Travel28 Oct 2002 08:42 pm
On my weekly trips to Columbus I travel home on a Embraer 145. Which is a smaller regional jet (around 65 seats). It is a lot faster, and a lot quicker than the Dash-8 that I am stuck in on the way too Columbus. Both of these flights are USAir express flights and for the most part I have been very happy with the service. Sure the flights were delayed by 10-20 minutes every now and then, but nothing major, until I tried to go home last week.
October 28th, 2002 at 1:15 pm
How come the fun stuff always happens to you? I have always wanted to look inside the cockpit for a while and punch some of those buttons. My major dilemma is whether or not I feel safer on the new high-tech planes or the old-school prop ones. I think there is less to go wrong on the prop ones so they are safer. In addition, the EMB-145 relys heavily on computer navigation which makes me a little nervous.
I think my conclusion is although the EMB-145 is faster, I feel more comfortable on the Dash-8.
October 28th, 2002 at 6:12 pm
Well, one thing I do know is that jets are the single most reliable form of air transportation. Prop planes next, and turboprops the highest failure rate. Basically it has to do with complexity of the propulsion system. I believe only one Airbus plane is actually certified to fly with no mechanical backup controls, so you’re probably ok.
October 28th, 2002 at 7:54 pm
That is good to know. I figured that it wasn’t entirely computer aided, but you have to admit that is amusing that ‘rebooting’ the plane fixed the problem. I am betting that the new BMW 7 series will have a similiar issue. Of course that actually is Windows, and it was created by Accenture.
October 28th, 2002 at 8:04 pm
Randy - just an FYI you’re clock somwhere is wildly askew. Either that or you have an uncanny capability of predicting the future.
October 29th, 2002 at 7:18 am
Your comment about the Windows in the new 7 is apparently true.
From my mailing list:
Gerald: Subject: BMW 745Li 2002
What is the issue with this car?
When I insert the key and press Start/Stop, the engine will not turn over. The result is a winding sound like when a cars battery is to low to spark the proper ignition.
I do not understand this one…
Kevin:
Gerald,
The flippant answer is to say what do you expect for a car run on Microsoft CE.
October 29th, 2002 at 8:28 am
I would think that the propulsion systems in a jet aircraft run almost entirely from computers would be more “complicated” than a turboprop. On the other hand though, when you hear about crashes, you usually hear “twin engine prop plane went down right outside the airport”.
It seems BMW has fallen into some Gateaholism
October 29th, 2002 at 9:00 am
Time problem has been corrected. I must have fat fingered my time editing.
November 9th, 2002 at 4:35 pm
In complexity, a turbo-prop is basically a jet with a fan attached on the front, so nope, not any simpler. Don’t know why people bother, honestly, except better fuel economy.
Anyway, as to the new 7-series, it’s a disaster of human interaction. A friend bought one, said it took him 20 minutes to get radio settings figured out. And he has a Masters in electrical engineering.