Tag Archives: Air France

1st it Was Adieu to its 747 – – – Now it’s Welcome to the 787

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Last July we watched the movingly beautiful farewell Air France gave to its last Boeing 747, but now we get to watch as it celebrates the delivery of its first new Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” replacement.

[1]: We start with a quick visit to the Boeing Factory in Seattle, and then, in this 1st Video (1:59), we join the flight crew as they deliver it home to Paris.

[2]: The next short (1:47) video shows it majestically flying over France;

[3] and the 3rd Video (3:04) shows the new 787’s inaugural VIP flight, one accompanied by the French Air Force Flight Exhibition Team, the Patrouille de France. Remember to turn up your audio and then switch to full-screen to fully enjoy the high resolution video.

Next, a video (1:44) shows how the Air France Pilots have become ready to guide  the new Dreamliners through the skies.

Below, we see “Back to the Future, the 787 is coming!”  This (1:36 long) video shows the Air France 787 being manufactured and finally painted, all in impressive time-lapse videography.

And, last, we see a short (5:10) video about Air France Pilot, Thomas Pesquet, who, in addition to working a a full-time Air France Airbus A319 pilot, is also one of the vew European Astronauts, and the first to also be a pilot.  Thomas had to learn Russian in addition to his other training, since fluency in Russian is also a requirement for each astronaut.  Already being a pilot, Mr. Pesquet was naturally fluent in English, since that is the International language of aviation world-wide.

 

 

 

A Moving Video Tribute: How You Say “Au Revoir” To An Icon

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Virg Hemphill

This story was located by FASF Aviation News Scout Virg Hemphill (L) and written by Ric Peterson

Video: Air France: Credits : Airborne Films for Air France and the French Air Force and the Patrouille de France.  Keep you sound turned up to hear the video’s scoring.  The Video length is 3:30.

This impressive video was shot on January 27th, two years ago, when a dozen jewels of French aviation met over the Camargue region of France. Eleven Alphajets from the Patrouille de France (the Patrouille is the French equivalent to our Thunderbirds and Blue Angels Military Exhibition Teams – but is the world’s oldest such team) and the last Air France 747 flew in formation as a salute to the Boeing Icon’s last days with the airline.

On 14 January 2016, Air France offered customers a tribute flight over the country’s landmarks. The flight number as AF747. More than 45 years after the first flight from Paris to New York on 3 June 1970 the Company saluted the Jumbo Jet’s last flight in style with a business class lunch along with champagne for all.

Since the early seventies, the Boeing 747 has been a showcase of modern innovations and has revolutionized air transport. Air travel became more widespread and we entered an era of mass tourism. For cargo, the Boeing 747 had pressurized holds, which were ventilated and protected against fire. Four times larger than the previous generation of Boeing, the 707, they could carry 122 tons of cargo! On both of my trips from Montreal to the Paris Airshow I flew on the Air France Combi 747.

Air France was one of the first airlines to operate this aircraft, making it the flagship of its long-haul fleet: New York, Montreal, the French West Indies, Reunion, Asia … most of the Company’s destinations have been served by the Jumbo.

Air France says, “We started innovating from the early seventies. The role of chief purser was created to coordinate the service and attention paid to customers in this aircraft which could carry up to 500 passengers. Inflight cuisine was of great importance, with menus designed by great French chefs: Paul Bocuse, Gaston Lenôtre and Pierre Troisgros. Finally, the cabin interior was designed by Pierre Gautier-Delaye, who paid particular attention to the comfort of the seat cushions and seatbacks.”