15x04 - Flight Simulators/Traditional Bookbinding/Greenhouse Tomatoes/Hurricane-Proof ...

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: Most hands-on pilot
training occurs not in the air,

But on the ground.

The classroom in which this
instruction takes place

Is a flight simulator --

A high-tech replica
of the aircraft c*ck.

Through the magic of
sophisticated computer software,

The simulator mimics the process
and feel of flying the aircraft.

The flight simulator can produce
darkness or daylight,

Clear or stormy weather,

Or an emergency
such as engine failure

Or a runway tire blowout.

Simulators are modeled
after specific aircraft,

Such as a boeing 737.

The simulator manufacturer
buys the technical data

From the aircraft manufacturer

So it can build a c*ck

Which is an exact replica
in both look and feel.

After assembling a steel frame

And building the instructor's
station behind the c*ck,

They mount a sound system
beneath the c*ck.

This enables crew communication

And produces realistic aircraft
and weather sounds.

A computer-driven
image generator

Produces the c*ck view
on a large, spherical mirror

Made of a thin polyester film.

A vacuum pump sucks it flat
and wrinkle-free.

The image reflecting on
the mirror creates the illusion

Of the infinite view pilots have
in a real aircraft.

The image generator
doesn't send the visuals

Directly to the spherical mirror
facing the pilots.

A projector
first shoots the image

Onto a flat, rectangular mirror
that reflects the image

Onto a front
projection screen --

That round part at the top.

The image on the projection
screen then reflects

In the spherical mirror
in front of the pilots.

This diagram illustrates
how the image travels.

Technicians prepare
the c*ck throttles,

Adjusting the lever tension

To be identical to that
of the real aircraft.

Inside each throttle,
they check the thrust reverser

That pilots activate
upon touchdown

To reverse air flow
and stop the plane.

Next come the control panels,

With all the buttons and
switches to operate everything

From the engines to the
air-conditioning to the lights.

Next, the motion actuators --

Giant legs
which move the c*ck.

They attach to a concrete slab
with jumbo bolts.

Technicians attach conduits

Through which electrical cables
and air hoses run

To the actuators.

The motion is electropneumatic,

Meaning that air
assists the electric motor

That moves the legs.

To attach the actuators,

Technicians activate the brake
inside each one.

This enables the leg to stretch
far enough to reach the base.

After checking the alignment
with this tool...

...They insert a pin.

Then they test the movement
of the entire apparatus.

The test pilot runs
the finished flight simulator

Through different maneuvers

To ensure it performs perfectly.

The image generator is run by
highly sophisticated software.

It knows the design
of every airport in the world,

Enabling the instructor

To conjure up
any scenario imaginable...

Takeoffs, landings, and taxiing
at a specific airport,

Any weather conditions
or runway hazards,

Or any unforeseen events,
such as a blackout

That plunges the entire airport
into darkness.

Faking it doesn't get
any more real than this.

Narrator:
Today's books are mass-produced

By automated equipment,

But before the industry
was mechanized,

Book pages were hand-bound,

Their covers
meticulously hand-crafted

One at a time
by talented book binders.

This skilled trade still exists,
but is now a specialty service.

Book binders are part artist,
part restorer,

Because they craft new bindings,
yet also repair originals.

Before rebinding a book, the
book binder has to unbind it.

She uses a surgical scalpel

To cut the strands
of old binding thread.

This separates the covers and
the sections of assembled paged,

Called signatures.

Using a paper cutter,
she trims the components

Just enough to make their edges
neat and smooth.

Then she positions
the signatures in a vice,

Sandwiched between cardboard
for support.

She draws lines across what
will be the spine of the book.

Then she carefully saws a groove
in each line.

The groove is just big enough

To fit a piece
of hemp binding cord.

One at a time,

She reconnects the signatures
on a sewing frame.

The frame has binding cords

That correspond to the grooves
she sawed into the signatures.

She sews a linen thread
horizontally,

Looping it around the cords.

A chain stitch on each end

Links each signature
to the neighboring one.

When she's done, she coats
the sewn area with glue.

She then lays a thin
cloth backing over the glue,

Then closes the vice tightly
to round the back

And form joints into which
the book's covers will fit.

She perfects the joints
using a hammer.

Next, she weaves
the binding's headband

By wrapping threads
around support sticks

In a specific pattern.

She does this on both the top

Of bottom of what will be
the book's spine.

Next, by folding
and gluing pieces of paper,

She constructs a tube the exact
width and length of the spine.

She glues the tube to the spine.

Now for the book's front cover.

She layers pieces of cardboard
to create a design,

Then glues it onto
a rectangular piece of leather.

She presses the leather
against the cardboard

With a plastic tool
called a bone folder.

Next, she cuts a strip
of thick paper

The width of the book spine

And glues small bands across it.

Then she glues this
onto the leather,

Right next to the cardboard.

Using the bone folder again,
she presses the leather down.

After adding a second cardboard
for the back cover,

She glues
and folds over the edges.

Then she makes
two swift incisions

To remove a triangle of leather.

This produces perfect corners
every time.

Next step -- to embellish
the cover and spine

With gold-embossed decorations
and lettering.

She lays down a sheet
of genuine gold foil

And hot-stamps the design
onto the surface.

After attaching the bound pages

With leather hinges
that match the cover,

The book binder applies
the finishing touch --

Decorative paper
on the inside covers.

From such traditional styles to
ultramodern fish-skin bindings,

It's hard not to judge
these books by their covers.

Narrator:
Some of the finest tomatoes

Come not from the field,
but from the greenhouse.

When cultivating tomatoes
indoors,

Producers can strictly control
the growing conditions,

So greenhouse tomatoes
are more uniform

In size, shape, and color
than field-grown tomatoes.

Some would argue
that they taste better, too.

This company
grows large cluster type

And smaller
c*ck-size tomatoes.

It also produces a kit
containing tomatoes,

A pouch of italian spices,
and a bruschetta recipe.

In this hydroponic greenhouse,

The tomato plants grow
in a substrate rather than soil.

The substrate is a block
of coconut-shell fibers

That retains and drains water
very well.

Greenhouse workers
mix fertilizer

Primarily out of powdered iron
and calcium nitrate.

They dissolve these and
additional chemicals in water,

Which they then dilute
and store in tanks.

Computerized
fertilizer injectors

sh**t controlled amounts
of the solution

Directly into the
irrigation-system water supply.

A new tomato plant
takes 30 to 55 days to blossom,

Then another 8 weeks
to produce fully ripened fruit.

Each plant receives

Up to one gallon
of fertilized water per day

Via an irrigation dripper.

The irrigation system collects

Whatever the plant
doesn't absorb,

Mixes it with fresh water,
adjusts the fertilization,

Then re-feeds it to the plants.

The task of pollination

Is left to a resident colony
of bumblebees.

The plants grow at an astounding
rate of 8 to 12 inches per week.

To train them upright

So they won't get tangled
with neighboring plants,

Workers twist each one
around a nylon cord every week.

Tomato plants grow to a height
of more than 36 feet.

That's taller
than the greenhouse,

Which is why, once a week,

Workers lower the plants
by 8 inches.

The lowering process also lines
them up at the same height,

Which makes harvesting
much easier.

The greenhouse temperature

Is 70 to 77 degrees fahrenheit
during the day

And 54 to 61 degrees at night.

Artificial lighting simulates


Thanks to these controlled
growing conditions,

Greenhouse tomato plants,
unlike field plants,

Are in continuous bloom.

Every week,

A new cluster appears at the top
of each plant,

While a cluster at the bottom
is ready for picking.

In its one-year lifetime,

A tomato plant yields
some 200 large tomatoes

Or 500 c*ck tomatoes.

As conveyor belts
move the tomatoes

Through the packaging area,

Workers separate the green ones
from the ripe ones.

Each shipping box
must contain 11 pounds.

Workers place the box
on a tray scale

And clusters of tomatoes
on digital scales above it.

A computer calculates

Which combination of clusters
would total the target weight,

Then illuminates the light
under those clusters

To tell the packer
which ones to put in the box.

Once filled, the box is passed

Through an automated
labeling machine.

A camera takes a photo
of the configuration,

Then guides an applicator

To slap a code sticker
on every tomato.

Besides selling bulk tomatoes
in the bruschetta kit,

This company packages c*ck
tomatoes in two formats --

Loose and still on the vine...

...Giving greenhouse-tomato
lovers a few tasty options.

Narrator:
Hurricane-proof shutters

Prevent violent winds
and flying debris

From shattering windows.

Not only can breaking glass
cause injury

And let winds enter
and wreak destruction inside,

But the difference between
indoor and outdoor air pressure

Can cause the roof and walls
to collapse.

Roll-down shutters
move vertically...

Whereas accordion shutters

Consist of two sections
that move sideways.

To make the accordion style,

They cut stacks of blades to the
height of the customer's window.

Blades are interlocking
aluminum strips

Manufactured for the shutter
factory by a supplier.

Workers assemble enough
to build two shutter sections

That cover the width
of the window.

These two sections
are called vertical stacks.

They punch holes in the last
blade of each stack

For a locking mechanism.

These two blades
are called center mates

Because they overlap
at the center of the window

And lock together.

They slide each center mate into
its respective vertical stack.

The next step is attaching
nylon bushings and wheels,

Which ride in horizontal tracks

Installed at the top and bottom
of the window opening.

Each center mate
has vertical locking pins.

Activated by a thumbscrew,

These pins slide
through a hole in the track

To lock the shutter open
or closed.

The horizontal slats
of a roll-down shutter

Are made of the same material

As the accordion shutter's
vertical blades.

After cutting the slats to the
width of the customer's window,

Workers assemble enough
to cover the window's height.

These slats have a different
type of interlock

Than the accordion
shutter blades,

But they connect the same way.

The tongue edge of one blade

Slides into the groove edge
of the next.

Nylon locks prevent the slats
from disconnecting.

After hammering the locks
into place,

They crimp the edge
of each slat.

The connected slats
will later be coiled

Around a motorized tube inside
the shutter's aluminum housing.

A technician installs
a ball-bearing assembly

In one side of that housing...

Then a safety plate

To prevent the slat roll
from shifting sideways.

On the other side, they install
a plate with protruding screws

To which they mount the motor.

Next, they install a safety
plate to prevent the slats

From catching
on the motor's power cord.

On each end of the motor,
they fit spacers...

...Then, over the motor,
a roller tube.

They insert a connecting shaft,
which attaches the tube

To the ball-bearing assembly
on the other side.

All these steps assemble
a motorized axle

Around which the roll of slats
will wrap.

Once a quality-control check
ensures

It operates flawlessly...

They close off the back of the
housing with an aluminum cover.

Working from the front
of the housing,

They rivet plastic rings
along the length of the tube.

These help muffle the noise
the slats make

As they roll and unroll.

Workers rivet slat hangers
to the roller tube.

They slide the first slat
onto these hangers.

Then they slide the slat roll
onto that first slat.

The slat edges run
in vertical side rails,

Which installers mount
in the window opening.

Now for a last round
of quality-control testing.

Workers lift and lower
the shutter in manual mode,

As well as by remote control.

When everything works perfectly,

The shutters are subjected
to one final test

To ensure
they can handle everything

That a hurricane can muster.