While this might not be a business jet, the 737 is the basis of many business jets.  Alaska Airlines announced recently a brand new 737 for their Make-A-Wish Disney flights.

The Boeing 737 aircraft features a giant blue Genie character, Robin Williams’ character from the animated film Aladdin, against a blue and white background. The livery also features the famous Disneyland Castle on the tailfin.

I hope they made the interior as cool as the exterior sounds.

Tags: Boeing, Boeing 737

AERO magazine is a quarterly periodical distributed at no cost to operators of Boeing commercial airplanes. They have a new issue online for Q4 2006 after what appears to be a 3 year hiatus. According to Boeing:

We’re thrilled to be bringing back AERO magazine to you, our valued customers. Reintroducing AERO magazine is the direct result of a customer support survey conducted by Boeing last year. In that survey, you told us how much you valued information from and communication with Boeing.

We continually communicate with operators through such vehicles as technical meetings, service letters, and service bulletins. This assists you in addressing regulatory requirements and evolving industry specifications. Our goal for AERO magazine is to provide supplemental technical information that helps you operate your Boeing fleets efficiently and increases your awareness of Boeing products and services.

This quarter’s issue contains the following features:

Welcome Back
Cruise Performance Monitoring
New Enhanced Service Bulletins
Boeing 787 From The Ground Up
Maintenance Program Enhancements

An article about Miami Dolphins (boo, hiss … I’m a life-long New England Patriots fan)  owner Wayne Huizenga’s Boeing Business Jet is making the rounds on the news wire circuit, here is the CBC version (I know it will stay up and be free).  While the article does get into the multi-million dollar price tag for the jet and then turning it from "green" to glam, what struck me i the business benefit to large companies and important execs:

"The employees, the management team - they get so much more done in a shorter amount of time. … I realize it’s expensive, but I think you make it up because you get more deals done, you do more things in a given week than you would otherwise."

"If you’re an executive and you need to visit several sites … especially today with all the security hassles, it could easily take you a couple days to visit a couple of places," said David Velupillai, a marketing manager for Airbus’ executive and private aviation unit. "But in a biz jet you could do both in the same day."

Getting you and your team around the country and still be productive can be a challenge today.  Airport delays, lack of connectivity to the Internet, all these things can increase downtime.  That doesn’t even consider the physical drain of being stuffed in a crowed plane for a few hours.  Seems that it could be a wise choice for some businesses to just have their own planes to shuttle between sites.

Tags: Boeing Business Jet, BBJ

More corporate executives opt for large jets More corporate executives and wealthy people are buying large business jets modeled after commercial airplanes. A trade group says worldwide shipments of business jets climbed more than 20% in the first nine months of 2006, compared to the same period last year. Boeing and Airbus model business jets after their narrow-body planes. The New York Times/Associated Press

YouTube has a Boeing training video that demonstrates a 737 on takeoff with a cockpit window open. Both interior and exterior views have been recorded. Pilot Ray Craig concludes that a window accidentally left open does not necessitate an aborted takeoff. The recommendation is to continue with takeoff and then close the window when in the air. While the cockpit may get noisy, turbulence inside the cockpit will not compromise control of the aircraft.

Procedures for securing the windows for a 717, 737, 757, 767, and 777 are covered.

This month in World Aircraft Sales (starting at page 86, if you want to read the digital edition) there are some solid reviews of various long-range business jets, including the local fav BBJ3.  Okay, my Canadian pride has too gloat over the Bombarier model, but regardless.

I was looking at a PDF version of the magazine and was thinking about the whole process of choosing a jet.  Size, range, length of runway needed.  Not something that I’d like to do without help.  Personally if I were in the market, I’d choose something small enough to land at smaller regional airports.  Avoid the large commercial airport hassles.

Tags: business jets, buying a business jet

From the Boeing online Store:

The Boeing Business Jet meets the demand for new dimensions in aviation with features that enhance productivity en route and on the ground. Our collectible, easy-to-assemble 1:200-scale model of the BBJ is made of precision injection-molded plastic, reproduced from Boeing engineering drawings. Stand included. Ages 12 and up. Length: 7.5″. Wingspan: 7.75″. Made in China.
SKU: 550050030020

Price: $15.00

According to an article at the NY Times Web site, the European Commission is working to impose emissions controls on “all flights within and coming into Europe.” Well, not exactly “all”… private jets seem to be safe from the controls (for now.):

“Planes belonging to foreign heads of state, monarchs, their families and the military would be exempt from the new European Union rules, as would planes carrying fewer than 20 people.

Planes using European airspace, but not touching down, also would be exempt.”

Turbo Squid has a “Very high definition” and “Highly detailed” digital model of a BBJ you can download and manipulate in 3D. Available File Formats include 3D Studio, AutoCAD drawing 2000 ( .dwg ) DXF 2000 ( .dxf ) Lightwave 7.00 ( .lwo, .lw, .lws ) Maya 5.00 ( .ma, .mb ) and many more.

Helium Report is a site that focuses on the world of luxury timeshare products and services. Today they report on what techniques can reduce fuel consumption and how some timeshare providers will penalize you for employing them.