Aviation Geeks unite?! Anybody else care about planes here?

[Santaman]

And if you want to transport some large items.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Beluga_XL

And if it has to be reaah hea hea heaaaaaaaly big
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225_Mriya

 

[J.T.B.]

I just saw the movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which had this:


BZZZZ! No 747 service till January 1970. No extended upper deck until around 1980. I had to say something. "I knew you were going to say something about that airplane," my wife said.

 

[Santaman]

The first one with the extended upper deck was the 747-400 which came out in 1988
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747-400
It also has cantered winglets which the follow up model again lacked, that's the 747-8 which is a further stretch, also has a bigger wing and no longer cantered winglets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747-8

You are correct, the first 747 was delivered in December 1969 and indeed it entered service with Pan Am on the 22th of January 1970.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747

 

[J.T.B.]

The first one with the extended upper deck was the 747-400 which came out in 1988
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747-400

I was thinking of the 747-300 which apparently went into passenger service in 1983 with Swissair.


Speaking of Pan Am, they were the biggest customer for the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, spun off from the C-97, in turn based on the B-29. Pan Am wanted to promote it as a land-plane successor to the luxury and glamour of their pre-war flying boats and featured the lower-deck lounge prominently in its advertising.
https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/7200hjpg



I remember seeing a couple of KC-97's at the Air National Guard terminal when I was quite young, mid-to-late '70s, before they got 135's.

 

[Santaman]

Yep, it was the "300" first with that extension.

There aren't that many bubble hulled aircraft, but I do remember the British had the Nimrod.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Siddeley_Nimrod

Oh and of course the Atlantic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breguet_Atlantic

 

[Marc]

There aren't that many bubble hulled aircraft, but I do remember the British had the Nimrod.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Siddeley_Nimrod

Which has it's roots in the first jetliner - the Comet.

 

[J.T.B.]

There aren't that many bubble hulled aircraft, but I do remember the British had the Nimrod.

The 707, 727, 737, DC-8 and -9 do have a double-bubble cross section with a pinch at the cabin floor, but the difference between the top and bottom is slight and not too noticeable.

 

[BK613]

I just saw the movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which had this:
View attachment 14911

BZZZZ! No 747 service till January 1970. No extended upper deck until around 1980. I had to say something. "I knew you were going to say something about that airplane," my wife said.

Yea, stock film anachronisms are fun to spot. Happens with ships all the time too.

 

[J.T.B.]

Happens with ships all the time too.

Have you heard this movie called Pearl Harbor...

Anybody have a favorite livery? One of mine, the AAL Astro-Jet. So sorry I missed the early jet age!

 

[BK613]

Have you heard this movie called Pearl Harbor...

It's a movie I've tried to forget but yes, using the then reserve fleet full of Spruances....

 

[J.T.B.]

It's a movie I've tried to forget but yes, using the then reserve fleet full of Spruances....

B-25s taking off from "Hornet" with the big angle deck sticking out to the side...

 

[Marc]

Have you heard this movie called Pearl Harbor...

Anybody have a favorite livery? One of mine, the AAL Astro-Jet. So sorry I missed the early jet age!
View attachment 14970

A some years back there was a talk of some airlines going back to polished metal instead of fully painting their fleets in the belief that it they would save on fuel costs (no extra weight from the paint) but it never really went forward.

 

[J.T.B.]

A some years back there was a talk of some airlines going back to polished metal instead of fully painting their fleets in the belief that it they would save on fuel costs (no extra weight from the paint) but it never really went forward.

Yeah people have said that for a long time but I also read somewhere that when it came down to dollars and cents it was a lot cheaper to hose down a painted plane with soap and water than to keep the bare metal looking polished and nice, and that more than offset any fuel savings. But bare metal became part of American's brand since C.R. Smith insisted on it for so many years.

 

[Santaman]

Not sure passengers would enjoy seeing a bare composite/metal hull since most aircraft are no longer full metal.

 

[Marc]

Yeah people have said that for a long time but I also read somewhere that when it came down to dollars and cents it was a lot cheaper to hose down a painted plane with soap and water than to keep the bare metal looking polished and nice, and that more than offset any fuel savings. But bare metal became part of American's brand since C.R. Smith insisted on it for so many years.

yeah I thought the maintenance cost for the bare metal look might outweigh the savings on fuel.

plus with increases in fuel efficiency with later designs cost savings are found elsewhere.

American came to mind when I thought of a bare metal look fleet but from an image search on google I guess they only use it on certain aircraft?

 

[J.T.B.]

Not sure passengers would enjoy seeing a bare composite/metal hull since most aircraft are no longer full metal.

Good point!

American came to mind when I thought of a bare metal look fleet but from an image search on google I guess they only use it on certain aircraft?

Yeah maybe ten years ago they went to a new livery with silver-gray fuselage (homage to the old metal look) and red-white-blue bars on the tail. I don't like it, personally, and neither did a lot of people, but it has stuck. AFAIK they operate two retro planes in bare metal: One 737 with the red Astro-Jet scheme (but no red on the engines, boo!) and one with the red-white-blue cheatline and the criss-crossed eagle logo on the tail.

 

[J.T.B.]

Four-ship F-35 flyover today, I was pretty far away, this is the best I could get.

 

[Santaman]

The F-35.. not going to call it Lightning, this pudgy little flying Bradley doesn't deserve that name.. it is one of the few aircraft I don't like.

 

[BK613]

@Santaman The aviators will probably stick the F-35 with it's own unofficial moniker anyway. Like Warthog for the A-10 or Viper for the F-16.

 

[Santaman]

I have quite a few but I am in doubt others will ever use them..