By Alain de Botton
From the bestselling writer of The artwork of Travel comes a wittily fascinating exploration of the unusual "non-place" that he believes is the creative middle of our civilization.
Given remarkable entry to at least one of the world's busiest airports as a "writer-in-residence," Alain de Botton stumbled on it to be a show off for lots of of the foremost crosscurrents of the fashionable world--from our religion in know-how to our destruction of nature, from our worldwide interconnectedness to our romanticizing of the unique. He met tourists from in every single place and spoke with every person from luggage handlers to pilots to the airport chaplain. Weaving jointly those conversations and his personal observations--of every thing from the poetry of room provider menus to the eerie silence in the midst of the runway at midnight--de Botton has produced a rare meditation on a spot that almost all people by no means decelerate sufficient to determine in actual fact. Lavishly illustrated in colour by way of popular photographer Richard Baker, A Week on the Airport finds the airport in all its turbulence and soullessness and--yes--even beauty.
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Additional resources for A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary
Sample text
The story of these experiments, which ultimately led to the widespread adoption of the balloon barrage as a means of defence, is vividly described by Clouston in his book The Dangerous Skies published in 1954. The experiments also led to the fitting of wire cutters to the wings of bombers used for low level raids on Germany. 2H. 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major. Span 33 £1; length 24 ft; height 6 £1 8 in; wing area 169 sq ft. Weight empty 1,150 lb; all up weight 1,800 lb; wing loading 10·65 lbjsq ft.
The proposal consisted of a large-chord trailing edge flap which could be extended rearward and downward along curved guides and coupled to large drooping ailerons. The idea was to allow a high wing loading while keeping the stalling speed low enough to permit operation from a carrier. Much positive data was obtained from the tests as regards the lift obtainable and the handling characteristics and, in a modified form, the idea was later incorporated in the proposed fighter. Another idea, also tried out on a Sparrowhawk, consisted of large retractable double-slotted flaps extending for 45 per cent of the span.
This version was a threeseater and had a 2 ft increase in span. 2D, three-seat open cockpit. 95 hp Cirrus IlIA. Span 35 ft. All up weight 1,800 lb. Maximum speed 114 mph; cruising speed 98 mph. Range 450 miles. 61 REGISTRA nONS No complete production record has survived. , -CTN, -CTO, -CUD, -CVN, -CVO, -CVP, -CYR (c/n 108), -CYA, -CZD, -CZG, -CZI, -CZW, -DBK, -DDM, -DGI, -DGR -DVR G-ACKX to Sourabaya as PK-SAL-strengthened internally and fitted with additional cowling louvres and equipment. Tare weight 1,035 lb G-ACTO to Geneva as CH-380.