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Welcome to the 22nd episode of Gerrit's Diary.
The Lufthansa Technik Hangar is finally completed.
The 747-400 that's arriving now wants to be serviced,
and by this example let me illustrate how this hangar works.
The plane has been brought to a standstill and the engines are off.
Then the doors open and the plane is pushed inside for maintenance.
After the plane is inside, the doors are shut,
to not disturb the locals with propulsion test runs or the like.
The closing of the doors serves as a little trick for us,
because we can't really drive in reverse with the planes
and the pushbackers can't cross paths or change their course.
And so, the doors are closed
because we use the maintenance time to turn the plane around.
That way the hauling with the pushbacker looks more realistic because
planes in hangars don't drive on their own but are moved with pushbackers.
And here comes the pushbacker to pick up the plane.
It pulls the plane out of the hangar, doors are shut, the pushbacker leaves,
and the plane is ready again to make many rounds over Knuffingen.
Here where I stand one can see two new themes, so to speak.
First, a new airplane. We are very proud of our second A380 from Thai,
which is now landing.
It has been completed for two days,
and we are very proud to have two A380s.
What can also be seen here, is that the cover has really progressed.
Strictly speaking, it's technically ready because only details are missing.
The software is working, it's synchronized with the plane.
Neither tail fin nor nosewheel are allowed to bump into something,
no matter which angle the plane attains.
We have currently secured it with a cardboard frame
because I'm not quite sure of it yet. But it has not touched it so far.
The cardboard is also there to gradually reduce the size of the window.
The smaller the window becomes, the better the cover will be.
But it's only a cover after the strips are hanging in the middle.
And another part is missing, but I'll show you that in the workshop.
Because the cover isn't quite finished, we'll continue out of the workshop.
Here are the last missing elements.
It wouldn't be much of a cover if only the window moves,
so everything above and below has to be concealed.
We achieve this with roller blinds such as these here.
Here is the window and how the blinds
conceal visibility on the upper and lower sides.
Below there are two seperate ones, so the pole can fit through the middle.
We couldn't just go to the hardware store and buy a roller blind,
because if you use them too much they tear.
But these here are supposed to endure one million strokes
and that should last for some time.
What I'd like to show you next is where I just have to stop every day.
For someone who is fascinated with firefighting, this is a great little detail.
Stefan built it and I was absolutely delighted the first time I saw it.
It's an extinguishing stream that we can guide into any object.
We'll begin using this for the push-button action on the airport: The firedrill
where the fire brigade will try to extinguish an engine fire.
And of course, this is suited perfectly.
Let's continue with a really big problem.
This is one of the last remaining DC-6 of Red Bull.
But this plane is actually painted just like an original Red Bull can.
And we didn't accomplish that on the first try.
A Red Bull can has a see-through varnish on a metallic surface.
And it's the same with the original plane. It is chromed with a glazed finish
and that is really not easy to do with a model.
After many tests we found out how to repaint the plane
to make it look just like it does in reality.
How many hours will it take?
Well, quite a few. The whole thing needs a black undercoat
then it has to dry, then a chrome layer is applied,
then a special clear lacquer, then the translucent colour with airbrush,
then another clear laquer. It will be very complicated,
because the paint can't be too thick, or it won't look good.
But I think the effect will be worth it.
As you can tell, I'll have to refrain from using this plane in testing for a while.
But then the plane will look so good that you can hold the can against it
and say: It looks just like in reality.
What's really difficult to convey in pictures is that
I can hear the plane start from left to right.
The sound is always exactly on the same spot as the plane.
The bass, pitch and so on is managed by our sound matrix.
We have 6 speakers under the ceiling, two big subwoofers beneath the layout
and 24 small speakers spread across the layout.
The computer program calculates the position for every sound
that is about to occur somewhere and regulates the volume.
So when you stand in the middle the sound comes from here.
If it turns the volume down on one side and up on the other,
then the sound wanders through the layout.
This way I can bring every sound to each point of the layout.
We are really excited that it also works with the bass, it sounds pretty good.
Also great is that the amount of official appointments is increasing,
so we feel that we are getting closer to the official opening.
For example, we had the centenery of the Hamburg Airport.
The opening ceremony was at our place
and we did an airshow to demonstrate the 100 year history of the airport.
Today, a high ranking delegation of Turkish Airlines came by
to celebrate the start-up of their Boeing 737-800 Winglets.
These are really good appointments because we have to present
the airport in an almost finished state and can see that it already works.
And with that, this episode of Gerrit's Diary comes to an end.
Well, not quite.
Because Christmas is near and I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year, we have made two parts.
The second part is completely without me and only with beautiful night images.
I'm really looking forward to that and the next episode. See you soon, bye.