Last year’s Aviation Geek Fest was awesome. This year is going to be even better. Meet and hear Boeing Historian Mike Lombardi speak, tour the factory floor (like literally on the floor, not on the balcony like with public tours) of the Boeing 767, 777 and 747-8 production lines, meet other aviation nerds and quite a bit more. Oh and guess what Boeing 747-8 has in production right now? That’s right, the very first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental.
If you are going to be in the Seattle area on Saturday, October 23, 2010, you are on Twitter and this sounds like something you might be interested in, get ready! Only 45 tickets will be made available to purchase starting at 11am (PST) this Friday October 15th for $20.00. Once they are gone… they are gone! The event is being hosted at the Future of Flight and will all take place at Paine Field.
If you are not able to make it, do not worry. You will be able to follow on Twitter and I am sure there will be a blog written up on it as well.
What flies, is the best selling jetliner in history and is getting some new insides? That’s right… the Boeing 737. Boeing is getting closer to finishing the first new Boeing 737 “Sky Interior.”
Forty five airlines and leasing companies have ordered the Boeing Sky Interior for more than 1,100 airplanes; that’s half of Boeing’s 737 backlog. It will be the new standard in the single-aisle market.
The first Boeing 737 with a completed interior will be done by the end of October, until then, you can check out their process in this video.
Be sure to check the winglet in one of the shots to give away who will be taking delivery of this aircraft.
Why settle only for an image of an Airbus A380 cockpit? Click to get a full 360 view.
The Airbus A380 is one amazing machine. It is the largest airliner flying today and has a full length top deck. Also impressive if the A380’s cockpit. But why be happy with only a single image? Check out this pretty sweet 360degree view of the A380’s spacious flight deck.
Be sure to notice the A380 in Airbus livery outside and the cockpit screen displaying the tail-cam (notice you can zoom in quite well on the 360 view).
The Spirit of Delta, a Boeing 767-200 (N102DA), parked at the Delta Heritage Museum
Delta has a lot of Spirit and it is in the form of a Boeing 767.
A while back, I got the opportunity to explore the entire Delta Heritage Museum, but with this blog I want to take a look at the most impressive piece they have on display there: The Spirit of Delta.
They have some pretty amazing displays at the museum, including an immaculate DC-3 that has been fully restored (photo). However, this Boeing 767 has a story to trump the beauty and rarity of the DC-3.
I don’t want to leave you without an inside look at the Delta Heritage Museum and archive, so be sure to check out Brett Snyder’s write up. He writes the blog Cranky Flier and was able to visit the museum a few weeks prior and goes into great detail about the entire museum.
In the early 1980’s, Delta wasn’t doing so great. The bad economy and high fuel prices made producing profit very challenging. In the spring of 1982, Delta posted its first quarterly loss in 35 years, causing fear about their future.
Instead of just waiting around, hoping for a solution, Delta employees banded together with retirees and friends to raise $30million to purchase a brand spanking new Boeing 767-200 (N102DA).
On December 15, 1982 a ceremony at the Delta Technical Operations Center in Atlanta, employees presented the Boeing 767, called the Spirit of Delta, to the airline.
The aircraft served the airline well flying passengers for 23 years. After it was time for the Spirit of Delta to retire, she went on farewell tour. This was to give employees and fans a last chance to see the historical aircraft in flight. Painted in her original colors, she flew for two weeks around the country before making her final stop in Atlanta. On May 7, 2006 she found her new home at the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum, where she can still be found today.
The interior of the aircraft has been updated to celebrate Delta’s culture. The first part of the aircraft still has her original seats, but the back of the aircraft has displays highlighting the aircraft’s story and Delta’s jet history. Unfortunately, during my trip the air stairs weren’t there, so I wasn’t able to check out the interior, but that was ok, the exterior was mighty exciting all on its own. If I had to pick one aircraft and livery to celebrate Delta, it would this exact combination.
Their museum is designed for Delta employees, but the general public is able to make an appointment. If you live in the Atlanta area or will be spending some time there, I highly suggest you try to make a visit. A special thanks to museum director Tiffany Meng and archives manager (and Delta blogger) Marie Force for showing me around your amazing facility!
VSS Enterprise glides fantastically back towards Mojave Space Port. Photo by Mark Greenberg
Hold on to your hats boys and girls, we are one step closer to space tourism.
Remember back in the early days of air travel; it was new, exciting and only for the wealthy. Today, we take it for granted and complain if we don’t get free peanuts. Today, private space travel is still in its pre-infant stage and hopefully will blossom into a very popular and successful venture.
On Sunday the 10th, the VSS Enterprise achieved manned flight at over 45,000 feet and then glided successfully to the Mojave Air and Spaceport.
The VSS Enterprise (or called SpaceShipTwo) was flown up by its mother ship (or called WhiteKnightTwo or “Eve”) to 45,000 feet, when the VSS Enterprise was released.
Commenting on the successful flight Scaled Composites pilot, Pete Siebold, said ’œThe VSS Enterprise was a real joy to fly, especially when one considers the fact that the vehicle has been designed not only to be a Mach 3.5 spaceship capable of going into space but also one of the worlds highest altitude gliders.’
So far 370 potential customers have placed deposits to get a ride on a future space flight. $20,000.00 will save you a seat and a total of $200,000.00 will get you a ride. Not too bad of a deal when you think about how few people have traveled into space.
