Aids HIV FAQ

Seat Selection, Part 1

Question:

This is the best comment on the many fascinating issues raised for us traveleres by the ever-more-complex world of commercial aviation since your innovative design for the 360-degree runway, posted long before United introduced 777-200 service on its SFO-LHR run.  Wasn’t Chicago’s Midway airport designed somewhat like this, except with triangular swatches of grass, pointing inward towards the center, to remind the avairotrs and their curious and no doubt hungry passengers of the delights awainting them in Chitowns famous pizza eateries, when and if they landed safely, wind direction permitting of course?

Response:

By God. I think you’re right about the pizza thing! David

Response:

Seat Selection By David Sommer The more I think about the subject of airline seat selection, the more complex it seems. So many factors must be considered. And for many of us, there really is no choice. Indeed, our seats are selected by fickle destiny more often than our will. As an old Malay proverb states, "it is the fate of the coconut husk to float, and the stone to sink." Back in the earliest days of aviation, Seat Selection was not the daunting quodlibet it can be today. That Italian guy who did smart things way back when, Leonardo Da Vinci, is generally credited with designing three types of aircraft: "an ornithopter, a machine with mechanical wings designed to flap like those of a bird; a helicopter, designed to rise by the revolving of a rotor on a vertical axis; and a glider, consisting of a wing fixed to a frame on which a person might coast on the air." All of these aircraft allowed seating for just one passenger, and I suspect ornithopter passengers especially insisted on drinking and smoking, and being as close to an exit as possible, as a rule. In 1914, commercial aviation began in earnest, with the start of scheduled service between those two great Floridian capitals of the world, St. Petersburg and Tampa. A Benoit Seaplane was used. Benoit is pronounced "Ben-Wa" but should not be confused with the famous Chinese masturbation aids for females (and adventuresome males, one might imagine). The Benoit Seaplane cruised at 90 mph, and seat selection was limited, as there were but two places aboard the aircraft. Nonetheless, 1200 passengers were carried that first season of service on a 20-minute journey across Tampa Bay. Of course, the scenery was different then, as it is different today. P

Filed under: Aids