1Time MD-83 with Zebra Livery.
1Time is a low cost airline based out of South Africa. They have a fleet of mostly MD-80 aircraft and fly domestically through Africa.
This MD-83 (ZS-SKB) was painted in zebra strips to celebrate the airline’s new route to Livingston, Zambia from Johannesburg. It seems the plane likes the paint job, look at her big smile!
Image: Daniel FretwellAh, Saturday Night Live is always (or sometimes) good for a laugh. Every once in a while a nice airline-related gem will pop up. This one is a bit old, but still a good one, making a little fun of Captain Sully and US Airways flight 1549.
UPDATE: I didn’t realize you could only see HULU in the US. Here is the video on NBC.com as well.
Seattle's Airport will be getting body scanners soon.
Here they come folks! Body scanners are on their way to my home town here in Seattle. I like to think of Seattle as a pretty progressive town and I was hoping that they wouldn’t make their way to my hometown airport. But as the Seattle Times is reporting, they will start to be used in September at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
The TSA hopes to install 450 of the $130,000 to $170,000 machines this year and 500 more the next. Someone is definitely getting rich off all this added security.
Yesterday, our local NPR station KUOW was talking about this subject on The Conversation with Ross Renyolds and I got to put in my two cents on the air. You can listen to the whole discussion here (I come in at about 12:50), which includes an interview with Dwayne Baird, a spokesperson for the TSA.
Remember, you have the option to opt-out of the body scanners and get a full pat down if you choose. I won’t re-hash my love (that is sarcastic) for these machines.
I recently connected with film studio Filmetria, which is based here in Seattle and fell in love with new project: Team Marco Polo.
I know it is not exactly airline-related, but it does deal with travel and I think it is frek’n cool, so I am sharing it with you (and no I am not getting paid to write this, thank you).
It is a travel show for kids, but it is quite entertaining for adults too. It is as if Bill Nye The Science Guy, Steve Ricks and a barrel of laughs sat down and created a show. One of the main people behind the show, Bill Jeakle, was a writer for Bill Nye’s show and if you are a local Seattlite, you might also remember him as one of the high-5’n white guys on local comedy sketch show Almost Live (I am working on getting a picture of me giving Bill a high-5).
Anyhow, the Marco Polo character gives people a way to learn about travel without being bored. There are many other characters, as well: a Rick Steves spoof (he gives travel tips), a Tim Gunn Project Runway spoof (he covers fashion), an art loving nun, A bombastic history professor named Professor Bombast, Shakespeare, Voltaire, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Odysseus, and dozens more. They all do skits and songs to bring the art and culture of foreign lands to life.
Currently the show is only on YouTube, but they are hoping to change that. They are working with Seattle’s local PBS station to get the show on the air.
If you like what you see, please support their efforts. You can add them on Twitter, join their YouTube channel to know when new episodes are posted and of course watch and enjoy the show.
Photos taken at Boeing Field of the F-22 by a friend just minutes ago. Click for larger versions. Thanks Nick!
Just got word that if you want to get a first hand glimpse of a F-22 Raptor, head on down to the Museum of Flight. Plane #66 will be on display next to the museum until Monday.
Update: The F-22 and F-15 will be on display for 478th fighter wing reunion.