I love this video. Sure, the idea of seeing an entire flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG) is one thing, but to see it done like this and with the northern lights? Yes northern lights which there are no words to describe. This is one rad airline video you must watch.
The creator, Nate Bolt, created a very cool set up (which you can see at the end of the video) on the Airbus A340 Boeing 747-400. He took a photo about once every two minutes and set it to a very catchy song. That added up to a whopping 2459 photos over the 5,576 miles. Cheers to Air France for allowing Nate to take the photos and thanks to Nate for creating the video.
UPDATE: Chris K (in the comments) is correct. This is a Boeing 747-400, not an Airbus A340 as I first thought. The engine gives it away. Although Air France does fly the A340 and B747-400 on their SFO-CDG route.
Texas is known for going big or going home. Well, back in 1991, they went big with an anti-littering campaign using low flying, old military aircraft and I think they make their point. This one shows a B-17 sneaking up onto a truck after they litter — a big no no.
Although the commercial is pretty impressive, be sure to check out the behind the scenes footage of the many low approaches it took to get the commercial done. How would you like to have been on that road during filming? Yes please! Talk about some amazing flying.
Ah, flying how it used to be. Although a fun commercial with a great cast of airplanes, I feel it overly beautifies the earlier years of air travel. Sure, it was a big deal at the time since it was so costly and it was still new, but even comparing to 1984’s standards it would have been a bad experience for most people.
For aviation nerds, being able to fly on an old United Airlines Ford Tri-Motor would be an amazing experience. However, for most people it would be horrid. Very loud, lots of vibrations, uncomfy seats, and lots of fuel stops between point A and point B. Your coffee might have been served on a silver platter and given a glass of chocolate milk, but that doesn’t make it worth while.
Even with the “now” portion of the video, which takes place in 1984, it is a lot different than it is in 2011. A first class seat on a current United Airlines Boeing 747 is going to be much more comfortable and probably a bit cheaper. Not to mention all that interesting in-flight entertainment available now.
Sorry, I am not trying to harp too much on this video, I really enjoy it. Who can not like a video with a Ford Tri-Motor, Boeing 747-200, DC-10 and DC-8? I think it just supports the idea that flying used to be so much more glamorous, where I think it is just as glamorous or even a bit more than it used to be (not to even mention safer) — it is all about perspective.
The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental during it's first flight yesterday. Photo by Boeing - click for larger.
Over the past few months, there has been a lot of attention around the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. I wanted to wrap it all up with a conclusion of the first flight and links to all the interesting events since the start of assembling the first 747-8I in May 2010.
Yesterday, the 747-8I took off for the first time just before 10am from Paine Field with chief 747-8 test pilot Captain Mark Feuerstein at the controls and Captain Paul Stemer to his side. During the flight, the airplane reached about 19,000 feet and flew up to 250kts (288mph). After almost four and a half hours, the 747-8I successfully landed at Boeing Field to a cheering crowd.
Once landed, the plane taxied and waited for all the media to move to a white tent before being towed up closer. Stairs were brought out and the two smiling pilots were greeted by their families and Boeing executives.
“What a great privilege to be at the controls of such a great airplane on its first flight,” said Feuerstein. “And what an honor to share this day with the thousands of men and women who designed and built this airplane.”
While parked right outside the media tent, the blue initials “JFS” became quite noticeable. These initials are for Joe Frederick Sutter who is considered by many to be the father of the original Boeing 747 program. He was present for the event and today is actually celebrating his 90th birthday (Happy Birthday Joe!).
There will be two Boeing 747-8I’s completing 600 test hours before being certified for delivery. Boeing is expecting to deliver their first Boeing 747-8 Freighter by the end of the summer and the first Intercontinental by the end of 2011.
The excitement of the first flights for the 787 Dreamliner, 747-8 Freighter and Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental is now completed. Now we wait for the first deliveries and watch closely as Bombardier works on their new C-series and Airbus completes the A350. In this business, the excitement never seems to end!
After a successful flight around Washington state, the first Boeing 747-8 International landed at Boeing Field, located in Renton, WA. On this post is an HD video of the landing and taxi. Sorry for it being wobbly, I had to get in a really awkward position to get this video without getting people in it, but it worked.
