Modern Marvels
May 22, 2005 | 11:35 pm
#1
Original Poster
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 31,464
Modern Marvels
Did anyone happen to watch this last night on the History Channel? It was about commercial airliners. Although I found the show most interesting I caught what I at least, thought was a major mistake. The narrator said that Airbus's A330 was directly in response to compete with Boeing's 737 
Please tell me I'm off my rocker here
Please tell me I'm off my rocker here
May 23, 2005 | 11:52 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Programs: AA EXP 3 MM; Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite
Posts: 18,588
Was that the show about the A380? One of the "educational" cable channels had a show on the A380 last night. I recorded it on ym DVR, but haven't seen it yet.
IME, television shows about aviation are often riddled with mistakes such as you describe. This leads me to two possible conclusions"
1 - There is something about aviation that makes it hard for TV shows to get right.
2 - These mistakes happen all the time, but I don't know enough about other topics to catch those mistakes.
BTW, you are not crazy, the A330 does not compete with the 737. It competes with both the 767 and 777, mostly, due to its age, with the 777. Actually, it is most accurate to view the A330/A340 as a single product designed to compete with the 777 as a DC-10/L-1011 replacement. McDonnell Douglas offered a third competitor for this market, the tri-jet MD-11 (basically an expanded and updated DC-10), but it was not a great commerical success and had only a limited production run.
IME, television shows about aviation are often riddled with mistakes such as you describe. This leads me to two possible conclusions"
1 - There is something about aviation that makes it hard for TV shows to get right.
2 - These mistakes happen all the time, but I don't know enough about other topics to catch those mistakes.
BTW, you are not crazy, the A330 does not compete with the 737. It competes with both the 767 and 777, mostly, due to its age, with the 777. Actually, it is most accurate to view the A330/A340 as a single product designed to compete with the 777 as a DC-10/L-1011 replacement. McDonnell Douglas offered a third competitor for this market, the tri-jet MD-11 (basically an expanded and updated DC-10), but it was not a great commerical success and had only a limited production run.