Carriage of Non-passenger Loads on Seats - Atomic Clocks

[deeknow]

Was just perusing an old uncontrolled copy of an airline Route Guide document and came across the following amusing, and somewhat intriguing passage...

Carriage of Non-passenger Loads on Seats
When aircraft seats are used for other than the carriage of passengers (e.g., musical
instruments, incubators, atomic clocks, etc.)

what the? I cant remember seeing many atomic clocks on flights I've been on recently? Actually, come to think of it, I wouldnt know an atomic clock if it fell on me

[IslandBoy77]

QUOTE (deeknow @ Aug 21 2010, 09:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Was just perusing an old uncontrolled copy of an airline Route Guide document and came across the following amusing, and somewhat intriguing passage...

Carriage of Non-passenger Loads on Seats
When aircraft seats are used for other than the carriage of passengers (e.g., musical
instruments, incubators, atomic clocks, etc.)

what the? I cant remember seeing many atomic clocks on flights I've been on recently? Actually, come to think of it, I wouldnt know an atomic clock if it fell on me

I still remember hearing about the test done many, many moons ago, where some scientists plonked 2 atomic clocks on 2 diff aircraft and sent them off in opposite directions for a round-world trip. When the clocks arrived back, one was slightly slower than the other! It was a part of proving how gravity and the movement against the earth's rotation effects the passage of time. The diff was very, very small (less than half a second), but it was ground-breaking at the time. But no, I don't recall having seen any clocks strapped into a seat across the isle any time I've been on a commercial flight... or ANY flight, for that matter

[SA227]

Had one on a 747-200 years ago. It travelled first class.

[IslandBoy77]

QUOTE (SA227 @ Aug 21 2010, 10:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It travelled first class.

[mfraser]

I once had the honour of strapping in a chillybin full of frozen blood products to ferry to an army medical outpost in East Timor......... you'd be surprised at some of the things that get ferried around the place on seats!!