Mar102010

747 Landing Gear video

Now, this is cool. Sometime recently, a Boeing 747 took off from the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa bound for Maputo, Mozambique. This is the HD video from that flight.

They used a Contour HD helmet cam, secured to the the nose gear. The things you can do with some duct tape.

Mar102010

Wednesday Wings KLM 747 on Final at Princess Juliana

This is another shot from Princess Juliana airport on St. Maarten. This plane, is a KLM Airlines 747 on final.

Try to avoid looking at the hairy man back that’s in the picture, yikes! This looks like it would be a great place to take some pictures from. I don’t know that it would necessarily be a relaxing beach though.

Photo Credit: JetPhotos.net

Mar092010

Aviation News Articles

Here’s a summary of articles from across the web:

Boeing gets a $1.6 Billion order from Turkish Airlines

Marketwatch reports that Boeing received an order of 20 B737 jets from Turkish Airlines. The order is split evenly between 737-800s and 737-900ER models.

“The 737-800 is the backbone of the Turkish Airlines fleet and proves its value on a daily basis offering unmatched levels of efficiency and reliability,” Marlin Dailey, vice president of Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said.

“The 737-900ER will fit seamlessly into Turkish Airlines’ operations, sharing the same pilots, systems and nearly 100 percent spares commonality with the airlines’ current Next-Generation 737 fleet. We are also very proud to provide Turkish Airlines’ new 737s with the Boeing Sky Interior, which will be a perfect complement to the carrier’s high levels of service and passenger comfort.”

Photo: Ramanathan.Kathiresan

More airlines expected to add wifi service

According to a report in The Star Online, more airlines are planning on adding wifi service to their flights in the coming years. After they add wifi, they want to add cell phone service as well. We can bid goodbye to the days of not having to sit next to a blathering idiot on their cell phone making sure that everyone on the plane knows just how important they think they are.

Thai Airlines looking to lease 2-4 additional jets

The Bangkok Post reports that Thai needs additional planes to meet with rising demand and deal with a delay in new aircraft deliveries. Apparently, Thai was supposed to have received additional 5 A330-300s but the delivery has been indefinitely delayed due to problems with the seats.

The contractor in charge of putting the seats in the economy section of the planes, a company named Koito Industries, can’t get the seats certified for safety. By the way, Koito Industries, is based in Yokohama and is owned by Toyota.

Thai is looking for a 3 year lease on Boeing 777-300ER types configured in 3 classes with a business class area that has fold flat seats. They want to lease from other airlines because they think they can get a better deal that way. The planes are needed to service increased demand in their European routes.

Boeing 777 at Kansai Airport
Photo: yasushi00

Mar092010

GM CEO Whitacre Flies Private, And AT&T Pays The Bill

Now, this is nice. When he retired from AT&T, General Motors Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre negotiated a deal that allows him to commute between San Antonio, Texas and Detroit via private plane owned by AT&T.

According to the Detroit News as part of his retirement package, Whitacre gets to fly for up to 10 hours for free on AT&T jets. This perk is included in his $158 million retirement package. AT&T pays about $20,000 a month for Whitacre’s flights.

Of course, some people are whining about this, but I don’t have a problem with it. He obviously earned the right to fly in the jet, and AT&T was fine with it in the first place. Whether I think it’s excessive or not is a whole other story.

Whitacre shouldn’t have to give up this part of his retirement package just because people are sensitive about Government Motors. Besides, GM isn’t footing the bill for the flights.

Rock on Ed, fly the AT&T skies for as long as you can.

On a different note, it seems like AT&T execs could just pick up the phone and call, why does AT&T need a fleet of corporate jets?

Photo: Scot_w_9