>> doesn't the stress the airframe? and doing it repeatedly? wow... gary,
>> comments?
>>
>> /Acer V
Gary wrote:
>Sure. But airplanes are designed to be used. This service may not be as
>severe as commuter service in turbulence with landings and takeoffs
>("cycles") every 55 minutes. I'm sure that NASA is keeping track of the
>cumulative loads on the airplane and has an airframe life analysis ongoing.
>And remember, the airplane is lightly loaded for these trips; just Mark and
>a dozen or so students with their experiments - not the belly full of fuel
>the airplane was designed to carry.
Yes, NASA takes very good care of this plane. It was recently down for
about 9 months for a major overhaul and inspection. Just before we flew,
they had a rivet come loose on the intake of one of the engines, and it
damaged several turbine and stator blades on its way through. They
replaced the engine in one day! The 9-month long service must be _very_
involved. There are always mechanics crawling around and inspecting
things, so I feel safer flying on this plane than I do on a commercial
flight :)
>Gary (I'd go in a minute - might break my record of never actually puking
>inflight, though I've been a little green a couple of times when I didn't
>have the yoke in my own hands.)
Then Tom wrote:
>I'd be there right with you. Why do the students get all the fun (hey, I
>went to college in Houston and nobody offered me one of these rides).
The student program is a fairly recent thing. I think it's been running
for 4 or 5 years now. They even fly some high school teams too! It's a
great opportunity for these students, and sometimes they even get some
research done ;)
>I tried to convince Mark that the lens needed a handler, but no go.
Sorry Tom :) My wife has been asking if we need an educational
psychologist to fly with us for several years now :) The 16/3.5 is such
a gorgeous, small lens, it probably doesn't need much of a handler, but
the official photographer could have probably used a helper carrying
around that huge digital Canikon thing they had :)
Mark.
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