Presidential Air, Airbus A300B4-203. Check out those Braniff stairs.
What better way to celebrate President’s Day, but with a Presidential-style livery?
Information about the airline is hard to come by, since they didn’t exist for very long. It appears the airline had three Airbus A300’s (N14975, N14976, N14977) that they flew from Long Beach, CA (LGB) to Atlanta, GA (ATL). The airline only lasted a few months before going under. It flew from 1995 to 1996.
It seems odd that an airline would be called “Presidential Air” and carry a presidential emblem, when not even flying to or from Washington, DC. Does anyone have any personal stories about this airline? Please share in the comments.
Delta plane flying over the Lincoln Memorial. Photo by Teng He.
Wouldn’t it be slick to have a post about Air Force One today? Hmm, I swear some site did a story on this last year. Oh right… enjoy.
On a side note: what I find amusing about this photo, is in the comments on Flickr, the photographer says the plane got in the way of his shot. Heh, it is all about perspectives right? I say the plane makes the shot!
easyJet has a pretty slick livery, but soon their paint will be slick too.
Every little bit of efficiency can turn into big bucks for the airlines. Either by saving a little weight or making the aircraft more aerodynamic, airlines with large fleets can end up saving a lot of money. easyJet is trying a different kind of paint on their planes in hopes of saving the environment and passengers money (well more profit might be a motivating factor in there somewhere too).
The new paint weighs less, fills in imperfections on the aircraft’s surface and reduces debris build up on the aircraft, increasing the aerodynamics.
easyJet has a large fleet of the Airbus A320 family. They have a total fleet of 194 airplanes, most of which are in the A320 family. The airline is hoping for fuel consumption to be reduced by about 2%. That can add up to huge numbers across the entire fleet.
Although this paint technology has been used on US Military aircraft, easyJet is the first commercial airline to use it on their aircraft. They have eight airplanes currently in the new paint and will be testing it for the next 12 months to compare the fuel savings. If successful, they will evaluate if their entire fleet should use the new paint
easyJet’s chief executive officer Carolyn McCall said, “Efficiency is in easyJet’s DNA. If we can find new ways of educing the amount of fuel used by our aircraft we can pass the benefits onto our passengers by offering them low fares and a lower carbon footprint.”
If the paint is found to be more efficient, I can only imagine more airlines around the world will start using it on their aircraft.
What has the room of the Boeing 747-100, but can land at more airports? Well, the DC-10 of course. This 1971 American Airlines shows how the DC-10 had a lounge in first class and economy. Those were the good ‘ol days right? Wonder how much one of those tickets cost from Los Angeles to Chicago. Today you can do it for about $150 each way. Try doing that back in 1971. Either way, enjoy this classic video.
Boeing 747-400 Dreamlifter (N747BC) parked next to the Future of Flight at Paine Field.
During our TweetUp at the Future of Flight last Sunday, we all had the opportunity to get a close look at one of the Boeing 747-400 Dreamlifters. Off and on during the last few months there has been a Dreamlifter parked next to the Future of Flight, which provides folks with a closer view.
I have been under a Boeing 747-400 on the tarmac a few times and even been pretty close to the Dreamlifter, but neither compare to walking under and around one. The aircraft has such odd shapes and it seemed every angle provided an interesting photo.
On one side of the 747, was a parked Cessna 172. You can imagine that the Cessna looked quite small compared to the much larger Dreamlifter. On the other side of the Dreamlifter were five 787 Dreamliners. Someone remarked how small the 787’s looked compared to the Dreamlifter. I started to remark “yea you could fit one in the Dreamlifter,” when I realized the humor in that statement — they do fit in the Dreamlifter.
The Dreamlifter is used to transport Boeing 787 Dreamliner parts from around the world. The first Dreamlifter flew on August 17, 2006 and there is currently a fleet of four, which are all operated by Atlas Air.
This is one unique and interesting aircraft to say the least. Even if you can’t get under one on any given day, there is always a good chance you will find one parked at Paine Field or possibly taking off.
