The photoshopped United Airlines Boeing 747-400 in new livery on the left and original photo on the right. Click for larger version.
So, the photo of the Boeing 747-400 in the new United livery I posted last week is a fake. I apologize, since I didn’t know it when I posted it, but does it matter? It is still cool looking. You awesome airline geeks realized it because the engines were wrong. United flies Pratt and Whitney engines and these engines are GE. Nice catch! The creator of the image, Mark B, wrote to me and confirmed that he did in fact used a photo of an Air Canada Boeing 747-400 to make his photo. He also shared two others of an Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner that I wanted to share as well.
What a United Airline Airbus A380 might look like in the new United Livery. Click for larger version.
In the comments of my last United livery post and around the internets I keep seeing people hating on the new United livery. I really dis-liked it too when I first saw it, but it is starting to grow on me. Yes, like most of you I would have rather seen a brand new livery, but I understand why they kept the United name, along with the Continental colors.
Even though I am not in love with the new United livery, I really like it on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Click for larger version.
I think it is odd for us airline geeks to see the Continental colors with the United name. No matter what decisions they would have made, people weren’t going to be happy. Both airlines have amazing histories, something was going to have to be lost for both. I am just looking forward to a United retro livery shown on this Boeing 747-400.
Original Photo Credits:
Boeing 747: Bailey
Airbus A380: FishAir
Boeing 787: Boeing
The group of Aviation Geek Fest geeks in front of a GE90 engine on a brand new Boeing 777. Photo by Boeing.
Last Saturday we had our second annual Aviation Geek Fest hosted at the Future of Flight. 50 aviation lovers showed up to experience something special.
The event started off with a presentation on Boeing’s history from their historian, Mike Lombardi (photo). Mike is such a knowledgeable guy with a true passion for history and aviation. It was great learning more about Boeing’s history and hearing aviation geeks chime in with stories of their own. The cool part was when the geeks were able to ask questions of Mike and test his historical skills. I am guessing that Mike easily made 50 new friends on Saturday.
After getting pumped up, it was time to move to the Boeing auditorium for a short video on Boeing and their airplanes (photo). Then it was on to a Boeing bus to check out the factory (photo). Everyday Boeing offers tours of their factory, but this one was different — we got to walk on the factory floor with the planes versus seeing them from the balcony.
That's me in front of my new favorite plane, the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental at the Boeing Factory. Click for larger.
I was excited since I have never had this experience. Before we could go gazing at all the beautiful new aircraft, we had to put on safety glasses and get a safety briefing (photo). There were a lot of things for us to trip on and it would easy to become distracted.
Then the real fun started. We were able to get close and personal with some Boeing 777’s, 787’s and of course the brand new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. Normally no cameras are allowed on the factory tour, but Boeing was pulling out all the stops. David Reese, who works for Boeing, agreed to take photos of our VIP factory tour that we would be allowed to use. This was great since we had to give up all our electronic devices, which is not easy to do. Many of us aviation geeks are also technology geeks and not being able to take photos or Tweet is difficult. However, it was nice to just enjoy the experience and not worry about taking all the right photos.
I have been on the tarmac close to airplanes before, but this was different. There was something special being so close to Boeing aircraft that have never flown before. They were clean, fresh, air virgins that were getting ready to take flight.
Getting close and personal to a new Boeing 747-8 Freighter on the Boeing factory floor. Click for larger.
Although seeing some Boeing 787’s up close from the factory floor was pretty sweet, my favorite part of the tour was the new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. The 747-8 Freighter has already taken flight, but this is the first Intercontinental and it looked good… it looked damn good.
Before our tour, I wondered if seeing that extended upper deck would be obvious in person and it very much is. No one should have trouble telling the difference between the Boeing 747-400 and the 747-8I.
After checking out the new 747, we were able to check out a Boeing 777 still in two large pieces (photo). It was surreal to take a close look at a flight deck with almost no one in it. We also got to take a look at the Boeing 787 Dreamliner static test bed, which has been putting the 787 to the test for quite some time now (photo).
It was definitely hard to get everyone back on the bus. I am sure most of us could have stayed for hours, maybe even forever. Even though it was time to head back to the Future of Flight we had one last Boeing treat — a drive down the flight line. We got a close look at a bunch of Boeing 787’s, 777’s and 747-8F (photo).
When we arrived back to the Future of Flight, we had the opportunity to check out a demonstration by Laser Motive who have created a way to send a power charge through a laser. They had a helicopter that was flying based on the charge from the laser. It was nice sitting down to some pizza and beer and talk with them about how this technology can be used in the future.
It was very nice seeing the planes, but even better being able to talk about aviation with fellow geeks. I can’t wait until next year!
In the past year or so, I have been on quite a few adventures where I was covering an event with legacy media there also. These are the fine folks that you see with big cameras and fancy video trucks. Most of them do an outstanding job reporting the news in an interesting and effective way. But what they have in training, experience, talent, a mass audience and equipment, most lack the passion for aviation.
Don’t get me wrong, that is alright. They have a job to do. Many will report on many different types of stories, not just on aviation. They have a story to get, a deadline to meet. They deliver or print their story and move on to the next. They are trained in journalism or communications and love finding the story and sharing it, no matter what the topic might be. There is nothing wrong with how this works, but a blogger looks at a story in a very different way.
Most bloggers don’t have training in journalism. Heck the king of aviation blogging, Jon Ostrower (aka FlightBlogger) and I have degrees in Political Science. We picked a subject because we love the subject, want to learn more and want to share that passion with others. I know in my case, the passion came first, followed by honing my skills in writing, editing, photography, videography and networking.
So what does this photo represent? To me it represents the difference between bloggers and the legacy media. The photo is of me touching the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for the first time, as I was taking my interior tour. I just couldn’t help it. I felt like a sugar-deficient kid in a candy store. I was so excited to not only get inside the Dreamliner, but to touch it for the first time. Yes, I was a nerd touching the side of the plane, but it is something that none of the legacy media folks did and it put a huge smile on my face.
They were more concerned about the proper angles, getting the sound bites, then off to edit to get it on the news. I took my own photos and video, but I made sure to slow down and realize I was frek’n inside a Dreamliner. At that time, very few people had been inside a Dreamliner and I enjoyed every moment, knowing it was something special.
I freely admit that I am not a professional journalist or even an airline expert. However, I have a huge passion for aviation and learning about new things. I think (and really hope) that passion comes through on my blogs and you sometimes get to learn something new.
All my blogs might not resonate with a wider audience, like legacy media has to shoot for, but I am happy most blogs can resonate with an audience that shares my interest in aviation and the airline business.
What’s better than a Boeing 787 Dreamliner first flight video? One with commentary from Boeing employees, including the lead pilot Christine Walsh. The sixth 787 Dreamliner took to the skies on October 4th and had a successful (yet shortened) first flight.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA006 takes off earlier today from Paine Field. Photo by simpilot459 via Flickr
The sixth Boeing 787 Dreamliner (ZA006) successfully took off from Paine Field (KPAE) at 11:43am. It was scheduled to fly for a about three hours, but cut its flight short after about an hour, landing at Boeing Field (KBFI).
Boeing tells Aubrey Cohen with the Seattle PI that the flight was cut short due to a “maintenance issue,” but they are still counting it as a success. “The air crew experienced a maintenance issue during flight and as a precautionary note decided to land at Boeing Field,” Boeing 787 spokeswoman Yvonne Leach said. “A flight of this length is still considered a success first flight and we are proud to have the sixth and final flight test airplane enter the program today.”
Unfortunately, I was not able to make it for the take off or landing, but Boeing stated they will be posting video of the take off in the near future. I will be updating this blog with more information as it is received.
