March 10, 2010
An interesting news story and video has just appeared on the BBC website about Air Salvage International (ASI) who dismantle many aircraft per year at their Kemble Airport base.
The video features an interview with owner, Mark Gregory, who updates us on the company’s current inventory of aircraft. It also shows a former Cathay Pacific 747-200 freighter being cut up. a sad sight for some.
Interesting footage shows parts of the British Airways Boeing 777 which crash landed at London Heathrow, which are now owned by ASI.
Watch the video here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8542482.stm
March 6, 2010
Produced by French TV, this news report from Kinshasa explains the current state of the airline industry in the Congo. The Congo based airlines operate with patched up Russian built An-24s and IL-18s, or old 727s purchased out of the Mojave desert. The country lacks basic airline safety regulations: this news report shows people living under old aircraft hulks, people wandering around the aircraft operations area, and aircraft parts being sold without documentation and proper storage. It really is amazing to see how backwards the avaition scene in the Congo is today. The news report also features interviews Stavros Paparoannog, Director of Kinshasa based Hewa Bora Airways.
Watch the video here: http://www.airlinetv.net/view_video.php?viewkey=ea92a925508f7c1f9579&page=&viewtype=&category=
Info by Mike Prophet
February 26, 2010
KLM are the last airline flying MD-11 on scheduled passenger routes
This week
Finnair retired their last McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft from passenger service. It brings to an end a long association with the aircraft, as Finnair was the launch customer back in 1990.
Despite initial high interest in the aircraft, which was the natural successor to the DC-10, orders were somewhat stunted to only 200 examples when it was found the MD-11 had poorer-than-anticipated fuel burn (and thus range). It was also put up against Boeing’s new 777 aircraft, and since Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas, by 1997 the tri-jet was resigned to history as Boeing decided to end passenger variant production (the last delivery was to Sabena in 1998), and only offer the cargo variant - itself seeing the last delivery in 2001.
Now that Finnair has stopped flying the MD-11, only two airlines keep the type flying in passenger configuration, so this really is your last chance to fly it.
Of the two airlines, only KLMfly the aircraft on scheduled routes. The other - World Airways - flies the aircraft mainly on charters and military flights, so there’s not much chance of getting on one of their aircraft.
KLM’s current MD-11 routes are:
- Bonaire
- Delhi
- Guayaquil
- Montreal
- Panama City
- Paramaribo
- Quito
- St Maarten
- Toronto
- Vancouver
Occasionally it also features on other routes, such as Dubai, Newark and Atlanta.
February 4, 2010
The former Air France Concorde F-BTSD which is currently at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, will have its Olympus engines started again, after years of the type being decommissioned.
The Director of the Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget near Paris officially announced on France 5 national TV channel that technical work will be undertaken in partnership with the Olympus 593 group for the Concorde F-BTSD’s Olympii engines restart in view of a rollout at Le Bourget airport.
Stay tuned for more information!
February 1, 2010
After a long time of planning and preparation, Lockheed L1011 Tristar N700TS has arrived safely at Kansas City’s Downtown airport to take up residence with the Airline History Museum.
The aircraft has sat idle in storage at Roswell, NM since 2007. Despite falling into an unloved state, the aircraft was kept largely in working order and has been restored to flight by a team of engineers. After a long wait, the aircraft finally took to the skies on Saturday 30 January 2010. The trip was made successfully, with the aircraft landing at the small airport in central Kansas City. Many people came out to witness the arrival, with some great videos of the landing here http://www.ahmhangar.com/movies/2010/1/30/elles-arrival-in-kansas-city.html
This particular aircraft formerly flew with TWA from 1974 until 2001. Given the link between TWA and Kansas City, this aircraft is very relevant to the collection, and it’s fantastic that it’s been saved from the scrapman. The Airline History Museum will display the aircraft once it’s set up in its collection. You can keep an eye on their website here: http://www.ahmhangar.com/
December 31, 2009
The Boeing 747SP was a special version of the classic ‘Jumbo Jet’ intended to bridge a niche gap of longer distance travel than the existing -100 and -200 (and later -300) models could cope with.
The SP was produced between 1976 and 1987. From the outside it looks very similar to the other models (apart from being shorter), however it featured a different flap system and a reworked tail section. Its range was only superseded by the -400 series.
45 aircraft were produced, of which 19 are thought to be active. Many are now in private hands, operating as VIP transports for the likes of the Las Vegas Sands Corp, and the governments of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
There are only 3 left in regular passenger service, being operated by Iran Air. Syrianair operated two of the type until recently, having put them into storage at Damascus. There are unconfirmed rumours that these will be repaired and brought back into service again.
For your last chance to fly in one of these aircraft, the following Iran Air routes are known to be regularly operated by the type:
Tehran - London Heathrow (also operated by B747-200 and Airbus A300-600)
Tehran - Tokyo Narita
Tehran - Damascus
Occasionally they will also fly from Tehran to Hamburg, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul Incheon and Stockholm Arlanda.
November 20, 2009
Yesterday, after nearly40 years of continuous service, Aerolineas Argentinas retired the its Boeing 737-200.
Following its final revenue flight, LV-ZEC was retired as the last in the fleet, and will now go into storage along with its stablemates in the hope of finding a new life somewhere else rather than the scrapman.
These two videos show the celebrations surrounding the final flight, including onboard footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWIHfXSYOzI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-szRe5TtBU
Aerolineas Argentinas still operate NG models of the Boeing 737, which are a mainstay of the airline’s short-haul and South American operations.
October 10, 2009
Between August and September this year, Lockheed Constellation CF-TGE, which was lovingly restored in Trans Canada Airlines colours and stored at Rome, New York, was transported across the country for display at the Boeing Field in Seattle.
The aircraft was carefully dismantled and transported by road, with careful planning over the route and many roadsigns barely cleared!
The full story of the move is documented on a website, full of photos from the dismantling, journey, and arrival at the Museum of Flight.
Take a look at the website here: http://www.rbogash.com/Connie/connie-RME-SEA.html
September 17, 2009
Despite having closed in 2001, giving way to the large, modern new airport, the original Hellinikon airport in downtown Athens still holds a number of aircraft worth seeing before the scrapman moves in to remove them from the site.
The aircraft are listed in Out of Production - Western Jet Airliners
However, we have come across this handy site which lists the aircraft, and also has a map of where to find them all. Take a look at the link here: http://athensairport.blogspot.com/2009/09/stored-wfu-planes-hew-lgat.html
Amongst the aircraft are a Boeing 727-200, 737-200, 747-200 and BAC 1-11. In order to see the aircraft, the person who posted the map says: you have to go to the street named “Pergamou” just behind the planes. There is a fence and the planes are on a level below you but you can surely get a picture of them from the back. To get side shots you can turn on “Pronois” street that is on the right of the planes.
Tags: 1-11,
727,
737,
747,
aircraft,
airport,
athens,
bac,
greece,
hellinikon,
old,
stored September 11, 2009
A Boeing 747 classic has made an unusual transition from plying the domestic routes in Japan to international stardom in a Hollywood blockbuster. What’s more, the impressive set is open to all who want to see it in Los Angeles.
Boeing 747SR-81 JA8147( c/n 22293/477) operated for ANA All Nippon Airways as a special domestic version of the aircraft from delivery in 1980 until it was retired in 2004. Following a short period of storage in Victorville, CA, when it was re-registered N219BA, it was split into three sections following a decision by film producers to use the aircraft in a new movie.
War of the Worlds was produced in 2005, directed by Steven Spielberg, and featured a scene of a Boeing 747 crashing into a house. This scene was put together at Universal Studios in Hollywood, where the aircraft was moved to following its break up.
Today, Universal have elected to keep the set as part of its Backlot Tour, which any visitor to the theme park can embark upon. The tram which takes you around the tour passes very close to the set, offering a fantastic opportunity for photographs. The two pictures in this post were taken on one of these tours. You can still see the basic ANA colour scheme, as well as many of the interior fittings and seats.
N219BA forward section lies at Universal Studios.
Ex JA8147 lies at Universal Studios with most of its seats and internal fittings still intact.
