Has anyone else been watching this? I am hooked.
For those unfamiliar, it's a series airing here in the US on the Smithsonian Channel once per week looking behind the scenes at how things operate at Frankfurt Airport. No "reality" TV fake/manufactured drama (well ok, maybe a little drama from the narrator), it's a straight look at the work they do to keep the airport running and introduces the people working at the airport. It has covered everything from how the baggage is moved around to a drug sniffing dog to some of the more unique processes.
To keep birds of prey away from the airport, they let the grass grow high so the birds can't see their prey. Frankfurt is also going to build fox dens so the foxes will eat the rodents, so the birds will give up and look elsewhere.
My favorite was the air quality tests. To measure air quality around the airport, and monitor pollution, they installed bee hives. A biologist then collected the honey and checked their level of pollutants, and found them to be no worse than the surrounding area.
It's a great show, catch it if you can.
Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
| Quoting ordell (Thread starter): Has anyone else been watching this? I am hooked. |
Yup, been watching it since the first episode. To me the most interesting part so far was learning that airport revenue from airline operations is only 1/3 of total revenue. The rest comes from retail shopping. Incredible. That explains why European hubs look more like shopping malls than transportation hubs. Personally I never understood the concept of buying overpriced goods at the airport but apparently a lot of people are doing it.
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
| Quoting airbazar (Reply 1): Personally I never understood the concept of buying overpriced goods at the airport but apparently a lot of people are doing it. |
For travelers from many countries the goods are cheap compared to what they are priced at home, if it is even available. They are usually more expensive than the price you can find it at in the US though (one of the benefits of no VAT in the US).
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
| Quoting polot (Reply 2): For travelers from many countries the goods are cheap compared to what they are priced at home, if it is even available. They are usually more expensive than the price you can find it at in the US though (one of the benefits of no VAT in the US). |
Right I get that but the point is, why not buy it outsude of the airport where it's cheaper than at the airport? As a visitor you don't pay VAT no matter where you buy it (above a certain amount). I am from Europe and travel there every year to visit family. I have never found anything at an airport that is cheaper than outside the airport. About the only things I buy on the way out is wine because I don't like to pack wine bottles in checked luggage, and chocolate if there's a sale on chocolates
One of the individuals profiled in the show was a Chinese businessman who flew to FRA specifically to buy a $35,000 bottle of wine or something ridiculous like that. If you can afford to pay that much money for wine I'm pretty sure someone would be happy to hand-deliver it to you, for a fee
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
| Quoting airbazar (Reply 1): Yup, been watching it since the first episode. To me the most interesting part so far was learning that airport revenue from airline operations is only 1/3 of total revenue. The rest comes from retail shopping. Incredible. That explains why European hubs look more like shopping malls than transportation hubs. Personally I never understood the concept of buying overpriced goods at the airport but apparently a lot of people are doing it. |
They also cater to high end clientele who fly in. One episode featured a wine store selling two bottles of $34,000 wine to a Chinese client who flew in, bought the wine, and went home.
The one maintenance story that blew my mind was the scrubbing of the runway for tire rubber. The volume was incredible. Most runways just leave the rubber streaks. You can see them clearly. But Frankfurt cleans its runways every six months.
-
- Ytraveller
- Posts: 1296
- Joined:
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
| Quoting airbazar (Reply 3): Right I get that but the point is, why not buy it outsude of the airport where it's cheaper than at the airport? |
Sometime people are just connecting and can't get outside the airport, but it's still cheaper than back home. I have had family buy jewellery at DXB while connecting through.
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
There was a reason for the scrubbing. I think there was a system for thawing snow on the runway or something like that. The tire rubber messed with it, so they had to scrub it regularly.
-
- Byrdluvs747
- Posts: 2560
- Joined:
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
I've been watching, but I prefer more about the airlines themselves versus the duty free shops.
Yes!!!. That was amazing.
| Quoting ordell (Reply 4): The one maintenance story that blew my mind was the scrubbing of the runway for tire rubber. The volume was incredible. Most runways just leave the rubber streaks. You can see them clearly. But Frankfurt cleans its runways every six months. |
Yes!!!. That was amazing.
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
| Quoting Ytraveller (Reply 5): Sometime people are just connecting and can't get outside the airport, but it's still cheaper than back home. I have had family buy jewellery at DXB while connecting through. |
True about the connections but DXB is a whole different story. Things there, especially jewellery are cheaper than just about anywhere else in the world. I still have a box full of music cassette tapes bought in DXB in the 80's and 90's on the many refueling stops I made there
| Quoting Byrdluvs747 (Reply 8): I've been watching, but I prefer more about the airlines themselves versus the duty free shops. |
So do I but so far there's been very little in the show that I didn't already know. It's the business part of running an airport that is the biggest unknown to me.
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
And let's not forget their name for the airplane super-tugs ... "Mega-Schlepper"
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
I watched the first few episodes on YT and apart from the usual dramatised commentary it's quite nice. I live near to FRA so it's even more interesting to me. One the other hand, does anyone have an idea why they chose FRA? It's an american production and it's not like the US is short on mega airports. And i guess there are more famous citys in the world than Frankfurt. I don't complain, just want to understand
IIRC the commenter didn't explain the word "Schlepper", is it one of those german words that is known in the anglosaxon world?
BTW: what does happen if an A380 lands on an airport that can handle it, but does not have sheduled (A380) service? Do they usually have strong enough "Schleppers" to push back an A380? Or do they park them in a way that no push back is needed (e.g. remote stand)?
b.
| Quoting litz (Reply 10): And let's not forget their name for the airplane super-tugs ... "Mega-Schlepper" |
IIRC the commenter didn't explain the word "Schlepper", is it one of those german words that is known in the anglosaxon world?
BTW: what does happen if an A380 lands on an airport that can handle it, but does not have sheduled (A380) service? Do they usually have strong enough "Schleppers" to push back an A380? Or do they park them in a way that no push back is needed (e.g. remote stand)?
b.
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
| Quoting Byrdluvs747 (Reply 8): |
It's important to remove rubber build up because when it rains becomes very slippery. Makes for very poor breaking
action. Years ago they would have trucks with blow torch like devices, that would burn off rubber. I guess today there
using liquid chemical's.
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
| Quoting Bambel (Reply 11): IIRC the commenter didn't explain the word "Schlepper", is it one of those german words that is known in the anglosaxon world? |
Entered the English language via Yiddish. Commonly used.
schlep (v.) at Dictionary.com
"to carry or drag," 1922 (in Joyce's "Ulysses"), from Yiddish shlepen "to drag," from Middle High German sleppen, related to Old High German sleifen "to drag," and slifan "to slide, slip" (cognate with Middle English slippen; see slip (v.)). Related: Schlepped; schlepping.
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
| Quoting Bambel (Reply 11): I watched the first few episodes on YT and apart from the usual dramatised commentary it's quite nice. I live near to FRA so it's even more interesting to me. One the other hand, does anyone have an idea why they chose FRA? It's an american production and it's not like the US is short on mega airports. And i guess there are more famous citys in the world than Frankfurt. I don't complain, just want to understand |
I would guess because the Germans cooperated? Also it lives up to its name. The sheer traffic is enormous, although Heathrow is bigger.
| Quoting twaconnie (Reply 12): It's important to remove rubber build up because when it rains becomes very slippery. Makes for very poor breaking action. Years ago they would have trucks with blow torch like devices, that would burn off rubber. I guess today there using liquid chemical's. |
Actually they just use very high pressure water.
-
- fraspotter
- Posts: 2335
- Joined:
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
I watched the episode on Frankfurt Airport but was disappointed. Seems like 90% of the episode was about the fire department responding to a training exercise. This was my home airport for the first 20 years or so of my life and was hoping for more.
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
This was an incredible series! It focused on actual people doing their jobs at FRA.
RE: "X-Ray Mega Airport" - Smithsonian Channel Series
They just repeated the runway cleaning episode. It's done to prevent skidding in rain. The vehicle runs at just 1 mph. The cleaning head blasts 25 gallons per minute to dislodge rubber and suction pumps suck up the loosened rubber. The trucks never stop because a second vehicle comes along side to reload fresh water and suck out all the rubber. They removed 4-5 tons of rubber and do it every 10 weeks.
The guy running the truck says he does it all over Europe. Is this done in the States or elsewhere?
The guy running the truck says he does it all over Europe. Is this done in the States or elsewhere?
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: 747freak, Antdec23, Babyshark, CONTACREW, crownvic, DH106, drerx7, FluidFlow, hl8208, HUYfan, JAmie2k9, JerseyFlyer, magtje, Mbowlesy, melpax, Metchalus, n757kw, PA515, PITfall, Planeplain, Runway28L, SelandiaBaru, skyymarc, Someone83, tautliner, vicentezc, VX321 and 257 guests