by Lufthansa Flyer | Aug 18, 2017 | Avgeek, Featured, History, Jumbolino, Swiss |
When flight LX7545 arrived in Zurich after a short hop from Geneva on August 15, it marked the end of an era in SWISS aviation. With the completion of this flight came the retirement of SWISS’ last Avro RJ100 aircraft, one of 21 that had served SWISS dutifully for 15 years. In addition to the RJ100, SWISS had also operated 4 of RJ85 variant.
During its 2 decades of service, this workhorse earned the nickname of ‘Jumbolino’ due to the fact that it hung 4 engines from its wings as it sought to imitate much larger aircraft even though it served as a short haul specialist.
SWISS’ last RJ100 arrives to a water cannon salute after completing its final flight. (Photo Credit: SWISS).
According to SWISS, the RJ100 fleet flew over 700,000 hours and operated well over a half-million flights during its successful tenure with the airline.
The retirement of the Jumbolino was primarily due to the addition of Bombardier C-series aircraft to the fleet. With the C-series, SWISS gains substantial operational improvement and capacity over the RJ100. Currently there are 10 C-Series (8 of the -100, and 2 of the -300 variant), with plans for 20 more to join the fleet by the end of next year.
3 RJ100s remain in service with Brussels Airlines but their retirement is planned before the end of the year. Lufthansa Group will no longer operate the aircraft type after SN retires their 3 birds.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 21, 2017 | Airports, Avgeek, Featured |
I was afraid that this would happen. Society once again manages to the lowest common denominator.
Weeks after an idiot ignored warnings and her own abilities when she decided to get herself killed by riding the fence at Princess Juliana, it appears that she has ruined it for everyone else.
In a story posted by the ‘St. Maarten News Network‘, plans are being formulated to re-route traffic and make it impossible for tourists and aviation fans to enjoy a pastime that has been in place for decades. The plan seems to entail rerouting vehicle traffic as well as to move the fencing much further away from the base of the runway, preventing thrill-seekers from hanging on to the fence when a 747 spools up her engines for take off.
I understand that the loss of life might be tragic to the friends and families of the deceased, but why go to the lengths of ruining it for everyone else just because ONE person decided to not pay attention to warnings, or did not know her own capabilities.
Once again, instead of finding a solution that satisfies everyone, lets just manage to societies lowest common denominator and protect all those fragile snowflakes from themselves. Why not just ban cars since people die in them all the time? Airplanes? yep, ban them too.
While they’re at it, why not just pave the damn beach at the base of the runway and turn it into a parking lot. You never know when a 747 will touchdown a bit early and plow through a bunch of beach-going bystanders. Might as well plan for that risk now.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 22, 2017 | Avgeek, Featured |
Today marks the 18th year of my marital bliss and like any decent fellow I thought to surprise my wife at work with flowers to acknowledge her sacrifice. I figure it would be a nice change of pace for her day in between operating rooms and surgeries that typically take up her time.
So with flowers ordered a few days in advance, the surprise was set and I spent this morning waiting for her to let me know that the bouquet had arrived. So at about midday, they finally show up and we exchange a few messages (Me in the blue):
Typically when an occasion requires flowers I always suggest we do it through United Mileage Plus because of the huge multipliers you get for ordering flowers using FTD, etc. through the MileagePlus shopping portal. But in this case I ordered them from a local florist who I know and trust not to screw up something like flowers for an anniversary. So sadly no 20x miles from United for a way overpriced handful of flowers from an FTD dealer.
However, it does put a smile on my face that my wonderful wife, in midst of talking about our anniversary, is concerned about how many miles I’ll earn for celebrating it. I’m pretty lucky! 🙂
