Stowaway survives in gear well.

[ATLcrew]

How do you think he was brought from Africa? Elephants don't fly. Africans have as much exposure to aircraft and technology as many other, if not more so than any other, world population. Read a little.

Not so random fact, of the World's 100 highest GDP Growth:

-Comoros(3.5%)
-Guinea-Bisseau(3.5%)
-Chad(3.9%)
-Botswana(3.9%)
-Sudan(3.9%)
-Senegal (4%)
-Lesotho (4.1%)
-Namibia (4.4%)
-Burundi (4.5%)
-Sao Tome and Principe (4.5%)
-Cameroon (4.6%)
-Mali (4.8%)
-Malawi (5%)
-Dijibouti (5%)
-Benin (5%)
-Kenya (5.1%)
-Morocco (5.1%)
-Togo (5.5%)
-Uganda (5.6%)
-Angola (5.6%)
-Congo-Rep (5.8%)
-Zambia (6%)
-Congo-DRC (6.2%)
-Nigeria (6.2%)
-Niger (6.2%)
-Mauritania (6.4%)
-Gambia (6.4%)
-Burkina Faso (6.5%)
-Gabon (6.6%)
-Ethiopia (7%)
-Tanzania (7%)
-Eritrea (7%)
-Mozambique (7%)
-Rwanda (7.5%)
-Ghana (7.9%)
-Cote D'Ivoire (8%)
-Liberia (8.1%)
-Sierra Leone (13.3%).

and the #1; South Sudan (24.7%).

With 39% of the top 100 GDP growth coming from Africa - the largest of any one continent. Poor Africa is no longer the sole truth of the continent, or Her citizens.

Oh, and - there's also google. It's some how people find facts, you know, like the truth about Africa.

Impressive stats. I suppose, if a country had a GDP of $5.50 one year, and $11.00 the next, that would be 100% growth, right?

[AA 1818]

Impressive stats. I suppose, if a country had a GDP of $5.50 one year, and $11.00 the next, that would be 100% growth, right?

What is the U.S. growth rate?

Mitt Romney would marry Paul Ryan at a hand fastening white party officiated by Rick Santorum while Ted Cruz and the Coke brothers danced around the fire if it meant that we could have a GDP growth rate of 4%.

In a horrendous economy, it's truly an achievement to have growth of that kind. The point of my post was to counter the idiotic lie that is perpetrated regarding Africa. It is not this poor, war-torn, association of dictators and anarchies. In some places admittedly, there are issues, but the Continent is home also to some of the largest economies in the World, some of the World's greatest resources pools, and populations that are sophisticated, intelligent, diverse, and with both distinct and vibrant identities.

More to the topic - if you understand how important Africa is to the global economy, especially in the form of mineral resources - then the concept of African Aviation (that sprawls over a vast, and varied terrains/climates/conditions) makes it one if, if not the most diverse in the World. In some communities, airlinks are absolutely vital to their existence - conditions that would not be possible with out complex aviation structures, skilled pilots and reliable aircraft to do. We go from those cases to others where pilots are flying A340s on some of the longest, and most profitable routes in the world - to A380s being named by and flown first by European carriers - to extensive cargo operations that are rivaled by none others in terms of adventure and skill. It's a Continent, and both the notion that an African would not have experience with or access to Aviation is not only wrong, but woefully so.

Are you kidding?

One just needs to see an airplane on the ground to see that it has wheels, and then one flying to note that the wheels are not visible anymore. It doesn't take a high GDP growth (or a high IQ for the sake of the matter) to understand that the wheels must be stowed somewhere inside the plane.

Happening to see an airplane taking off and retracting the gear would be a plus. And anybody climbing into a wheel well, unless blind, has seen a plane and an airport before, right?

Gabriel - how dare you use that sort of logic here!

LOL, I know that you didn't try to burn me, but you TL;DR'd my post and I spent all that time wikipedia-ing my facts, sir. Haha. What's interesting is that even if the child had never seen an airliner's undercarriage in his life - how did he get from Africa? As I said, Elephants don't fly, and there is a crazy reason why Africans don't take kindly to getting on boats to come to the 'States (call it a 'cultural sensitivity'), so normally - the only way to get between the continents has been by plane. Said young man did.

Something that I have been holding onto for a while - I get that he was hoping to get back to Africa, but it's not as if Hawaiian is subtle about where they fly to. I mean, the only thing on the fuselage is the Title, in BOLD. I mean, I had to chuckle thinking - um, sure...

[ATLcrew]

What is the U.S. growth rate?

Mitt Romney would marry Paul Ryan at a hand fastening white party officiated by Rick Santorum while Ted Cruz and the Coke brothers danced around the fire if it meant that we could have a GDP growth rate of 4%.

In a horrendous economy, it's truly an achievement to have growth of that kind. The point of my post was to counter the idiotic lie that is perpetrated regarding Africa. It is not this poor, war-torn, association of dictators and anarchies. In some places admittedly, there are issues, but the Continent is home also to some of the largest economies in the World, some of the World's greatest resources pools, and populations that are sophisticated, intelligent, diverse, and with both distinct and vibrant identities.

More to the topic - if you understand how important Africa is to the global economy, especially in the form of mineral resources - then the concept of African Aviation (that sprawls over a vast, and varied terrains/climates/conditions) makes it one if, if not the most diverse in the World. In some communities, airlinks are absolutely vital to their existence - conditions that would not be possible with out complex aviation structures, skilled pilots and reliable aircraft to do. We go from those cases to others where pilots are flying A340s on some of the longest, and most profitable routes in the world - to A380s being named by and flown first by European carriers - to extensive cargo operations that are rivaled by none others in terms of adventure and skill. It's a Continent, and both the notion that an African would not have experience with or access to Aviation is not only wrong, but woefully so.

My point was only that percentages don't tell the whole story, I have no interest whatsoever in a political discussion.

[3WE]

...sophisticated...

Excuse me?

For black and white thinkers, "sophisticated" is an absolute term, that means very advanced.

Then there are those who see it as a relative term: A Ford trimotor is very sophisticated compared to the Wright Flier. As is a DC-3 to a Ford, a 707 to a DC-3, a 757 to a 707 and a 787 to a 707....

So a kid learns that there's a big compartment called a wheel well- and hears a story of someone being a stowaway...that's not too much of a stretch.

But, I agree with ATL that it's kind of strange that someone with that level of sophistication might also know that a plane where the livery included the word' Hawaiian', might not be the way to get to Africa.

[EconomyClass]

I consider sophisticated as a fuzzy term. And overused by hucksters in touting something. Robust is another similar term. Can't nail down what it means or where the boundary is, but it is used by techies pretty loosely.

[Gabriel]

I consider sophisticated as a fuzzy term.

By the same token, I consider "fuzzy" as a fuzzy term. And a sophisticated one at that.

[Evan]

...that level of sophistication...

Again, about on par with a raccoon.

[brianw999]

After a page of completely off topic rubbish this thread seems to have run its course so it is now locked closed.