Airplanes

[trinacriabob]

I know a Greek guy in New York and he was just telling me that he used to take Olympic Airways to and from Greece.  He said that it was Aristotle Onassis's airline ... I didn't know that.  He told me they had a 747 named Olympus and another one named Zeus.  

Olympic never put out much of a reach to North America ... just NY and Toronto, I believe.  They bankrupted sometime post-9/11.  Now, Greece only has much smaller Aegean, but they stick mostly to Europe, the Middle East, etc.

Here's one of their 747s approaching Athens Airport next to the sea at Ellinikon.

In looking up this airline and jet, they had a write-up on Olympic Airways Flight 411 which was using the 747 Zeus in 1978, so this was a fairly new unit. Fairly shocking for a veteran crew - 418 people on board - close call ...

[trinacriabob]

Boeing is having issues again.  In general, I see a slimmer product line for the near future:

777X (recent issues on the news) overtaking the 777-300 

787 variant(s)

767 (born circa 1982) only for freight to continue

737 variant(s)

- - - -

Every now and then, I think of what the future Boeing 797 could be.

[Robert Hall]

I remember working at Jeppesen (Boeing subsidiary) in 2007-2008 and going to a couple all-hands meetings that had briefings on the 787 development and delays... fascinating space to work in.  I was working on software integrations w/ FAA data feeds on updates to routing/charting software. 

Edited August 21 by Robert Hall

[trinacriabob]

The Airbus vs. Boeing debate goes on and on.  Here, it's about the newer Airbus 350 versus the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  Realistically, the A-350 could only compare to a B-787-10, the longest version of the Dreamliner.  That said, they often pit the A-350, which could carry a lot of passengers in 2 class configuration, against the B-777.

I have flown on 3 Boeing 787s in the last 5 years.  Two were medium-haul and one was transatlantic - Rome to Philadelphia's AA hub.

I just flew on the Airbus 350 for the first time about a week ago.  It was by Finnair, picked up at Helsinki after transferring there for the flight to the U.S.

I was truly expecting more from the Airbus 350.  It does what it's supposed to do.  It seems to be getting more sales than the Boeing.

I prefer the Boeing 787 Dreamliner by a slight margin.  The most important thing is that the humidification felt better in the 787.  They say the A-350 is quieter, but it's negligible to the untrained ear.  Even though some complain that the crew can lock and control the window dimming on the 787, they did not do this on my flights and I loved it, complete with the big taller windows.  

The A-350 metrics seem to benefit the operator.  The A-350 can seat more people, it burns slightly less fuel, and can fly slightly more nautical miles, but it seemed crammed and I didn't like the feel of the cabin, right down to shades on the windows.  In waiting on the delayed plane A-350 for an hour, the heat gain against my window - with the shade down - was too much.  I got up and walked around the rear galley where the air conditioning better cooled me down. 

Both have 3-3-3 seating and they say that the A-350 cabin width puts a few more inches on the seat.  That doesn't come into play for me.  Not only that, Airbus puts in more thin Recaro-looking seats that seem hard whereas the Boeing puts in seats with a more conventional sculpted silhouette. 

It's subjective.  I didn't find the A350 all that much quieter and like the "open sky" architecture of the 787 cabin, the seats, the dimming, and the humidification.  

The A-350 has a straighter looking wing angle with curled wingtips that look cool when they are maneuvering.  However, the fully upward curved wing of the B-787 is stunning.  The B-787 is a slightly better looking plane.

I wish more carriers of 9 abreast aircraft would follow Japan Air Lines' move (in their B-787) to 2-4-2, which would make the Dreamliner more of a dream.

If 9 across (3-3-3), I would go with the Boeing 787.  However, I could skip this debate and step down in size to Airbus's latest A330-900 neo.  It's got some up the upgrades, and keeps skinny harder seats; however, the 2-4-2 seating is the way to go for more comfort.

[A Horse With No Name]

I have given up on Boeing. I deliberately schedule flights to fly on Airbus when I can. 

[trinacriabob]

22 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I have given up on Boeing. I deliberately schedule flights to fly on Airbus when I can. 

I am saddened by the state of affairs.  They have always done better, as per the saying, "If it ain't Boeing, it ain't going."

[G. David Felt]

On 9/11/2024 at 12:44 PM, A Horse With No Name said:

I have given up on Boeing. I deliberately schedule flights to fly on Airbus when I can. 

 

5 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

I am saddened by the state of affairs.  They have always done better, as per the saying, "If it ain't Boeing, it ain't going."

Like all companies, greed at the executive level along with a careless attitude of if no one notices, no one is complaining loud enough, who cares as long as I get my big bonus. America is going to have a massive shock in regards to companies that used to be the best failing. It is a sad state of affairs and narcissistic CEOs are not helping the situation.

[A Horse With No Name]

12 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

 

Like all companies, greed at the executive level along with a careless attitude of if no one notices, no one is complaining loud enough, who cares as long as I get my big bonus. America is going to have a massive shock in regards to companies that used to be the best failing. It is a sad state of affairs and narcissistic CEOs are not helping the situation.

Agree. That being said, I try to buy from as many RESPONSIBLE American companies as I can. My favorite toy right now is my Darlington Labs MM 6 B Phono pre amplifier in my stereo. However, I am not flying 

THAT to Phoenix either. 

18 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

I am saddened by the state of affairs.  They have always done better, as per the saying, "If it ain't Boeing, it ain't going."

That seems to be exactly the state of things, It is Boeing, it ain't going....

[A Horse With No Name]

A350 is one of my new Favorite planes. 

 

[trinacriabob]

7 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

A350 is one of my new Favorite planes. 

It's photogenic and, for the operator, a full A350 makes coin for them.

Having flow on one for the first time in the last 2 weeks - Finnair, which is a good airline - but I wasn't crazy about it.  

I had to entertain myself for 8 hours and their seat-back screen programs weren't that good.  Worse yet, there's no pull-down drink holder flap with the folding table back up in its place.  That's a fairly basic need.  Also, the only charging available was by USB so I couldn't open my laptop and keep it juiced.  AC power is often under the seat in many modern planes.

[trinacriabob]

I happened to see this video and thought I'd share.

The answer?  NOT MANY.  Not at all .... see the video.

That they made ~ 250 of these was decent.  I thought they made about half of that number.

I flew on 2 of these - one TWA and one Pan Am in the late '80s (to go to school ... and Miami for vacation, respectively).  MD 10s and MD 11s are still around (FedEx and UPS, etc.) and the placement of the third engine on the MD 10-11 planes looks spindly.  On the Lockheed Tri-Star 1011, that 3rd engine looks "very" engaged.  The L-1011 was also known for the highest fuel consumption (per whatever metric they were using) among the wide-bodies, so it become unpopular with operators.

[trinacriabob]

So, I just crossed the pond going east and, again, used Finnair after flying AA (the airline, not the organization) to get into their DFW gateway.  Their flight attendants have been great on every flight.

Q (me):  Excuse me, but how would you say "airplane nerd" in Finnish?

A (them): "lentokonenortti" (with nortti being the nerd part)

This makes sense since the airport is the "lentoasema," so "lento" must mean air and used as a prefix

- - - - -

Italians are again selling out in preserving their language, and have always used "secchione" but have also adopted "nerd," pronounced "naird"

I'd go with "secchione dell'aerei" for the boot country

Edited October 5 by trinacriabob

[oldshurst442]

 

 

[oldshurst442]

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, oldshurst442 said:

That plane makes me think of the Expendables Movie series. I think it is the same plane model.

[oldshurst442]

On 10/5/2021 at 8:54 PM, oldshurst442 said:

 

 

 

@G. David Felt

Sorry David, but the plane on top would be the airplane from the Expendables movie. The second one in the franchise. It would be the Canadair CL 215.  A waterbomber that fights fires.

My dad worked at Canadair for 40 years. Now Canadair is under the Bombardier Aerospace name. And he worked on the CL 215 both in production and later the head engineer in quality control. 

The airplane I posted earlier today is the Martin Mars. Another water bomber

and it took its final flight this summer. It landed on a lake in British Columbia somewheres to be retired in a museum there. At least I think that is the plan.  That particular plane and the models themselves are no longer flying.  But the Bombardier CL 215 became the CL 415 and then Bombardier Aerospace sold the rights to a company named Viking to which they will continue on building them as the Viking 515 with new modern avionics in. As many countries fly it to fight their forest fires. The CL 215 was updated to the 415 in the 1980s with then modern avionics but the 515 will have modern modern 2020s avionics.  The Cl 215 is a design from the 1930s.  It had the Canso PBY as inspiration and a mentor.

 

In the first movie, the airplane was a Grumman HU-16 Albatross.

 

Edited October 10 by oldshurst442

[G. David Felt]

13 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

@G. David Felt

Sorry David, but the plane on top would be the airplane from the Expendables movie. The second one in the franchise. It would be the Canadair CL 215.  A waterbomber that fights fires.

My dad worked at Canadair for 40 years. Now Canadair is under the Bombardier Aerospace name. And he worked on the CL 215 both in production and later the head engineer in quality control. 

The airplane I posted earlier today is the Martin Mars. Another water bomber

and it took its final flight this summer. It landed on a lake in British Columbia somewheres to be retired in a museum there. At least I think that is the plan.  That particular plane and the models themselves are no longer flying.  But the Bombardier CL 215 became the CL 415 and then Bombardier Aerospace sold the rights to a company named Viking to which they will continue on building them as the Viking 515 with new modern avionics in. As many countries fly it to fight their forest fires. The CL 215 was updated to the 415 in the 1980s with then modern avionics but the 515 will have modern modern 2020s avionics.  The Cl 215 is a design from the 1930s.  It had the Canso PBY as inspiration and a mentor.

 

In the first movie, the airplane was a Grumman HU-16 Albatross.

 

Very cool, as one that does not get into planes, those kind that can land on land and water all look the same to me.

Reminds me of the Indiana Jones Movie plan that was on water too.

[oldshurst442]

Edited October 14 by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

[trinacriabob]

I saw this weird one changing planes at AMS.  I usually sit by a window.

Obviously an old 747 that's been put out to pasture, so to speak, that they've done weird things to ... so, then, is it a restaurant in the making?  You can see KLM colors in the vicinity.

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

I saw this weird one changing planes at AMS.  I usually sit by a window.

Obviously an old 747 that's been put out to pasture, so to speak, that they've done weird things to ... so, then, is it a restaurant in the making?  You can see KLM colors in the vicinity.

Makes me think someone's Frankenstein Art Project for the Airport.

[G. David Felt]

This cracked me up! ?

[oldshurst442]

[oldshurst442]