Browsing Tag: Video

Air New Zealand is known for their high-quality product and a bit of quirkiness, and their unique safety videos. The have had some winners, but with their last one, I was not a huge fan. My favorite was their one featuring Richard Simmons, but I could see it getting annoying if you fly the airline often.

The airline’s newest safety video is inspired by the upcoming move, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I am guessing that Air New Zealand did not do this out of the goodness of their hearts, but they have a deal with New Line and MGM to help promote the movie. I am okay with that, especially since the video is quite entertaining.

It is more than just your average safety video. Look closely… there are “secret Elvish codes,” and if you enter them on the airline’s special website, you can win a trip for two to New Zealand. I suggest paying attention to the safety video on-board the plane and search for the clues on the ground via this video.

So what do you think? How does this compare to the airline’s other videos? It seems to be popular with almost 3.7million views at the time of posting.

This classic Eastern Air Lines commercial from the 1960’s (guessing around 1964, since that is when the 727-100 entered service) highlights the Boeing 727 entering service with the airline. They tout it as “being as quiet as a library.” Hmm… I am not sure what library they are hanging out in, but those Boeing 727-100’s without hush kits are not known for their silence. Well, at the time, they were quieter than other jets, but as much as a library? Haaardly.


What is better than a classic Boeing 747-100? One that carries a frek’n space shuttle. This is an epic video, but at the same time it is sad. This documents N905NA’s final flight as a Shuttle Carrier from LAX to Dryden Flight Research Facility completed on September 24, 2012. The second Shuttle Carrier (N911NA)  was retired on February 8, 2012.

NASA will continue to use N905NA to research reducing turbulence produced by larger aircraft.

BONUS: Video of both 747 shuttle carriers flying in formation

N905NA doing its job, carrying the shuttle Discovery in April 2012. Photo by jsmjr / Flickr.

N905NA doing its job, carrying the shuttle Discovery in April 2012. Photo by jsmjr / Flickr.

This 747-100 was originally delivered to American Airlines in 1970 as N9668. In 1974, NASA took ownership and was converted to a Shuttle Carrier.

From NASA’s website, the features that distinguish the two SCAs from standard 747 jetliners are:

  • Three struts with associated interior structural strengthening protrude from the top of the fuselage (two aft, one forward) on which the orbiter is attached.
  • Two additional vertical stabilizers, one on each end of the standard horizontal stabilizer, to enhance directional stability.
  • Removal of all interior furnishings and equipment aft of the forward No. 1 doors.
  • Instrumentation used by SCA flight crews and engineers to monitor orbiter electrical loads during the ferry flights and also during pre- and post-ferry flight operations.

Thanks to SpeedBirdHD for taking and sharing this video.

Embedly Powered

It was pretty exciting getting to the Farnborough Air Show this year. The highlights were seeing Qatar’s Boeing 787 and Malaysia Airlines Airbus A380. Pretty cool aircraft, but there are some epic aircraft seen on this video, taken during the 1967 Paris Air Show.

The footage highlights Eastern Air Lines and the DC-8-61, but you can see other gems, like a TU-114, Electra, Concorde and a few others.