Sriwijaya Air was founded in 2003 and already has 30 aircraft in operation with another 60 on order. Sriwijaya is based out of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) in Jakarta, Indonesia.
They currently have a fleet of older Boeing 737-200s, -300s and -400s, but have many new aircraft, like the 737-800, Embraer 175, Embraer 190 and the Emraer 195 on order.
The livery is a simple white, red and blue with an interesting logo on the tail. According to their website, each of the three colors have special meanings:
White: Clean hearthed employees
Red: The courage and wisdom in solving problems and making decisions of the team
Blue: Passion for traveling to all corners of our beloved archipelago.
I have been a fan of flight simulator since it first came out in DOS. Those were the days when the planes were made up of about 100 pixels and the entire game fit on a few floppy disks.
Even though Microsoft recently announced they will be creating a new version called Microsoft Flight, it still won’t be able to compare to the flight simulators at Delta Air Lines training facility in Atlanta.
Delta has about 30 simulators of many different aircraft types. They even have a few for planes they no longer fly, since other airlines will train their pilots on Delta’s simulators. I was lucky enough to try my skills in a Boeing 737-200. I have flown an F/A-18 simulator, an E/A-6B sim, had time on MS Flight Sim and taken the controls a few times when flying in personal aircraft, but this was the largest I have even “flown.”
What an awesome set up. A full replica cockpit of a Boeing 737 with full motion. On the first flight we started out at the fake Atlanta airport, parked at the gate. Instead of having to be pushed back by a tug and wait in line to take off, we were able to push a button and be whisked to the end of one of the runways to take off.
My guide Mike asked if I fly. I told him I do not, gave him the run-down of my experience and we were off. He set my flaps for me and get me set. I was able to put the throttle up half way for a warm up, then full throttle. We were off. Hit V1, then V2 and rotate. Delta Manager of Media Relations, Trebor Banstetter was brave enough to take the flight with us and video the experience.
Now, I have never really flown a Boeing 737-200 before, but it sure seemed real. The sounds, the motion, the response of the aircraft. The aircraft felt heavy and responded just how I assumed it would. The motion was quite cool. When we sped up, it would tilt back, giving the impression of speed. Again when we slowed, it would tilt forward. When we banked, it banked and so forth.
Flew around the airport and set up for a landing. From the days of flying with my father, I knew of the red and white lights were there to help me on my slope path. At the time, I forgot they were called Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI), but I remembered his saying, “Red and white, you’re alright. Red over red, you’re dead.” These (and Mike) helped to guide me down at the correct rate.
I was able to land pretty well dead-on where I should have. Touched town and put the reverse thrusters on. I was supposed to let up at 80kts, but forgot to put my feet on the peddles to brake the aircraft, so I came to a complete stop with the thrust reversers. Oh well.
This is where the video ends, but we weren’t done. I turned around on the runway and did it over again. The second time it was a pretty rough landing, but I got the brakes correct and we still were on the runway. Probably would have had some negative feedback from the passengers, but what can you expect from David Airlines that is flying a Boeing 737-200?
Mike asked if we wanted to do something fun? Well, heck I thought we were doing fun stuff, but sure. With another push of a button we were all of a sudden at Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington, DC. He took the controls (with my permission, since I was in the Captain’s seat) and we had a quick take off and buzzed the Washington Monument, Capital Building and White House. After the scenic tour, I was able to land the plane safely back at DCA.
For me, this was all fun (a lot of fun), but these simulators are very important for training pilots. I had easy scenarios and help from Mike. However, pilots are given challenging cases like severe weather, loss of power and much worse. These simulators help prepare pilots to react to situations they hope they will never encounter.
Star Peru is a low cost airline based in Lima, Peru. They only have a fleet of five aircraft, five BAE 146’s and one Boeing 737-200. They serve 11 airports all with-in Peru. The airline started in 1997 with a single Antonov An-32 for cargo and charter and expanded to commercial passengers in 2004 with their purchase of the Boeing 737-200.
Often an airline will purchase or lease an aircraft from another airline and keep the majority of the previous livery until it is re-painted or the lease is over. The result is a mixture of two airline liveries and are treasures of airline nerds. Southwest Airlines recently took a look back at some of interim liveries of the past. I thought it would be interesting to see who can match the livery with the previous airline the aircraft was with.
Without cheating, how many liveries can you match with the previous airline? It is ok to guess and be wrong (I guess one wrong myself — oops)
PLANE #1: This Boeing 737-200 photo was taken in 1991
PLANE #2: This Boeing 737-200 was first leased in 1983, then purchased by Southwest in 1984
PLANE #3 This Boeing 737-200 was leased by Southwest for about a year in 1987-88
Plane #4: This Boeing 737-200 is unique not having the white "Southwest" on the tail due to the tail being white
Plane #5: This Boeing 737-300 is pretty tricky (and the one I missed)
I will give you the weekend to guess in the comments and on Monday I will reveal the answers. Prizes? I will give you a shout out and you will have the satisfaction of being a true airline livery nerd!
On April 28, 1968, United Airlines flew its first Boeing 737-200 on an inaugural flight between Chicago and Grand Rapids. Over 41 years later, a Boeing 737-300 will be the last Boeing 737 to fly in United Airline colors.
Instead of going with the next generation of Boeing 737’s, United chose to go with Airbus A320s instead. The last flight will start off in Washington DC on October 28th and end up in San Francisco where it will be prepared for its retirement. The airline was only flying 737-300’s and 737-500’s and most likely the Airbus A320 will replace the lost 737’s.
