This is a pretty slick video showing the ins and out of a Pan Am Boeing 747-100. It does not start out in English, but no worries, it turns into English and what you see is much more important than what you [...]]]>

Click on the image to watch the Pan Am Boeing 747 video.

This is a pretty slick video showing the ins and out of a Pan Am Boeing 747-100. It does not start out in English, but no worries, it turns into English and what you see is much more important than what you hear anyhow.

From the control tower, to starting up the engines to the cockpit, to the Worldport — this is one sweet classic ten minute video that shows off Pan Am 747 Clippers: N656PA, N750PA and N741PA.

Enjoy!

From British Airway’s YouTube page:

On Thursday the 3rd of November, British Airways carried 45 tonnes of life-saving UNICEF aid for people affected by the famine

British Airways donated the aircraft to UNICEF appeal, which is being backed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to help the 13million victims of the East Africa [...]]]>

From British Airway’s YouTube page:

On Thursday the 3rd of November, British Airways carried 45 tonnes of life-saving UNICEF aid for people affected by the famine

British Airways donated the aircraft to UNICEF appeal, which is being backed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to help the 13million victims of the East Africa crisis. We are immensely proud of all our colleagues who helped to make this flight happen.

To donate to the appeal please visit www.eastafricacrisis.org.

The other day I had an interesting conversation with @JetCityStar via Twitter about aircraft and museums. It turned into us asking each other if we could have one type of each aircraft Boeing made, which ones would we [...]]]>

Boeing lined up one of each of their airliner models at Boeing Field. Photo by Boeing.

The other day I had an interesting conversation with @JetCityStar via Twitter about aircraft and museums. It turned into us asking each other if we could have one type of each aircraft Boeing made, which ones would we want. Yes, we are both airline nerds and proud of it.

Although the conversation is a bit on the nerdier side, I felt the conversation was worthy of a larger audience and was interested in what other people thought about which aircraft best represented a certain type. So I put the question to you. If you were a museum and could one of each Boeing airliner made, which would you choose?

Please put your answers in the comments. Here are mine:

Boeing 707: Test aircraft that Tex Johnson did a barrel roll in.
Boeing 717: Eh.
Boeing 727: Very first Boeing 727-100 made (which is being restored at Museum of Flight)
Boeing 737: Don’t ask me why, but I would really want a USAir 737-200.
Boeing 747: First Boeing 747 that was delivered to Pan Am. I just love the Pan Am livery on the 747, it just seems right at home.
Boeing 757: Probably one that was for the Vice President.
Boeing 767: The Spirit of Delta, which is housed in Atlanta.
Boeing 777: I am not even sure.
Boeing 787: ZA001 in her livery. Entering a new era or airliner.

WHICH ONES WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

September 30th marked the anniversary when the very first Boeing 747 (called the City of Everett) was rolled out of Boeing’s hangars. Since then, it has been a legend and still is my [...]]]>

The first Boeing 747 with all those airline logos -- how many do you recognize. Click for larger. Photo by Boeing.

September 30th marked the anniversary when the very first Boeing 747 (called the City of Everett) was rolled out of Boeing’s hangars. Since then, it has been a legend and still is my favorite airliner. The Boeing 747 started flying for PanAm in 1970 and the new variant, the Boeing 747-8 should be delivered during the middle of next year. This means the Boeing 747 should continue to be flying well into the future.

Boeing kindly shared via Twitter a photo of the first roll out. It is interesting to take a look at the airline logos on the aircraft and how many are no longer with us and there are some still flying Boeing 747′s. The first Boeing 747 is still alive and well, hanging out at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

So, without looking it up in Google, how many airline logos can you recognize? It is not really a competition, but let’s do some teamwork to figure them all out. If you know some, list them in the comments and hopefully we can get them all. Off the top of my head I know 18 of the 27 that are there. SEE LARGER VERSION.

Thanks @skhwang for point this out!

Not too long ago I spoke how airlines could make it rain by flying through the clouds. A second way is to dump a Boeing 747 full of water to the ground below.

The first Supertanker was a Boeing 747-200 (see in the video above – N470EV) that was been modified to fight fires. Currently Evergreen uses [...]]]>

Not too long ago I spoke how airlines could make it rain by flying through the clouds. A second way is to dump a Boeing 747 full of water to the ground below.

The first Supertanker was a Boeing 747-200 (see in the video above – N470EV) that was been modified to fight fires. Currently Evergreen uses a Boeing 747-100 (N479EV). It can hold 24,000 gallons of water or fire retardant. The Supertanker fought its first fire in the US on August 31, 2009 at the Oak Glen Fire. The aircraft is housed at McClellan Field outside of Sacramento, CA and is ready to go at any time.

If you want more, check this 7-min video on the Evergreen Boeing 747 Super Tanker.

It seems that sometimes the dumbest people also get to be the luckiest. A 20 year old man wanted to get from Vienna to London to find a job and didn’t want to have to pay for a ticket. Instead, he climbed [...]]]>

Private Boeing 747-400 that unwanted hitch hiker got a ride on. A6-HRM

It seems that sometimes the dumbest people also get to be the luckiest. A 20 year old man wanted to get from Vienna to London to find a job and didn’t want to have to pay for a ticket. Instead, he climbed under the security fence and climbed up the undercarriage of a private Boeing 747, who belongs to a high-ranking sheik from the United Arab Emirates.

The 747 took off with no passengers aboard and luckily they ran into some thunderstorms. I say luckily because the plane had to fly at about 25,000 feet, which meant the temperature and lack of oxygen didn’t kill the stowaway. However, it is reported that he wasn’t doing too hot (ha, get it not hot) by the time he arrived in London after his 90 minute flight.

“Due to specific circumstances of this flight, he is lucky to have survived, because survival in these cases in quite rare,” said Sidney Dekker, a professor of flight safety at the School of Aviation at Sweden’s Lund University told the Huffington Post. “But on another level, this incident also illustrates the absurdities of security checks.”

Even though there is no official word on his condition, Heathrow officials are stating the man is in a cell and not in a hospital.

Thank you AirlineIndustryReview for knowing the exact plane.

Different places on the internet say this pilot was landing in severe crosswind, others say he just wasn’t set up to land correctly. Either way, this is one impressive landing.

Thanks for the tip withanhdammit!

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Trying to read airline news now, all I see is “terrorist”, “security”, and “TSA.” Trying to do something a little lighter.

This Boeing 747 is parked outside the Future of Flight in Everett, WA. [...]]]>

This Boeing 747 is parked outside the Future of Flight. Image is used by permission from the Future of Flight.

Trying to read airline news now, all I see is “terrorist”, “security”, and “TSA.” Trying to do something a little lighter.

This Boeing 747 is parked outside the Future of Flight in Everett, WA. Notice anything strange with the aircraft? Any idea who might own the aircraft?

The Strato Deck (all the people on the roof) is where I caught the Boeing 787 taxi tests and the Boeing 787 first flight.

So can you spot what is odd with this 747?

SEE LARGER VERSION

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Hopefully you never have to experience the safety slide deploying on an aircraft first hand. This video is from 1984 and shows a safety slide deploying from an American Airlines Boeing 747.

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I know it is not directly related to airlines, but close enough. You have a modified Boeing 747 that can fly the Space Shuttle across the country.  The process of getting the shuttle on and off the Boeing 747 [...]]]>

Space shuttle sitting on top of a modified Boeing 747 - Click to see video.

I know it is not directly related to airlines, but close enough. You have a modified Boeing 747 that can fly the Space Shuttle across the country.  The process of getting the shuttle on and off the Boeing 747 is not an easy task. A reader pointed out a site that shows a bunch of photos and also a time-lapse video.

Thanks Dan for the tip!

Japan Airlines flight 61 from LAX to Japan was just pulling back from the gate, when its left outboard engine sucked an empty container that was being driven too close to the jet. This Boeing 747-400 has about 60,000 lpf thrust which can create a lot of [...]]]>

Oops, luggage isn't supposed to go there.

Japan Airlines flight 61 from LAX to Japan was just pulling back from the gate, when its left outboard engine sucked an empty container that was being driven too close to the jet. This Boeing 747-400 has about 60,000 lpf thrust which can create a lot of sucking power. The container is about 5′ x 5′ x 4′ but looks quite small while parked inside the engine. The passengers had to be unloaded and the plane was taken for inspection.