Aluminum Air Lines

At long last, the dream's about to be realized – ANA's 787

After a series of embarrassing production delays, logistics glitches and other assorted problems, Boeing’s new 787 “Dreamliner” is closer to taking wing on regularly-scheduled flights. ANA is the launch customer for the ultra-long-range craft, which is constructed significantly from composite material instead of aluminum. ANA gave people an inside peek at the airplane at the Paris Air Show.

As you might expect, a lot of the focus was up front, in Business Class. That’s where the airlines make a good chunk of their money. Passengers in the pointy end of the airplane will have full-flat beds, 17-inch touch panel LCD entertainment systems, and a ton of legroom. Those seats will be staggered, giving flyers their own personal space so they don’t disturb neighbors.

The theme of the “seven-eight’s” new interior is based on ANA’s ‘Inspiration of Japan’ concept. That’s nice, but what about folks in the back of the airplane, where most of us ride?

For starts ANA has installed fixed-back shell seats in Economy Class. The arrangement allows you to recline while not worrying about the person behind you. Economy Class on the new 787 is not without its own in-flight goodies. Music, movies, videos, and computer games can all be summoned via a touch-panel monitor. All seats are fitted with PC power and a USB port. Aircrafts scheduled for long-haul runs have an iPod jack as well.

So much for the seats. If you like to carry you bags on board rather than check them know that the 787’s overhead bins are 30 percent larger than the 777s – and the Triple-Seven’s are considered big. Each overhead has enough space for a quartet of regulation-sized bags.

From the ‘better-to-see-you-with’ department, windows are 30 percent larger than the 767’s.

The best benefit of all, however, is the ambience of the air on board. Because the fuselage is composite, not metal, the 787’s cabin air will contain higher humidity levels. That’s important – fewer dry noses and dry eyes. Aircraft cabins have been kept historically dry because moisture breeds metal corrosion. A bad thing.

The cabin will also be pressurized to 6,000 feet instead of 8,000. That too makes a big difference when it comes to comfort.

What this Cheapflights reporter noticed when he toured the 787’s cabin mock-up in Seattle a few years back was the spacious, sculpted nature of the interior. Boeing’s gone to lengths to try to banish the perception that you’re in a big aluminum tube. Mood lighting helps.

Dual Tire Inflator + Tire Pressure Balancer - ClubRoadster.net

What's the point of this? First, it lets me inflate my tires with half the effort. Instead of moving the compressor from tire to tire and adjusting pressure individually, I can connect the front two or rear two tires and inflate two tires simultaneously. Second, I only have to fiddle with the tire pressure once for the front and once for the back and I know that the left/right sides are balanced. There used to be a product called the Psiclops with the same idea, except it had a pressure gauge as well. The Psiclops is currently no longer on the market, so this is next best thing. I kinda thought I could build the same thing myself anyway, so I did. While I was at it, I threw in an air tool line dryer in a poor man's attempt at haivng "dry air" in the tires. Important note about the tire chucks: You'll definitely want to hunt down a chuck that (1) can clip onto the tire valve and (2) is normally closed. It's essential that the chuck is normally closed; othewise, you'll lose most of your tire pressure before you know it. I used Euro-style chucks because they're easy to pop on and off. Unfortunately, the rubber seals in the ones I bought were too hard and sealed poorly. I ended up replacing them with sections of silicone hose for better compliance against the tire valve. I had some red silicone hose in the garage, so that's why the inside of the chuck is red in the photos. Quick note about the ear clamps: You can use whatever you want, really. If you can salvage some of those spiral/spring clamps that they use on portable tire inflators, that would work well (but kind of annoying to work with). Or regular hose clamps if you want something readily available. I used Oetiker clamps because I didn't want the clamps to snag on anything and/or scratch my wheels. The roofing air line is terminated with two 1/4" NPT male connectors. Slice the line somewhere in the middle at lengths appropriate for your car. (I made one short and one long line because I inflate my tire from the side of the car; if you inflate from the front or rear, you'll want the lengths to be even.) Put an ear clamp over the free end of the hose, push the hose over the barb on the tire chuck, and close the clamp. I turned the clamp so that the ear is under the chuck's clip release so that it doesn't snag on anything.

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