6 April 2014 Almost There...

In Copenhagen

After 20 hours of flying I got only about 2 hours of sleep - a bit less than I was hoping for. Since the seats in planes these days are so cramped I could not reasonably work on my laptop while flying as the ergonomics are akin to trying to do ballet in an old phone booth (to use an analogy that might not mean much to my current students). So I took advantage of the complimentary movies available on long flights as my eyes were too bleary to read.

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" - Thumbs up - cute romantic Ben Stiller movie, not as comedic as his others, but a nice take on an old classic.

"Frozen" - The highest grossing animated film ever. It doesn't matter what I think. And I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see Sven or Olaf merchandise in my house when I get back.

"The Dallas Buyers Club" - The best Matthew McConnaughey movie ever - he was awesome and the starvation diet he endured to play the part must have been awful. Then again, if I was making $20 million for a movie role I bet I could find the motivation to shed a few pounds, too.

"Ender's Game" - I chose this one because I've seen my students carry this book around as part of their assigned reading. The movie was not that good to me and I suppose the main reason it was selected for assigned reading was to carry on the moral/ehtical discussion about how to handle alien species - are they entitled to the same rights we are? An interesting thought that gives very literal meaning to the phrase "alienable rights." And of course there is the physical, emotional, and psychological manipulation of children. But I haven't read the book itself so I shouldn't pass judgement on that. Harrison Ford is really getting old now.

But I digress...

One of my favorite features of Harper's magazine in the infamous Harper's Index. Each issue has a page of numerical facts, located near the front of the magazine, that tell a story without any editorial annotation. The simple juxtaposition of the facts tell the reader all they need know. With apologies to Harper's, here's my Hood Index as it pertains to my first flight: Anchorage to Minneapolis.

Model: Boeing 737-900ER.

Takeoff time (from rest to airborne): 40 sec.

Avg. takeoff acceleration: 0.18g = 1.76 m/s/s (measured using accelerometer). . Estimated takeoff speed = 70.6 m/s = 157 mph. (calculated using kinematics).

Takeoff speed according to the pilot = 156 mph .

Max thrust force of engines = 2 x 125 kN = 250 kN.

Estimated mass of plane: = 85,337 kg (using Newton's 2nd law and 0.6 max thrust** as the net force and 1.76 as the acceleration).

Pilot's estimate of the weight of plane at take off = 164,000 lbs. = (74,545 kg - he didn't give me the kg, I converted).

Sound intensity level during take off = 95 dB. = subway train at 200 feet = permanent damage will occur if one is consistently exposed to this level.

Sound intensity level during cruise = 82 dB (avg) = a loud conversation.

Width of seat = 44 cm (measured from inside of armrest to inside of armrest).

Width of Mr. Hood's shoulders = 52 cm.

Number of times Mr. Hood's shoulders were struck by bathroom-going passengers and beverage carts = uncountable.

Distance between my seat back and the seat in front of me = 65 cm.

Same distance for the back seat of a Scion iQ, considered the world's smallest 4 passenger car = 72.6 cm.

Distance between my back and the front of my knees when sitting = 64 cm.

Number of peanuts in my only complimentary snack = 12

Those interested in such things should look up the phrase "derated takeoff." No commercial airliner takeoff is done at full throttle so as to have power in reserve in case of emergency. But more than that, EVERY takeoff is specifically calculated in terms of air temperature, runway length, cargo, passengers, etc. (It would be cool to see the algorithm the computer uses - the pilots just enter the data.) So the exact amount of engine thrust for a given takeoff will vary depending on the nature of these conditions. I just threw a dart and went with 60% of full power for my calculation. I thought it was most interesting that all three of my flights so far involved takeoff times of almost exactly 40 seconds, regardless of aircraft or load (or runway). Is there something significant in that?

It is now heading toward 2 am local time here in Copenhagen and I would like to take a nap before getting ready for the last flight to Greenland.

Fun fact: The Copenhagen Airport has three wheeled luggage scooters for people to use. You kick you and your luggage along just like you would on a skateboard. How cool is that!!

I'll be in Greenland tomorrow (well, later today, really).