Plane Bashing

[LE Greys]

Global Supply Systems have at least two of the freight version in service in BA colours, they are based out of Stansted.

Lufthansa are due the first passenger version soon (it was due earlier this month but the launch event was postponed indefinitely)

Interesting, I'll keep my eyes open. Graveley is not all that far from the Stansted western approach, so an easterly from somewhere south of Stevenage might produce something.

 

[starrymarkb]

Interesting, I'll keep my eyes open. Graveley is not all that far from the Stansted western approach, so an easterly from somewhere south of Stevenage might produce something.

Regs to look out for on Flight Radar are G-GSSD and G-GSSE - One is currently over eastern Europe bound for Hong Kong. The other was over Asia.

 

[Cundy66]

I have managed to get under my belt.

737-400 and 800 series
Fokker 100
757
767
A320
A319

Got even 5mins in control of a 737-800 when worked for an airline.

And when on mil side I got a couple before joining Stagecoach.

 

[Ascot]

But I stand by my point - if you normally travel as 2 or more, the BA 2-for-1 voucher from Amex does make Avios rather good value.

Couldn't agree with you more, much better than the Intercontinental spend £10,000 and get a free night voucher.

 

[SwindonPkwy]

To be honest, while it's a very impressive model, the economy class didn't really feel too much different to a 777, 747 or an A340. I think the 747 would still have to be my favourite long haul jet.

I have just booked my first A380 flight with SQ and, I agree, in 3-4-3 seating in economy on the lower deck is not going to be much different from 747's or 777's. For long haul in economy I do like the 2-4-2 configuration on the A340 with Cathay, for example.

For Business Class, though, I find the opposite to be true. I flew Virgin to JFK on an A340-600 where the Business product felt cramped. On the return, the B747-400 was much more spacious. I like BA's Club World on the B777 as well.

 

[WestCoast]

One aspect that I did notice about the A380 was that the noise levels seemed a little lower than other long-haul jets. Now the flight was very short, but I certainly did notice that. Great if you're in a quiet business class cabin, not so great if you're in economy as you can hear all the noises around you.

As for configuration, well Air France is not as flashy as Singapore Airlines.

 

[SwindonPkwy]

One aspect that I did notice about the A380 was that the noise levels seemed a little lower than other long-haul jets. Now the flight was very short, but I certainly did notice that. Great if you're in a quiet business class cabin, not so great if you're in economy as you can hear all the noises around you.

As for configuration, well Air France is not as flashy as Singapore Airlines.

I am looking forward to BA taking delivery of their A380's. As you said in your earlier post, they may put them on some short haul flights initially for crew training.

 

[WestCoast]

I am looking forward to BA taking delivery of their A380's. As you said in your earlier post, they may put them on some short haul flights initially for crew training.

They may well do so. Lufthansa also used A380s on a few short hops and ran scenic excursion flights over the Alps for crew training, but I couldn't make it on the dates they ran.

 

[trentside]

One aspect that I did notice about the A380 was that the noise levels seemed a little lower than other long-haul jets. Now the flight was very short, but I certainly did notice that. Great if you're in a quiet business class cabin, not so great if you're in economy as you can hear all the noises around you.

I've heard this about the A380, some people find the quietness a little unnerving.

 

[stut]

I've heard this about the A380, some people find the quietness a little unnerving.

Ditto the A340 (the -500 and -600 at least) - lovely, quiet journey.

Upstairs on the A380 feels incredibly spacious, although the scale of it can make business class seem something like a battery farm. Still very much enjoyed my trip (on Lufty, FRA-NRT). The size felt like a breath of fresh air, and both airports were very well set up to handle the passenger volumes.

For me, though, the best premium cabins will always be the 747 nose cabin (the partial forward view from the first row is great, and it's also eerily quiet here) and upstairs, with its private jet feel and those floor lockers to store as much gubbins as you could ever want access to inflight.

 

[SwindonPkwy]

Last week I added the 767-400ER to my list with a trip to and from JFK on Delta. IIRC, only Delta and Continental took delivery of this variant.

 

[LE Greys]

Ditto the A340 (the -500 and -600 at least) - lovely, quiet journey.

Upstairs on the A380 feels incredibly spacious, although the scale of it can make business class seem something like a battery farm. Still very much enjoyed my trip (on Lufty, FRA-NRT). The size felt like a breath of fresh air, and both airports were very well set up to handle the passenger volumes.

For me, though, the best premium cabins will always be the 747 nose cabin (the partial forward view from the first row is great, and it's also eerily quiet here) and upstairs, with its private jet feel and those floor lockers to store as much gubbins as you could ever want access to inflight.

Juan Trip of PanAm originally asked Boeing if they could put some B-17-style windows round the nose, but Boeing told him it would be too heavy, and make it difficult to install radar.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Last week I added the 767-400ER to my list with a trip to and from JFK on Delta. IIRC, only Delta and Continental took delivery of this variant.

Which variant did Air Canada take? I think it was one of the ERs on LHR-Halifax three years ago.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I added 0h28 to my log today in the form of a Redhill to Redhill via London trip on G-OLFA, Type AS350.

 

[flymo]

I know somewhere I once had a list of the airlines and types I had been on. I must look it out and update it a bit. Not many registrations though, suppose I should pay more attention.

 

[SwindonPkwy]

Which variant did Air Canada take? I think it was one of the ERs on LHR-Halifax three years ago.

Air Canada have operated the -200, -200ER and -300ER. The 767 is still one of my favourite aircraft, although I like them much less when they have had winglets fitted. Thankfully, with raked wingtips, this does not seem to be an option on the -400ER.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I know somewhere I once had a list of the airlines and types I had been on. I must look it out and update it a bit. Not many registrations though, suppose I should pay more attention.

I have just started to piece my log together after neglecting it for too long. Likewise, I have a lot of registrations missing. An Olympic Shorts 330 and Maldives Twin Otter amongst them.

 

[flymo]

Found the list but can't really be sure of the registrations so left them out.

Air New Zealand B747-400
Air UK Bae 146
British Airways B747-400, A319, A321, B757-200
British Midland Fokker 100
Caledonian Airways B757-200
Cathay Pacific B747-400, A340-300, A340-600
China Airlines MD11, B737-200
China Eastern Airlines A300-600
Emirates B777-200, A300-600, A330-200, A380-800
KLM B747-300, B737-400
Philippine Airlines B747-400
Qantas B747-400, A330-200
Singapore Airlines B747-400
Virgin Atlantic B747-400, A340-300, A340-600
Garuda Indonesia B747-200, DC10, A300-600
Air France B747-400

 

[starrymarkb]

I've added some Easyjet hours. Berlin and Back

 

[Techniquest]

Added Boeing 737-300 to my list of craft flown on, G-TOYG and G-TOYH with bmibaby on Monday and Tuesday this week. Jacked up my air mileage quite nicely, and so much better than Ryanair

 

[WestCoast]

I recently discovered SAS Last Minute Youth fares for under 26s, you can get last minute tickets (i.e. for the next 2-3 days) from all their UK departure points to Scandinavia from about £45 one way. It's great for bashing, because it can be booked late like a train and SAS have an array of interesting aircraft.

 

[Techniquest]

Shame it's only for under 26s

 

[trentside]

I've just booked myself on the final outbound BMI Baby flight from East Midlands Airport to Ibiza, on the 09/09/12. Just looking for ways back to the UK now, originally looked at some Volotea flights on their Boeing 717s but their website wouldn't accept my card.

 

[SwindonPkwy]

Any news on which airline will be filling the void at EMA once bmi baby have gone?

 

[WestCoast]

New services from Monarch and Flybe, plus increased activity from Jet2 and Ryanair.

 

[trentside]

I've just booked myself on the final outbound BMI Baby flight from East Midlands Airport to Ibiza, on the 09/09/12. Just looking for ways back to the UK now, originally looked at some Volotea flights on their Boeing 717s but their website wouldn't accept my card.

Turns out the card acceptance was due to my bank mucking around.

In the end, I've come up with a routing of East Midlands to Ibiza with BMI Baby, then Ibiza to Barcelona with Vueling and another BMI Baby flight from Barcelona back to East Midlands. Two sectors on 737s and an A320, not the most interesting but will be nice to be flying with Baby on their final day (just hope for no cancellations, re-scheduling etc.).

 

[WestCoast]

I am planning a trip; Manchester to Munich on a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER and then Munich to Athens on an Air China Airbus A340-300. It should be very fun to fly those airlines and aircraft within Europe! It's all on Star Alliance as well, and it worked out at not bad value overall. Coming back on easyJet.

 

[trentside]

I am planning a trip; Manchester to Munich on a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER and then Munich to Athens on an Air China Airbus A340-300. It should be very fun to fly those airlines and aircraft within Europe! It's all on Star Alliance as well, and it worked out at not bad value overall. Coming back on easyJet.

That sounds great. I've always wanted to catch some fifth freedom routes around Europe, but haven't found workable schedules as of yet. Hopefully once I find a job (fingers crossed!) I can work out a trip.

Just to further empty my bank account, I just found a workable itinary for East Midlands to London Southend via Dublin with Ryanair and Aer Lingus Regional (operated by Aer Arran). This is just two weeks away, and the fares were exceptional value. Plus some rail mileage from Southend back to Lincoln.

 

[WestCoast]

That sounds great. I've always wanted to catch some fifth freedom routes around Europe, but haven't found workable schedules as of yet. Hopefully once I find a job (fingers crossed!) I can work out a trip.

LAN Chile's Madrid to Frankfurt often has some excellent fares, as low as £39 one way.

 

[trentside]

LAN Chile's Madrid to Frankfurt often has some excellent fares, as low as £39 one way.

Yeah, I did investigate that one last year, but ended up finding some good fares elsewhere and decided to leave it for another time. Is it still worked by the A340?

 

[WestCoast]

Yeah, I did investigate that one last year, but ended up finding some good fares elsewhere and decided to leave it for another time. Is it still worked by the A340?

It is indeed, an Airbus A340-300, although not fifth freedom another option is Iberia's daily A340-600 service from Heathrow to Madrid.

 

[SwindonPkwy]

I am planning a trip; Manchester to Munich on a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER and then Munich to Athens on an Air China Airbus A340-300. It should be very fun to fly those airlines and aircraft within Europe! It's all on Star Alliance as well, and it worked out at not bad value overall. Coming back on easyJet.

That's a great combination for the outbound flights. Are there any other fifth freedom flights that you know of within Europe? My next trip looks like being to and from GVA on BA.