Wind power for Alaska Airlines up in Nome, Alaska. Photo from Alaska Airlines.
So where the heck is Nome, Alaska? It is pretty darn as close to the middle of no where as you can get, although it is on the western edge of Alaska. It is a small town of less than 4,000 people and transportation to destinations outside the city is difficult to come by. Roads connect Nome to smaller cities up to 54 miles away, but there are no roads connecting the city to the rest of the world. For the town to operate, it requires transportation via water and air.
Air travel becomes a necessity to get goods and people to and from remote areas in Alaska and Alaska Airlines is one of a few airlines operating out of Nome ’“ it is also the largest.
Nome has long days in the summer, short in the winter and is the end destination of the Iditarod dog sled race. The remote city is also known for its fierce winds of 80 to 90mph. With being so remote, having strong winds and long days of light in the summer, it makes sense for locals to look at alternative sources of energy and that is just what Alaska Airlines has done.
Recently the airline built a 30-foot wind turbine next to the Nome Terminal and installed solar panel array on the roof. According to Alaska, ’œthe project is the first foray for Alaska Airlines into using wind and solar power to produce a significant amount of an airport’s electricity ’“ and it appears to be the first time a domestic carrier has pursued alternative energy for an airport operation.’
Alaska is hoping that the turbine and solar panels will produce around 15,000 kilowatt hours of power per year, which is about 6 percent of the terminal’s load. If successful, the concept may be expanded to other rural airports in Alaska, said Ron Suttell, Alaska’s director of facilities planning and administration.
“The turbine was selected because it performs well in turbulent air, it is engineered to continue producing electricity in harsh climates and high winds, and the design eliminates icing issues on the blades,” Chris Andree, Alaska Airlines’ regional manager of properties and facilities, who oversaw the project for the airline.
It has been over three weeks since Cargolux was supposed to take delivery of their first Boeing 747-8 Freighter. As of now, there is still no official date for when that delivery will occur.
According to a press release issued by Cargolux, a decision was not reached during the board meeting. ’œDiscussions over these issues will continue over the weekend. The Company will provide an update as soon as an agreement has been reached.’
As of today, there is still no date for when Cargolux will receive their first 747-8F.
At this point, Boeing is not sure if there will be a delivery celebration or a quiet departure; they are waiting to hear what Cargolux desires. ’œWe continue to speak with Cargolux and look forward to delivering its airplanes,’ Boeing spokesperson Doug Alder Jr, explained to AirlineReporter.com.
During ANA’s delivery events, media was invited to take a tour of JA802A, the second 787 Dreamliner that will be delivered to ANA. Here are some of the photos:
JA802A sitting on the tarmac at Paine Field in Everett, WA. It has the same special 787 livery as the first 787 for ANA, JA801A.
The best seats in the house. This is the cockpit of the 787 with large "glass" screen. Who wants to go for a ride?
The Boeing flight line from the flight deck window of the 787 Dreamliner. Next door is Lufthansa's first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental.
The inside of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner feels roomy and provides a lot of natural light. All the windows were set by the master controls for a partial tint.
Each window has five different tint settings. These windows show three of the settings. Even with the darkest setting, you can still see outside.
Boeing builds their 737s in Renton, WA, but their aircraft are used all around the world. How does an airline get a brand new plane, built to go short distances, half way across the world? Well, they fly it there of course.
As previously reported, I was lucky enough to be invited on a delivery flight of RwandAir’s first brand new plane, a Boeing 737-800, to Kigali, Rwanda. I have already covered it in three different stories (one, two, three), but it can’t beat a video… Luckily I made one of those too.
This video follows our adventure from Boeing Field (KBFI), heading to Iceland (KEF) for fuel, then to Istanbul Turkey (SAW) to spend the night. Then finally to an amazing welcome at Kigali, Rwanda.
I think this video is really BAAAAA-d ass and obviously quite a few others do as well, since at the time of posting it almost has 220,000 views. What do sheep dream about while sleeping in Air New Zealand’s cuddle class? Well you will have to watch the video to find out.
If you like Mason and Jason (The Inseparable Sheep Twins), they have two other videos as well: Little Drinkies and Snuggie Love. Air New Zealand has a genius marketing department — keep it up folks!
