aircraft

Snakes, scorpions, and Qantas planes

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Courtesy Qantas

Like a lot of airlines, Qantas is storing planes in the Mojave Desert while it waits for travel to return to pre-COVID levels.

The dry heat and low humidity of the desert make the California desert a good place to store the airline’s A380 aircraft. But engineers tasked with maintaining the planes have created their own special tool to deal with rattlesnakes and scorpions that like to hang out in and around the airplane wheel well and tires.

Qantas Manager for Engineering in Los Angeles, Tim Heywood, explains in a Qantas “Roo Tale,” that engineers make regular trips from LA to Victorville, CA to do aircraft inspections and that “encounters of the slithering and rattling kind are all part of the job.”

“Every aircraft has its own designated ‘wheel whacker’ – a repurposed broom handle- as part of the engineering kit, complete with each aircraft’s registration written on it,” said Heywood. “The first thing we do before we unwrap and start any ground inspections of the landing gear, in particular, is to walk around the aircraft stomping our feet and tapping the wheels with a wheel whacker to wake up and scare off the snakes. That’s about making sure no harm comes to our engineers or the snakes.”

Frontier Airlines Tales of Tails

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Like many other carriers, Frontier Airlines recently changed its policy regarding emotional support animals flying inside the plane: they are no longer welcome.

But a growing menagerie of animals continues to adorn the tails of all Frontier Airlines planes.

There are land animals, such as Al the Roadrunner.

Endangered species, such as Hugh the Manatee.

Sky Animals, such as Betty the Bluebird.

And aquatic animals, such as Shelly the Sea Turtle.

 It is fun to spot the animal tails at the airport. But because there are more than 100 airplanes in the Frontier fleet, you might never see them all.

And certainly not all in one place.

So, we are pleased to see that Frontier now has a webpage that features every Frontier plane tail and the animal that adorns it. 

The site includes a picture of each plane tail and tells a little bit about the animal that adorns it. And – avgeek alert – each animal’s webpage includes information about the aircraft as well, including the plane model, registration, seating capacity, engine type, the date of the first flight, and the final assembly location.

The airline is planning to add more features to the site, including downloadable coloring pages and activities, a page devoted to retired animals, and photos.

Do you have a favorite Frontier Airlines animal tail?

Seattle’s Museum of Flight gets a Dreamliner

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It’s still so new – but the 787 Dreamliner is already a museum piece.

On Saturday, Nov. 8, the Boeing Company will officially donate Dreamliner “Number 3” to Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

If you’re in town, you’ll be able to see the plane in the museum’s East Parking Lot all weekend and tour it from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, and all day Sunday, Nov. 9.

The plane will then be relocated and closed to the public from Nov. 10 until the 21st while it gets prepped for permanent exhibition starting Nov. 22.

What’s the big deal about this airplane?

This 787 – ZA003 – was the third Dreamliner built. It first flew on March 14, 2010 and, in addition to its role in the flight test and certification program, Boeing flew this plane to almost two dozen countries to show it off as part of a “Dream Tour.”