One of the most fun things to do while flying is to
look outside the window and see the beauty of
mountains, islands and buildings down below. But we
are limited to what we see by where we fly in and out
of. You cannot experience the pure beauty of flying
into Iceland if your flight is from Ohio to New York.
But if the window seat window was replaced by a TV
screen of the same size and it was programmed for
flights over different locations then one could just
change the channel and they would be flying over
African Forests or the Great Wall of China.
How it works is this. A plane actually flies over these
locations with cameras mounted on almost all
windows, front back, left right to simulate it
according to where people sit. I know this sounds a
bit too expensive… but I am sure that given proper
thought a much cheaper method could be designed.
The completely take-off and flying are synchronized.
So when you put it on while the plane is charging
through the runway of LaGuardia and you want to
simulate a flight from New Delhi to Tibet then it will
show take off from that airport. Also the flight timer
and the TV timer are synchronized… after take off if
you put the TV on it shows the flight only and no take
off.
There are a few problems though:
1) Flight durations vary.
2) It will be very hard to incorporate this into a flight
that is really long with many stops.
3) One misses out on the look-down experience from
the window.

But I think with the advantages in the system some
smart entrepreneur might just pull it off.

Also for those who just want to see New York on a
New York bound flight there is always the option to
press a button and the TV will slide down.

PS: I imagine that the prices could be severely
reduced if somehow the TVs on the back of a seat
where placed on the window.
-- nomadic_wonderer, Mar 01 2004

[buddha_pest] we should all hope so!
-- nomadic_wonderer, Mar 01 2004


I'd start to worry if I heard the Star Wars music coming from the cockpit.
-- Detly, Mar 02 2004



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