This classic Eastern Air Lines commercial from the 1960’s (guessing around 1964, since that is when the 727-100 entered service) highlights the Boeing 727 entering service with the airline. They tout it as “being as quiet as a library.” Hmm… I am not sure what library they are hanging out in, but those Boeing 727-100’s without hush kits are not known for their silence. Well, at the time, they were quieter than other jets, but as much as a library? Haaardly.
Browsing Tag: Video
NASA will continue to use N905NA to research reducing turbulence produced by larger aircraft.
BONUS: Video of both 747 shuttle carriers flying in formation
N905NA doing its job, carrying the shuttle Discovery in April 2012. Photo by jsmjr / Flickr.
This 747-100 was originally delivered to American Airlines in 1970 as N9668. In 1974, NASA took ownership and was converted to a Shuttle Carrier.
From NASA’s website, the features that distinguish the two SCAs from standard 747 jetliners are:
- Three struts with associated interior structural strengthening protrude from the top of the fuselage (two aft, one forward) on which the orbiter is attached.
- Two additional vertical stabilizers, one on each end of the standard horizontal stabilizer, to enhance directional stability.
- Removal of all interior furnishings and equipment aft of the forward No. 1 doors.
- Instrumentation used by SCA flight crews and engineers to monitor orbiter electrical loads during the ferry flights and also during pre- and post-ferry flight operations.
Thanks to SpeedBirdHD for taking and sharing this video.
via YouTube
It was pretty exciting getting to the Farnborough Air Show this year. The highlights were seeing Qatar’s Boeing 787 and Malaysia Airlines Airbus A380. Pretty cool aircraft, but there are some epic aircraft seen on this video, taken during the 1967 Paris Air Show.
The footage highlights Eastern Air Lines and the DC-8-61, but you can see other gems, like a TU-114, Electra, Concorde and a few others.
Hurricane Issac is currently hitting the US, but a bit earlier, it hit Saint Maarten, which is a well known airline spotting site. This video, taken yesterday, shows an Air France Airbus A340 trying to land, but deciding to go around.
No worries, the plane ended up landing safely, with a round of applause.
Tip of the hat to @JustinTPA for this one.
This might be a shocker for you, but the airline business is quite complicated. People, planes, luggage, airports, weather and much more can affect how your flying experience goes.
American Airlines has started a new video series called “Behind the Scenes @AmericanAir.” I am not a huge fan of the name (I thought it was a behind the scenes of their Twitter account), but I am a big fan of the concept.
The idea is to answer passenger’s most pressing questions about their flying experience and why sometimes things do not go perfectly.
“Transparency is extremely important to the American Airlines team. This is why we are inviting our customers to take a rare behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to run one of the world’s largest airlines,” said Andy Backover, American’s Vice President of American Airlines Communications. “Our new video series not only shines a spotlight on our operations, but it also allows us to better engage with our customers so we can provide answers that will help us improve their travel experience.”
American wants this to be a two-way conversation and they are listening (or I guess reading the comments). What sorts of things do you want to learn about how large airlines operate?
Currently the other videos are:
* How does de-icing work?
* Why do airfares change so much?
* Where does a bag go after it’s checked?