Tag Archives: testing

International Arrivals Facility Trial

Leave a reply

Anyone that has arrived in Seattle on an international flight will know that the arrivals facility was a bit cramped and unwelcoming.  The airport has been building a new arrivals facility for a while now.  It was supposed to open a while back but got delayed by a variety of things, not least COVID.  The new building has been built alongside the A concourse in the main terminal with a bridge connecting the South Satellite to bring arriving passengers across.

The whole thing is due to have a soft open in April 2022 and be fully open by May.  The airport requested volunteers to come and help test the systems to see how they handle a volume of people.  You can do a variety of tests but the true test is when a load of people show up.  This is still not going to be as much load as it will get when multiple international flights arrive at the same time but it is part of the process.

I volunteered to take part.  Yes, I was happy to help out but I was also keen to have a nose around the new facility.  I was hoping to get to see the new bridge and the view it provides of the ramp area but was to be disappointed.  Everything we were testing was on the A concourse side of things.  We did have a good view of the new bridge though.

We were given assignments for our run through the arrivals procedure.  We had various elements that we needed to engage with and evaluate.  I was arriving on a flight with Emirates and had to connect to a Delta flight.  I needed to collect one piece of luggage and then clear immigration and recheck my luggage.  At two locations, we had to complete surveys based on what we had experienced. We started at a gate waiting area and then entered the gate to turn on to the route an arriving passenger would take.  The route is alongside the ramp area so you get a great view of the airport as you walk through.  The new buildings are quite airy and spacious and very white!

Most things worked well enough.  A few things could do with tweaking and it will be interesting to see whether the areas that got backed up for us will cope when the real passengers show up and staffing is increased.  Hopefully it will be a lot nicer way to arrive in SEA than was previously the case.  I would avoid it in the first few days since I imagine there will be some teething issues but, after that, it should be a welcome change.

Going Around in Circles Quite Quickly

Leave a reply

B11I8814.jpgA recent work trip involved some testing of a locomotive.  The test track in use is just outside Pueblo Colorado.  The testing program involves a ton of different tests, many of which are pretty boring to watch if you are not involved.  We did get to do some high speed runs while I was there though.  The locomotive is designed for 125mph so it has to be tested to 130mph.  We got to blast around the track for a while. Wildlife would scatter as we approached – usually.  The loco is a modern design so at this speed, things were really quite uneventful.  The ride was smooth.  The noise was pretty quiet and would have been better if we didn’t have instrumentation cables out of the windows breaking the normal seal.  Soon you will be seeing these locos in service in a number of states across the US.

B11I8826.jpg

Needles Battery

Leave a reply

C59F0701.jpgI posted some shots of the Needles in this post. The rocky outcrops are not the only thing of interest, however. The strategic location of the cliffs and the importance of some of the military facilities in the waters approached via the Needles mean a fort was constructed overlooking the entry to the Solent during the Victorian era. Large guns were mounted on the top of the cliffs to deal with any enemy that might come.

C59F0712.jpgIn the end, no enemy came. However, when the First World War came, there was again a need to protect the approaches. The existing location was not suitable for the size of guns then in use so a new battery was built a little higher up on the cliffs. As with the first one, it stood guard but never engaged any enemy.

C59F0758.jpgIn the middle of the 20th century, the location again found a use. Britain had a space launcher development program with the rockets being developed at Saunders Roe in nearby East Cowes. The location on the cliff tops, a long way from most population areas, with nothing but sea below and no overlooking locations for prying eyes meant it was an ideal location for secret programs. A couple of test stands were built for the rockets to be mounted for testing purposes.

C59F0797.jpgNow everything is decommissioned and is open for the public to view. The location on top of the cliffs is very cool anyway but, if you are an engineer type like me, the test facilities are even better. The bunkers and control rooms are worth a look and one of them even has the equipment recreated in cardboard. That might sound strange but it has been done well and even includes a cardboard coat hanging up on the wall. It is a very innovative approach to reproducing what had been taken apart long ago.