Thursday, February 2, 2012

CNNGo.com

CNNGo.com

How do you change a tire on an Airbus A330?

Posted: 02 Feb 2012 12:51 AM PST

by CNNGo staff

There are many things about air travel we take for granted: that drinking whiskey at 10 a.m. is OK; that moving your feet in small circles counts as "exercise."

But some things are worth explaining.

Adam Nelson, manager line maintenance for Cathay Pacific Airways, told us how to change a tire on an Airbus A330.

While you may swap out that ragged piece of rubber on your Ford only when the rim starts squealing on the asphalt, with eight main wheels and two nose wheels, an A330 goes through 25 tire changes a year. That's 1,150 tire changes for Cathay's A330 fleet each year.

A Boeing 747-400 is even needier. It has 16 main wheels and will get roughly 50 tire changes in a year. 

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Old friend, new face at Cathay Pacific's flagship lounge

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 07:35 PM PST

by Zoe Li, Hong Kong Editor

Cathay Pacific's flagship lounge at Hong Kong International Airport reopened on January 31 after a major ongoing facelift. 

Dubbed The Wing, the 14-year-old Cathay Pacific lounge has completed renovations for its business class section. Construction for the first class section will be complete by the end of the year.

Covering almost 3,000 square meters, the split-level space has been redesigned by London-based architects Foster + Partners. Everything is bigger, plusher and better-looking.

"When we first opened in 1998, it wasn't to universal acclaim," said Alex McGowan, head of products for Cathay Pacific.

"There was a water feature that passengers accidentally went paddling in and a noodle bar that was once described as a boarding school dining room. But over the years, The Wing became an old friend to frequent travelers and there was a real emotional attachment formed with the space. We want to retain the personality of the original -- to reinvent the old friend."

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Dictators and communists at Singapore's M1 Fringe Festival 2012

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:00 PM PST

by Elaine Ee

A strong platform for small but high-quality art, Singapore's M1 Fringe Festival 2012 returns to cast a critical eye on art and faith, while invariably shedding some light on Asia's modern social fabric.

Visitors checking out this year's Singapore's M1 Fringe Festival 2012 can expect to see performances and visual art exhibitions that highlight some of these keystones of Asian society, a region deeply rooted in tradition yet continuously transforming.

Here are five top Fringe acts that focus on some of these diversities and complexities. 

Triple Gem

Where: Esplanade -- Jendela Visual Arts SpaceHtein Lin tackles the Buddhism's Law of Nature in his latest installation piece.

When:  February 15-26

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MONA: The world's most far-out museum

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 01:55 PM PST

by Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Chiseled into an escarpment on the banks of the Derwent River in the northern suburbs of Hobart is a subterranean fortress housing one of the most confronting and controversial collections of art in the world.

The crowning achievement of Tasmanian David Walsh, a mathematician and art collector who made millions perfecting algorithms that let him to beat casinos and bookies at their own game, MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) has made a name for itself by breaking every rule in the book since opening its doors in January of last year.

The entrance, for example, casts aside the grand porticos and columns commonly seen at museums in favor of a synthetic tennis court and unmarked doorway.

"When you go to a conventional museum you are forced to walk up stairs and past pillars meant to make you feel small and then have academics tell you it's culture," says research curator Delia Nicholls. "But David wanted none of that so he built this place underground."

Why the tennis court? "Because he likes tennis," says Nicholls.

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at 9:03 AM