Aviation BS and Photo Thread

Bye bye Virgin
http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/22/news/companies/virgin-america-alaska-airlines-brand/index.html

 

That's not really a surprise. The big question like the article says is whether or not they will keep all of the Airbus planes and future orders or start swapping them for 737s.

The article says they are taking the A321neos that Virgin has scheduled for delivery in the next couple years but they also have 30 A320neos on the books a few more years down the line. I may be a little biased but I hope they start to work it back into an all Boeing fleet.

 

Shreding the sky gnar. Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/WqrVPZYeG1Y

 

I was reading that they'll run a split fleet for the next 6 years. With the Alaska fleet so much larger than Virgin's I'm surprised that they don't lease them to another airline, like Southwest did with the AirTran 717's

 

I think at this point they need all the planes they can get to keep all of their existing and new routes going.

 

3k feet to 33k feet in about 40 secs. Love this plane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3VscB94JZI&feature=youtu.be

 

So 5 miles vertical, can you calculate gallons per mile consumption? Better than a tank on the ground|?

 

I've never thought of that before. If my math is correct my aircraft gets between .5-.75mpg, I'd imagine an F18 is much worse.

 

Figured I'd give this thread a shot. Totally random, but I'm trying to see if anybody has expertise with the C-17. Specifically, the signage in the cargo area. My gf is working on building a C-17 cargo area set, and trying to figure out some of the details. There's tons of informational signage and numbers, which look like measurements, but she only has jpgs, which aren't very clear. Hoping somebody can assist.

Thank you in advance.

 

...^^^... Think what your "true operating cost is per hour" ... we were playing with google and with some numbers at lunch today on a 64 ... production cost, maintenance, life span hours, salaries, pilot cost and etc ... we stopped at $11,885.00 per hour.

We were trying to figure out what the aircraft operating cost was and what an experienced pilot is worth.

 

Before the aviation melt down around 2000 & of course 9/11 (the bankruptcies after changed operating cost), we used $12,000 an hour at UA for the 747-400 fleet. It was the highest total operating cost fleet in the company but, not the highest Cost for Available Seat Mile (CASM). That number was the current cost (which changes over time) from cradle to grave spread across the number in the fleet and of course was subject to change as utilization is changed.

 

...^^^... Thank you for the info .... we are always guessing what things cost and it always is higher than we project.

 

With how long the Army keeps airframes flying the initial production cost can be amortized pretty well. We have several with over 7000hrs on them. Once you figure in the cost of continual upgrades it gets a lot more expensive.

The last break down I saw for us we were authorized $6400 per flight hour in maintenance expenses alone.

 

Nice. Highest I ever got was 49k. So tough to get above that.

 

Care to share the jpegs?

 

Having no experience with military aircraft I'm not sure if 7,000 hours is a lot or not...???

I know in commercial it's very low time but, it's def two different machines & ops.

 

It's a pretty fair amount for an aircraft that tries to shake itself to death every time it flies and rarely is operated in a smooth, constant flight profile. The difference between our newest 600hr airframe (supposedly the last new D model off the production line) and the older aircraft with 7000+ is substantial.

 

Ah yes the ole beating the air into submission.

 

...^^^... Thanks .... I was figuring about 6,000 hours on the airframes ... but left out other costs.

Its hard to realize the cost of war and how expensive it is to eliminate 1 enemy combatant on the field .... and protect your troops at the same time.

I know 2 manufacturers of MRAPS very well (Oshkosh & Spartan) and just the USAF "billed costs" to air ship those vehicles to the Iraq-Afghanistan was insane.