When heavy metal pioneers Iron Maiden set out on their world tour in 2016, lead singer Bruce Dickenson will pull double duty as pilot of the massive Boeing 747-400 that will take the band to concerts in 35 different countries.That surprised me, but I don't particularly follow metal bands or Iron Maiden. The article goes on to say that on their last world tour, Dickenson flew them in a 757, a smaller aircraft with much less capability. The name "Ed Force One" comes from the name of their iconic, sneering "mascot" (zombie? ... or something) Eddie.
“When the opportunity arose from my friends at Air Atlanta Icelandic to lease a 747 for The Book of Souls World Tour, of course we jumped at the chance, who wouldn’t? The greatest benefit of travelling in a 747 is that because of its colossal size and freight capacity we can carry our stage production and all our stage equipment and desks in the cargo hold without having to make any of the immense structural modifications needed to do this on the previous 757, the extent of which fans will have noted on the Flight 666 DVD. Although in reality we cannot carry much more gear the savings in complexity, time and cost make using the 747 even more practical. All we will need to do is “paint” it and move a few seats around, with the added advantage that there is much more room for band and crew – our Krew can almost get a row of seats each to catch up on sleep on the flights! Furthermore, it is marginally faster 0.85 MACH and the range of around 7000NM (13,000 km) is much greater which means we will not have to make the refueling stops we needed to with the 757.”He goes on to say that he's not certified in the 747 yet, so the tour doesn't begin until he gets his captain's rating.
I don't know about you, but a heavy metal band singer flying a 747 for their tour is a new one on me.
Thanks, Bruce, but I'll fly on the scheduled airlines.....
ReplyDeleteSeen them a couple of times back in the 80's, have most of their albums including some very rare ones and some before Bruce was the lead singer. they had some pretty cool album covers back in the day.
ReplyDeleteEddie is a giant animatromic zombie, it's cool as hell.
Here's a link to some of their album cover art over the years featuring Eddie in various incarnations,
https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1327&bih=666&q=eddie+iron+maiden&oq=Eddie+Ir&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.133817.141714.1.148707.8.8.0.0.0.0.375.1528.0j4j1j2.7.0....0...1.1.64.img..8.17.4030.G0Wlz7FmOh4
Eddie has changed many times over the years from the original, there is even a wiki page for him,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_the_Head
Bruce has been flying for years now.
Can't blame you for not knowing that, I have been a Metal Head since before the term was coined.
For some reason, Google put your comment in the SPAM folder, so I just got it out.l
DeleteBruce is said to be a really high energy guy. I think it's going to take that to run a concert then go to an airport and fly to the next location safely. Maybe they build in rest days: like do the concert, crash in their 5-star hotel, then get in the air.
I'm kind of "meh" on metal; not a real metal head, but I'm sure not opposed. I just like it sometimes and not others. I actually saw Ozzie in concert with Black Sabbath in the '70s. Around the same age, I went to a Carlos Montoya classical/flamenco guitar concert, so my taste tends to drift around.
This guy has been rocking hard since I was in middle school ... and now he flys himself to his own concerts too. I admire the man, but I think its a bit much to both fly to the show and rock out all night, then turn around and do it again. I am not a pilot, but I would think its pretty dang important to be well rested.
ReplyDeleteYep - I agre with Michael. I hope he gives it a day or two between the post concert p**s up and the flight for the effects of the booze and "ethnic tobacco" to wear off ...
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be flying anywhere withing 500 miles on the day that he flies that one.
Phil B
One of the first things he will learn in 747 school is the Mmo is 0.92.
ReplyDeleteTerry
Fla.
Bruce is one of the more interesting guys in rock 'n' roll...
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Dickinson#Other_work