spacebass

In my experience the cost of obtaining an extension of stay based on marriage is determined by the Immigration Officers assessment of your ability to pay in my case 15,000thb advised to me by telephone 10 minutes after arriving home after 2 days of B.S. at immigration. So I just went to Penang. Judging by the number of companies openly advertising 'retirement visas' for 20,000thb + it would seem that immigration is again generally making its own rules, as the correct fee for an extension of stay is 1990thb..

787 no longer meets spec. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/...rder-to-9s.html Here we go boys!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so the 787 flies, but how much does it weigh?

By WILLIAM JOHN COX, LEE GAILLARD, MANUEL GARCIA Jr. and HANS VAN der ZANDEN Special to the Star-Telegram Fort Worth is a key player in the technological revolution sweeping the aircraft industry. The Bell Textron plant produces major assemblies for the revolutionary V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, 43 percent of whose structure is composed of advanced lightweight composite materials. It is also home to AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, which in October 2008 ordered 42 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, whose proportion of composites is even higher: roughly 50 percent. Boeing and Airbus (with its A350) are racing to produce this next generation of computer-controlled commercial aircraft constructed primarily of composite materials to reduce weight, improve fuel economy and increase passenger loads. Almost 1,500 orders worth hundreds of billions of dollars are on the books, with more to come. Despite repeated delays and safety-related design problems, it appears that these airplanes will be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency. But more than money and national pride are at stake: Human lives hang in the balance. Today, in thousands of certified commercial aircraft partially incorporating layers of fibers in a resin matrix, design defects and unexpected deterioration are appearing as composite structures begin to fail — catastrophically in at least one case. On Nov. 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 from New York crashed, killing 265 people and leaving its severed composite tail fin floating in Jamaica Bay. Extensive disbonding was subsequently found within a FedEx A300 rudder, and in 2005 an AirTransat A310 composite rudder disintegrated in flight. Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-200, crashed June 1, killing 228. Its composite tail fin was found floating 30 miles from the main debris field. Did AF447 suffer the same fate as AA587? In 2007, the European air safety agency ordered repetitive and enhanced inspections of rudders on older Airbus A300/310s and certain newer A330s and A340s. But it and the FAA overlooked thousands of Airbus A320s and Boeing 777s with composite tail fins and rudders. Two years behind schedule, Boeing has finally rolled out the first of six certification-test 787 "Dreamliners." But the Dreamliner has been an engineering nightmare: Its wing stringers detached along the wing-fuselage join line during flex testing, and wrinkles appeared in a composite fuselage section during manufacturing. Test flights are on hold pending repairs. These composites can absorb moisture, and expansion and contraction during freeze/thaw cycles trigger concealed delamination, degradation and loss of structural strength over time. Unlike with aluminum, fatigue prediction is far more difficult with composites, which are brittle and subject to sudden and catastrophic failure. Then there’s lightning. Aluminum skins of contemporary jetliners provide built-in protection from the lightning strikes routinely encountered by all commercial aircraft, easily directing strikes of up to a million volts and 200,000 amperes around internal electronic components, fuel tanks and passengers. Attempting to provide equivalent protection, Boeing has embedded wire mesh in the 787’s thin composite skin and engineered fine tolerances to avoid spark gaps in metal fasteners. Since this wire mesh must be connected across every joint and since thousands of fastener holes must be drilled through the composite, gaps overlooked or developed during operations can facilitate dangerous arcing that could spark in-flight fires. As with home computers without surge protectors, failure of the complicated 787 lightning-strike system could also cause loss of all electronic flight controls. And in the event of crash landings, the resin used in composites may contribute to the growth and spread of fire. Composite combustion releases dangerous fumes and hazardous carbon fibrils, posing potentially fatal dangers to passengers, firefighters and people downwind from crash sites. Public safety demands that the FAA and its European counterpart deny certification of 787- and A350-type aircraft until it can be soundly demonstrated that such composite jetliners are safe enough to carry passengers. Moreover, rigorous new standards must be established for scheduled composite maintenance, repair and overhaul — with mandatory replacement of critical parts that suffer damage. Human lives are at stake and must take precedence over corporate profits in these decisions. Hans Van der Zanden is a materials engineer specializing in durability

Keep your fingers crossed..........................Sounds about right (How the mighty have fallen.)

Quote from Blog: SERIOUSLY, here's what's rather bewildering in my opinion. This "wing box fix" has not even been TESTED yet on the static test airplane. Why are they installing it onto the flight test airplanes when they don't even know for SURE that the thing will even work as promised? Shouldn't they TEST first, and if proven successful, install subsequently on ZA001 and the remainder of the flight test fleet? I realize this approach could incur further delays, but on the other hand (i.e. the worst case scenario) what happens if the "fix" does NOT work as hoped? I for sure hope it DOES, but with so many unknowns, it's another gamble that hopefully will pay off.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/20...wn-jet-project/

The Impossible Dream (Liner). Parenthesis are mine http://www.lonelyscientist.com/?page_id=18

Although you can get away with buying a house or more accurately the land in a company name, it is still actually illegal but.................UP TO YOU

Exactly (Yawn)

Boeing direct Subsidy : http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/busi...syndication=rss

Maybe 'launch aid' is a more intelligent idea than 'bankruptcy aid'. Bankruptcy actually means 'cannot cut the financial mustard'.

I think in fact Phillipino ladies business attitude probably suffers from their exposure to Christianity, where historically sex has not been a pleasure but a burden for ladies tosuffer. (Did I read Guilt?)

I read on TV that the entry stamp (visa waiver) available at land border posts has been reduced to 15 days, except Malaysian citizens, airports remain 30 days. Strong stuff?

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/othe...ory/484625.html Quite interesting

Dr Aree Rules!

Big Dude didn't you once say you had some certificates for driving buses?? ...........

With air asia you have to make a distinction between 'late' and 'cancelled' which they do not do, air asia consolidate flights, if one is a bit empty they cancel it and put the passengers on the next one (or so!) or in your case the earlier one. This contention is supported by your observation that the flight you went on was half empty. If you roll up and they have cancelled one or two flights on your route they will not tell you they have cancelled them they will say they are 'late'. They may also offer some lie about why they are late such as 'the King used the airport this morning and it has disrupted services'. All this is the reason you must never rely on Air Asia if a connection is involved. However pretty good once you get on the plane!

It is very, very clear that Mr Bransons credibility as an honest straight talking perosn seems to be non existent after all the fuss he used to make about the safety aspect of running 4 engine planes across the Atlantic let alone non stop to Australia!! Does this have any bearing on the generality of his judgement?

You can only extend a visa legally by applying in person, if the visa is extendable, the fee is about 2000thb, if not a visa run can be made for about 2000thb, better value if you fancy a day out!. Or used to close down the Hull Consulate! It is best to keep good things to yourself when it comes to Thailand not give other folks the opportunity to screw it up!

'Owning a house in East Pattaya, Is there something I need to know' You need to know that it is against the law for farang to own house in Thailand (In the normal understanding of the expression 'owning house' abnormal interpretations may offer different conclusions but will be abnormal).

The problem is, there are no hard and fast best things to do, in general you need time on your side to get best deal at least not to get too close to your date, I think trying to change your original ticket is a good suggestion, if you cannot, try an get a price in UK , if all silly money buy a phone card from any news agent and phone Massic travel for 1or 2p a minute, the guys in there are Indian and speak good english, and make a deal. It is a proper business and will not rip you off. Nobody knows what the actual price is going to be til they are sat in front of the airline booking screen, practically no offer includes all the extras and practically none are for one way travel. One last thought, the reason one recommends buying tickets out of Uk is that they not usually as restrictive as those issued in UK, it is possible that even if in the UK the airline won't change your return date it is possible that the office out here might ,even if they charge GBP100 it will still be cheaper than buying a one way, so that is another gamble you could take.

The first and last flight of the day Bkk to Samui are promo 2000bht + tax, I was delayed over six hours bkk to Phuket with air asia, the taxi driver in Phuket waiting for us said it happens all the time. Samui is for kids Phuket for grown ups, I prefer Samui by a long margin, not being either a real or pretend international jet setter

Boots in Royal Garden do 50 chewable 500mg Vitamin C tabs for 50thb they pack them in little plastic bags out of a big bottle. Nothing else of note on the value front I am afraid.