howwwzattt... of facts and more facts...

FAST FACTS ON BOEING 747:

Parts:

•A 747-400 has six million parts, half of which are fasteners.

•A 747-400 has 171 miles (274 km) of wiring and 5 miles (8 km) of tubing.

•A 747-400 consists of 147,000 pounds (66,150 kg) of high-strength aluminum.

•The 747-400 has 16 main landing gear tires and two nose landing gear tires.

•The 747-400 tail height is 63 feet 8 inches (19.4 m), equivalent to a six-story building.

Wings:

•The 747-400 wing weighs 95,000 pounds (43,090 kg), more than 30 times the weight of the first Boeing airplane, the 1916 B&W.

•The 747-400 wing measures 5,600 square feet (524.9 m 2 ), an area large enough to hold 45 medium-sized automobiles.

•Four World War I vintage JN4-D "Jenny" airplanes could be lined up on each of the Boeing 747 wings.

•How much weight does an additional 6-foot (1.8-m) wingtip extension and winglet add to the 747-400 wing? None! A weight savings of approximately 5,000 pounds (2,270 kg) was achieved in the wing by using new aluminum alloys, which offset the weight increase of the wing tip extension and winglet

Engineering and Testing:

•Seventy-five thousand engineering drawings were used to produce the first 747.

•The first 747 completed more than 15,000 hours of wind-tunnel testing.

•The original 747 flight test program, which led to the airplane's certification for commercial service in December 1969, used five airplanes, lasted 10 months and required more than 1,500 hours of flying.

Flight:

•The 747 fleet has logged more than 42 billion nautical miles (77.8 billion kilometers), equivalent to 101,500 trips from the Earth to the moon and back.

•The 747 fleet has flown 3.5 billion people - the equivalent of more than half of the world's population.

•The 747-400ER range is approximately 7,713 nautical miles (14,297 km).

•A 747-400 typically takes off at 180 mph (290 km/h), cruises at 565 mph (910 km/h) and lands at 160 mph (260 km/h).

•For a typical international flight, one 747 operator uses about 5.5 tons (5,000 kg) of food supplies and more than 50,000 in-flight service items.

Engines:

•Engine thrust has grown from 43,500 pounds (19,730 kg) per engine on the early 747s to as much as 63,300 pounds (28,710 kg) on the current model.

•The diameter of the 747 engine cowling is 8 feet 6 inches (2.6 m).

Fuel:

•The 747-400ER can carry more than 63,500 gallons of fuel (240,370 L), making it possible to fly extremely long routes, such as Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia.

•A 747-400 that flies 3,500 statute miles (5,630 km) and carries 126,000 pounds (56,700 kg) of fuel will consume an average of five gallons (19 L) per mile.

•The 747-400 carries 3,300 gallons (12,490 L) of fuel in the horizontal (tail) stabilizer, allowing it to fly an additional 350 nautical miles.

Interior:

•The award-winning Boeing Signature Interior is available on both the 747-400 and 747-400ER.

•At 31,285 cubic feet (876 cubic meters), the 747-400 has the largest passenger interior volume of any commercial airliner, which is equivalent to more than three houses each measuring 1,500 square feet (135 square meters).

•The 747-400 has a redesigned "flexible" cabin interior that allows airlines to rearrange seats and class configuration overnight (in eight hours). They also permit 48-hour conversion times for changes in galley and lavatory locations.

•Airline cargo handlers use the 747-400's lower-lobe cargo handling system to load or unload more than 65,000 pounds (30,000 kg) of cargo - the equivalent of 625 pieces of luggage combined with 20 tons of revenue freight - in less than 15 minutes.

•The Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., could have been performed within the 150-foot (45-m) economy section of a 747-400.

•There are 365 lights, gauges and switches in the new-technology 747-400 flight deck, reduced from 971 on earlier 747 models.

**These were taken from MAS Engineering & Maintenace Portal.

howwwzattt... of good face, talent and luck...

NEW YORK - Get lost, Hugh Jackman. This year's "Sexiest Man Alive" is once again Johnny Depp.

Depp nudged aside Jackman to get the coveted endorsement from People magazine Wednesday. It's the 46-year-old actor's second time as "Sexiest Man Alive." He also won in 2003. (more here)

Well in Malaysia when you are 46, most likely you'll be starring as a father or some gardener or driver. Never will you get the chance to be the leading man any longer except for Jalaluddin Hassan and Rosyam Nor.

Over here we only interested in looking at the book cover, never on what we are going to find inside of the book.

To stress more on my point, recently Captain Jack Sparrow had signed a deal for the fourth installment of Pirates Of Caribbean for a whopping 21mil pound sterlings making him the highest paid leading man in the world surpassing Tom Cruise.

howwwzattt... of policies and syiokkk sendiri...

Today I think I’m going to talk about 1Malaysian. What exactly they mean by 1Malaysian? Aren’t all this while we are a 1Malaysian?

Malaysia is unique in many ways where the nation is a melting pot for many races, cultures and religions so in that sense without further propagating the 1Malaysian concepts, it’s a common knowledge for all that we are ONE.

A few months back I was driving somewhere near Jalan San Peng in KL with a friend (he was an Indian guy) sometimes during midnight.

After I took a turn towards the Pudu Jail suddenly a patrol car came wailing by my side and asked me to pull over. As any good citizens would do I just obliged by pulling over by the road side.

I know, I didn’t do any traffic violations at that moment.

Fast forward:

I relate my experience to a buddy of mine who happens to be a police officer and it baffled me after hearing his explanation.

1. Any car which occupants consist of a Malay and an Indian travel well past midnight will be stopped.

2. Any car which occupants consist of a Malay and a Chinese travel well past midnight will be stopped.

3. Any car which occupants consist of an Indian and a Chinese travel well past midnight will be stopped.

4. Any car which occupants consist of all of the above travel well past midnight will be stopped.

And now they have the cheeks to introduce this 1Malaysian crap...

howwwzattt... a new breed of major players...

MAS Among Top 10 Airlines In Global Local Monitor

November 16, 2009 11:08 AM
From Manik Mehta

NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's national carrier, Malaysia Airlines (MAS), is among top 10 airlines in the first Global Local Monitor on airline websites.

Although MAS was No. 10 in the top list, trailing behind other Asian rivals such as Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Cathay Pacific and Asiana, the fact that MAS could make it to the Global Local Monitor is quite an achievement.

This year, the User Experience Alliance (UXalliance), a global network of leading user research firms, celebrated World Usability Day by unveiling the preliminary findings of the first-ever Global Local Monitor.

The monitor assesses the efficacy of a site and its level of localisation or adaptation to local language and culture.

Localisation is based on factors such as the proper use of local languages, character sets, weights and measures, currencies, dates and times and culturally sensitive imagery.

In this case, it examines how well an airlines' website is localised by gauging its impact on a customer's ability to complete travel bookings or find important information.

Ultimately, it impacts brand perception and sales.

The Global-Local Monitor for airlines drew upon the talents and expertise of over 70 user experience professionals from 17 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas.

This is the broadest systematic localisation review ever conducted by user experience professionals. The Global-Local airline monitor involved five local user experience experts in each country, each reviewing the 10 websites on 30 localisation criteria.

The 10 websites surveyed were those shortlisted for the Skytrax Airline of the year award which annually rates airline performance by more than 16 million air travellers.

The UXalliance investigated whether the airlines was recognised by their outstanding service in the air also deliver the same outstanding service in their online customer experience to users in various locations around the world.

The findings reveal that of the world's 10 top-rated airlines, Emirates, Quantas and Qatar Airways were rated highest in terms of meeting of the needs of local users around the world.

The determining success factors were information in the local language, culturally appropriate character sets, colour schemes and imagery and well-localised calendar formats.

The airlines rated lowest tended to be less developed or representative of the local markets.

Following are the full localisation ratings and rankings:

Airline Rating Rank

Emirates 7.76 1
Quantas 7.32 2
Qatar 7.27 3
Singapore 7.26 4
CathayPacific 7.21 5
New Zealand 7.15 6
Thai 6.88 7
Etihad 6.76 8
Asiana 6.49 9
Malaysia 6.37 10

Through its extensive experience in global user research, the UXalliance knows companies that excel in localising their sites have a higher probability of connecting with their customers and maximising profitability of their local websites.

Surprisingly, not a single European or North American airline figured in the top 10 airlines. -- BERNAMA

howwwzattt... year end journal or a bit of it ...

The year 2009 is coming to its end in less than 2 months. What looked like a bleak period in the beginning, slowly morphed into a good time if not better.

No resolutions fulfil as usual and I do feel I would never accomplish any resolutions no matter how I tried.

Before December ends, I'm hoping that everything I worked for will bear fruits and then I will ease myself by enjoying it to the fullest with my love ones.

Age is catching up with one or two strands of greying hair but still it is not bad if comparison to be made against some.

Yes, I'm in a different pair of shoes now and in the state of absent minded yes, I have accomplished something at least...

howwwzattt... big boyz toyz...

Lotus F1 Racing wind-tunnel model

Exactly how much do we need to spend in term of running an F1 team per year?

By next year Malaysians will see the 1Malaysian – Lotus F1 team entering as the 13th team for the Formula One Championship and if we consider the time frame, it is not that far from where we are standing now.

SUNDAY CHAT (New Sunday Times 18 Oct 2009)

“With groundbreaking announcements and decisions all made in a matter of weeks, Timesport’s Arnaz M. Khairul isn’t too convinced about the feasibility of the project and believes it was a rush job and that Malaysia isn’t ready for this.

However, Fernandes (Dato’ Tony Fernandes) explains why it isn’t exactly a bad idea.”

So, what does it mean by “it isn’t exactly a bad idea”?

Remember the first time around when we somehow involved with the F1 in the form of Alex Yoong?

Well, 8 years down the road or shall I say down the drain, we still got nothing to be proud of except for one driver and even he was not the product of all those promises. Come to think of it, by the year 2010 he will be considered too old to start his first grid race.

So Tony, which is which?

You don’t compare how you set up AirAsia with setting up an F1 team. Of course we all know you’ve got the full backing from the government and I’m pretty sure there was money to be made along the ways. But it is not from the team, it is from the sideshows. And in Malaysia, there were tons of money to be made just from the sideshows only and it was proven in many ways before.

With setting up an aviation company, all the things were there. Say if you buy a brand new Airbus, I’m sure you’ll get fewer headaches in term of maintenance and all for a few thousands flight hours. You just need to focus on marketing and business strategies. Soon profit will pours in.

In Formula One, you have to start from scratches. You have to develop your team right from designing your own chassis to the drivers itself.

Will you not feel frustrated just for a few laps, your car stalled? It happens to many of the world known teams before.

We are venturing into a new kind of turf where Toyota and Honda failed. Both are world class player, they have the money, facilities, technical knowhow and have proven themselves in the global car making industries. Still, why they failed?

Are we going to learn from this? We still haven’t learnt the significant first time around 8 years ago.

It is not about how much money we have and how much money we are willing to part with. It is about passion in the industry, passion just like the Brazilian with their football and the Indian with their cricket.

Have you ever wonder why all government backing sporting projects ended prematurely and miserably?

Let the one who knows about the industries govern the industries, not politicians or their proxies. Or is it just our culture to have ties with politicians so that whatever means we need are easily granted?

By doing so, you are going to insult the intelligence of the Malaysians.

I still haven’t state my stands on this, but honestly it is just not my priority just yet and this piece is truly from a Malaysian ordinary Joe.

howwwzattt... a new breed of air transport has arrive...

Leman, this is the answer to your question and to the rest of us Malaysians:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia Airlines said Friday it will stick to its order of six Airbus A380s as it expects global travel to pick up by late next year.

Newly appointed Managing Director Tengku Azmil Zahruddin said the superjumbos, due to be delivered from 2011, will be used for long-haul routes such as London, Sydney and Armsterdam.

The airline is also taking delivery of 35 Boeing B737-800 aircraft from the fourth quarter of 2010 to replace its existing single-aisle planes. Its fleet renewal plan aims to lower costs for fuel, engineering and maintenance, Azmil said.

"Our core network is in Asia, Middle East and Australia ... but we do have a lot of traffic coming in from Europe. The A380s will allow us to do a lot more than what we are able to do today," he told a news conference.

Some airlines are reviewing their A380 orders as the slump in global travel undermines the profitability of flying the superjumbo.

The International Air Transport Association has predicted global airline losses will swell to $11 billion this year. It predicted a 2010 loss of $3.8 billion, and doesn't expect the industry to turn a profit until 2011 at the earliest.

Azmil said 2011 will be good timing for Malaysia Airlines to take delivery of the A380 given the expected industry upturn.

The carrier is also studying plans to buy a new fleet of wide-bodied aircraft to cater to future growth but has not yet made any decision, he said.

Azmil, who joined the airline in 2005, took over the helm from Idris Jala following Jala's appointment as a Cabinet minister in late August.

He said the carrier plans to further cut costs by 700 million ringgit ($202 million) this year. Bookings have been promising but yields — a measure of revenue per seat — remained soft, he said. The carrier has cut capacity by 12% in the first half this year and recently withdrew from New York and Stockholm routes.

Malaysia Airlines returned to profitability in the second quarter, thanks to a large gain on derivatives contracts, but still suffered an operationg loss due to a decline in sales.

It posted a net profit of 876 million ringgit ($250 million) for April-June, rebounding from a loss of 695 million ringgit ($199 million) in the previous quarter and up from 34 million ringgit ($10 million) in the same quarter a year earlier.

www.usatoday.com

howwwzattt... how clean is clean???

REUTERS - October 6, 2009

US airlines will be required to regularly disinfect and monitor on-board drinking water systems under a new rule unveiled Tuesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has for the first time tailored existing public water monitoring regulations to commercial aircraft.

The change, five years in the making and affecting 63 airlines and 7,300 planes, will replace interim systems for monitoring bacteria and other pathogens that could sicken passengers.

The EPA expects the annual cost to the industry to be about USD$7 million. Airlines have 18 months to develop maintenance plans that comply with the standards.

Regulators found in 2004 that some US airlines were not in compliance with general clean water standards, mainly because existing EPA rules did not specifically cover on-board water systems.

The EPA ordered dozens of carriers to take steps to ensure that drinking water aboard their planes was clean.

This is from my earlier posting in 2007:

"In outer space the ISS or the International Space Station carry its own miniature water treatment plant onboard.

However, unlike most water treatment plant on Earth, the ISS system recycles the urine of both the crew and the laboratory animals and returns it to the drinking water supply and the fact is that the water runs from the ISS taps is more cleaner and pure than what we’re having from our kitchen taps.

Now isn’t that interesting?"

howwwzattt... let us pray...

TAUFAN PARMA bergerak ke arah tenggara dan dijangka melanda Filipina malam ini. -Sumber: JMM

PETALING JAYA: Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (JMM) hari ini mengesahkan ribut tropika Parma tidak akan melanda perairan Malaysia.

Bagaimanapun Pengarah Pusat Ramalan Cuaca Nasional JMM, Saw Bun Liong berkata, tempias ribut tropika itu akan dirasai di beberapa kawasan perairan Sabah dengan angin kencang selaju 30 hingga 50 kilometer sejam.

"JMM telah mengeluarkan amaran laut bergelora serta angin kencang sehingga Jumaat ini (9 Oktober)," katanya kepada mStar Online.

Bun Liong berkata, ombak setinggi 3.5 meter turut dijangka berlaku di sekitar perairan Phuket, Samui, Kelantan, Terengganu, Condore, North Reef, Layang-Layang, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan, bahagian barat Sabah dan Palawan.

Menurutnya, JMM akan memantau perkembangan ribu tropika Parma dan akan mengemaskinikan amaran dari semasa ke semasa menerusi media dan laman web JMM.

Dalam pada itu, Bun Liong berkata, JMM meramalkan Taufan PARMA akan melanda Filipina malam ini.

BERITA TERDAHULU

PETALING JAYA: Sejak beberapa jam yang lalu, terdapat beberapa pihak yang mengedarkan SMS memaklumkan bahawa ribut taufan yang kuat dinamakan PARMA dengan kelajuan 222 kilometer sejam akan melanda negara jiran Filipina menjelang tengah malam ini.

SMS tersebut memberi amaran kepada penerimanya bahawa tempias ribut ini dijangka sampai ke Malaysia beberapa jam selepas itu.

“Elakkan daripada berada di tempat awam dan terbuka juga beri amaran kepada mereka yang tinggal di pantai Timur Semenanjung Malaysia,” kata pesanan ringkas tersebut.

Usaha sedang dijalankan untuk mendapatkan pengesahan daripada pihak Jabatan Kaji Cuaca Malaysia.

Sehingga berita ini disahkan oleh pihak berkuasa anggaplah pesanan ini sebagai satu berita yang belum tepat kesahihannya.

howwwzattt... fyi...

Blogging from Pak Li Kopitiam somewhere in Danau Kota.

Look At What Birds Can Do At 500mph