5 year anniversary on 27 April 2005 After many decades of being the biggest passenger aircraft on the planet, the 747 had to cede its unique position to the Airbus A380 who took to the air for the first time at 10:28:23 on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse Blagnac Airport, Airbus’ home base. Development of… Continue reading Anniversary – Airbus A380 first flight
Tag: 747
KLM and Aeroflot take-off from taxi-ways
Strange as it may seem one of the more difficult things that pilots have to deal with is finding their way around airports. Despite ICAO standardisation many obvious things like airport signage are not always the same at every airport, and even if they were, airport layouts will always differ. Surprisingly, navigating the aircraft down… Continue reading KLM and Aeroflot take-off from taxi-ways
Flying the Boeing 747
I came relatively late to the Boeing 747, first flying it in 1981 long after all the early teething problems with the PW JT9D-3 engines had been solved. We had two versions of the aircraft in British Airways, the 747-100 series with the more powerful PW JT9D-7 engines and the 747-200 with RR RB211-524 engines.… Continue reading Flying the Boeing 747
747
By Joe Sutter with Jay Spenser Publisher: Smithsonian Books ISBN-13: 978-0-06-088241-9 For some time now we could read a lot about the development problems afflicting the latest big aircraft types. Just think of the Airbus A380, the 787 or the A400M military transport. Proud projects yet they started life with what appears to be more… Continue reading 747
Anniversary – Boeing 747 first revenue flight
40 year anniversary on 22 January 2010 Pan American World Airways is long gone but the 747, into its fifth generation, still strives. Forty years ago on 22 January 1970 it was a Pan Am clipper that introduced this undisputed king of large aircraft to revenue service. N736PA, a 747-100 flew from New York to… Continue reading Anniversary – Boeing 747 first revenue flight
Same time, same place, same level…17
Navigation, the art of getting lost – Part 2 A taxiway will do… A few years later, however, we got our share of uninvited visitors, too. This time it was a Sunday and the observation terrace was crowded by people, some of them waiting for flights due in later, others just there to watch for… Continue reading Same time, same place, same level…17
Legend & Legacy – The Story of Boeing and Its People
By Robert J. Serling Publisher: St. Martin’s Pres, New York ISBN-0-312-05890-X When we read about Boeing these days, it is more often than not something negative. The new version of the 747 and the Dreamliner delayed, repeatedly it seems and for reasons that make one wonder what is going on in Seattle and Chicago. It… Continue reading Legend & Legacy – The Story of Boeing and Its People
Same time, same place, same level…16
Navigation, the art of getting lost – Part 1 Faultless navigation plays an all important role in the safe operation of aircraft. There are scores of instruments both in the cockpit and on the ground, the purpose of which is to make sure that pilots and controllers are constantly aware of where their airplanes are… Continue reading Same time, same place, same level…16
When blue means green
The KLM 747 shown below circled The Netherlands for an hour on 23 November with one of its four engines running on a 50 % mix of biokerosene. The new fuel aptly tagged “sustainable kerosene” was manufactured from the camelina plant by a biotechnology company in Seattle, USA. KLM said that this was the first… Continue reading When blue means green
Sway – The irresistible pull of irrational behavior
By Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman Publisher: Doubleday ISBN – 978-0-38552438-4 Put two identical products in different packaging and with different names and different prices on a store shelf. Have the more expensive one recommended by a well known face, the other advertised only by itself. Which one will sell more? The one endorsed by… Continue reading Sway – The irresistible pull of irrational behavior