Gizmodo Australia » flying

This Flight Helmet Collection Will Kill Your Childhood Dreams

Rosa Golijan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:20:00 +0000

I often daydream about piloting a super-speedy, highly experimental spy plane, but I lost all hope of ever doing that when I saw these flight helmets. Real, modded, new or old, they’re freaky enough to turn daydreams into night terrors.

While flying or flight helmets like these are great ways to look like a cyborg, I’d still prefer it if they had more appealing paint jobs. [Oobject]

This week, Gizmodo is exploring the enhanced human future in a segment we call This Cyborg Life. It’s about what happens when we treat our body less as a sacred object and more as what it is: Nature’s ultimate machine.

Flight Test: Business Vs Economy Class

Damian Francis — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:37 +0000

For those of you who read Giz’s sister site, Lifehacker, you’ll probably know that editor Angus Kidman writes a lot of stories about flying. I thought I would join his flying reporting club by putting a bit of a Giz spin on this. And I’m hoping to open this up to the community as well for opinion.

Two weeks ago I was in Japan. Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re saying to yourself, “Hold on Damo, you’re in Japan now. And you were in Japan two weeks ago? What’s the go?”. Well, true story. I was back in Sydney last week and am now back in Japan, but aside from severe jet lag and a wallet full of yen, it did give me a bit of an eye opener when it came to airline options.

My point is this. When I flew to Japan the first time, I flew Singapore Airlines economy on its A380 via Singapore. In the A380 you get massive 10.2-inch screens, power plugs in EVERY seat, USB ports in every seat and a huge selection of media. That’s not to mention that it feels a hell of a lot more spacious than your average economy cabin as it’s so big and you can freely walk from the top level to the bottom level.

It gets even better if you happen to live in Adelaide. While you may not get to fly the A380, Singapore Airlines sends its A330 there. Sure, it’s not quad-engined or double-decker, but in economy you can connect your iPod or iPhone to the screen and watch your content on the bigger screen. Economy!

For this trip to Japan I flew JAL (Japan Airlines). My flight actually took off from Brisbane and it was an older 767-300. Now, don’t get me wrong, a bad business class flight is still a good flight, but the seats were old, the screens were small, the media selection wasn’t that great and it was hard to connect to a power point. For this the price was almost 10 times what I paid for economy.

It seems to me that if you fly business, you really have to keep an eye out for the airline and the actual aircraft they deploy on that route. New economy really has outdone itself on a few airlines. I would much rather fly in the Singapore Airlines A380 (it’s heaven for tech buffs) in econo than an old aircraft in business just because I have more legroom. My view may differ on a flight more than 10 hours though. Would you choose new econo style or old business style? Do you perhaps look up airlines websites to see which aircrafts they deploy on the route first before booking? I know I do.

In JAL’s defence, its newly refurbished aircraft are quite the bomb. Oh, I just put bomb and aircraft in the same line… lucky I didn’t write this near the airport security gate. Hahahaha… You’re not laughing are you?

Damian Francis is the editor-at-large for Australian T3 and contributing technology editor for GQ Australia. He is in Japan as a guest of Toyota Australia.

Foreign Airlines Rushing To Offer In-Flight Phone Service

Adam Frucci — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:30:00 +0000

In America, you need to keep your phone off between takeoff and landing. But on foreign airlines such as Emirates and Ryanair, you’re welcome to make calls in-flight. Better them than us.

These airlines have overcome safety concerns that have kept phones off in the air before:

On-board equipment regulates the signals by routing them via satellite to the correct point on the ground. Passengers with standard international roaming service can make or receive calls or text messages just as they would on the ground. They are billed as usual by their mobile phone providers.

That’s all well and good, but just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Allowing people to talk on their phones in the air will turn a quiet flight into 6 hours of being trapped next to some guy on a conference call. Luckily, Congress is working towards banning in-flight mobile phone use just for that reason. Please, please, please make that happen. In-flight Wi-Fi is amazing, but in-flight mobile phone use is the work of the devil. [NY Times]

Stay At the Hotelicopter: The World’s First Flying Hotel

Sean Fallon — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Since 2004, the company behind the Hotelicopter has been working to modify a Soviet-made Mil V-12 into two world firsts: the “world’s biggest helicopter” and the “world’s first flying hotel.”

As you might have guessed, the experience on board the Hotelicopter is far from your standard Motel 6. This gigantic flying ~~Titanic~~ machine features everything you would expect from a 5-star hotel—from private entertainment systems and room service to extras like spa treatments, yoga classes, gaming and a tea garden.

If you were wondering just how big and powerful this flying hotel really is, check out the specs:

* Dimensions Length: 42 m (137 ft)
* Height: 14m (45 ft)
* Maximum Takeoff Weight: 105850 kg (232,870 lb)
* Maximum speed: 255 km/h (137 kt) (158 miles/h)
* Cruising speed: 237 km/h (127 kt) (147 miles/h)
* Original Mi Range: 515 km (320 mi)
* Our augmented Mi Range – 1,030 km (640 mi)

The inaugural flight is set to take place on June 26th for an undisclosed price. Obviously, only the affluent need apply—but anyone that is interested can head on over to the Hotelicopter website to get more info about setting up a reservation. [Hotelicopter Thanks Zlooop!]

Two-Seated Flying Machine Sounds Like the Perfect Daredevil Date

Elaine Chow — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Nothing screams something special for the missus like the chance for you both to cheat death together. Get on this Tanarg two-seated flying thing and you won’t be able to pry her off you.

The air recreational vehicle is a two-seater trike from Air Creation. It’s built on a modular wire-mesh structure and gets its power from either a Rotax 912 or 582 engine. To play with it, you drive you and your mate off some kind of cliff and (hopefully) glide around until it’s time to go down.

The price for developing closeness through a near-death experience: $US50,000 to $US85,000. [Air Creation via Born Rich]

Water-Powered Jetpack Would Be the Most Godly Firefighting Tool Ever

Mark Wilson — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:28:43 +0000

You know how some jerk in a water gun fight always cheats by grabbing the hose? Well, this pilot could totally beat that guy at his own game.

[via gizmowatch]

United Airlines Wi-Fi to Cost $US13 Later This Year

Mark Wilson — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:27:02 +0000

United has announced more details regarding their long-planned inflight internet services. Coming in the second half of this year, Wi-Fi will cost customers $US13 per flight.

The service, provided by Aircell’s GoGo (no surprise since they pretty much rule the spectrum), will initially be available on 13 Boeing 757s that fly between New York and California to provide web surfing, email, IMming and corporate VPN access. Hopefully United will roll out the service to those of us not flying coast-to-coast shortly thereafter.

What do you think, is $US13 a fair price? I believe it is, though I’d like to see that cost go down on shorter trips (a pricing option that Virgin has already implemented). [United]

British Airways Offers Check-in Via Mobile Phone In 11 Languages

Nick Broughall — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:30:19 +0000

I say! Have you heard of this jolly good technology being sprouted on the interweb, old chap? It’s a British invention, naturally. British Airways is letting its passengers check in via their mobile phone. No, no, not just on the iPhone – although they’ve offered that since July – on any mobile phone with a mobile browser. They’re even offering the service in 11 different languages. I know: you have to wonder about the state of the Empire when our national airline offers something in French, but at least we beat those buggers across the Pond to the punch. The best part, other than it being British, is that you don’t even have to download any additional software – just point your mobile browser at www.ba.com/mobile and enter your booking number and surname. What’s that? Why yes, it is jolly good. Well, I’m off to enjoy the miserable British weather. Huru!

[BA]

Ear Pressure Equaliser Sucks On Your Eardrum to Un-Pop It in Planes

Kit Eaton — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:20:07 +0000

Now that’s a headline you won’t see often, and yet that’s exactly what this gizmo does. You pop it in your ear, and squeeze it to create negative pressure outside your eardrum, thus compensating for the sometimes painful inward-flex caused as the aircraft you’re flying in descends from altitude. Or you climb back down a mountain. There is a safety vent, so nothing should go bang (ouch!)… as befits a device developed by a professor from the Tinnitus Research and Balance Clinic in Melbourne Australia. Still, since it costs a surprising $US60, I’ll be sticking with my Eustachian tubes, thankyouverymuch. [OhGizmo]

Qantas Now Pretty Sure That Your iPod Didn’t Almost Crash Their Plane

John Herrman — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Early last week a Qantas Airlines Airbus A330 surprised (and injured) its passengers with an inexplicable 300ft climb, followed by an even larger drop. Initial reports seemed to place blame on interference from personal electronics — something that Qantas had claimed before. After the news made the rounds the situation became muddied, with Qantas claiming that the initial news reporting misrepresented their claims and reporters backing away from the story. In any case, rest easy, Australian in-flight gadgeteers — it wasn’t your fault.

The Air Data Inertial Reference System, which supplies position and attitude information to the plane’s electronic instrumentation system, starting producing bogus data due to an internal error, not external interference. As funny as the ideas of an A330-controlling iPhone app or an Autopilot-B-Gone are, the general consensus of experts that spoke on this issue is that commercial jets are unlikely to be affected at all by personal electronics, let alone driven into the ground. [ABC AU via Slashdot]