Waste Now... Want Not Later
Spoons and socks -- and
those ubiquitous disposable diapers that may be here long after
we're gone -- are among the unusual items being testing by the
A380's plumbing in what can be only described as one of the
lesser-known -- and certainly less glamorous --
assessments being conducted on the world's largest airliner.
Most people come up with more palatable descriptions of the A380
-- double-deck, 50 percent more floor space, seating from between
555 to 853 people, capacity to fly 8,000 nautical miles, and a
cruising speed of Mach 0.85. Its toilets don't seem to be "top of
mind" for most.
And while the aircraft's most highly-publicized challenges,
as reported by ANN, are with
its electrical system... rest assured there are numerous Airbus
factory technicians who find it their responsibility to stuff the
aforementioned items down the aforementioned toilets to fully and
completely test what can be a very, very important function.
Think of any "strange object"... and it has probably been one of
the items flushed down the toilet on a giant three-story rig
designed to test the vacuum toilet system on the superjumbo,
Reuters reports. The 220-ton test rig can even be titled upwards
and downwards to simulate severe flying conditions.
These plumbers are critical to perfecting the A380's 3,280 feet
of waste and water pipes... and Airbus cannot take chances
experiencing toilet problems with an earlier model, especially in
light of the wiring woes that have already plagued the
aircraft.
Passengers (and you may be a guilty party in this, we won't
tell) are often careless about what goes down the "loo," and that
can lead to a public relations as well as an in-flight
disaster.
How do commercial airline toilets have such a poor rep?
According to HowStuffWorks.com, it's
because of what we all put into them. "...but if you can get past
that and focus on the technology behind them, they can be amazing
devices."
According to Frank Dohrmann, head of design support and cabin
testing at Airbus' main German plant, when many passengers are
inside an airplane lavatory "people behave as if they were at home"
-- i.e., without much thought to what gets stuffed down the
loo.
"If the temperature inside an aircraft varies .05 centigrade, it
is no big deal. But if the toilets get jammed, every passenger will
remember it for years," he said.
In considering the waste produced by up to 800 passengers over a
long-distance flight, Airbus designed plumbing capable of pumping
sewage along the 66-yard length in about two seconds, Dohrmann said
Friday. At more than 60 mph, that could be a Guinness world
sanitary speed record.
The A380 plumbing also includes capacity for showers, a feature
demanded by several airlines... but is unlikely to include a
Jacuzzi, which is probably for the best, considering the number of
first-class passengers on board.
Despite media speculation of whirlpools alongside casinos, bars
and shops, Michael Lau, head of industrial design, told Reuters the
use of uncontrolled water is discouraged and would probably not be
approved by flying authorities.
And A380 plumbers, please keep flushing!
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