Etc...

Go ahead, ask me anything

From South Korea comes word that Seo Sang-moon passed the oral portion of his driver's license exam late last month. That's nice, you say, but so what? Well, for starters, it was his 272nd try. Seo, who earns his living as a repairman in a small town, is illiterate. So he came up with a strategy: take the test as often as possible, learning more about the rules of the road each time until he could make at least the minimum score necessary. At last word, he still had to prove that he can handle a car to an examiner's satisfaction , but he's confident of that. As he put it, after working toward his goal for more than five years, "What do I have to be afraid of?"

In its battle for the hearts and minds of air travelers, Airbus has introduced the A380, the largest passenger plane yet. It made its maiden flight over France last week and is expected to be in service sometime next year after undergoing extensive tests. A full-length double-decker, the A380 is even more jumbo than Boeing's 747, the American-made jetliner that has been the industry's size champion for many years. A comparison (with some rounding off) of the A380 and Boeing's 747-400ER:

Length
A380 239 ft. 3 in.
747 231 ft. 10 in.

Wingspan
A380 261 ft. 8 in.
747 211 ft. 5 in.

Height
A380 79 ft.
747 64 ft

Cabin width
A380 22 ft.
747 20 ft.

Seats
A380 555
747 416

Range
A380 9,321 miles
747 8,827 miles

Cruising speed
380 560 m.p.h.
747 567 m.p.h
- Airbus, Boeing, Airliners.net, Wikipedia