So I was looking at a photograph tonight a member of this site took recently. This photo was of an airplane to be specific. While in the general scheme of things this is a pretty normal event that occurs a thousand times a day for me it got me to thinking a bit. This particular airplane was a Boeing KC135 Tanker which is the military variation of the Boeing 707 commercial airliner. The particular airplane in the photograph was a 52 year old example of this model of airplane. This airplane is currently serving in the Turkish Air Force as one of their most fore front support aircraft assisting all other capible aircraft many 3 or more times younger than it in the defense of Turkey the US and every other nation using the type. It is very clearly visible just how much "plastic surgery" has been done on this airplane to bring it to the current acceptable standard for operation. This is fine and dandy I guess...... But than the question of age again comes back up. 52 years old. This airplane design was the fore father of every other commercial airliner in service to one extent or another. It was designed about 60 years ago and first flew in the mid late 50's. The point I am getting to is that if you compare this airplane to say a Boeing 777 or an Airbus A330 or even an Embraer 145 for argument sake in reality there is not very much difference. On the small side of things there are plenty of obvious diffrences, EFIS, fly by wire, newer more fuel efficent and quiet engines, carbon fibre and alloy are the bones of newer planes but they still do the exact same thing the exact same way at pretty much the same speeds and altitudes that the 707/KC135 5 plus decades earlier did. This certainly speaks to the daring of engineers with a slide ruler and a calculator who designed this airplane soo many years ago and their sheer talent for such ventures. But........ At the same time, it also speaks I think to our lazyness as people in this time when technology in every other sector except for maybe cranes and paperclips has advanced at an exponetially higher rate around us. Why is it that we have lost our want to advance? In a time when we do have the technology and knowladge to be able to travel from say new York to Sydney in about 3 hours and 80,000 feet in altitude are we still spending 26 hours to do the trip with one and sometimes two stops at 40,000 feet or less? Why is it that we spend soo much money making airplanes that can fly 500 feet overhead and nearly be unheard when we could have spent the money to build one that can go to 80,000 feet, being totally unheard, save airspace, save fuel and save time? Am I making sense? Why are we lacking? Why in half a century are we nearly where we were at the beginning of that time frame? I think it speaks to a lack of imagination frankly. We have lost our can do spirit as a society. Your opinions are welcome.
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