tonyw
Well-Known Member
I'll have pictures when I get around to developing them. Yes, folks, there are some people who still use that funny thing called film.
Couple of things:
Man, was it a dead show. Biggest deal as far as aircraft goes? Some startup LCC in Asia inked a deal to lease five A320s or something like that. No big announcements from either of the two big guns about big contracts. Well, there was that little bit from the guy at Airbus saying that the 747 is dead. We'll see, but I kinda sorta think it's important to actually have your airplane flying before you say one that's in operation is dead.
The only civilian aiplane that flew during the daily airshow was the Embraer 170. Poor guys. They followed up an F-16 and a Mirage, which sucks. Then they only let them do two passes, one in the cruise and one in the landing configuration. It was kind of cool to see an RJ in what I'd estimate as a 45 degree bank, though. Not quite as cool as seeing an F16 go by at 100 knots and then go ballistic, but cool nevertheless.
Here's a question. On my return trip, I got to talk to the flight deck crew. They were waiting for a bus and I was waiting for my ride, so I talked to them a bit. One thing was that there were only three of them. I'm trying to figure out how three guys managed to stay legal to fly the entire trip (it took about 12 hours). Or maybe there was another guy who I didn't notice? And how do airlines handle switching crews these days for long overseas flights, with all the heightened security?
And I was very impressed. A 12 hour flight, and the guy greased it, right on the centerline. He laughed and said they aren't always that pretty.
Couple of things:
Man, was it a dead show. Biggest deal as far as aircraft goes? Some startup LCC in Asia inked a deal to lease five A320s or something like that. No big announcements from either of the two big guns about big contracts. Well, there was that little bit from the guy at Airbus saying that the 747 is dead. We'll see, but I kinda sorta think it's important to actually have your airplane flying before you say one that's in operation is dead.
The only civilian aiplane that flew during the daily airshow was the Embraer 170. Poor guys. They followed up an F-16 and a Mirage, which sucks. Then they only let them do two passes, one in the cruise and one in the landing configuration. It was kind of cool to see an RJ in what I'd estimate as a 45 degree bank, though. Not quite as cool as seeing an F16 go by at 100 knots and then go ballistic, but cool nevertheless.
Here's a question. On my return trip, I got to talk to the flight deck crew. They were waiting for a bus and I was waiting for my ride, so I talked to them a bit. One thing was that there were only three of them. I'm trying to figure out how three guys managed to stay legal to fly the entire trip (it took about 12 hours). Or maybe there was another guy who I didn't notice? And how do airlines handle switching crews these days for long overseas flights, with all the heightened security?
And I was very impressed. A 12 hour flight, and the guy greased it, right on the centerline. He laughed and said they aren't always that pretty.