Gadling

A number of questions came in this week relating to takeoffs and landings, and a few issues that passengers worry about. So, we'll continue on last week's Takeoff and Landing theme.

Eric asks this timely question:

I would like to know what purpose the wing flaps play in take off and in landing?

With the recent Spanair accident in Madrid, some reporters focused on whether or not the MD-80's flaps and slats were extended for takeoff.

These devices, moveable panels on the back and front of the wings respectively, are used only for takeoff and landing.

A jet's wing is designed to be at it's most efficient while at altitude and at it's design cruise speed. This same wing isn't capable of flying slow enough to takeoff or land on a conventional runway.

So flaps were designed for most airplanes to increase the lift a wing can carry at these slower speeds. When the flaps are extended, the wing is essentially converted from a high-speed wing to a slow-speed wing, depending on the flap setting used.

Flaps are gradually extended based on the speed of the airplane, with the first set of flaps on an airliner usually extended when the airplane is slower than 250 knots.

This photo, from konakoka, shows the Kapoho Reef Pools off the coast of Hawaii. According to the photographer, the water in these pools is heated by nearby volcanoes and the pools contain up to eight types of coral. The colors and clarity of this photo are really impressive.

Got a photo you want considered for Gadling's Photo of the Day? Submit it here.

There is no denying it - Air travel is not what it used to be. The industry has been in a steady decline for years. Long before "terrorists" were being blamed for taking your pretzels away, airlines were blaming deregulation, fuel prices, pixie dust or whatever excuse was in fashion that week. A lot has changed in recent years and, in no particular order, here are the top ten things I miss in the current world of air travel.

Concorde


Without a doubt, the number one thing I miss when I fly, is Concorde. Despite never coming close to being the most frequent passenger on her (who flew New York to London twice a week), I did have the pleasure of flying supersonic several times.

The plane was cramped, warm and smelled funny, but the experience was probably as close as you can get to air travel as it was back in the glamor days of the 50's.

The experience started at check in, where you could get your boarding pass in a separate area with none of the hustle and bustle of the economy class ticketing area, or being yelled at by an airline drone to head on over to a computerized kiosk.

Once you had your pretty Concorde boarding pass you'd usually get a snazzy Concorde aluminum bag tag. If you were lucky (like I was once), you'd then get a private escort through security to the Concorde Lounge, where the worlds best alcoholic beverages were available. Naturally none of the lounge wardens would ever dare demand drink vouchers from you, like in most North American lounges.

The whole atmosphere was very relaxed, and you'd never run into anyone yelling on their mobile phone while trying to pound down a burger.

Once on board, you settled into your plush leather seat, and three and a half hours of pampering could begin. Once the plane leveled out at 55,000 feet, a flight attendant would hand you a Concorde gift, and a certificate with a beautiful sterling silver pen from Smythsons of Bond Street. During your meal, you could request the captain, co-pilot and flight engineer to sign the certificate. If the workload was light, you could politely request a brief visit to the flight deck, as this was all long before cockpit doors had to be locked at all times.

The finest wines were served, Champagne flowed and amazing meals made from the finest ingredients were presented in multiple courses. It was heavenly.

And then disaster struck - 113 lives were lost when Air France flight 4590 crashed on Tuesday the 25th of July 2000, right after she took off from Charles de Gaulle airport. The future of Concorde was doomed and a mere three years later, she took her final flight. The fleet ended up being put on display at various aviation museums throughout the world. My first flight on Concorde was the Saturday after the crash, and was one of the most memorable flights I have ever been on.

You've probably noticed if you've browsed your local paper that Labor Day weekend, along with kicking off football, is a great one for festivals. Last night I started off my Labor Day weekend early by heading to the Millersport Sweet Corn Festival. I proclaimed it a hit after we had only been there for about 15 minutes.

So did my brother and a friend of his. They live in the heart of Manhattan and said several times over how clean it is was. Seriously. Folks in Millersport know how to use trash cans. Plus, the corn can't be beat. It was not uncommon to see people with a pile of buttered ears in front of them, all to be chowed down in one sitting.

For other places to head to make this Labor Day weekend a stand out, Intelligent Travel has a post of festival offerings. These are unusual events that capture the fun you can find without a lot of effort besides getting in the car and going.

If you can't make it to one of these this year, consider them for next year's Labor Day. Why stay at home when there's corn to eat , grapes to stomp, dancing to do, and more?

• Kansas City Irish Fest in Kansas City, Missouri
• The Irvington Stomp in Irvington, Virginia.
• Marshall County Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, Indiana
• Hard Crab Derby and Fair in Crisfield, Maryland
• New York State Festival of Balloons in Dansville, New York
• Albuquerque/Denver Tango Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Head to the Intelligent Travel Website for links to each festival. Make sure you click on Irvington Stomp. What a hoot.

Until I moved to Columbus and close to The Ohio State University, I didn't fully understand football season. Now I do.

If you live in a town with one of the Big Ten Universities, you can't help but notice when football season starts, even if you are fuzzy on the details of how the game is played. On a Saturday when the Buckeyes are in town, I keep that in mind. Can you say traffic jam?

Still there are advantages of living in a Big Ten town. The team name offers an identity that's fun to join in, no matter your background. It ties people together. If you live in central Ohio, you're automatically part of the OSU gang. Put on an OSU T-shirt and people know where you're from. Even I own a Buckeye T-shirt.

Because this weekend marks the start of the fall football season, here's a mini guide to the Big Ten teams. If you happen to be traveling through one of these cities or towns this fall, these details may help put you in the football know.

(There are actually 11 Big Ten Universities. For an explanation of what makes a Big Ten, click here.)

My daily deal for today is perfect for anyone looking for a cheap and stylish MP3 player who would rather stay away from the iPod. The Sandisk Sansa Clip has 2GB of storage, which should be enough for around 500 songs.

The player has (as the name implies), a clip on the back, which makes it easy to carry around, even if you don't have any pockets. In addition to being a regular MP3 player, the Sansa Clip also features an FM radio with 40 presets, a voice memo recorder and a 5 band equalizer.

Getting your tunes on the player is as simple as "drag and drop". Included in the package is the Sansa player, a USB cable and a pair of headphones.The player has an internal rechargeable battery and carries enough power for up to 15 hours of music playback.

The Sansa Clip is on sale through Woot.com, which means it is yet another "deal a day" offering; these sites offer one product a day, and often run out of stock halfway through the afternoon. As with all Woot! deals, shipping is a flat $5 and they only charge tax in their home state of Texas.

A baggage handler at Glasgow airport in the UK made a very expensive mistake when the truck he was driving ripped a 5 foot hole in a parked plane. The Boeing 757 operated by Flyeglobespan was being prepared for a flight to Alicante, Spain when the accident happened.

Passengers were told that they would have to transfer to a different plane due to "aircraft damage". Amazingly, the passengers were on their way to their destination in under 2 hours.

The aircraft will be out of service for several weeks so aviation engineers can examine the damage and perform repairs on the structure. When damage like this occurs, all kinds of critical flight systems could be damaged, and depending on the speed of the impact, the repair may involve much more than just patching a hole.

The baggage handler worked for Alba Ground Handling and the source article says he has been "sacked". Accidents like this are fairly common, and baggage handlers are instructed to always keep a safe distance from the plane they are working on, but in the chaos of getting aircraft ready for a quick turnaround, accidents do happen.

Flyglobespan is a Scottish low cost carrier with flights from several UK airports to the US, Canada and the European mainland. The have an all Boeing fleet of 15 planes, and are expanding rapidly. They are also one of the airlines with an order in place for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The only thing worse than seeing an airline go out of business, is watching it unfold while you are at the airport waiting to get on one of their flights. That is the unfortunate situation many passengers of Canadian airline Zoom found themselves in yesterday.

Zoom took off in May 2002 and was founded by 2 brothers who wanted to introduce low cost international travel to Canada with a fleet of 5 Boeing aircraft. The airline flew various routes from Canada to the United States, The UK, France and Italy.

One of the Boeing 757's leased by Zoom was stranded in Glasgow and impounded when Zoom failed to pay the required air traffic control fee. Another 213 passengers were stuck in Halifax while volunteers attempted to find alternative ways to help them get to their final destination of Ottawa. Zoom naturally blames the loss of their airline on rising fuel costs and a general ecomonic downturn. They are they the 36th airline in the world to close this year according to a list posted on Wikipedia.

Sadly there really are no good tips on what to do when you are stuck at an airport after your airline goes bankrupt. All I can suggest is that you have the phone numbers for other airlines and hotel chains programmed in your phone, the quicker you get in touch with them for an alternative flight, or for a room where you can spend the night, the greater your chances are of getting home before anyone else. It is in times like this that you'll also learn to appreciate the importance of paying for your tickets by credit card, which might help you get your money back. Don't depend on the airline to provide you with information when things go sour, most of their staff will be the first to leave the building once they hear their employer is going under.

Though the rapid rate of development has not hit Hanoi as hard as it has Ho Chi Minh City, the capital city of Vietnam still seems overwhelmed with new constructions. How this affects tourism numbers in the long term remains to be seen, but, for now, the number of visitors is rising (2 million international visitors projected by 2010).

Hanoi is known for its lakes and for being a city built by many different influences. Tourists are drawn by the unique blend of French, Chinese and Vietnamese architecture, art and cuisine. Hanoi is rushing to compound its tourism success. New roads, shopping centers and hotels are a big part of the effort. One wonders if the charm and urban quaintness that has attracted people in the past will be lost amidst the blitz of all things new.

An example of this modernization: a Holiday Inn, Hanoi's first, will be completed in 2010. The glitzy 300 room hotel will sit at the middle of a large upscale shopping, commercial and entertainment complex in the central Dong Da District. InterContinental Hotels Group, which is responsible for bringing the well known hotel brand to Vietnam, is banking on its name to help it succeed. Holiday Inn is a familiar hotel and, in an up-and-coming destination like Hanoi, that might lead to many people choosing it as a default when it comes to accommodation.

The coming of Holiday Inn and its ilk might be a bad signal for all the family-run guest houses and locally owned inns that dot the city.

I'm not going to say that all this development is ruining the Hanoi experience. I'm going to think it, but I won't say it. You can't really criticize a city for trying to modernize and bring more dollars into its economy. At the same time, those of you who want to experience the deep sense of history and the diverse cultural influences might want to start booking your flight soon, lest you find nothing but Holiday Inns and KFCs.

Today's Photo of the Day comes from Damiel who captured this picture in front of Notre Dame, in Paris. Damiel has a great collection of pictures from his trip there last week. He really did capture much of the city in perfect clarity. Nice job!

I'm always a sucker for a narrow depth of field, which brings out the subject in the photo in detail. This picture is a good example of this technique.

Are you a Flickr user who'd like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling's Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!