It is still unreal that Full Aviation Geek Fest Seattle (AGF) tickets sold out in less than 30 seconds. We know that there are many of you who were hoping to get tickets and weren’t able to get them. That bites and we are sorry – blame it on the old rule of “supply and demand.” There were also some technical issues that popped up because of the overwhelming demand that didn’t make things any easier. Again, we apologize. We are looking how to improve the process in the future (and hopefully allow more people to enjoy this epic event), but for now, we still have AGF15 to look forward to!
The sale of Mini Tickets has now closed
Out comes the nose section of an A320 aircraft from an Airbus A300-600 Beluga “Supertransporter” – Photo: Olivier CABARET | Flickr CC
This is an excerpt from Paul Thompson’s story on NYCAviation.com…
Throughout Airbus’ first two decades in business, its competitors at Boeing would joke that ’œEvery Airbus is delivered on the wings of a Boeing.’ That statement was both accurate and fair, being that Airbus had to use modified Boeing Stratocruisers known as Super Guppies. Yes, Airbus was transporting parts for its own jets inside 1940s-era planes built by its only real competitor.
As time progressed, Airbus finally resolved the issue by designing its own transport based on one of their own planes ’“ the A300 twin-engine jet.
A Beluga in the air looks almost like a Beluga whale out of water – Photo: Ken Fielding
The resulting A300-600ST (ST for Super Transporter) became commonly known as ’œThe Beluga’ for its bubble-like forehead resembling the Beluga whale. To accomplish the plane that seems to defy every law of aerodynamics, Airbus employed some major structural changes.
BONUS: Super Guppy Delivers Space Shuttle Trainer to the Museum of Flight
Starting at the nose, Airbus lowered the cockpit below the cargo deck so that the cargo area could be loaded without having to disconnect any of the vital electric and hydraulic lines running to the rest of the plane. The design kept the A300’s lower fuselage, wings and landing gears, but added a cavernous cargo area on top.
A320 noses are unloaded from the Beluga – Photo: Olivier CABARET | Flickr CC
At 49,440 cubic feet, the Beluga’s cargo volume ranks second between Boeing’s 747-LCF Dreamlifter (65,000 cubic feet) and the Antonov An-225 (45,909 cubic feet). The Beluga is hampered by its weight lifting capability, which is only 47 tons (103,617 pounds) or roughly the weight of an empty 737. Its cargo bay measures 25 feet in diameter. The Beluga has a maximum takeoff weight of just over 341,000 pounds, while the Dreamlifter tops out at 803,000 pounds.
BONUS: Antonov AN-225 Photo Tour
In comparison, the 747-8 freighter is capable of lifting over one million pounds, and the An-225 can lift over 1.4 million pounds. The Beluga is also incapable of hauling sections of the A380 due to its size. Those parts are still taken by barge or road convoy to the A380’s final assembly location in Toulouse.
Continue reading On the Wings of Giants: Airbus Banks on the Beluga on NYCAviation.com
We are excited to experience Aviation Geek Fest Seattle 2015 (AGF15) on February 21 and 22. We all VERY much appreciate your patience with getting you information and putting the tickets up for sale.
The Full AGF15 tickets sold out in about 30 seconds — crazy. All this point, there are not additional tickets (Full or Mini) for sale.
Delta Air Lines Airbus A330, with a KLM Boeing 747-400 in the background, in Amsterdam – Photo: David Parker Brown
At the start of last year, we looked at the results of the 2013 deliveries between Airbus and Boeing. With all the interest in that article, I couldn’t leave it alone for 2014, right? So let’s take a look at how the two big airliner companies did, in what is really the biggest aviation competition around?
2014 was a big year for both Boeing and Airbus. Last year we saw the first delivery of the A350XWB for Airbus, while Boeing also had delivery of the first 787-9 to Air New Zealand (followed closely by ANA).
On the narrowbody front, the A320NEO had its first flight (don’t those engines look like someone strapped giant engines onto the wing and went ’œit will work, trust me’) and the 737 MAX makes it one step closer to rolling out of the Renton factory. There were plenty of orders made to both airliners, but what we really want to know is, who produced and sold the most aircraft?
AirlineReporter’s own Bernie Leighton in front of a helicopter at Boeing Field (BFI) – Photo: Britton Staniar | Bloomberg News
When Julie Johnsson, Aerospace Reporter with Bloomberg News, asked if I knew of a good plane spotter in Seattle that she could speak with, Bernie Leighton quickly came to mind!
Bernie is a Managing Correspondent with AirlineReporter and he has provided some amazing photos of aircraft of all types and sizes in the Seattle area and around the world. His specialty: aerial shots.
I am always excited when a journalist with a major media outlet is looking to bring AvGeeks into the mainstream, and after speaking with Johnsson for a short-while, I knew she understood who we were and was excited to read her story. That said, I was a bit curious to why she was motivated to do this story now.
“I’ve been tracking photographers like Bernie on Airliners.net for years, so it was pretty cool to follow him in real life,” Johnsson explained to AirlineReporter. “I was curious to learn more about folks who are documenting Boeing’s jetliner production, what motivates them — and the 787’s role in galvanizing AvGeeks.”
Sounds good to me.
Boeing has to get creative to hide a new livery. Here’s the first 747-8I covered before the big reveal – Photo: Boeing
From Bloomberg News’ story by By Julie Johnsson and Britton Staniar…
Bernie Leighton leans out an open-sided helicopter into a chilly breeze, Nikon camera glued to his face as he focuses on his unsuspecting photographic quarry.
The celebrity in his lens is no Kardashian. It’s Etihad Airways’ first 787 Dreamliner, parked outside Boeing Co. (BA)’s wide-body jet plant north of Seattle and an object of desire among planespotters for a new, secrecy-shrouded paint scheme.
Leighton is angling for Internet fame as he stalks the 787, already one of the most-chronicled industrial products on the planet for its futuristic design and troubled start. Selling the first aerial shot of the shimmering silver-and-gold Etihad plane would also cover the cost of his $500 copter ride.
Continue reading Bloomberg Takes Sometime to Find out What it Means to be an AvGeek & view the video on Bloomberg News.
