Do you like the #NewAmerican of the #NewNewAmerican livery? Image: American

Do you like the #NewAmerican or the #NewNewAmerican livery? Image: American

According to the Dallas News, American could be changing their livery… again. The possible alteration in the livery only deals with the tail. The choice is to either keep the current artistic flag, or to go back to the classic AA with eagle design. Who gets to decide? The new combined American Airlines’ employees.

“As we build our new company, we want all of our employees to have a voice in who we are as an airline, and that starts with what we look like,’ Doug Parker, the new chief executive officer of the American Airlines Group, wrote in the internal newsletter to employees. ’œAs such, today we launched a survey for all employees of the combined company to vote on what we should do with our new look for the tail ’“ keep the work that was done, or go back to the previous American.’

Parker made it clear that the option of a complete re-design of the livery if not on the table. “However you may feel about the new livery and branding, the fact is it would be irresponsible for us to start over from scratch. There are currently more than 200 aircraft in the new livery and the new flight symbol or, ’˜eagle’ as it’s sometimes called, and the related signage is up in many airports and facilities already.”

A very cool (and green) pool at the Crowne Plaza.

A very cool (and green) pool at the Crowne Plaza

STAYING AT THE CHANGI AIRPORT

This is a continuation of  Flying Over 21,000 Miles to Singapore in Four Days – Who Needs Sleep? Part 1

I had just flown about 18 hours non-stop from LA to Singapore, it was 5am local time, and I had about 30 hours on the ground before I headed back to the states on the world’s longest flight. I wasn’t sure if I was going to head out to Singapore or stick to the airport during my “layover.”

Since I was exhausted, not feeling too well, and knew the Changi Airport (SIN) had quite a bit to offer, I ended up never leaving the airport. Yes, my name is David and I am an #AvGeek.

Oh what a great holiday gift! This video shows the pilot’s perspective of moving Christmas trees quickly in Oregon to be sold for the holidays. This pilot is flying a Bell 206B-3 JetRanger helicopter and the video was taken in 2011.

You can also check out another video, filmed in 2008, that shows the process from the ground.

According to The (Vancouver, Washington) Colombian, Oregon is the nation’s largest grower and exporter of Christmas trees. The state sells nearly seven million trees per year, which is a $100 million-plus industry in the state.

Obviously, the tree farms need to move all those trees quickly from where they are grown to the trucks, and what better way to move them than using a helicopter? (well, there surely isn’t a more fun way)

So, next time you buy a tree, make sure to ask for one that was transported using a helicopter!

On overview of hangar four shows a handful of aircraft in the shop. Most notably however, is the LOT 737-400 in the foreground. The airplane, now out of service, was painted gold to celebrate the free and fair elections in the country after the fall of communism.

On overview of hangar four shows a handful of aircraft in the shop. Most notably however, is the LOT 737-400 in the foreground. The airplane, now out of service, was painted gold to celebrate the free and fair elections in the country after the fall of communism.

By Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren and originally published November 20, 2013 on Airchive.com

As part of our trip to Poland in October we had an opportunity to visit LOT Aircraft Maintenance Services on a Saturday afternoon. Technically separate from LOT, the company can handle anything from a simple tire repair to a heavy D-check, aircraft painting to 737 avionics.

A model of the Shanghai Y-10. There is one extant copy, but it is very hard to get close to. Photo by: Shizhao

A model of the Shanghai Y-10. There is one extant copy, but it is very hard to get close to. – Photo: Shizhao

Today, the Chinese are building their second fully designed and built airliner, the Comac C919. However, back in 1980, they flew their first designed and built in-house airliner, the Shanghai Y-10 and it has an interesting (and quite short) history.

The Chinese aviation business after the 1949 revolution was, to say the least, lagging behind both the west and the Soviet Union.

The only aircraft assembled in China that was even close to the dimension and role of those built by their peers was the Xian H-6 a sinofied and license-built version of the Soviet Tu-16. Though the first Chinese medium bomber flew in 1959, no H-6 would ever be fitted with indigenously-designed engines. Chinese fighter aircraft followed along a similar trajectory, though their designers were offered a little more creativity in terms of adding differing body kits to license-built Soviet planes.

Something, however, was missing from the Chinese aviation industry. The skilled fabricators and support staff were there, but there was no real push for engineering talent- particularly in the civil market.

It is unclear how long the Shanghai Aircraft Research Institute had been researching a large, narrow-body passenger aircraft prior to receiving the government’s blessing in August of 1970, but the will was clearly there. Or at least, convicted Gang of Four member Wang Hongwen believed there to be. As a major player in the isolationist factions of the Chinese Communist Party, he was, in some ways, running astray of Mao’s latest internationalist gambits by trying to achieve a self-sufficient aviation industry. Let us ignore that, however.