Dang those planes get low. A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 landing at LAX.
When I tell my friends that I am going to fly to a city for a day trip, most of them think I am crazy, but I love it. On Saturday, I got up at 4:00am to start my journey to Los Angeles to hang out with some airline dorks at the LAX In-N-Out.
For only $40, we were able to drive this baby around. Only put 20 miles on her though.
Brett Snyder (AKA CrankyFlier) organized the event and about 30 people from around the west coast came to talk planes, eat some good food and spot for airplanes. I was heading down with my friend Mal and even though it is pretty easy to get from the airport to the In-N-Out, he was able to get a great deal on a Ford Mustang Convertible, so we decided to cruise in style. Problem is that we were requested to pick up @danwebbage and @briadavi and a convertable gets a bit tight with four guys in it, but we made it work.
Thai Airways Boeing 777-200. Walked down the street a bit to get better lighting. Love this livery.
I had never been to this In-N-Out (I know crazy right), so I was very excited. I have seen many photos and heard great things about the ability to spot, but photos and words can really not do it justice. The planes get so darn low!
A Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 takes from from LAX.
After hanging out at the In-N-Out, it was time to head over to the other side of the airport: Imperial Hill. It was definitely challenging making sure poles, lines and trees did not get in the shot (it is almost like people do not design infrastructure with spotters in mind), but the views were great.
The planes were exciting, but it is hard to beat talking to other aviation dorks about airlines. I am surely looking forward to next year’s event. Now, it is time to put my energies into Aviation Geek Fest 2013.
After being at LA for less than 12 hours, it was time to board my Virgin America flight and head home.
If you attended #DorkFest and have photos you want to share, either leave a comment or email me (da***@ai*************.com) the link and I will add them to this story.
Thai Airways International (THAI) has took delivery of its first A380 this week. What a great looking aircraft/livery combo. Image from Airbus.
Earlier in the week, Thai Airways International (THAI) took delivery of their first Airbus A380. The aircraft is configured to have 12 private suites in First Class, 60 in Royal Silk Class (aka Business) and 435 in Economy.
Thai plans to put their first of six A380’s into service in October on their Bangkok to Hong Kong and Bangkok to Singapore routes.
There are nine airlines that currently operate the A380 and I think this livery is the best of them.
Some liveries just do not translate well from a single decker aircraft to a huge double decker — the canvas is so much larger. I have always liked Thai’s livery and I feel that it works quite well on the A380. What do you think?
That is Chris Sloan in the cockpit of the Salmon-30-Salmon at Deadhorse / Prudhoe Bay Airport. Image: Chris Sloan / Airchive.com
If you are an airline livery buff, then the Alaska Airlines Salmon-30-Salmon livery is probably on your top ten list (at least it should be). I have seen the outside of the aircraft a few times, but never got to actually fly in it. Recently, Chris Sloan with Airchive.com shared some photos of the interior and I was excited how it had a sea-theme to it and wanted to share.
Alaska Airlines “Salmon-30-Salmon” Boeing 737-400 Flight Deck. Image: Chris Sloan / Airchive.com
From Airchive.com:
Alaska Airlines “Salmon-30-Salmon” Boeing 737-400 Cabin The “Salmon-Thirty-Salmon,” sporting the glimmering image of a wild Alaska king salmon, is among the world’s most intricately painted commercial airplanes. Complete with shiny scales, a dorsal fin and gills, the livery on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-400 passenger aircraft is the result of a dedicated team of 30 painters working nearly nonstop for 24 days. The Boeing 737-400 aircraft has been in Alaska Airlines’s fleet since 1997 and was originally scheduled to be re-painted with Alaska’s traditional Eskimo livery. It was relaunched as “Salmon-Thirty-Salmon” in 2005. Salmon-30-Salmon in reference to a fluke incident that occurred March 30, 1987. After departure from Juneau, Alaska, a Boeing 737-200 hit a fish dropped by a Bald Eagle. Unlike many logojets, the “Salmon Jet” cabin features logo designs inside, in this case various forms of edible Alaskan sea life on the overhead bins. Alaska Airlines’s Boeing 737-400s feature 12 first class and 132 economy seats. These photos were taken on a Summer 2011 flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay and Barrow.
Plaque in the salmon-30-salmon. Image: Chris Sloan / Airchive.com.
The overhead bins have sea creatures. Image: Chris Sloan / Airchive.com.
In case you do not know what kind of animals these are, they give you their names. Image: Chris Sloan / Airchive.com.
Alaska Airlines New Salmon-Thirty-Salmon, which will be put in service in the fall 2012. Image from Alaska. CLICK FOR LARGER.
The original Salmon-liveried 737 was painted over last year, but soon, the new Salmon-Thirty-Salmon II will be unveiled in Anchorage. Alaska Airlines tells AirlineReporter.com that the new aircraft will have a similar plaque, letting passengers know that they are on the world’s largest fish, but the sea creatures on the overhead bins will not be returning.
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.
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.
It is time to start planning for Aviation Geek Fest 2013. No details are even close to share, but please add yourself to the Aviation Geek Fest 2013 e-mail list to be on top of any developments.
NOTE: If you were on the list for 2012, you should have received an email from me with a link to confirm you want to be on the list for 2013. You are not able to add yourself from the link above — yes, I know that is very annoying, but what my host provider is doing to cut down on spam. If you have trouble still, email me: da***@ai*************.com.
I got to drive around Paine Field an a fire bus. Others went on the factory floor, the Dreamliner Gallery and more. What will #AGF13 hold? I am not sure.
Not sure what Aviation Geek Fest is all about? I can tell you that if you have any remote interest in aviation — you will love it. Check out what went down in previous years:
I plan to speak with some AvGeeks at the DorkFest at LAX this weekend to get ideas, but also feel free to post in the comments on any ideas you might have for #AGF13. The sky is the limit (literally, because I doubt we could get on Virgin Galactic).
We are looking to hold it before summer in 2013, but other than that, there are no other details — stay tuned.
