Fifth Avenue Forum

Yeah, apparently I’m never going to fly on one.

At the moment, there are only 35 passenger Boeing 747s still flying, and Lufthansa is the only major airline that is still operating 747 flights. A lot of those remaining 747s are probably charter or VIP versions. On the other hand, there are more than 300 747s in cargo operation. Cargo 747s aren't going anywhere any time soon.

https://simpleflying.com/only-35-passen ... n-service/

Ronnie, maybe you can pack yourself up and ship yourself somewhere nice.

That would certainly be the surest way to get on a 747 these days.

Interesting and scary incident in Luton Airport that happened back in January; official reports are just coming out now. A Wizz Air flight was switched from an A320 to an A321 due to a technical issue, but the passenger seating plan was not changed. So the back rows of the aircraft were totally empty and everyone was sitting up front, which put the aircraft's balance too far forward and outside of its accepted balance envelope. The unusual distribution of passengers was not noticed by the dispatcher or cabin crew. When the pilots went to rotate at Vr, the aircraft was all "Nope!" and wasn't leaving the ground. They had to use TOGA thrust to get airborne. The pilots retrimmed the aircraft, and it made the flight safely.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bed ... s-54477819

2nd report of person with jet pack flying near LAX prompts new investigation

Officials are investigating another report of a person flying a jet pack near Los Angeles International Airport Wednesday, the second such possible sighting near LAX within six weeks, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

A China Airlines crew member reported the incident around 1:45 p.m., according to Ian Gregor of the FAA. The person was apparently spotted at an altitude of 6,000 feet, about 7 miles northwest of the airport.

The FAA has alerted local law enforcement, which will investigate the latest incident, Gregor said in a statement.

The FBI, which also looked into the earlier incident, has launched a new investigation, the Los Angeles Times reported.

7 miles NW of LAX would also put it into airspace confliction with Santa Monica airport.

I've seen several people flying around Lancaster County (and at the beach) with these.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_parachute

Apparently, for the smaller version (considered ultralight aircraft) you do NOT need any type of training or pilot's license. Which honestly is pretty surprising considering they get solid altitude.

There's something really tempting about this for when I get closer to retirement age. Would be fun as hell just tooling around.

Lufthansa is the only major airline that is still operating 747 flights.

Lufthansa has now announced that it's parking its 747s in favor of its Airbus A350s. They're aren't planning on scrapping the 747-8s, but they aren't able to fill them, so they're downsizing to the A350 on those routes. The older 747-400s are being retired.

Rolls-Royce just announced a $5 billion loss, and it plans to close two factories, lay off thousands of employees, and potentially sell assets. Among other problems, RR was the first engine manufacturer to offer a "power by the hour" payment model for its engines, under which engines are basically leased to the airline with payment based on hours of operation, and most of its customers take that option. That means that if the engine is not flying, then RR isn't getting paid, and a great many engines are not flying right now, especially the widebodies that RR focuses on. Unlike GE and P&W, RR doesn't offer any new engines in the size class for smaller aircraft like the 737 and A320.

Was just tooling around on FlightRadar24 and found the Goodyear Blimp down east of San Diego. ADS-B trace initially showed it at 476 kts over the ground.............so.... probably an error.

Although that would certainly be neat to see.

Immediately made me think of this:

"Hot air balloon, do a vertical!" lol

I just recently bought the "Gear Up" (the airliner version) and "High Speed Pass" t-shirts from his store: https://teespring.com/stores/airforceproud95

In aviation news, the EASA in Europe is about to issue its proposed type-certificate rules for the return of the 737 MAX. There will be a comment period, after which final rules will be adopted. The FAA will likely go first, but the MAX might be flying again in Europe before the end of the year, or perhaps January at the latest.

Sorta surprised he doesn't have any 'slew mode' merch. lol

Air France has now retired its last Airbus A340, which marks the end of more than 50 years of continuous quad-jet operation, starting with the purchase of the Boeing 707 in 1959. All Air France aircraft are now twins.

A somewhat funny story (although Lufthansa might not think so). Lufthansa stores six of its Boeing 747 aircraft at Twente Airport in the Netherlands; the plan is to scrap them at Twente. Lufthansa has now changed its mind and would like to fly them out to another location. But Twente Airport is not certified for aircraft as large as the 747-400 to depart, so the six aircraft are now stranded there.

https://simpleflying.com/lufthansa-boeing-747s-stuck

That feels like something of an planning error.

see below

It's the entire aviation industry. Both Boeing and Airbus have reported billion-dollar losses so far, and that probably won't get much better any time soon because the airlines are also hurting, and many of them have already deferred their pending orders until later years. Qatar Airways, for example, has said that it won't take any new deliveries until 2022 at the earliest, and a lot of other airlines are also scrambling to defer. An organization that represents European airports reports that nearly 200 airports in Europe will face insolvency in coming months if passenger traffic does not start recovering soon, and I don't think that's likely to happen.

The only parts of aviation that are really doing ok right now is: (1) cargo and package delivery; and (2) executive transportation and private flights. Cargo is still moving just fine, and a lot of wealthy people who still want to travel are looking to private and charter operators to get around. Traffic is down, but not as much as regular passenger operations.

Nearly a decade late, Berlin's Brandenburg Airport finally opens (during a pandemic)

It's nearly a decade behind schedule, 4 billion euros over budget and there's a global pandemic crippling the aviation industry.

Happy Halloween to Berlin's beleaguered Brandenburg Airport, which finally opens its doors this Saturday.

The massive 1,470-hectare site in the Schönefeld region southeast of Berlin aims to be the state-of-the-art transportation hub that the German capital has always lacked, and will open up connections to more long-haul destinations.

I remember seeing a show on Discovery Channel years ago about the airport, which had basically been abandoned at one point. It was very eerie.

I might have also seen that show, or another on the same subject. IIRC, the biggest problem with the airport was the smoke-removal and fire-protection systems. I don't remember the exact problem, but I believe in testing the system completely failed to work properly, and it had basically been integrated into the structural design of the terminal to the extent that I remember some people asserting that it would have been faster and easier to just tear down the whole terminal and start over. I believe there were also issues with corruption and bribery, in addition to multiple other instances of defective designs and construction. The whole project was a complete disaster from start to finish.

There was an episode of Top Gear where they went to an airport in Spain that had been abandoned after only a few years in ooeration. That was weird.

@tifosi77: You may have already seen this, but: https://v.redd.it/sjtrrr17cvw51

(Video of the jet pack dude near LAX)

If that's legit, that looks like scalloped roofline in the background is the Bradley International Terminal at LAX. Which would place the filming location at Sepulveda and Lincoln (near an In-N-Out!) looking west and slightly south. And that also means this guy was dicking around over the field during flight ops.

And remember: LAX is only like 2 miles from SpaceX.

Where was Adam Savage when all of this happened? This has Mythbusters written all over it.

I don't want anyone on an aircraft to get injured or any aircraft to crash, but if this is indeed a jackass with a jetpack flying right in the Class Bravo, I wouldn't shed a tear if that guy were to end up shredded through a jet engine.

GE90 says *burp*.