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Simply a question: Would you fly in a capsule?

Simply a question: Would you fly in a capsule?

Old Jan 14, 2009, 10:30 am
  #16  
 
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Capsules, berths etc.

For a train, see:
http://homepage1.nifty.com/hodo/sleeper/info_e.htm

70 cm width is common 106 cm width possible, but headroom could be as little as 68 cm or as much as 113 cm.

For the capsule hotel capsules see
http://answers.google.com/answers/th...id/786254.html

106X106 cm interior.

Note that when sleeping in a standard railroad upper berth, the access is from the side of the berth, meaning that you might fall off the bed into the aisle in the middle of the compartment. In a capsule hotel, the sleeper not only has a wider bed than most train berths, but both sides are supported against the wall, so the way to crawl in or fall off the bed is at one end.

On a plane, see Douglas Sleeper Transport:
http://www.airportjournals.com/Photo.../0512008_5.jpg

The upper berths are 76 cm wide; lower berths are 91 cm and can convert to seat pairs.

I see no reason why you should not install upper berths on a jet. Like this MD-82:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Scand...-82/0746187/L/

Would you pay to fly there, if you did not have to be hurt to get in?

Same question for widebody:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Germa...304/1425179/L/

While Douglas Sleeper Transport and MD-80 are slightly narrow to get a crosswise upper berth and an aisle with good headroom in, unlike trains whose sidewalls are vertical, many planes do have the width for this. Like Boeing 307:
http://bp2.blogger.com/_mmBw3uzPnJI/...rplanes_19.jpg

Boeing 307 is about 5 cm wider than Boeing 707, and narrower than Airbus 319. There is space for off-center aisles on 707, too, see this:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Qanta...38B/0251683/L/

This is from Jett Clipper Ella, hope Ella lives longer than Jett did.
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Old Jan 14, 2009, 11:35 am
  #17  
 
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I'd go for this if, as a previous poster stipulated, there's sufficient headroom and configurabililty to allow a "somewhat sitting up" position.

If it were done like the Japanese hotel photo (though I'd also expect a narrower capsule on an aircraft), it allows for another decided advantage no one's listed yet: each capsule could have its own noise-cancelling system. Ergo, no more crying babies interrupting your work/sleep/sudoku/etc. !

But that advantage raises a problem, too. How would you accommodate children too young to be separated from parents? Maybe the pods could have the option for each passenger to open part of the wall between adjacent pods (which could make it even better for Mommy and Daddy when the kids are at home with Grandma!).
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Old Jan 14, 2009, 12:44 pm
  #18  
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Originally Posted by ktakahashi
<SNIP> would a coffin style traveling experience be acceptable to you.
That sounds terribly claustrophobic.
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Old Jan 14, 2009, 7:46 pm
  #19  
 
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As the legend tells it, when I was about 4, my family took a vacation to Florida. This was back in the carefree days of America when no-name motels were still safe and acceptable lodging options for young families... (think HoJo "magic finger" beds...)

Anyhow, in one motel, my folks could only secure a king room, and my brother got the rollaway, so I was made to sleep inside a dresser drawer that was padded with blankets (presumably for my comfort, but it could have been an suffocation attempt, the jury is out on that). They *say* they didn't close it, but I'm honestly not too sure at this point, and regressive therapy has been unsuccessful in recovering my exact memory on it (which makes me even MORE convinced they did - you know, blocking out the horror and all).

To this day, I have an intense fear of ply-board.

So, to answer your question - hellll no! would I fly in a capsule.
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Old Jan 14, 2009, 9:23 pm
  #20  
 
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Certainly not long-haul but the Fairchild Metroliner, to me, has one of the most capsule like interiors that ever flew commercially...hard to get the perspective but you cannot walk down the aisle unless you are maybe 4' tall.

http://www.spiritsofansett.com/image...of%20Metro.gif

Exterior
http://www.geocities.com/acespalace/MetroOLS4.JPG
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Old Jan 14, 2009, 10:57 pm
  #21  
 
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If both hotel and airline had pods, could I be shipped directly to my hotel and thereby avoid having to tip the shuttle driver, bellhop, and skycap? Could I call the front desk and get a wake-up for 6:00 AM Tuesdays in Chicago and 8:00 AM Fridays in Atlanta?
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Old Jan 15, 2009, 12:33 am
  #22  
 
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Sorry guys, but there are many folks out there who have already patented ideas for passenger capsules - this recent concept looks a bit better than most:
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/ru...james-par.html
Also there was a clever stacked 2x2 configuration that had everybody in economy in the "astronaut" configuration - sloping horizontal with knees bent. Apparently they can accommodate the same number of passengers.
Now if we really want to pack 'em in, let's go for the standing up concept:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/20...S_GRAPHIC.html
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Old Jan 15, 2009, 12:55 am
  #23  
 
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a little scary to me - going through life in a coffin....
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Old Jan 15, 2009, 6:45 am
  #24  
 
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Didn't Corbin Dallas and Leelew fly in one of those compartmental coffins on the way to Flauston's Paradise?


I'm with FlyingBroom, I've got an eternity to spent in a coffin, er, capsule. I'd rather not spend more time in one than absolutely necessary.
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Old Jan 15, 2009, 6:56 am
  #25  
 
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How/where would you take meals?

Also, due to the well-documented increase in flatulence associated with traveling in pressurized cabins, I think that capsule flights could be .. interesting. That said, I'd rather be in my own pod with mine than in gen pop smelling everyone else's.

It would be great to witness the mayhem as pax try to get in and out of them.

peace,
~Ben~
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Old Jan 15, 2009, 10:45 pm
  #26  
 
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I for one would book it for long haul flights. I think it is clear that space for meals, refreshments would also be needed. A dedicated area. Buffet style maybe? Washrooms would of course be needed as well. Maybe couples, families, could have adjacent bunks with partitions that could be slid aside to open up access.

ShortHaul
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Old Jan 16, 2009, 3:13 am
  #27  
 
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That's going to be tough for all those claustrophobic people out there.
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Old Jan 16, 2009, 7:00 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by onocoffee
Didn't Corbin Dallas and Leelew fly in one of those compartmental coffins on the way to Flauston's Paradise?


I'm with FlyingBroom, I've got an eternity to spent in a coffin, er, capsule. I'd rather not spend more time in one than absolutely necessary.
onocoffee beat me to The Fifth Element reference. I've often thought that interstellar shuttle to Fhloston Paradise would be the way to go... just as I wholeheartedly agreed with Tina Fey in last year's American Express ad: "my travel wish: to be crated and sedated like a dog." LOVE IT!
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Old Jan 16, 2009, 5:50 pm
  #29  
 
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After doing JFK-BKK in Y with a broken AVOD system and an overly attentive TG crew a few years ago I would immediately jump on a being sedated with a brown liquid from either Tennessee or Kentucky, loaded in a pod, and being revived at my intl destination of choice. Sign me up.
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Old Jan 16, 2009, 6:54 pm
  #30  
 
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As a coach flier who prefers window seats, I often feel like I'm flying in a pod anyway...so why not? I'd try it if it were comfortable.
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