Qantas Airbus A380-800 at LAX – April, 2012

Qantas operates to Sydney, Auckland, Melbourne, and Brisbane from LAX. Airbus A380s have begun to replace the Boeing 747-400s, though following the November, 2010 engine explosion incident of the Airbus A380s, the 747-400s returned somewhat. Qantas flights tend to arrive in the morning and depart in the evening with off-gate storage on the Southwest part of the airfield. Most Qantas flights depart from Tom Bradley, but a few depart from American's Terminal 4. The Longreach badge commemorates the Queensland town where Qantas was founded. Qantas operates 12 A380s with 8 on order in a 450 passenger configuration. They are replacing the Boeing 747–400 and −400ER. Next two to be delivered in 2013; last six deferred until retirement of 747-400ERs starting in 2018. As of April, 2012 QF still operated 26 747-400/400 ER's.

Ultra low-cost carrier Spirit operates A319s and A320s at LAX to/from Chicago-O'Hare, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, and Las Vegas from Terminal 3.

As of April, 2012 Spirit currently has 26 A319s in a high-density 145 passenger capacity, and 12 A320s in a high density 178 seat capacity. The 2 A321-200s are expected to leave the fleet shortly. They have 45 A320 NEO's on order.

Miami International Airport Concourse G - 2012

Concourse G, originally Concourse 4, is the only one of the original 1959 concourses that has largely remained in its original form, besides modifications the airport received in the 1960s when jet bridges were added, along with a 2^nd story. It is the only concourse at the airport not capable of handling international arrivals, though it is frequently used for departing international charters. United (formerly Continental), Bahamasiair, and Viva Aerobus operate from this 15 gate concourse. AirTran and Alaska operated from here as well until June, 2012. At one time, Air Canada, Dominicana, Northwest, Varig, and Paradise operated from here.

Concourse F dates back to 1959 when the present terminal opened and was originally known as Concourse 3. Like Concourses D and E, it received minor renovations in the 1960s to add a 2^nd floor and jetway. It was largely rebuilt in the 1980s when the gates at the far end of the pier were demolished and replaced by new widebody Gates, all of which were capable of processing international arrivals.

The south side of the concourse was used by Northeast Airlines until its 1972 merger with Delta Air Lines. Likewise, National Airlines flew out of the north side of Concourse F until its 1980 merger with Pan Am, which continued to use the concourse until its 1991 shutdown. When United Airlines acquired Pan Am's Latin American operations, the airline carried on operating a focus city out of Concourse F until completely dismantling it by 2004. From 1993 to 2004, Concourse F was also used by Iberia Airlines for its Miami focus city operation, which linked Central American capitals to Madrid using MIA as the connecting point. At various times, Aeroflot, Aerolineas Argentinas, Avianca, Carnival, Lan Chole, LTU, Vasp, and Viasa have operated out of F’s 23 gates. Currently, F is serverd by many non-Star and One-World aligned carriers such as Aeromexico, Arkefly, Avior, Corsair, Insel Air, SBA, Sky King (Cuban flights), Transaero, and Virgin Atlantic.

Asheville Regional, North Carolina - 2012

Asheveille Regional, AVL, is a small airport with a sole 8,000 foot runway locard 9 miles south of the artist community of Asheville, North Carolina. It is served, as of 2012, by Allegiant, American Eagle, Delta Conneciton, United Express, and USAirways Express. Allegiant’s MD-80s to Sanford (Orlando), Florida are the largest planes at AVL where Regional Jet’s, ATR’s, and Dash 8’s dominate. There are 2 jet bridge equipped gates out of a total of 7.

Concourse and Gates at Asheville Regional - 2012

The Boeing Everett Factory is an enormous airplane assembly building owned by Boeing. Located on the northeast corner of Paine Field, it is the largest building in the world by volume. Reportedly when it was built it was so massive that its own weather systems such as rains and clouds were created inside. It is where Boeing 747s, 767s, 777s, and the new 787 Dreamliner are built. It began operation building Boeing 747s before it was even complete. There are numerous models on display for benefit of the public tours. Photography is not normally allowed except for select press visits and events.

These images of the Space Shuttle Discovery were taken days after the Orbiter arrived at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Museum on April 17, 2012. It replaced the Enterprise which was flown to New York to it’s new home on the U.S.S. Intrepid.

Space Shuttle Discovery (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011. Discovery has flown more than any other spacecraft having completed 39 successful missions in over 27 years of service.

In 1984, Discovery became the third operational orbiter following Columbia and Challenger, and made its final touchdown at Kennedy Space Center on March 9, 2011 at 10:57:17 CST, having spent a cumulative total of one full year (365 days) in space. Discovery has performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions. Discovery also flew the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. Discovery was the first operational shuttle to be retired, followed by Endeavour and Atlantis.

Midfield Concourse A and B Ramp at Washington DC Dulles are home to all airlines except United and American. This modern and airy concourse opened in 1998. The A Concourse consists of a permanent ground level set of gates designed for small planes such as regional jets and some former B concourse gates. The B Concourse is the first of the permanent elevated midfield concourses. Originally constructed in 1998, the B concourse contained 20 gates. In 2003, 4 additional gates were added to concourse B, followed by a 15-gate expansion in 2008.It is connected to the main terminal by an underground walkway in addition to the AeroTrain as part of the D-2 expansion. JetBlue is the #1 carrier (and Dulles’ #2 overall) on the B/C concourse. For a short-time, the A concourse was home of locally based Indepence Air.

The C and D midfield concourses were the first new gates to open at IAD since its 1962 opening. Up to this point, most airliners were parked at stands with passengers transported to/from the main terminal using the iconic Mobile Lounges.

The C and D concourses, completed in 1983, were originally designed as a temporary base for United Airlines, which began hub operations here in 1985. American Airlines also created a focus city operation at IAD for principally its longer-haul transon routes at C and D as well. The aging concourse was given a face lift in 2006 which included light fixture upgrades, new paint finishes, new ceiling grids and tiles, heating and air conditioning replacement, and complete restroom renovations. Nevertheless, compared to A/B and the Eero Saarinen terminal, Concourse C/D is an embarrassment and extremely outdated. It will likely be 35 years old before this “temporary” concourse is replaced. This terminal also has a dedicated Federal Inspection Station ("FIS") for arriving United as up until the acquisition of Continental, IAD was United’s main hub on the East Coast, particular for International Service. In fact, it is from this concorse that the first Boeing 777 entered service back in 1995 between London Heathrow and Dulles. The antiquated Mobile Lounges still connect this far afield mid-field concourse with the main Eero Saarinen designed main terminal.

A new and permanent C/D terminal (has been long planned as part of the D2 Dulles Development Project. It is to include a three-level structure with 44 airline gates and similar amenities to Concourse A/B which was completed in 1998. Like Concourse A/B, the new C/D would be connected to the main terminal via underground trains, finally relinquishing the role of the Mobile Lounges to near zero.

The 1962 era Eero Saarinen terminal at Washington Dulles was expanded in 1995 on both sides. Mobile lounges now depart to the midfield terminals rather than to airliners on remote stands as it was originally designed.

Space Shuttle Enterprise (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first Space Shuttle orbiter. It was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform test flights in the atmosphere.[2] It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight.

Enterprise was stored at the Smithsonian's hangar at Washington Dulles International Airport before it was restored and moved to the newly built Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport, where it was the centerpiece of the space collection. On April 12, 2011, NASA announced that Space Shuttle Discovery, the most traveled orbiter in the fleet, would be added to the collection once the Shuttle fleet was retired. On April 17, 2012, Discovery was transported by Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to Dulles from Kennedy Space Center, where it made several passes over the Washington D.C. metro area.

Courtesy: Wikipedia.org

Future of Flight Museum at Paine Field – Mukilteo, Washington 2012

The Future of Flight Museum is located on the Northwest Corner of Paine Field just across the runway from Boeing’s Everett, Washington Factory where 747s, 767s, 777s, and 787s, are built. It is a 29,000 square facility which is a unique partnership between Boeing, the County, and Museum, foundation.

In fact, it is often used to stage delivery events for new Boeing Aircraft to airlines, at least until the new Delivery Center is complete. The Gallery is closed at times for these events so it is best to check-in before heading out.

The museum has a number of artifacts, but only a few full-sized aircraft. However, it’s Stratodeck on the roof affords incredible views of the Boeing Everett Plant and flight operations of these aircraft. The Future of Flight is also the location of the excellent Boeing Everett Tour, though photography isn’t allowed. There is an incredible Boeing Store located on-site, which in itself almost qualifies as a museum.

Unique artifacts include: a 707 and 787 fuselage comparison, an actual Beechcraft Starship hanging from the roof, a 727 cockpit where visitors can sit and interact with, the tail of a 747, GE Turbofan engines, and very in-depth displays on both Boeing and Airbus airliners.

For more information on this excellent facility, visit www.futureofflight.org

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.

The 760,000 square feet facility was made possible by a US$65 million gift in October 1999 to the Smithsonian Institution by Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, an immigrant from Hungary and co-founder of the International Lease Finance Corporation, an aircraft leasing corporation. It opened in December, 2003.

NASM has always had more artifacts than could be displayed at the main museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Most of the collection had been stored, unavailable to visitors, at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Silver Hill, Prince George's County, Maryland. Key artifacts include a Concorde, the Enola Gay B-17, the Boeing Dash 80, an SR-71, and recently the Space Shuttle Discovery.

A substantial addition to the center encompasing restoration, conservation and collection storage facilities is expected to be complete in late 2011; once complete, restoration facilities and museum archives will be moved from their current location at the Garber facility to the Udvar-Hazy Center. A taxiway connects Dulles Airport to the museum.

For more information on this excellent facility, visit http://airandspace.si.edu/udvarhazy/

Virgin’s onboard cuisine is now served on real china in Premium Economy Class. It is upgraded from the Economy offering. Unlike a traditional business class, the entire meal of starters and main entree are served on a single-plating with aperetifs and deserts served after. There is a choice of two-meals at all major meal times however, and sometimes at snacktime. The wonderfully iconic and playful airplane salt and pepper shakers still are inscribed “Stolen from Virgin Atlantic” on their feet. The only negative I can find is that a tacky and cheap cardboard box is used on the trolly during the service that seems bizzarely out of place. Overall quality of cuisine is quite good and Virgin does seem to go the extra mile, especially with children who are offered ice cream and candy – sometimes much to the chagrin of their parents. These images were taken in June, 2012 on flights between Miami and London Heathrow.

Virgin’s onboard cuisine is now served on real china in Premium Economy Class. It is upgraded from the Economy offering. Unlike a traditional business class, the entire meal of starters and main entree are served on a single-plating with aperetifs and deserts served after. There is a choice of two-meals at all major meal times however, and sometimes at snacktime. The wonderfully iconic and playful airplane salt and pepper shakers still are inscribed “Stolen from Virgin Atlantic” on their feet. The only negative I can find is that a tacky and cheap cardboard box is used on the trolly during the service that seems bizzarely out of place. Overall quality of cuisine is quite good and Virgin does seem to go the extra mile, especially with children who are offered ice cream and candy – sometimes much to the chagrin of their parents. These images were taken in June, 2012 on flights between Miami and London Heathrow.

Virgin’s onboard cuisine is now served on real china in Premium Economy Class. It is upgraded from the Economy offering. Unlike a traditional business class, the entire meal of starters and main entree are served on a single-plating with aperetifs and deserts served after. There is a choice of two-meals at all major meal times however, and sometimes at snacktime. The wonderfully iconic and playful airplane salt and pepper shakers still are inscribed “Stolen from Virgin Atlantic” on their feet. The only negative I can find is that a tacky and cheap cardboard box is used on the trolly during the service that seems bizzarely out of place. Overall quality of cuisine is quite good and Virgin does seem to go the extra mile, especially with children who are offered ice cream and candy – sometimes much to the chagrin of their parents. These images were taken in June, 2012 on flights between Miami and London Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic has always been renowned for their innovative service since their founding in 1984 with a single Boeing 747-100 serving Newark to London Gatwick. They were the first airline to introduce a Premium Economy Class, a ‘tween First Class/Business Class product called “Upper Class”, and personal TV’s at every seat going back to 1989. Virgin also pioneered the unique “Clubhouse” and chauffer driven limousine features for Upper Class passengers. In the last few years, the industry has become much more competitive for premium passengers and Virgin has been prompted to up its game or risk falling behind.

Upper Class is the equivalent of business class on all Virgin Atlantic Airways’ flights. Virgin does not offer a traditional First Class cabin service. Introduced in 2004, This Upper Class seat is claimed by the Virgin to be the biggest fully flat bed of any airline’s business class service. It has a seat pitch of 72 inches and a width of 22 inches. The seat offers in-seat laptop power and power leads for iPods, and Upper Class passengers have access to a chauffeur, drive-through check-in and private security channel at some airports^{. The} famed Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses, a larger menu than that of Premium Economy and Economy passengers and the iconic in-flight bar top off the picture. The on-board massuse was discontinued a number of years ago, however. The seats in the Upper Class cabin are arranged in a Herringbone seating design in the 3 Upper Class Cabins: a 4 abreast and 2 abreast configuration on the lower-deck and a 2 abreast configuration on the upper-deck. Most A330-300 aircraft are not fitted with Upper Class but new A330s introduced in April, 2012 will include Virgin Atlantic's new 'Upper Class Dream Suite' seats and cabin, which began service on April 21 and will be rolled out through the rest of the Virgin Atlantic fleet by 2015, especially as the A380s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners come online. These images were taken in June, 2012 on flights between Miami and London Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 Premium Economy Class Cabin - 2012

Virgin Atlantic has always been renowned for their innovative service since their founding in 1984 with a single Boeing 747-100 serving Newark to London Gatwick. They were the first airline to introduce a Premium Economy Class, a ‘tween First Class/Business Class product called “Upper Class”, and personal TV’s at every seat going back to 1989. Virgin also pioneered the unique “Clubhouse” and chauffer driven limousine features for Upper Class passengers. In the last few years, the industry has become much more competitive for premium passengers and Virgin has been prompted to up its game or risk falling behind.

Premium Economy has a separate check-in area, priority boarding ahead of Economy passengers, a wider seat at 38 inches and with more legroom at 21 inches than Economy. This handily beats the BA Premium Economy product that offers slightly more seat pitch as opposed to upgraded services and seats. Virgin’s Premium Economy offers additional cabin services such as a preflight drink, newspapers and dedicated cabin crew. The Boeing 747’s are in an 8 abreast seating 2-4-2 configuration. An updated Premium Economy service was recently introduced with meals served on china & glass with metal cutlery. These images are of the “Purple Seat” design that was launched in November 2006. As of May 2010 all Airbus A340s, A330s, and London Heathrow Boeing 747s had the new product. The Gatwick fleet of Boeing 747's, as of April 2012 are being re-fitted with the new Premium Economy product. The Premium Economy cabin on the new A330-300s consists of 59 seats at the front of the aircraft. These images were taken in June, 2012 on flights between Miami and London Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 Economy Class Cabin - 2012

Virgin Atlantic has always been renowned for their innovative service since their founding in 1984 with a single Boeing 747-100 serving Newark to London Gatwick. They were the first airline to introduce a Premium Economy Class, a ‘tween First Class/Business Class product called “Upper Class”, and personal TV’s at every seat going back to 1989. Virgin also pioneered the unique “Clubhouse” and chauffer driven limousine features for Upper Class passengers. In the last few years, the industry has become much more competitive for premium passengers and Virgin has been prompted to up its game or risk falling behind.

Economy is the standard basic class of Virgin Atlantic. Amenities include free meals, drinks, headsets and amenity kits for all passengers. Seats have a minimum seat pitch of 31 inch and 17.5 inches wide with 10 abreast on a 747 that is very tight. In addition, updated economy seats have adjustable lumbar support, by October 2012, the entire fleet will feature updated economy seats. Virgin has introduced an extended legroom economy seating dubbed “A lot more for a little more” which extends pitch in bulkhead seats at an extra cost. On the 747-400s, there are 2 Economy Class cabins on the lower deck and 1 cabin on the Upper Deck in 6 abreast, which is shared with Upper Class. These images were taken in June, 2012 on flights between Miami and London Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 V-Port In-flight Entertainment System IFE – 2012

Virgin Atlantic has always been renowned for their innovative service since its founding in 1984 with a single Boeing 747-100 serving Newark to London Gatwick. They were the first airline to introduce a Premium Economy Class, a ‘tween First Class/Business Class product called “Upper Class”, and personal TV’s at every seat going back to 1989. Virgin also pioneered the unique “Clubhouse” and chauffer driven limousine features for Upper Class passengers. In the last few years, the industry has become much more competitive for premium passengers and Virgin has been prompted to up its game or risk falling behind.

All cabin classes on all Virgin Atlantic aircraft offer personal seat-back televisions. Most aircraft (some 747-400s, one A340-300 and all A340-600s) have an Audio/Video on Demand (AVOD) system called V:Port which is seen here. V-Port has an abundance of movie, TV series, music, games, destination channels, an interactive moving map display and even live chat between seats, plus dedicated Kids channels, though In-flight Internet still isn’t available as of 2012. The new A330-300 aircraft, and upcoming A380s and 787 Dreamliners have a new touch screen AVOD system called JAM. The older "Odyssey" and "Super Nova" IFE systems can be found on the leisure Gatwick/Manchester fleet: they both have smaller screens and display audio and video on a loop rather than broadcasting on demand. However, these older systems will be replaced as part of Virgin's investment in the Gatwick/Manchester fleet with the JAM AVOD system, scheduled for between April and October 2012. These images were taken in June, 2012 on flights between Miami and London Heathrow.

Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 First Class Cabin – 2012

Lufthansa introduced the current First Class Cabin in 2010 with the launch of the Airbus A380-800. This ultra-exclusive cabin offers only 8 seats. The current First Class product is understated but quite elegant. Unlike Singapore and Emirates, Lufthansa embraces an open cabin architecture, not enclosed suite approach. On the 747-400, the 8-16 seats are located in the Upper-Deck. These seats boast a 90-92” pitch, 21” width, and 79.1” length flat bed. Each seat has a rose, 32” plasma screen, plush douvet, and cool electronically controlled window shades in the Lufthansa Junkers inspired ribbed shade. On the upper-deck, they are in a 1-1 configuration. On the 747-8 Intercontinental, the First Class cabin is relocated to the front of the lower-deck which translates to an incredibly quiet cabin with extra sound insulation. Food and beverage service, owing to Lufthansa’s ownership of SkyChef’s, is in the elite of airline offerings. These images were taken on a May, 2012 flight from Miami to Frankfurt.

An added bonus is Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal, the only one of its kind in the world: a dedicated building, more like an executive jet FBO (fixed-based-operator) than a commercial airline terminal, which is worthy of a story of its own. A personal escort for First Class passengers, forty-year old scotch on offer at the bar, a 4 high-end dining room, a private cigar lounge, and a fleet of Porsche’s and Mercedes to whisk passengers directly to the plane should provide a clue as to the exclusivity of this operation.