Posted on 07/13/2007 11:20:30 AM PDT by skeptoid
Option Helps 787 Passengers Stay Clean As A Whistle
Few things can make transatlantic travel more unpleasant than a dirty lavatory with a wet floor and bad odor. Remember that Continental flight last month?
Two Japanese airlines will finally be getting the lavatory luxuries they've long requested that will, hopefully, eliminate some of that. Boeing and TOTO Ltd. of Japan, in a first in air travel, have developed a bidet-style toilet to be outfitted on new Boeing 787 Dreamliners for Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.
JAL will install them in lavatories only in premium seating areas while ANA said it will install them in both premium and economy class sections.
Boeing said the carriers have been asking for bidet-style toilets for years, but they haven't been able to come up with a model that could withstand the rigors of long-haul flights.
The plane maker worked closely with TOTO, a large bathroom and plumbing manufacturer, and finally developed a sufficiently robust model. The device, called the Washlet, is now listed as an option in the 787 catalog.
ANA is scheduled to take delivery of the first 787 ever in May 2008 and has 50 on order so far. JAL has ordered 35 Dreamliners and is due to start taking delivery later on in the year.
The Washlet is said to be user-friendly and comes with a control panel for easy operation, according to the Wall Street Journal. Users can direct the spray from different directions. This may seem destined to add to wet floors and general lavatory filth, but Boeing says the bidet part will only work when someone is actually sitting on it plus it has a self-cleaning function.
"It's very accurate," said Hiroyuki Ito, ANA's executive vice president of maintenance and operations.
This isn't the first time JAL and ANA have demanded luxuries in the bathroom. JAL implored Boeing to rid their toilets of the loud noise they made when the seat lid was slammed down during the planning stages for the 777.
Reportedly, this little problem became known as the "big bang" and was eventually solved when Boeing engineers installed an air shock that lowers the seat in silence. "It's become one of the hallmarks of the 777," said a Boeing spokeswoman.
Japanese government statistics say two out of three households in Japan have bidet-toilets. They are becoming increasingly common in public toilets as well. In new hotel and office building construction, they are installed as standard appliances.
But so far the biggest challenge to Boeing and the carriers is explaining their use effectively enough so even the most unfamiliar passenger won't be scared to sit down.
Here is the Continental flight link.
'"It's very accurate," said Hiroyuki Ito, ANA's executive vice president of maintenance and operations.
Oh. ... .... OK
A certain specially-privileged pampered group that can do no wrong will surely ask for foot baths.
What next? Muslim Foot baths?..............
Anybody want that blue airline gunk squirted up your bum, stand on your head.
I wonder if they have the “blow dry” function.
No, that's only on the Gay Airlines...........
Wtf?
Great idea. Toilet paper is really inefficient and gross if you think about it. Besides the problem of finding out there is no more toilet paper when you really need more.
Bidet and blow dry sounds pretty good. Gotta get one for the house.
Sheryl Crow will be the non-eco wastrel for still using her 1 square of toilet paper as everyone uses zero.
The nozzle washes your arse clean. The nozzle is guided/positioned by the user, using servo-electronic controls. You’ve gotta see one to believe!
They may have just force-run it to demonstrate, lol!
What no 3 sea shells?
” You’ve gotta see one to believe!”
We got one downstairs and one upstairs in our humble Japanese home . Fantastic .
A man is caught short and runs into a Japanese restaurant to use the toilet. He asks for directions and is told that the mens room is currently undergoing maintenance and that he can use the ladies room. He is warned not to touch the buttons on the wall. He sits down and does his business while noting four buttons on the wall. Curiosity takes over and he pushes the first button. His bum is sprayed by warm water, washing him clean. Wow he thinks women have it good. He pushes the second button. Warm air blows on his bum and he is dried off nicely. Again wow, chicks got it made. He pushes the third button and fells a puff of air on his backside and sees some talc powder blow out from under the seat. Again, WOW. He pushes the fourth button...and wakes up in the hospital, there is a representative of the restaurant there. They tell him ‘We told you not to touch the buttons, it was all good until you got to the automatic tampon remover, by the way your penis is under the pillow!’
I don’t want a mid-air enema. I don’t want an enema at all.
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