Airport - Gizmodo

posts about #airport more →
San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
New Apple Products Leaked, Sources Claim
Very Stupid UFO Spotted at New York's JFK Airport
Airport Update Fixes OS 10.5.8 Issues
I Don't Want to Land Here
Airport, Time Capsule Get Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 'Guest Networking'
Apple Store Down, Rumors Point to Upgraded Desktops, Time Capsule, Airport Extreme
Fake-Weapon Suitcases May Not Be Your Friend at Airports
American Airlines Brings Cellphone Boarding Passes to O'Hare
TSA Airport Screener Steals Over $200,000 in Gadgets, Almost Gets Away With It

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

brianmi40
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
Fatal flaw? I'm gonna go with Tsunami/Perfect Storm for #1. Pilots having to qualify for landing on an aircraft carrier to get a route into San Diego (ask one how it is to land on one in rolling seas...) for #2. And finally, the need for water taxis to get me and my luggage back to my car as #3. Yeah, this will happen.... not. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

brianmi40 was starred brianmi40 was unstarred

AaronProtesilaus
10/27/09

@brianmi40:

A tsunami would more likely destroy a traditional airport, especially a coastal one. At 10 miles out to sea, a "normal" tsunami wouldn't appear any different than a normal wave. the floating tarmac itself would suffer practically no damage at all. A mega-tsunami (like in the movies) would destroy everything either way so your point there is moot

To your second point, carrier landings are so difficult because of how short the landing deck is. A pilot has to land on essentially a floating postage stamp, --in fact landing near one edge of said stamp. This airport will be full-sized with 747-capable runways which are is 17,000+ ft long, almost 30 times longer than a supercarrier's total deck length (about 700ft).

I am also thinking that a full-sized airport has got to weigh many orders of magnitude more than a supercarrier and if it will have 4 stories worth of retail and service space above the water, then dealing with 20 ft-plus storm waves should not be a problem.

I have to agree that getting to and from the airport itself would be an unnecessarily long, expensive, and dangerous process.

It might not practical now but it isn't undo-able or ridiculous. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

Canoehead promoted this comment AaronProtesilaus was starred AaronProtesilaus was unstarred

Canoehead
10/28/09

@AaronProtesilaus: Also note that on a carrier the runway is moving away from you - forwards AND sideways, in addition to pitching and yawing. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

Canoehead was starred Canoehead was unstarred

Hello Mister Walrus
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
Didn't Cobra try to do this, and then the GI Joes crashed a giant helicopter into it? #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

frigg
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
If there is a fatal flaw it's that there don't appear to be plans to ferry passengers off the island. For the first year or so of operation, it's easy to see how something like that could be overlooked, with passengers simply booking rooms in the hotels and taking classes at the university to fill up their time. But at some point, the platform will be saturated with passengers, and they'll need to develop some system for either accommodating larger numbers of arriving passengers indefinitely, or moving them to another location. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

frigg was starred frigg was unstarred

malvones
10/27/09

@frigg: I could envision a vast complex of warehouses to house the passengers, and perhaps a carrier-style hangar system for the mounting number of idling jets. Actually, the maintenance on the jets alone would employ hundreds, and stimulate the regional economy. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

frigg promoted this comment malvones was starred malvones was unstarred

ludwigk
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
Can they not build a peninsula into the ocean instead of this free-standing floating doohickey? I was in Korea last summer where they also have trouble finding places to put things, and they built an airport in the sea as well, but with a man-made peninsula.

You know if they build this thing, some guy will eventually put a strike team together to capture it, and take it for an expensive joy ride. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

ludwigk was starred ludwigk was unstarred

F1Morgan
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own

Um have any of you heard of the Osaka airport, so this Mr. Englund didn't come up with this. The Japanese made a massive island to make the Osaka airport, its even a modern marvels episode or something.... #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

Canoehead promoted this comment F1Morgan was starred F1Morgan was unstarred

F1Morgan
10/27/09

@F1Morgan: If its free floating I agree its a F'n bad idea #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

d_r_e promoted this comment F1Morgan was starred F1Morgan was unstarred

Canoehead
10/27/09

@F1Morgan: Yes, but that is an ISLAND - this thing is a barge. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

Canoehead was starred Canoehead was unstarred

Benguin
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
As a native San Diegan, I can tell you that this idea has been around for awhile. I remember reading an article about it in the 4th grade, some 13 years ago. Interesting to see it pop back up though. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

Benguin was starred Benguin was unstarred

Skyman747
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
They don't have any other options. Lindbergh sure as hell isn't expanding downtown, and using Miramar isn't going to be allowed by residents. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

Benguin promoted this comment Skyman747 was starred Skyman747 was unstarred

urbanrio
10/27/09

@Skyman747: When SD needs it badly enough the powers that be will tell Miramar to suck it. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

Benguin promoted this comment urbanrio was starred urbanrio was unstarred

Benguin
10/27/09

@Skyman747: I live in Chula Vista and from what I understand they want to build an international airport out here.

... that and a Chargers stadium. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

Benguin was starred Benguin was unstarred

(Starman) Bastille
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
And this is where we Bay Area residents come in and yell, "That's what you guys get for blanketing yourself under a suburb circuit board!"

"Meanwhile we've got 3 fucking airports! Airports! FUCKING! Hell yeah!!"

If you can't tell from the "@%*$ing," I'm obviously kidding. : P
-------------------------------
But seriously, how the hell are you going to do an evacuation plan if a tanker crashes into it? (Obviously the space around the airport would be restricted.) Plus, transportation by ferry would be SLOW. Passengers would get pretty pissed off alright.

EDIT: Hoorah, I've done and created another useless tag.
Reply

spannu promoted this comment Edited by (Starman) Bastille at 10/27/09 2:48 AM (Starman) Bastille was starred

spannu
10/27/09

@(Starman) AnalysisDialysis: Obviously, the airport would only be accessible via jetpack. SFO, OAK, and SJC will all sink into the sea someday, so these guys will win eventually. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

spannu was starred spannu was unstarred

(Starman) Bastille
10/27/09

@spannu: Touche, but at least when we sink, everything's all gonna be abandoned anyways and new airports will be built.

Meanwhile, a tanker hits the airport, and then everyone is still on it. They all die, but on your plus side, it'll become the Atlantis of the West Coast! #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

(Starman) Bastille was starred

F1Morgan
10/27/09

@spannu: Osaka has a train to the mainland #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

spannu promoted this comment F1Morgan was starred F1Morgan was unstarred

spannu
10/27/09

@F1Morgan: Where we're going, we don't need railroads. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

spannu was starred spannu was unstarred

ucnyc2
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
I live in San Diego they've been talking about this for years. This city's government is "Enron" by the sea. This will never happen although it would be awesome to see.
Reply

Benguin promoted this comment ucnyc2 was starred ucnyc2 was unstarred

Jay Swanson
10/27/09

In reply to San Diego Floating Airport Would Be A City Of Its Own
Same basic concept as Kansai International in Osaka, although they built an artificial island as opposed to the "oil rig" design here. Given the land options in San Diego, this might not be a bad idea. #floatingcaliforniaairport
Reply

TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment Jay Swanson was starred Jay Swanson was unstarred

ripfire
10/20/09

In reply to New Apple Products Leaked, Sources Claim
Apple rumors doesn't last very long. #apple
Reply

ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred

phunnyballs
10/20/09

In reply to New Apple Products Leaked, Sources Claim
Seriously... how hard is it to put in 4gb STANDARD? It would cost wholesale like $10 #apple
Reply

phunnyballs was starred phunnyballs was unstarred

Ehrich Blackhound
10/20/09

In reply to New Apple Products Leaked, Sources Claim
"MC408LL/A - MAC MINI 2.53/2x2GB/1TB/NO ODD/AP-BT-USA"

No ODD = "No Optical Disk Drive"??? #apple
Reply

Kaiser-Machead promoted this comment Ehrich Blackhound was starred

Kaiser-Machead
10/20/09

@Ehrich Blackhound: Sweet fancy Jesus. So, it begins. #apple
Reply

Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred

Chimaera
10/20/09

@Ehrich Blackhound: Ding.
3rd Parties started offering this as an option when the Mini was refreshed this year and Apple moved to a SATA SuperDrive. If true, it'd be nice if Apple would offer it with a sealed drive slot. #apple
Reply

Chimaera was starred Chimaera was unstarred

Kaiser-Machead
10/20/09

In reply to New Apple Products Leaked, Sources Claim
Wasn't the TC upgraded to simultaneous dual-band WiFi when the storage was bumped, or am I mistaken?

A real "upgrade" to the TC would be fan-assisted cooling, cuz that mamajama gets hot.
Reply

Edited by Kaiser-Machead at 10/20/09 11:36 AM Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred

the real that guy dave
10/20/09

@Kaiser-Machead: My TC sits next to my AppleTV. I use them to make grilled cheese. #apple
Reply

Kaiser-Machead promoted this comment

SigmundTheSeaMonster
10/20/09

@Kaiser-Machead: Or move the powersupply outside... #apple
Reply

GitEmSteveDave_RockinLabCoat
10/20/09

In reply to New Apple Products Leaked, Sources Claim
No new iTouches? #apple
Reply

badhatharry
10/20/09

@GitEmSteveDave_Hates #DoucheDad: Oh my god, are you serious? The iPod event was like a month ago. Also, I'm new here, and to the earf, so I can't tell sarcasm. #apple
Reply

badhatharry was starred badhatharry was unstarred

Kaiser-Machead
10/20/09

@GitEmSteveDave_Hates #DoucheDad: A new iTouch would be nice, but the iTouches were upgraded not long ago so I don't suppose we'll be seeing anything new on the iTouch end.

iTouch. #apple
Reply

Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred

jetRink
10/20/09

@GitEmSteveDave_NodsHisHeadLikeYeah: Unbelievable. It works every time. #apple
Reply

Chimaera promoted this comment jetRink was starred jetRink was unstarred

Earlier threads | All threads | Show hidden threads | Show featured threads only | Start a new discussion

Gizmodo Team

SUBSCRIBE TO Gizmodo

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment