Telstar Logistics

Flying Car Completes Successful Test Flight

Well, it's not quite as cute as an Taylor Aerocar, but it does seem to work as advertised. Terrafugia's Transition, a crossbreed of a car and an airplane, successfully completed its first test flight this week, taking to the air for 37 seconds. As MSNBC reports:

Transition's aerial debut followed six months of road tests and years of design. The goal is to create an airplane that can be driven to and from a runway and parked in the family garage at night.

Transition runs on regular unleaded gasoline and can travel up to 500 miles on a single tank of gas. It takes less than 30 seconds for the vehicle's wings to fold up or extend to transform from plane to car or vice-versa.

"The point of the test was to prove that this could both fly and drive," Deitrich said.

Information from the test flight will be used to tweak the Transition's design for a second prototype. The company plans to begin selling the vehicles, which cost $194,000, in 2010, said Richard Gersh, Terrafugia's vice president of business development.

Per usual, the folks from AVWeb have pulled together an excellent and informative video that shows the Transition's first flight, and highlights some of its technical features"

LINKS:
Terrafugia Transition (official website)

PREVIOUSLY:
For Sale: One Aerocar; Half Car, Half Airplane

It's an Amphicar! It's an Amphicar!

(IMAGES: Photos from Terrafugia)

USAir Flight 1549 Detours Through New Jersey Town

We don't know who took these photos, but the strange journey of USAirways Flight 1549 continues... this time through the downtown wilds of suburban New Jersey.

You remember Flight 1549, of course -- that was the Airbus A320, that took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport and then landed unexpectedly (if fortuitously) in the Hudson River. After the aircraft was recovered from the drink, it was hauled to the Garden State on a barge. And after it was removed from the barge, it was partially disassembled and transported by truck through the narrow streets of  East Rutherford, NJ -- a town best known as the home of the Meadowlands sports arena complex.

Why the strange detour?  East Rutherford's local newspaper, The Leader, explains:

 The infamous US Airways jet that plunged from the sky into the Hudson River last month took another trip recently — this time down Park Avenue in East Rutherford.

“I was in complete shock when I saw the jet coming down the street,” said North Arlington resident Jessica Cates.

Since the accident last month, the airplane had been stationed at a barge in Jersey City, after being plucked from the icy Hudson River. Moving to a more permanent home, the jet was transported via a police motorcade and flat-bed truck to its long-term resting place in Harrison.

“It was moved to a salvage facility for storage and further evaluation,” said Ted Lopatkiewicz, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is in charge of the investigation. “Up until now, it was sitting on a barge.”

A direct route from Jersey City to Harrison hit a snag Jan. 31 when an overpass along the way detoured the plane into East Rutherford, according to East Rutherford Deputy Police Chief Anthony Krupocin.

From Park Avenue, the plane traveled to Orient Way and then to Route 17 South. “Our officers assisted because the truck was moving slowly, but there were no delays on the roadway,” East Rutherford Police Chief Larry Minda said.

Recalling the unusual experience, Cates said she was dining at the Blarney Station on Park Avenue, when she exited the establishment and saw a number of motorcycles and police cars flashing their emergency lights.

At first, Cates said she thought there was an accident, but to her surprise, she ended up seeing the jet — missing the wings and tail — slowly passing by her eyes on a flat-bed truck.

“It was just so big,” Cates said. “It begs the question how they got (the plane) on the street.”

The plane will remain at the facility until the NTSB’s investigation is complete, which Lopatkiewicz estimated would take between nine and 12 months.

(Tip of the captain's hat: Paul Saffo)

PREVIOUSLY:

Hear the Cockpit Recording: "We're gonna be in the Hudson"

Science Reveals the Key to Happiness: Growing Up in New Jersey

Hear the Cockpit Recording: "We're gonna be in the Hudson"

Today the Federal Aviation Administration released cockpit and air traffic control recordings from the incident involving USAirways flight 1549, the Airbus A320 that ditched in the Hudson River on January 15 after the aircraft suffered bird strikes in both engines. The recording is amazing, not least because of the incredible poise demonstrated by Captain Chesley Sullenberger as he struggled to bring the crippled jet down safely. 

As we now know, all the passengers and crew survived the water landing. But at the time, that outcome hardly seemed likely. Listen in, while also watching some newly released video that shows just how smoothly Sullenberger executed his water landing. That dude is one exceptionally cool cat:

PREVIOUSLY:

Video: How to Land a 747 at San Francisco International Airport

Photos and Video of a Crashed B-2 Stealth Bomber

Audio: A Tough Day Inside the Kennedy Airport Control Tower

The "Gimli Glider" 767 Retires Peacefully, at Last

For Sale: One Aerocar; Half Car, Half Airplane

Speaking of strange hybrids... ever heard of the Taylor Aerocar?  We were fascinated by them during our early years.  Built by an American entrepreneur named Moult Taylor after World War II, the Aerocar was a road-ready automobile that could be converted into an airworthy airplane by attaching a set of wings. The Wikipedia sketches out the rest of the tale:

Taylor's design of a roadable aircraft dates back to 1946. During a trip to Delaware, he met inventor Robert E. Fulton, Jr., who had designed an earlier roadable airplane, the Airphibian. Taylor recognized that the detachable wings of Fulton’s design would be better replaced by folding wings. His prototype Aerocar utilized folding wings that allowed the road vehicle to be convertible into flight mode in five minutes by one person. When the rear licence plate was flipped up, the operator could connect the propeller shaft and attach a pusher propeller. The same engine drives the front wheels through a three-speed manual transmission. When operated as an aircraft, the road transmission is simply left in neutral (though backing up during taxiing is possible by using reverse gear.) On the road, the wings and tail unit were designed to be towed behind the vehicle. Aerocars can drive up to 60 miles per hour and have a top airspeed of 110 miles per hour.

Civil certification was gained in 1956, and Taylor reached a deal with Ling-Temco-Vought for serial production on the proviso that he was able to attract 500 orders. When he was able to only find half that number of buyers, plans for production ended, and only six examples were built.

As one might expect, the engineering compromises required to create a car that could fly and a plane that could drive meant that Aerocars suffered from a variation of the Mermaid Problem — that is, with a mermaid, when you want a fish you get a woman, and when you want a woman you get a fish. Awwwwkward.

Much like mermaids, Aerocars may not be practical, but they continue to fascinate. The second of the six Aerocars, tail number N103D, built in 1956, is now for sale, and via eBay, no less. Fidel Castro's brother Raúl once flew this vehicle around Cuba, and it later logged more than 1000 hours in the air doing traffic reports for KISN above Portland, Oregon. The bidding on eBay starts at $3.5 million, and the buyer is responsible for transporting the vehicle from Grand Junction, Colorado.  Fly or drive — it's your choice.

(Tip of the flight cap to Dr. MOZ)

LINKS:
Aerocar N103D Flying Plane Car Single Engine Auto Fly (eBay Auction listing, expires 16 December, 2008)

This excellent newsreel from the early 1950s shows an Aerocar taking off from San Francisco International Airport:

This contemporary video has a Spanish narration, but it shows Aerocar No. 4 on the road, transitioning for flight, and in the air:

PREVIOUSLY:

It's an Amphicar! It's an Amphicar!

An Amphicar Sighting in New Jersey

(IMAGES: Photos of N103D from aerocarforsale.com)

Video: How to Land a 747 at San Francisco International Airport

The video below, taken from the cockpit of a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 making a final approach to Runway 28L at San Francisco International Airport, was filmed with official sanction, so the production quality is excellent. If you’ve ever wondered what’s going on in the front of the plane as you prepare to land at SFO — or if you’re just a fan of air traffic control chatter, NASA-style checklists, and clipped British accents — this will be very satisfying:

Still craving more? Not to worry...  you can also watch the pushback sequence on the other end of the same flight as it departed London Heathrow, along with with the final segment of the pre-takeoff.

(IMAGE TOP: A United Airlines 747 holding at SFO's Runway 28L. Photo by Telstar Logistics.)

The Mystery of the Miniature Stealth Fighter Jet

A few weeks ago Telstar Logistics took our junior executive-in-training to visit the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California.  While we were there, we noticed an odd machine tucked away in a remote part of the museum grounds.  It looked a lot like a miniature version of a F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. Hmmmmmm...

The aircraft was scaled perfectly for use by a child, but it was no mere plaything -- the attention to detail was extraordinary, and we couldn't help but notice that the landing gear struts looked fully functional. What was it? A remotely piloted test vehicle?  A radar cross-section test platform?  A prototype from the Lockheed ShrunkWorks? An escaped carnival ride? To provide some sense of scale, here's another photo of the mysterious plane, as it looked while our junior executive performed her own investigation:

Upon returning to our headquarters, some online sleuthing identified the likely creator of the unlikely machine: one Mr. Henry Rosales.  We immediately fired off an electronic mail message to the gentleman, and soon received a reply.  Bingo!  Mr. Rosales wrote:

"Yes it looks like you did see the stealth at the Hiller museum. I've wondered where it ended up. I built it in 1991 and used it at air shows to sell pictures of kids in it for five bucks a pop. I then donated it in 1994 to some FAA people who had been borrowing it occasionally to take to schools. Around 1995 they told me they had donated it to a museum and asked if I could help remove the landing gear. I was unable and lost track of its location. Thanks to your inquiry I can now tell people where it is because I get a lot of questions about it even today as I work for Lockheed Martin.

It had noise, lights, and a joystick which operated the nosewheel steering, the steering also ran to the back where I had a tiller for "parental guidance" as on more than one occasion the kid in front would head for cars or pedestrians. It was featured in Air and Space magazine back around 1992."

Sounds impressive, but we also found corroborating evidence in the form of a short video that shows Henry Rosales's mini stealth fighter in action.  Check out what happens when an aerospace employee sets out to build the coolest kiddie toy on the block:

This Way to Cathay: A Pan American Airways Brochure from 1937

In 1936, Pan American Airways inaugurated the world's first commercial air service between the United States and China.  Departing from Alameda, California aboard a Martin M-130 "China Clipper," passengers reached Asia by playing hopscotch across the Pacific, stopping along the way for rest and refueling in Hawaii, the Midway Islands, Wake Island, Guam, and Manila before arriving in Hong Kong. 

With a cuising speed of 150 mph, the Martin M-130 made the 8000-mile journey to China in five and one-half days. Tickets cost $1600 per person — roughly $10,000 in contemporary dollars.

All that background comes by way of explaining why we were so excited to find a Pan American Airways brochure at a flea market in San Francisco last weekend. The booklet promotes the airline's flights to China aboard the M-130, and based on a few clues — the emphasis on the M-130, as opposed to the Boeing 314 which didn't enter service in 1939; the absence any mention of Treasure Island, which became Pan American's San Francisco base in 1939 — we estimate that it dates from 1937 (give or take a year).

As the brochure explains:

Who has never dreamed of seeing China—the treasure-house of travel wonders that no one who lives upon this world should ever fail to see. Once these were so far away that few could ever hope to reach them. No longer!  The travel adventure of a lifetime is there for the taking.

We scanned the whole thing, so if you want to learn more about travel marketing in the pioneering days of intercontinental commercial air service, feel free to thumb the virtual pages.

LINK:

Pan American Airways Transpacific Service (Complete scans of original 1937 brochure, by Telstar Logistics)

PREVIOUSLY:

"Flight thru Instruments" and the Fine Art of Instructional Illustration

The Intimate Industrial Illustrations of Frank Soltesz

(IMAGES: All images photographed from the original brochure by Telstar Logistics)

How to Make Drinking at Home Feel Like Flying First Class

This is the we use bar we use in the Telstar Logistics Executive Lounge. Actually, it's an old airline galley cart, and this is the story of how it ended up in our headquarters... and how you can get one too.

A few years ago, we decided we wanted a galley cart -- the kind that flight attendants push down the aisles while serving food and drinks in the skies. Why? Well, we're hopeless aviation geeks, of course, but we also admired the simplicity, durability, and functionality of airline galley carts. Plus, we reasoned, a galley cart would be the perfect foundation for a compact bar setup.

Our quest to find a cart eventually took us to the deserts of El Mirage, California, where we found an aircraft boneyard with a few old galley carts to spare. Here's the one we liked best, as it looked the moment when we first laid eyes upon it:

It's an old SAS galley cart from the late-1970s, manufactured in Switzerland by a company called Bucher. We bought it, took it to a self-service car wash to clean off the dust, then carried it home. Later, we built a few matching drawers from acrylic sheet plastic, then loaded our cart up with vintage airline glassware, tiny bottles of liquor, cans of mixers, and plenty of napkins and bags of peanuts pinched from the cabins of the world's leading airlines.

It's turned out to be a wonderful tool for living. When not in use, all our barware and booze stows compactly and unobtrusively inside the cart. Come fun-time, the cart quickly converts into a bar, with plenty of workspace, easy access to bottles, and a snap-on tray (also found at the boneyard) that provides another level of storage for condiments and cocktail accessories:

And you can imagine how giddy we became when we flew on SAS in 2007, and discovered that the airline still uses carts exactly like ours in regular commercial service:

So where can you get one too?

Used airline galley carts are hard to find, and short-wheelbase carts like ours — which are much better-suited to domestic use — are even more rare. And even if you make the trek to the desert to visit a boneyard, the carts you'll find there are often in sad shape. New ones, however, cost several thousand dollars.

Happily, we just discovered another option. The Swiss company that manufactured our cart has an American subsidiary called Bucher Aerospace, and Bucher is now selling new carts to the general public at a very fair price.



Prices start at around $800 for an empty cart sold in a selection of 10 tasteful colors. Throw in options like top rails, a foot brake (handy during social turbulence), and some interior fittings, and the final price comes closer to $1300.



That's much less than a premium class roundtrip ticket from California to New York, and trust us when we say this: Having one of these carts at home makes every day feel like flying First Class.

LINK:
AlCarts (Airline-style Galley Carts from Bucher Aerospace)

The Joy of Time Travel via the LIFE Magazine Photo Archive

Uh-oh.  As if the latest economic news wasn't scary enough, Google just introduced a new productivity-killing tool that is all but guaranteed to shave a few points off this quarter's projected GDP growth figures.  The culprit: Google's digitization of the vast photo archives of the former LIFE magazine. Google's official blog explains:

We're excited to announce the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.

Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We're digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time. Today about 20 percent of the collection is online; during the next few months, we will be adding the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos.

 

That's right, we fully expect you may well lose the next several hours in a reverie of deeply fascinating photo-historicial procrastination.  You will enjoy it, but our global economy may suffer as a result.  You have been warned.

LINK:
Google's LIFE Photo Archive (Endless fun!  Fully searchable!)

PREVIOUSLY:
Full-Color Time Travel, Courtesy of Your Library of Congress

A Nike Missile Base Where the Cold War Never Ended

Last weekend Telstar Logistics dropped by an old Nike Hercules missile base just as the sun was setting gracefully over the Pacific Ocean nearby.  The base, in the Marin Headlands just north of San Francisco, is still known by its former military designation: SF-88. It's a former Nike missile battery that's been restored to near-original condition.

Built during the 1950s, Nike missiles were anti-aircraft weapons designed to shoot down Soviet bombers before they could drop their deadly payloads on American soil. The missiles themselves were equipped with either nuclear or conventional warheads, and a total of more than 300 Nike batteries were erected around America's major cities, where they operated until the early 1970s. In the Bay Area alone there were two dozen Nike sites scattered around the region, but SF-88 is the only one in the country that remains more or less intact.

Operated under the auspices of the National Park Service and maintained by a staff of devoted volunteers, SF-88 retains most of the equipment and hardware that was used when the battery was operational.

Apart from several of the old missiles, the underground missile storage facilities are also restored, and visitors can even ride up and down the elevator that carried the rockets into firing position. Wheeee!

This historic video shows what it was like when a Nike missile went into action:

Elsewhere on the SF-88 grounds, right alongside a pair of radar antennae, sit the two innocuous-looking trailers that were used for target tracking and launch control. The equipment inside is pristine:

If you live anywhere near a major American city, there are probably a few abandoned Nike missile sites tucked away in the more desolate parts of your local subrubs — if you know where to look. (HINT: try this Nike missile treasure guide!) Those sites will probably be wild and overgrown, but if you go, try to remember a time when they all looked kind of like SF-88: Poised to repel a Soviet airborne invasion that never came.

LINKS:
Nike Missile Base SF-88 (FLickr photoset from Telstar Logistics)

National Park Service: Nike Missile Site (Official website, with visiting hours)

The Nike Historical Society (Nike alumni site with technical details)

Ed Thelen's Nike Missile Web Site (Ridiculously comprehensive enthusiast site)

Nike Missile Sites of the San Francisco Bay Area (Survey and maps by Jef Poskanzer)

PREVIOUSLY:
Turning the Launch Key Inside a Titan ICBM Missile Silo

(IMAGES: All photos by Telstar Logistics; Nike operation graphic via nikemissile.org.)

A Roadmap to Our Highways in the Sky

This is a clean version of a most excellent FAA graphic Telstar Logistics saw on a wall at Moffett Federal Airfield after we went flying on a Zeppelin earlier this week.

The image is a pilot's guide to the air traffic routes used at airports around the San Francisco Bay Area -- a roadmap of the highways in our skies. It's illuminating, because it reveals the patterns that guide the jets which fly above our Global Headquarters each day. It all seems kind of random to us from the ground, but thanks to this graphic, the logic that guides those planes is now easy to see.

PREVIOUSLY:

"Flight thru Instruments" and the Fine Art of Instructional Illustration

Flight Report: Aloft in a Zeppelin Airship

 

Ferdinand von Zeppelin was a pioneering German aeronaut who founded the Zeppelin Airship company before World War I. An engineer, entrepreneur, and innovator, Zeppelin believed that dirigibles -- gas-filled airships built around a rigid aluminum frame -- were destined to dominate the future of aviation.  And for a time they did: Zeppelin dirigbles were used for military operations and commercial air transport until the late 1930s, when the most famous Zeppelin of all, the Hindenburg, burst into flames while attempting to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Oh the humanity!

After the Hindenburg debacle, Zeppelins largely disappeared from the skies... until recently, when the Zeppelin Company was reconstituted to begin building rigid-framed airships for use by sightseeing tour operators.  Last weekend, the first US-based Zeppelin arrived at it's new home in the San Francisco Bay Area, and yesterday Telstar Logistics was invited to go for a quick test flight.

Operated by a startup called Airship Ventures, the Zeppelin NT will be based out of Moffett Field, Calfornia -- a fitting home, as Moffett was built by the US Navy during the 1920s to serve as a base for military dirigibles.

The new Zeppelins are filled with the inert helium instead of highly flammable hydrogen, they're only about one-quarter the size of than the old giants, and they're equipped with modern technology and avionics. Power is delivered by three Lycoming engines that put out around 200 horsepower each, and the airship frame is constructed from a combination of of aluminum and carbon fiber.

Boarding an airship is not at all like boarding a conventional aircraft, because an airship doesn't sit still; it tends to bob and sway as the wind blows the big balloon around. As a result, climbing on board the Zeppelin is a bit like stepping from a stable dock onto a boat that's rocking on a gentle sea.

Once inside, however, the cabin feels like a cross between a tourist bus, a commuter jet, and the observation deck of your favorite skyscraper.  The seats for the 12 passengers are thin but comfortable, there's a small lavatory, and the rear of the cabin is dominated by a huge panoramic window equipped with a cozy padded bench called "the loveseat."  Takeoff felt effortless.  The engines buzzed gently, and then, without much of a sense of thrust or acceleration, we began rising into the air.

The cabin is airy, spacious, and surprisingly quiet, so it's easy to forget that you're in an aircraft at all. Once aloft, the most essential aspect of an airship's sightseeing appeal soon became obvious: slowness.  Even when in motion, the Zeppelin NT felt like it was hovering, so taking in the sights was very relaxing — especially from the big rear window near the loveseat. How's this for a view?

Landing was much the same -- a graceful cruise to a lower altitude that was pretty much elevator-like in its smoothness.

Indeed, for regular passengers, the most jarring aspect of the experience may well be the price: Airship Ventures will charge $536 per passenger per hour of flight. That's steep, to be sure, but on an hourly basis the fee is comparable to that of conventional helicopter tours. Plus you get the added satisfaction of being able to brag to your friends that you've flown on a Zeppelin.

If you can't swing it, however, we took lots of photos so you can at least get a taste of travel by airship. It's the wave of the future, you know...

LINK:

Aloft in a Zeppelin (Flickr photoset by Telstar Logistics)

Airship Ventures (Company website)

PREVIOUSLY:

The Fight to Save Hangar One, Silicon Valley's Monument to the Age of the Airships

(IMAGES: All photos by Telstar Logistics)

Fly Helicopter. Fill Water Bucket. Fight Fire. Repeat.

It was a lovely wedding, but something about it smelled a little... smokey. 

The wedding took place last weekend, on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean near the town of Lucia, California, not far from Big Sur.  Telstar Logistics was on hand when the bride and groom were joined in matrimony, but off in the distance, we were distracted by the deep thumping sound of spinning helicopter blades. 

Looking to the south, we could see firefighting choppers dipping their water buckets into the cold Pacific water to battle In a forest fire was burning out of control a few miles away:

By the next morning, as we brunched on pastries and eggs, the fire had grown larger and more ominous... and the helicopters were still hard at work. So we went to get a closer look.

We arrived just in time to watch one of the helis as it was arriving for a water refill.  It was N699RH, a Kaman Aerospace Corp K-1200 firefighting helicopter operated by Ranier Heli-Lift.  Having never seen a Kaman helicopter before -- or even heard of them, for that matter -- we did some research to find out more.

The Kaman is a strange-looking beast: It's thin as a rail, with a bulbous cockpit and twin rotors mounted on opposite sides of the fuselage. Very insectoid. But form follows function, it seems, as the Kaman is a workhorse helicopter "specifically designed, tested and certified for repetitive external lift operations and vertical reference flight." The Wikipedia explains:

Known as a synchropter, there are two main rotors, which are mounted side-by-side. Each rotor is angled away from the other, and they counter-rotate, thus intermeshing and providing not only lift, but also countering the torque of the other rotor. All of the engine power goes toward lift, with no parasitic loss to power a secondary torque rotor, as found in conventional helicopters. The power transmission and control systems are thus simpler, as well. Control is through the use of servo-flaps mounted on the trailing edge of each rotor. The arrangement also makes for extremely quiet operation compared to other helicopters.

Although only 38 Kaman K-1200s have been built, it seems the US military is also investigating the development of an unmanned version that might be used for combat supply and troop transport in Iraq and Afghanistan.

PS: Congratulations to the happy couple, Fred and Christine, with best wishes for all that lies ahead!

LINK:

Kaman Aerospace K-MAX (Official company website)

PREVIOUSLY:

Helitack 406: A Firefighting Helicopter in California

DC-10 Fire Tanker Joins the Fight Against SoCal Blazes

Hovercraft Save California Island from Raging Wildfire

(PHOTOS by Telstar Logistics)

Old Boeing 747 Becomes New Hotel in Stockholm

 

 

Okay, so you may not own the big plot of land you'll need to buy an old Boeing 747 jumbo jet and convert it into your very own home sweet home.  And you may not have the deep pockets required to enjoy all the comforts of home available in the first class cabin of an Emirates A380 superjumbo.  But if you happen to find yourself in Stockholm, Sweden later this year, you can probably afford to spend a night at the Jumbo Hostel, a new hotel that's being constructed inside the shell of a retired Boeing 747-200.

Telstar Logistics Special Swedish Correspondent David Larson brings us his translation of an article about the Jumbo Hotel that ran in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 29 August, 2008:

Jumbo Jet Becomes Hostel

Anyone who is tired of ordinary hotels will be able to get an unusual experience at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport. In December the first ever hostel in a jumbo jet will open.

The plane that will be a symbol for the airport, a Boing 747-200, was towed yesterday to it's final stop at the entrance of Arlanda Airport. The old charter plane was decommissioned in 2002, but has now been bought by Oscar Diös who was the initiator of the project and onboard during it's move.

"An incredible feeling. I'm extremely happy," he says.

Oscar Diös has previously run a hostel in Uppsala. Now he wants to give the 17-18 million visitors who pass by the airport every year a unique accommodation option.

The interior renovation of the jumbo jet will begin today, and when finished there will 25 rooms  a wedding suite in the cockpit. Quite a few changes will be made to distinguish this plane from the ones still flying. For example, guests will be able to stroll on the wing and they will not have to use cramped toilets with push doors.

All told, the hotel will have 85 beds, with most rooms using shared bathrooms located along the corridor of the main deck.  Each room will have a flat-panel TV and wireless internet access. The upper deck luxury/wedding suite will retain some of the original aircraft fittings, and if you need to catch a flight from Arlanda in the morning, there's no need for a taxi -- the Jumbo Hostel is just a 10 minute walk from the airport's main terminal.

LINK:
Jumbo Hostel (Official website)

PREVIOUSLY:

Psssst! Who Wants to Buy a Used Boeing 747, CHEAP?

(IMAGES: All photos courtesy of the Jumbo Hostel)

Overheard Comments from United Airlines Employees

Okay, so maybe we got a liiiiiiiittle bit spoiled by our recent flight aboard an Emirates A380. But even before that, we'd grown fed up with the declining levels of passenger service among America's mainline air carriers: United, American, Continental, Delta, and the like. 

We've flown most of these airlines at least once during the last year or so, and the experiences are hard to differentiate: All were dismal. The aircraft are old, crowded, and uncomfortable, but most of all, we've grown weary of listening to airline cabin crew kvetching about their work schedules and grievances with senior management. This is what it must've been like to fly Aeroflot Soviet Airlines back in the Brezhnev Era.

In fairness, these are challenging times for the U.S. airline industry. And clearly, customer-facing airline employees have difficult and exhausting jobs. Yet to the extent that airline employees must each day deal with hundreds upon hundreds of rude and impatient passengers, surely treating them like cattle is no way to improve the situation.

This explains why we so enjoyed this list of comments overheard in recent weeks by the frequent flier over at the One Mile at a Time blog. With some allowances for  paraphrasing, here's what he overheard while flying United Airlines:

• A person with my seniority at American or Continental would make $11 per flight hour more. I know that for a fact, I saw the contract with my own eyes, we’re the lowest paid by a ton.

• Man, these Premiers think they’re all that, they can’t even wait in line for five minutes.

• Ladies and gentlemen, we know that most of you probably have the safety video memorized by now, but please pretend to pay attention. You never know if the person next to you has never flown before, has self-respect, or is perhaps an FAA inspector.

• I fly full fare on other airlines all the time and United is the only one that does more than one drink run on domestic flights, even water or coffee. I know that for a fact
• &%$* Glenn Tilton and management.

• We hope you’ve enjoyed flying with us as much as we’ve enjoyed taking you and your money for a ride.

• I had a car accident on my way to work, but I was too scared I’d lose my job so instead of going to a doctor here I am.

• This delay was my fault, I have guests coming over tonight at 7.

• If you don’t like the snack I can serve you a seven course meal, consisting of a variety of snack mix…. it just takes a little bit of imagination.

• You want a skykit for that?

• We all hate working here, this place sucks.

• Glenn Tilton sucks, he’s also getting rid of free upgrades for all of our Million Milers, 1K’s and Global Services. I work Sydney flights all the time and everyone is full fare, shame on Glenn!
• They’re retiring the Ted planes, not reconfiguring them.

• United has never had a good management team.

LINK:
Some Quotes from UA Employees Over the Last Few Days (One Mile at a Time blog post)

(IMAGE: Passengers exiting United Airlines Flight 85 in Los Angeles. Photo by M.V. Jantzen)