Iron Maiden's 'Ed Force One' 747 Tour Jet Badly Damaged In Chile The lead singer flies it? Who knew? Image Unavailable, Please Login
"Oops!"...... Never gave it any thought, but going 'DIY' for a world tour like that is probably cheaper, & certainly more 'convenient' than any other approach. They're hauling a **** load of kit (technical term) and many people all over the world for probably close to a year. If you can also fly it yourself, & it seems one of them at least was pretty experienced, I'd guess it's at least a wash if not an actual money saver. (?) Lou? Cheers, Ian
Bruce Dickensen use to be a 757 pilot but his airline went under. They use to have charter flights out of the UK to large rock festivals in Europe. He would fly, be tour guide then after you returned back to the UK you would get a certificate stating that you flew on flight 666 and get a photo op. in the cockpit with Bruce once they landed.
Not sure how it is with insurance for planes, but a self owned plane flown by a rockstar..Hmm. I'd think the cost would just about even out vs having a pilot there at 100K a year. On yachts, if it is piloted by the owner the insurance cost goes up a lot
He is not the only pilot. In fact, from what I've read others do the majority of the flying. https://youtu.be/Gd-E9Jliz38
Now there's a 'hobby' you don't come across every day! My reading of the story suggests it was the tug driver that screwed up, not him (?) Cheers, Ian
It was a ground handling mistake, nothing to do with any pilot. Bruce flies the plane because it's fun, not to save money. Who wouldn't want to be a rock star piloting a 747 to his own concerts?
Well at least one person read the article (+1 to Ian). Maybe just a slight difference between an owner getting in his yacht and sailing away versus getting in a 747-400 and flying away. By all accounts Dickensen is well qualified.
+1 Really didn't mean to imply they were somehow being 'cheap'. As noted, rather that it's gotta be way more convenient for all (the band, the crew & the equipment) than any other approach where they're relying on 'third party' freight & passenger flights to get around. As you say, must be nice! Cheers, Ian
Heck you can buff that out in the morning. Looks like some very big bucks and unknown tweeks to the engines and struts. Isn't this the third or fourth towing incident of late?
Yes.. who knew. Apart from being employed by a major airline is it even possible/how do you get/can you get up to the experience of being qualified for a 747 rating and then maintain it?
You build up a bunch of time in something else and then pay a chunk of money to get a type rating from one of the places that does training. I have no idea about the 747 but a few guys I work with have been getting type ratings in smaller Boing products. Wanna say it was something like $7-10k for a 737 from what I hear around the office.
Bruce has flowen pretty much everything. He also flys a tri-wing in air shows. He was also a pilot for a now bankrupt airline, and he travels the world to fly unique aircraft. He is far more the qualified. The damage was grounds crew. Nothing to do with Bruce or his abilities. Do a bit of Google, you may be surprised at his qualifications, including military.
He used to host an aviation TV show. Was on discovery quite good. He also started up a charter airline recently.
Very cool that someone with the passion and resources to do things like Ed Force One actually makes it happen. Up the Irons!
Others have shown this guy's path to being qualified, but I'd love to see the timeline/path that Travolta followed. Interesting stuff.
I did a lot of drawings on Travolta's airplane when it was going to Quantas. I imagine that Travolta wasn't even born yet since that was 56 years ago.
I looked it up. Travolta was born in 1954 so he was 6 years old when I was working on 707's I don't know what keeps this place running when everybody is so darn young!
Its ex air france, may be a lease, or owned, used 747s not that expensive, in any event its a buisness expense for the band to go on tour, the stones leases planes too, The inerior looks pretty airline stock.
