How many consecutive New Year's countdowns could you celebrate?

[sygyzy]

This is my challenge to you: How many timezones could you celebrate a New Year's countdown in?

Rules:

1. By celebrate I mean do a countdown from 10 to midnight in each respective timezone you are flying over.

2. It must be you, two pilots, and 11 of your friends. In other words, the plane couldn't be a small prop plane. The plane must also be real (nothing imaginary).

3. Once you pick the plane (again a real one), all that stats apply. It has to operate within it's limits and it cannot do anything crazy like refill midair. It can carry a full tank of gas of course.

4. Be careful about flying across very narrow countries because if you can get across it before the next hour is up, you will have missed the countdown. You basically want to hit midnight within each timezone.

5. The plane must start and end it's trip in a real airfield. You can't just stop in the middle of the ocean for example.

So what plane, where is your starting point, and what's your route?

 

[amdhunter]

1

 

[effowe]

Don't know anything about planes or fuel consumption, but here are some things you could do to hit as many time zones as possible.

1) Take off shortly before midnight and fly in the opposite direction the earth is spinning.
2) After you have celebrated the first countdown, get into the next timezone and start flying north or south.
3) Once you have completed the next countdown, continue to the next time zone and fly north or south in the opposite direction.
4) Continue this up and down pattern for as many time zones as fuel would allow. Leave enough fuel to be able to land safely (obviously)

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: amdhunter
1

 

[vshah]

go up and fly near the north pole. does the plan have to fly in a straight line? otherwise you could just circle if you reach the next time zone too early....

 

[KeithTalent]

I read a book about this guy that could fly up in the Earth's atmosphere and make it spin in reverse. I bet he could celebrate all the New Years' he wanted. Good times being that guy, good times.

KT

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: effowe
Don't know anything about planes or fuel consumption, but here are some things you could do to hit as many time zones as possible.

1) Take off shortly before midnight and fly in the opposite direction the earth is spinning.
2) After you have celebrated the first countdown, get into the next timezone and start flying north or south.
3) Once you have completed the next countdown, continue to the next time zone and fly north or south in the opposite direction.
4) Continue this up and down pattern for as many time zones as fuel would allow. Leave enough fuel to be able to land safely (obviously)

air force 1 + mid-air refuels

 

[Jeff7]

It's irrelevant anyway, because the plane doesn't take off.

 

[Legendary]

Close to the poles this would be absurdly easy

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

It'd be cold as fvck but you could celebrate in all standard timezones at the polls without an airplane
-AE

 

[silverpig]

Circle the pole. Take off from somewhere far north like Stockholm, or somewhere far south, like Sydney. Take a big plane so it could stay up for 24 h, or time a landing + refuel properly so you can go in 2 12 hour stints.

So I guess the answer is: 24.

Actually, you might be able to do more if you get in with one of the non-standard timezones. Newfoundland is EST + 1.5 hrs so you could get a bonus there. I'm sure there are others as well.

 

[Safeway]

I agree with the poles answers, but who wants to party in Antarctica?

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: vshah
go up and fly near the north pole. does the plan have to fly in a straight line? otherwise you could just circle if you reach the next time zone too early....

Win, just walk in small circle near the pole. Skip the plane.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Safeway
I agree with the poles answers, but who wants to party in Antarctica?

Penguins? It'd be summer there too. 24h/day of sunlight ftw.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Not very many as the pilots would get drunk and crash the plane.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
3. Once you pick the plane (again a real one), all that stats apply. It has to operate within it's limits and it cannot do anything crazy like refill midair. It can carry a full tank of gas of course.

What's so crazy about planes that can refuel mid-flight via a KC10?

 

[DayLaPaul]

No where in the rules does it state that you have to celebrate the countdown on land, so I go with 24.

 

[acheron]

there are more than 24 time zones. even discounting the time zones that are not a whole hour off, there are some zones that overlap time but in different days. there's a -12 and +12, -11 and +13, and -10 and +14.

(e.g., if it were noon UTC, it would be midnight in both -12 and +12, but on different days. and it would be 1am in -11 and +13 but on different days, and 2am in -10 and +14.)

 

[So]

Originally posted by: silverpig
Circle the pole. Take off from somewhere far north like Stockholm, or somewhere far south, like Sydney. Take a big plane so it could stay up for 24 h, or time a landing + refuel properly so you can go in 2 12 hour stints.

So I guess the answer is: 24.

Actually, you might be able to do more if you get in with one of the non-standard timezones. Newfoundland is EST + 1.5 hrs so you could get a bonus there. I'm sure there are others as well.

Close enough to the pole, you could have a rolling party in a truck.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

You would have to take maybe a concorde. Or probably a military jet that can go mach 5+. Or a scramjet hypersonic plane...

 

[zinfamous]

Anyone else think of TGI McScratchy's?



anyhoo, it seems that some time in the past, Switzerland was actually divided into some ridiculous 3 or 4 time zones across the country, by a difference of 30 or so minutes per zone. Being the very small country that it is...I'd think you could have celebrated New years at least 2-3 times simply driving from zone to zone, and then to France for the final.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: zinfamous
Anyone else think of TGI McScratchy's?

TGI McSCRATCHY'S GOODTIME FOODRINKERY!

KT

 

[AkumaX]

i'll have floating treadmills in the ocean for landing

 

[PlasmaBomb]

37.

Modified 777-200LR and mid-air re-fuelling (assuming the 777 is fast enough). It could probably manage the 24 standard time zones on one tank near the poles...

 

[IceBergSLiM]

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