I am a flightsim.....errrrr....aviation enthusiast.....err.....GEEK. Anyways, I was wondering what anyone knew about the aircraft teams, or individual athletes regularly fly on. I've seen teams get off regular looking commercial aircraft, and I've seen planes with the logo of the team on the fuselage. How do the boys fly? What teams own planes? What kind of planes?
Ok..geek hyperventilating here.............
Full Version: Team planes
A number of professional teams lease or charter aircraft from Pace Aviation out of INT, which also operates (God forgive us) Hooters Air.
A Boeing 757 leased by the Dallas Mavericks
America West 757 painted in tribute to the Arizona Cardinals
A Boeing 737 shared by Washington Capitals (logo painted on the right side of the tail) and the Washington Wizards (logo on the tail's left side)
Another shared lease for the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers
737s leased by the Charlotte Hornets and the NY Rangers (also used by the Knicks)
The economics of owning and operating an airliner don't really work for a sports team, especially if their charter outfit will cutomize one as part of the deal.
A Boeing 757 leased by the Dallas Mavericks
America West 757 painted in tribute to the Arizona Cardinals
A Boeing 737 shared by Washington Capitals (logo painted on the right side of the tail) and the Washington Wizards (logo on the tail's left side)
Another shared lease for the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers
737s leased by the Charlotte Hornets and the NY Rangers (also used by the Knicks)
The economics of owning and operating an airliner don't really work for a sports team, especially if their charter outfit will cutomize one as part of the deal.
QUOTE
fenwayguy:
A number of professional teams lease or charter aircraft from Pace Aviation out of INT, which also operates (God forgive us) Hooters Air.
Not that anyone cares, but the guy who founded Hooters is a Clemson grad. A number of professional teams lease or charter aircraft from Pace Aviation out of INT, which also operates (God forgive us) Hooters Air.
(for you trivia lovers)
Years ago, IIRC, the Duke basketball team used to get around on a DC-3. I'd recognize that sound anywhere, so one day when I was living in Charlottesville, heard the unmistakable sound of a DC-3, and looked up to see that I was right, I grabbed my camera equipment, got in my car, and headed right out to the Charlottesville airport. I have the slides somewhere.
I suppose there are pix here:
Airliner.net photo search site
I suppose there are pix here:
Airliner.net photo search site
jocks sure have come a long way since riding cross country on busses and trains
QUOTE
twin58:
the Duke basketball team used to get around on a DC-3.
I couldn't find Duke's, but the venerable Douglas DC-3 -- arguably the "best" airplane ever built, certainly of the internal combustion era -- has served many a college team in its now 71-year history.the Duke basketball team used to get around on a DC-3.
Ohio University (a beautifully maintained aircraft)
LSU
University of Florida
And "Sorry about those budget cuts! Love, Jeb", Miami-Dade Junior
Here is a link to a message board discussing various athletic and entertainment aircraft.
I originally googled to see if I could come up with a pic of the IU team plane,and there is a post on page 4 that lists the tail #s but no pic.
famous planes
WARNING-Geek alert
I originally googled to see if I could come up with a pic of the IU team plane,and there is a post on page 4 that lists the tail #s but no pic.
famous planes
WARNING-Geek alert
QUOTE
fenwayguy
I couldn't find Duke's,...
Me either. If you search for "DC-3" aircraft at "other Virginia" airports, you end up viewing pix of a fleet of DC-3's at the Bridgewater airport. Bridgewater is in the Shenandoah Valley. I had not been aware of the DC-3's there. Included among them is the oldest operating DC-3 in the world.I couldn't find Duke's,...
I saw some DC-3's operating cargo flights out of the Culpeper airport, about 50 miles SW of northern Virginia.
Edited to add: Oh, boy, that one from Ohio U. is really nice.
As for the pix I took of the Duke DC-3, I was using my favorite film, Kodachrome 25. I also used a tripod and a cable release, with the intent of minimizing the camera's motion. It was about this time of year, probably in 1986.
[ February 13, 2006, 08:37 PM: Message edited by: twin58 ]
QUOTE
Tim:
WARNING-Geek alert eek!
Cool site, thanks!
WARNING-Geek alert eek!
US Airways goes for the Philadelphia sports market with a new livery for one of its A319s, re-painted in September '06.
Fly Eagles Fly... 
Save the baby whales; recycle old threads.
I saw US Airways N733UW yesterday, Sunday, November 18, at Washington National Airport at about 3:15 p.m. EST. You can see from the pictures at Jetphotos.net that it was painted in August. A link to the Eagles plane has already been posted, but there are probably new pictures by now.
US Airways N733UW
People who enjoy looking at that might also enjoy looking at these:
US Airways N709UW
US Airways N837AW
That last one is no match for the America West 757 previously linked at Outsports.
I saw US Airways N733UW yesterday, Sunday, November 18, at Washington National Airport at about 3:15 p.m. EST. You can see from the pictures at Jetphotos.net that it was painted in August. A link to the Eagles plane has already been posted, but there are probably new pictures by now.
US Airways N733UW
People who enjoy looking at that might also enjoy looking at these:
US Airways N709UW
US Airways N837AW
That last one is no match for the America West 757 previously linked at Outsports.
Interesting thread. I assume the internal seating is radically re-configured to allow for the larger bodies and longer legs of professional athletes. On cross-country flights especially it's a must. I'd love to see what the cabins look like on some of these branded planes.
The US Airways planes, and I assume the America West plane, are normal aircraft dispatched in regular service just like any other Airbus 319 or 737 or 757 or whatever they happen to be. As far as I know, they are the same inside; only the paint on the fuselage is different.
US Airways is going hog wild on special paint jobs. They have aircraft painted for predecessor airlines. There is a plane painted for Allegheny Airlines, one for Piedmont, and one for Pacific Southwest. I'm not the plane spotter I used to be, so they may have one painted for Mohawk and Lake Central as well. I love seeing those things.
The Steelers plane took me by surprise. I had gone to KDCA (Washington National Airport) hoping that a bunch of scanner enthusiasts (people who own radio scanners, which they use to listen to transmissions made by police, fire departments, railroads, aircraft, and so forth) meeting on Gravelly Point, at the end of Runway 19, had not yet left. Well, they had, and on the way back home I looked over and saw the plane. I had to take my bicycle over a few medians and through some flower beds to get a closer view of the plane. The Redskins were playing in Dallas, so why would the Steelers be in DC? Could it be the Penguins? I didn't know. Once I had the tail number, I could look it up online.
One of these days, I'll have the ability to scan Kodachrome slides into .jpgs. When I can do that, I'll be able to upload my pictures of the Duke DC-3. I have never found a picture of that online. Mine might be the first.
US Airways is going hog wild on special paint jobs. They have aircraft painted for predecessor airlines. There is a plane painted for Allegheny Airlines, one for Piedmont, and one for Pacific Southwest. I'm not the plane spotter I used to be, so they may have one painted for Mohawk and Lake Central as well. I love seeing those things.
The Steelers plane took me by surprise. I had gone to KDCA (Washington National Airport) hoping that a bunch of scanner enthusiasts (people who own radio scanners, which they use to listen to transmissions made by police, fire departments, railroads, aircraft, and so forth) meeting on Gravelly Point, at the end of Runway 19, had not yet left. Well, they had, and on the way back home I looked over and saw the plane. I had to take my bicycle over a few medians and through some flower beds to get a closer view of the plane. The Redskins were playing in Dallas, so why would the Steelers be in DC? Could it be the Penguins? I didn't know. Once I had the tail number, I could look it up online.
One of these days, I'll have the ability to scan Kodachrome slides into .jpgs. When I can do that, I'll be able to upload my pictures of the Duke DC-3. I have never found a picture of that online. Mine might be the first.
I wonder how many teams/owners actually own planes and how many just order charter flights as needed. And those teams/owners that own planes might not necessarily have them painted in team colors. My guess is they're mostly just for publicity. Like this one...
You can't argue with Wikipedia. Well, you could, but US Airways has a whole bunch of specially painted airplanes.
US Airways livery, logo planes
US Airways N717UW
US Airways livery, logo planes
US Airways N717UW
Thanks to Uni Watch for the link to the USAToday site.
Big version of that picture
Those are Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jets. I don't know long this link will work.
Today in the Sky - USATODAY.com
Photo gallery: Other unique aircraft paint jobs
Posted at 07:44 AM/ET, Dec 17, 2007 in Alaska Air Group
Big version of that picture
Those are Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jets. I don't know long this link will work.
Today in the Sky - USATODAY.com
QUOTE
College sports logos latest theme to grace U.S. airliners
Horizon Air will paint four of its aircraft in the school colors of four West Coast universities. The carrier -- a subsidiary of the Alaska Air Group -- will put the school colors and logos of the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, the University of Washington and Washington State University on Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jets. Other airlines have painted jets with "special liveries" ranging from everything from Shamu to NFL team logos, and now Horizon's move brings college athletics into that fold.
"Like Horizon, these four state universities are deeply rooted in the great Northwest," Dan Russo, Horizon's director of marketing and communications, says in a statement. "By flying their colors -- and the colors of their rivals -- we're aiming to add fun to the flying experience." Russo tells Forbes.com he thinks the move "underscores a lot of what we try to do with the brand to associate ourselves with northwest institutions." All four universities are members of the Pacific 10 Conference, and the planes painted in their colors are expected to fly up and down the West Coast in Horizon's western-focused route network. Charter or special flights by the university-themed jets will be limited, Horizon says, since they'll be incorporated into Horizon's daily schedule.
Horizon says the four jets scheduled to get a college makeover were already scheduled to be repainted, meaning there will be no additional costs associated with the jets' makeovers. The universities also are not being charged, with Forbes.com writing "the idea to paint the planes was the brainchild of Horizon's Chief Executive Jeff Pinneo." As for the CRJ-700s getting a new look, Horizon says the aircraft "recently returned to Horizon's fleet after flying under contract for nearly four years as Frontier JetExpress." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer notes Seattle; Pullman, Wash.; and Eugene, Ore. -- home to Washington, Washington State and Oregon universities, respectively -- "were among the first seven cities that Horizon served."
Horizon Air will paint four of its aircraft in the school colors of four West Coast universities. The carrier -- a subsidiary of the Alaska Air Group -- will put the school colors and logos of the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, the University of Washington and Washington State University on Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jets. Other airlines have painted jets with "special liveries" ranging from everything from Shamu to NFL team logos, and now Horizon's move brings college athletics into that fold.
"Like Horizon, these four state universities are deeply rooted in the great Northwest," Dan Russo, Horizon's director of marketing and communications, says in a statement. "By flying their colors -- and the colors of their rivals -- we're aiming to add fun to the flying experience." Russo tells Forbes.com he thinks the move "underscores a lot of what we try to do with the brand to associate ourselves with northwest institutions." All four universities are members of the Pacific 10 Conference, and the planes painted in their colors are expected to fly up and down the West Coast in Horizon's western-focused route network. Charter or special flights by the university-themed jets will be limited, Horizon says, since they'll be incorporated into Horizon's daily schedule.
Horizon says the four jets scheduled to get a college makeover were already scheduled to be repainted, meaning there will be no additional costs associated with the jets' makeovers. The universities also are not being charged, with Forbes.com writing "the idea to paint the planes was the brainchild of Horizon's Chief Executive Jeff Pinneo." As for the CRJ-700s getting a new look, Horizon says the aircraft "recently returned to Horizon's fleet after flying under contract for nearly four years as Frontier JetExpress." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer notes Seattle; Pullman, Wash.; and Eugene, Ore. -- home to Washington, Washington State and Oregon universities, respectively -- "were among the first seven cities that Horizon served."
Photo gallery: Other unique aircraft paint jobs
Posted at 07:44 AM/ET, Dec 17, 2007 in Alaska Air Group
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