Iron Maiden has a new tour jet

Tiltsta

Tiltsta

Show me your frittatas
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Looks like there is a new Ed Force One airplane for Iron Maiden's next world tour. This time they ditched the 757 and went with a more substantial 747. None more metal when you consider Dickinson is flying the fucking thing.

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Plus the fact that they have a giant tour plane so they can play gigs in places they normally couldn't. When these guys world tour, they world tour.
 
Much respect to Captain Dickinson, but the operating cost alone on that beast makes it ludicrously decadent and likely highly unprofitable.
 
OGG said:
Much respect to Captain Dickinson, but the operating cost alone on that beast makes it ludicrously decadent and likely highly unprofitable.
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Article didn't mention much about that aspect, but it sure does sound expensive. Plane is apparently a leased 747 Cargo model obtained from Air Atlanta Icelandic air freight company. I wonder what the lease payment is on a 747. I bet it is quite a bit more than the president's sale lease deal I just saw on TV for Corollas.
 
mongooz said:
so, does all their gear go on the plane also?
or do they have a "roadie" plane for that? :grin:
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I would imagine that the gear and stage set ups still ride in 18 wheelers.

Another interesting angle here is that very few airports can accommodate a 747. Sure, the big international airports can, but many major cities have runways that can't land that thing. San Diego for example has to make special provisions for the rare 747 landing, and it comes at a very high premium. Most people don't realize that there is a big fee associated with every landing... big. And if you intend to park an aircraft overnight, that fee gets much, much bigger.

If your only shows are in NYC, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta etc, you're "ok" in terms of landing, but the expense is huge.

If you do a show in Salt Lake City, you're screwed.
 
Battle Creek has a runway that will accommodate a 747. ANG base, plus Fort Custer nearby, it had to be long enough to use the C-5 Galaxy.

Iron Maiden could land it here and then play Detroit & Chicago :embarrassed:
 
I'm sure they'll make arrangements to play cities with smaller runways. The plane is just a publicity stunt. At least it has been in the past—Dickinson has financial connections to commercial aviation.
 
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mongooz said:
so, does all their gear go on the plane also?
or do they have a "roadie" plane for that? :grin:
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In the documentary Fligth 666 they had all the gear stowed on the plane. I guess they found a way to do it again.
 
DFB said:
In the documentary Fligth 666 they had all the gear stowed on the plane. I guess they found a way to do it again.
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With the 757 they had to have the interior stripped and the back half converted to load cargo, with all the paperwork that comes with that. Allegedly part of the point of moving up to a 747 is that they can just put everything on a stock plane. Having the plane meant they could play Australia and India and other places that were impractical with trucks, or so they said.

(Flight 666 was my son's favourite movie when he was two. We watched it a lot of times before it was dethroned by Cars.)

If there's another documentary on the logistics and accounts of the upcoming Maiden tour - and I wouldn't put it past them - I'm totally up for that.
 
Awesome! Maybe not a wise way to spend money but a great way to advertise that the Maiden are in town.

Beats this anyway....

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