Comments on: Crossovers

By: Edward B Furey

Edward B Furey — Mon, 27 May 2024 22:38:47 +0000

In the Pan Am Museum section of the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, NY, there’s a model of the Pa Am Worldport terminal at JFK. Among the small models of Pan Am planes is an Iran Air 747 SP along with models of several other non-PanAm airlines that used the terminal.

By: Mary Grossman

Mary Grossman — Sun, 05 May 2024 06:54:50 +0000

In ’79 my parents from the Midwest flew to Paris to visit my oldest sister who was on college exchange there. Something very exotic for midwesterners. Their layover was in London where they changed planes and flew Iran Air to Paris. While waiting to board they knew something was “up” as the flight crew had been called to a room to side where my parents could see the concern and tears on their faces as they were being told the revolution had begun. They knew this would be their last flight as free people. The flight took off and was accompanied by the french air force. I’m not sure if I’m retelling the story exactly, but it was a long time ago. Very important moment. Wondered what ever happened to the Iran Air crew.

By: Alex B

Alex B — Thu, 02 May 2024 17:54:30 +0000

Patrick,

Off-topic but we’re starting to hear talk of how old and “past normal age” (by which people will surely infer unsafe) 767s flying across the US are today after the slide incident. A quick Google search will return multiple articles.

Given that it’s your equipment type, can we possibly expect a chime-in as part of an upcoming piece?

Safe travels!

By: Mitch

Mitch — Wed, 01 May 2024 03:21:55 +0000

Despite these very troubled times, Israeli airliners can be seen on the ramp in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Casablanca, Cairo, and Amman
El Al can now overfly Saudi Arabia cutting several hours off flight times to Mumbai and Bangkok.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport is now served by Emirates, Etihad, Egyptair, Jordanian, and Air Maroc

By: David

David — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 17:41:23 +0000

A friend of mine had a similar experience observing an Israeli F-16 moving along the Ft Worth production line, followed immediately by an F-16 destined for a neighboring “unfriendly” country (I don’t recall which one). It probably (hopefully) will be the last time those airframes share such proximity.

By: George Heymont

George Heymont — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 17:33:56 +0000

Have you ever considered doing a piece on the evolution of airplane art? Not the livery on the tail but the equivalent of full-body fuselage tattoos? Think of Braniff’s early artistic streak, followed by everything from Southwest’s orcas to some of the current movie-themed art.

By: David Beaver

David Beaver — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 16:17:44 +0000

It’s painted tiles.

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 16:09:36 +0000

Re: PanAm mural – Just curious, is that really composed of blue and white tiles or is it paint on blue tiles? (I could not see tile lines delineating the aircraft or the lettering.)

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 15:44:46 +0000

In reply to Tom. It is an SP. Iran Air was the last carrier to fly the SP, and did so until 2018.

By: David Marshall

David Marshall — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 03:52:05 +0000

Tom, it does look like an SP, although the foreshortening makes it tough to tell for sure. Wikipedia says that Iran Air had the SP in service up until 2016, so it’s perfectly possible. I believe Iran Air were also the final commercial operators of the 747-100 and -200.