all those who worked on the development of the 747 were given the nickname "The Incredibles". The massive cost of developing the 747 and building the Everett factory meant that Boeing had gambled its very existence on the 747's success, and the company was nearly bankrupted in the early 1970s. The gamble paid off, however, and Boeing enjoyed a monopoly on very large passenger transports that was only broken 35 years later with the advent of the Airbus A380.
Ladies and Gentlemen (or perhaps Men and Gentleladies), I urge you to consider how on earth this fine specimen of an Inteferencer isn't held up in the highest regard by all. If I had signature privileges I would be certain to make the addition of an Aardvark for President banner. But alas, this dream shall remain in my huuuuge Craig from Big Brother sized head.
Let us celebrate the culmination of the Aardvark and the Boeing 747 in a U2 fan!
I dont look like that!
... 
