TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION
Best Selling Hybrid Car
Over 35,000 Toyota Prius hybrid cars have been sold in Japan. The Prius is a hybrid-powertrain vehicle combining a 1.5 litre gasoline engine with a generation that halves emissions, cuts smog chemicals by up to 90% and goes twice as far as a standard car on 1 litre (13/50 gallon) of fuel. During one Japanese test cycle, the Prius achieved a fuel consumption of 32 km/litre (77 mpg).
Fastest Motorcycle Speed
America's Dave Campos, riding a 7-m (23-ft) long streamliner named Easyriders, set American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and Federation Internationale de Motorcyclisme (FIM) absolute speed records with an overall average speed of 518.450 km/h (322.150 mph), and completed the faster run at an average of 519.609 km/h (322.870 mph), at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA, on July 14, 1990. The Streamliner weighed 1133.9 kg (2,500 lb) and was powered by two 1,500 cc Ruxton Harley-Davidson engines.
Busiest Port
The world’s busiest port is Rotterdam, The Netherlands, which covers an area of 100 km² (39 miles²). The port handled 315.5 million tonnes (310.5 million tons) of sea-going cargo in 1998. Almost half the bulk raw material (more than 100 million tonnes) arriving at the port is crude oil and oil products, and the port is home to one of the largest petro-chemical complexes in the world. It covers approximately 60% of port land and is home to five oil refineries and 30 large chemical and petro-chemical companies. There are 1200 km of pipelines between the various facilities and the complex provides direct employment for 13,500 people.
Fastest Jet
This two-seat high-speed aircraft flew top-secret missions for nearly 25 years. To make it go fast the Blackbird is painted with a black paint that consists of tiny metallic balls. These dissipate electro-magnetically-generated energy and effectively lower the chances of the plane being picked up by radar. The special black finish also wards off heat caused by high speeds and actually radiates significantly more friction-generated heat than it absorbs at cruising speeds of Mach 3.
Fastest Antarctic Crossing
The 4,185 -m (2,600-mile) trans-Antarctic leg of the 1980-82 Trans-Globe Expedition - from Sanae to Scott Base, was achieved in 55 days, from October 28, 1980 to January 11, 1981, having reached the South Pole on December 15, 1980. The three-man party on snowmobiles comprised Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Oliver Shepard, and Charles Burton. During their trek, they had to stop for 17 days, as they had heard on the radio that they would be arrested if they reached the South Pole. This is because the National Science Foundation had initially refused them permission, and it took the British foreign office 17 days to sort it out. Additionally they had four days off when they got to the pole. Therefore they had an additional 21 days subtracted from their total.
First Person To Visit Both Poles
Dr. Albert Paddock Crary (USA) reached the North Pole in a Dakota aircraft, on May 3, 1952. On February 12, 1961, he arrived at the South Pole on a scientific traverse party from the McMurdo Station.
Longest Hiking Trail
The world's longest designated hiking trail is the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs for 4,260 km (2,650 miles) along the West Coast of the USA between the Mexican and Canadian borders. The Continental Divide Trail, currently around 70% complete, will be around 5,000 km (3,100 miles) long when finished.
Fastest Globe Trip By A Female Helicopter Pilot
Jennifer Murray (UK), with co-pilot Quentin Smith flew 57,448.7 km (35,698 miles) around the world in a Robinson R44 Astro in 97 days. They set off from England on May 10, 1997, and returned on August 8. The 57 year old grandmother and her co pilot crossed 26 countries, making 80 refuelling stops, and took time to visit the Monaco Grand Prix and the ceremonies marking the handover of Hong Kong to China.
Busiest airport
According to the Airports Council International (ACI), Hartsfield International Airport, serving Atlanta, Georgia, USA, was the world's busiest in terms of passengers in 2002, with 76.87 million people using it during that year.
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