Frontier Bombarider Q400 (N502LX) sits at Denver, waiting to take me to Aspen.
Being based in Seattle, I have had plenty of opportunities flying on Bombardier Q400s via Horizon Air Alaska Airlines. When I had the opportunity to recently fly from Seattle to Aspen, for a ride on a Beechcraft Starship, I did not have too many choices on what to fly from Denver (DEN) to Aspen (ASE). I could either fly on a United Airlines CRJ 700 (operated by Skywest) or a Frontier Airlines Q400 (operated by Lynx Aviation). Being the aviation fan that I am, I chose my airline based on the aircraft type and wanted to experience the Q400 flying into Denver — lucky for me, it was the cheaper of the two tickets as well.
When landing at DEN from Seattle (SEA), I had about an hour and a half layover. This was a good thing, since the Q400s are located pretty much at the end of the airport, down some stairs and at the end of a very long and narrow hallway. I kind of wish I would have spent more time in the main terminal, since the waiting area for regional flight do not have too much to offer.
The Q400 is not known for being very roomy, but this flight was almost empty, so I had plenty of room.
Our flight was pretty empty, with about 20 people flying on the 70 passenger aircraft. Boarding was easy with one announcement made for people to start boarding and it only took a few minutes. One of the attractive parts about flying on a regional carrier is the increased chance of boarding on the tarmac. Although most air travelers probably hate boarding this way, for an airline fan, nothing can beat it.
When boarding there was a cart that passengers could put their carry-ons to be placed in the cargo-hold and not in the cabin. All I had was a back-pack, so I opted to bring that on board… bad call. Even though it was small (in carry-on standards) it still wouldn’t fit in the overhead bin. Lucky for me, I had no problems storing under an empty seat, but if the plane was full, stuffing a back-pack under my seat would have really taken a lot of my space.
For weight distribution, everyone sat near the back of the plane. I was in row 7 and I was the farthest to the front and there was no one even around me.
Many passengers might not enjoy this view when looking outside, but I love it.
Unlike Alaska’s Q400s, Frontier’s have sun screens and the seats are able to recline. Sure, nice touches, but this flight was only about 45 minutes, so these features meant little to me.
Engine start up on a turboprop is always my favorite part of the flight and those sweet Pratt & Whitney PW150A engines did not disappoint. Being in row 7, I had a favorable view watching them slowly start up and hearing the growl of the engines. Again, maybe not something the majority of passengers would enjoy, but it is one of the reasons I choose to fly on a Q400 when I have other options.
The views flying from Denver to Aspen were prettying amazing. Flying low in the Q400 sure helped.
As I normally do, I had my camera at the ready to take photos as we took off. Yes, you can yell at me for keeping an electronic on while taking off, but there is no way that a camera is going to affect an airplane. It is very rare for a flight attendant to say something, but this was one of those flights. I was told that I had to turn off my camera and had to wait until we reached 10,000 feet before turning it on… sigh — okay fine. I may not agree with the rules, but I am not going to argue with the person just trying to do their job.
We were also told that we would not be able to turn on our cell phones during the entire flight. Not just airplane mode, but it couldn’t be on at all. My guess is that since we never flew very high, we would still be able to get reception during the flight and possibly cause interference. Either way, I listened and kept my phone off and enjoyed the view out the window.
This wolf pup's name is Wolfgang and he looks pretty much at home in Aspen.
The short flight was pretty bumpy, especially near the end. Again, most people probably wouldn’t like the idea of flying on a turboprop in turbulence, but I actually kind of enjoy it . It was obvious that this plane had been in turbulence before. Even when the bumps were not that bad, but the overhead bins were shaking like it was a huge storm and competed with the engines on making the most noise.
The weather got worse as we got closer to ASE and with the rapid descent, the flight attendants did not even get up to do their final safety check, but asked us to make sure our seats were up and belts buckled for landing. Okay, I can understand that, but they never got up during the entire flight anyhow. Not that I need a drink during a 45 minute flight, but at least getting up once to check on the passengers would probably be a good idea, instead of sitting in your jump seat chit-chatting with each other.
Flying into Aspen was quite beautiful and a bit aggressive. We bounced around as heading down at a steep angle to make it into the airport. As an aviation lover, this flight was great, but I could see how most people would not think the same way. But, if you are looking to fly into Aspen, you do not have much of a choice, other than flying on a CRJ700 or a private plane. Good thing I love flying and most people are willing to do it to experience Aspen.
It is hard to believe that it has been over two weeks since I took a ride on All Nippon Airways (ANA) second Boeing 787 Dreamliner (JA802A). Since then I have finally been able to get my video done (which is shared in this story) and it has allowed me to think more about flying on the 787 Dreamliner. I also reached out to a few others who were able to take a flight that week and see what their thoughts are after having a bit of time to mentally digest.
When flying in the 787 I knew it was different. It took off very smoothly and it was quiet as I expected it would be. I didn’t fully appreciate how nice it was until my flight home. The day after the 787 excursion, I was on a ANA Boeing 777-300ER back to LA. The 777 is by no means a bad aircraft and it seemed amazing when I flew to Tokyo, but it seemed very different on the way home. This was the exact same plane that I flew from LAX to Tokyo just a few days earlier. On my 777 flight to Japan, the 777 seemed new, fresh and comfortable. But flying on it after the 787, it now seemed outdated, cramped and not nearly as nice.
To be fair, this 777 did not have ANA’s newest staggered business class product, but the current one is not horrid. I think my perception of my 777 flight to Japan versus going home was a real eye opener on how different the 787 is to the airline business. In the words of Reading Rainbow, “But you don’t have to take my word for it…”
Mount Fuji seen from ANA's second Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
AirlineReporter.com: What was your favorite part of the 787 flight? Norris: The fact that despite I was with 240 of my newest, closest friends, the big windows and open architecture made the cabin feel larger than it actually was. The smoothness of the flight and the skyline of the windows gave the unusual sensation of almost flying in a dirigible – like a luxury airship. I didn’t expect that. Interestingly I found the light control on the window shade very useful for modulating light levels – like having sets of giant sunglasses with various tint levels.
Was it what you thought it would be?
It was just what I hoped – and expected.
Will it be difficult to fly on non-787 aircraft now?
It already is!
The view of the wing from the lavatory. Not too bad eh?
AirlineReporter.com: What was your favorite part of the 787 flight? Sloan: I was absolutely in awe of that raked wing. Watching all the control surfaces react to gusts and chop was mesmerizing to me. I think you commented in a post how it’s difficult to appreciate from in-cabin just how curved up the dihedral is. I agree. The in-flight entertainment of the wing could not be beat. The positive, upbeat, convivial atmosphere of passengers and crew in being a part of history was equally wonderful to the aircraft itself.
Was it what you thought it would be?
I wouldn’t say anything could be better. As I think many of us have remarked, had the flight been the longer-haul, we would have been able to discern the affects on the lower pressurization and higher humidity on our well-being. It was very difficult to tell after just a 4 1/2 hour flight. I also actually wished for turbulence just to feel more of the gust suppression system’s affect. It really couldn’t have been better, well maybe… just a bit if I were sitting in Business Class…but I’m not complaining!
Will it be difficult to fly on non-787 aircraft now? I flew back on an ANA Boeing 777-300ER. The service and aircraft were superb, so I wasn’t feeling any pain, but perhaps the question should be ’œwill it be difficult to fly on a non-ANA, ordinary flight?’ Now if I am an airline, I would say I would want every aircraft in my medium haul fleet to be a 787 to start reaping those savings now.
Boeing's third 787 Dreamliner ZA003 arrives in Dubai. Photo by Boeing.
Previously, Boeing’s third 787 Dreamliner, called ZA003, was a test bed for certifying the aircraft and only contained a partial interior. Now that the first two 787s have started operations with All Nippon Airways, Boeing decided to transfrom ZA003 from a testbed into a show horse. ZA003’s first stop is the Dubai Airshow, where she recently landed and showed off her new paint scheme containing 56 tail icons representing all the current Dreamliner customers.
HI-RESOLUTION (click for larger): The bar area, inside ZA003's entrance. Photo by Boeing.
Back in October, when Boeing reveled ZA003’s new livery in an updated Dreamliner livery, it was not clear what Boeing had in mind for the aircraft. Many assumed it would be used to promote the 787 and that is exactly what Boeing had in mind. ZA003 will be on display at the Dubai airshow from November 13th to 16th to drum up additional orders from airlines or heck, even private buyers — this is the middle east after all.
HI-RESOLUTION (click for larger): The new interior of ZA003. This is the first time seeing a 3-3-3 layout in the Dreamliner. Photo by Boeing.
Boeing has released some photos of ZA003’s new interior and I figured they were worth sharing. This is the first time seeing a real Dreamliner interior in a nine-abreast layout in economy. Both of ANA’s 787s have eight abreast in a 2-4-2 layout and ZA003 is set up in a 3-3-3 configuration.
Randy Tinseth, who is the Vice President, Marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, stated on his blog, “For the first time that I’ve ever seen, the group turned right as they entered the door instead of turning left for the cockpit. That’s how excited they were to check out the interior of the airplane that we recently installed to highlight the passenger experience.”
Whoa, how things have changed. This is the inside of ZA003 taken in February 2010.
This is a huge improvement versus what the interior looked like previously. At the time, I remember thinking how great that ZA003’s interior first looked during my visit tour inside. Now, it looks quite lame, compared to it’s updated interior and that of ANA’s 787s.
So, where will ZA003 go next? Boeing is not quite saying. “As we’ve mentioned we have big plans for this airplane but we’re not quite ready to spell them out at this time,” Boeing spokesperson Scott Lefeber explained to AirlineReporter.com. “Planning for large events is complex and requires a great deal of integration. When we’re ready to make an announcement and provide you with meaningful details, we certainly will do that.”
One has to respect an airline that can support a pink livery with pride. Especially one that comes from a country with a history boring and gray airline liveries. It is almost like Russian airlines are making with loud liveries like the one found on S7 airlines and the one highlighted today, VIM Airlines.
VIM was founded in October 2002 and is based out of Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport (DME). The name comes from the initial’s of the founder, Victor Ivanovich Merkulov and currently has a fleet of 11 Boeing 757-200 aircraft. According to their website, in 2010 the airline signed, “a memorandum of Boeing 747 aircraft purchase”, and I am guessing those are used aircraft and not the new 747-8I. Interestingly, they also have the exact same statement listed under 2009, so I am not quite sure what to think about the possibility of them taking on a 747.
VIM has also stated that they plane to purchase Boeing 737-900ER aircraft and convert their 757s into cargo planes. And if their future fleet plans were not confusing enough, at one time, they hoped to leave Boeing 717s, which fell through and have announced a signed preliminary agreement for 10 Tupelov Tu-204SM with an option of 44 others.
this video highlights the passion that many who work in the aviation business have about their jobs and what they do. Over and over again, I find that many who work in the field of aviation (in one way or another) mirror the thoughts portrayed on the video. Most people understand that they are a part of something larger that is very important to almost everyone in the world.
I think the best part of this GE-made video is when some of their employees, who helped to make the GEnx engine, get to travel to Everett, WA and see their product first hand. First, they got to view the GEnx engine on a 787 (which I am assuming is most likely ZA005) and then they got to watch Lufthansa’s first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental take off operating four of their engines.
