[4K] - Full Flight - New Pacific Airlines - Boeing 757-2B7 - RNO-ONT - N627NP - 7H775 - IFS 811

[@sla31]

Full disclosure, because I'm sure there will be questions. There was a small maintenance issue that popped up after we pushed from the gate. It ended up being only about 15 minutes to take care of. We had to return to the gate because we were blocking the alley, and the American 737-800 that we were blocking needed to push back. In the end, it was a very minor delay that looks way worse than it was because we had to get out of the way of the other aircraft by going back to the gate. The jet bridge was never even put back on. To watch New Pacific's inaugural flight, visit my good friend Ryan Bomar's channel here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZ7coXmAfZd8jK8si=T1fcmJv9ujeJ96MY

[@jetstar1011]

hey brother this is Jetstar. I just flew into that airport last month when I moved to California. That's Ontario for you. my hometown

[@jetstar1011]

@@kennyha1034 Sometimes it happens man, if i was on that flight, i wouldn't have minded delays, it's part of traveling after all.

[@atav]

Just curious: was it the APU, start valve, or something else?

[@kennyha1034]

Hello, I was a captain on that flight 775 to Ontario. First of all, I really apologize for any inconvenience caused. As much as possible, We tried to do our best to minimize passengers' inconvenience and secure the safety of the passengers. Thank you for flying with us

[@sla31]

It was a great flight my friend. See the great thing about offering point to point flights is that no one should have connections. Well, I often do, but I certainly am not the norm when it comes to that 😂. A minor delay for safety or maintenance reasons is never a big deal and if people get upset or angry, they don’t really understand everything that goes into making aviation as safe as it is. Anyway, I don’t see any need for an apology, but it’s certainly a nice gesture. I posted this flight first, but I was on the ONT-RNO leg as well. That flight posts tomorrow morning and I was sitting in front of the engines on that one. 👌🏻 excellent engine buzz, and a spectacular flight! I’m excited to post it! Thanks for the two great flights!

[@PeterEdin]

This flight is one of the best I have viewed. It has nearly everything I like: a B757, trailing edge of the wing showing flaps, aileron, snowy scenery, spoilers and the "white noise" sounds I love (best with headphones), and on this flight, no babies crying in the background 😃. I say nearly as what was missing was a stormy, dark turbulent sky but that's out of anyone's control. 😊

[@sla31]

It was definitely one that checked a lot of the boxes, that's for sure. I'm glad you enjoyed it my friend!

[@sky173]

Always one of my favorite parts is seeing traffic. 52:20 - Thanks for sharing.

[@sla31]

Great catch my friend!

[@kennyha1034]

@@sla31 It was another B757.

[@mattcoleman7738]

Just ran the FR24 replay to figure out who that was... It was a United B752 (reg. N12125) running DEN-LIH at FL340 (1000ft above).

[@RZFX619]

The landscape with that snow is so whimsical, like flying thru a Nintendo winter world 💗

[@pacnwguy9056]

Snow on the valley floor in Reno is so beautiful, especially on a sunny day!

[@sla31]

Yes indeed. Couldn't have asked for better weather on this day! Thanks for watching!

[@iheartjetaviation2764]

Hey Skylite. No better way to spend a Sunday evening than to watch your videos. Thanks for another great one. Even though it wasn't audible on this flight, I absolutely love the Rolls Royce RB211s and their classic buzzsaw spool ups. It's my second favorite engine behind the GE90-115b. OK, gotta love it:"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard New Pacific Airlines flight 775 with service to Reno, oops, to Ontario...Our flight time will be, oh, about an hour or so...". Apparently, they don't give out hard copies to read anymore. 15:10 pilot's credit card for the fill up was declined, had to provide alternative payment for the Jet-A, blamed it on a minor mechanical. Wonder if they threatened to siphon out the tanks. Thanks again for another great video. I enjoyed it. Be well my friend. Talk to you soon.

[@sla31]

I'll be honest, when we returned to the gate, I was ready for a long ordeal. I thought... Dang why can't things just work for once 😂. Never really did get a great explanation as to why exactly we had to return. As far as I could tell, mechanics never boarded the plane, so I don't know how they could have an issue and have it signed off without a mechanic. They can always MEL the problem, but why would be need to return to the gate? This was kind of a weird one. I guess it's a moot point at this point as you can't fly New Pacific anymore now anyway.

[@iheartjetaviation2764]

@@sla31 Hey Skylite. I'm going to send you an email to explain why it took so long for me to read your reply. Nothing bad, all good. So, I'll get that off to you soon. Hope you're doing well. Talk to you soon.

[@williamstoertz]

I always associate Reno with Lake Tahoe since back in 1971 at age 16 I landed there from Columbus, Ohio via Boise, Idaho, and crossed the Black Rock Desert. A heady trip by bus from Diamond's Casino up to Tahoe City, stayed at a motel for twelve bucks, and got a taxi to Emerald Bay where my family was camped out. So on this flight I expected to head west and get a view of the huge lake; but I didn't realize Ontario if practically due south, so unexpectedly I got a beautiful reminiscent view of southeast Nevada -- Lockwood, Dayton, the Truckee River, Smith Valley, Walker River -- all blanketed in snow! -- in other words, the REAL Nevada I love! My mom used to write articles for Nevada Highways magazine -- especially around Angel Lake in the Humboldt Range south of Wells and 135 miles (as the buzzard flies) east of Winnemucca. Ahh... the scent of sage and juniper...

[@MrCleannnnn]

Oh wow! I saw this one takeoff overhead when I was at my job site. Had no clue you'd be aboard!

[@72evenant35]

Gosh I miss the 757, thank you for your video.

[@sla31]

Me too my friend. This was kind of a reunion for me. In February of 2020. I mean, right before Covid really took over. I was supposed to fly an American 757 from LAS-DFW. Well, that 757 decided to deposit all of its hydraulic fluid on the ramp after we pushed back. And the flight ended up cancelling. Then American quickly retired all of their 757's when the travel downturn hit. So, my last American 757 flight never took off. Well, with this being an old USAir 757 it was an American 757 in the end. So, these two flights were like me getting to finally have that last flight on an American 757. Of course, now that they're operating for NP, I certainly hope I have many more flights on these in the future.

[@forbandkind09]

You can always tell by the sound how old these planes are.

[@mattcoleman7738]

For those wondering, the traffic passing overhead at 52:30 was a United B752 (reg. N12125) running DEN-LIH at FL340 (1000ft above).

[@mendesnelson]

Great landing!

[@m.b.9472]

Cool that you got to fly this route on this airline. The airline suspended all scheduled services and is switching to full charter to stay operational. The only leg they were flying currently was ONT-BNA. Both RNO and LAS to ONT were terminated recently as well. See how long they stay around.

[@ivanltrinidad4675]

MEN I LOVE THIS CHANNEL I FOCKING SLEEP WHIT THIS VIDEOS IN MY IPAD SHITT!!! PANORAMIC VIEW DEFINITIVE GOOD JOB KEEP IT UP

[@williamstoertz]

Wow we must be like-minded souls! I keep over 200 full-flight videos on mine. But I just save the URL link and a line to explain what it is, and I look at 'em all the time. Best way to relax. I'm wiff you buddy!!!

[@Poptrash1]

Same here. I put this on with just the sound and use to go to sleep. So relaxing!

[@azamyahmad]

Absolutely another spectacular beautiful shooting filming footage travel trip reports and the filming camera work looks spectacular gorgeous super sharp and clear, loved your beautiful sharing adventure documentary updated, keep it up and stay safe .. Merci beaucoup

[@sla31]

Thanks my friend!

[@billydebianchi2046]

Great landing. Perfect timing.

[@nodoorsjim]

Perfect touchdown !!!! 🎉🎉

[@corvette1965]

Beautiful video!👍

[@francobiancheri2080]

Very Good !!!

[@ryanthomas49]

The b757 hydraulics sound so much like the a320's yellow electric pump, just without the PTU barks.

[@Bothomas-vm5hz]

oh wow ive never heard of this airline before I live in nashvile and just discovered them recently this plane is originally a us air 1995 registry, love the hydraulic sounds.

[@kmccamis]

Love the 757 sounds in this

[@sla31]

Just wait until Saturday's video when I do the reverse route from ONT-RNO. I sat in front of the engine on that one 😏

[@scottbridge9391]

WOWOWOWOW!!! Super-Fantabulous views!! Congratulations on being on this inaugural flight of this new airline. I visitd Reno back in February 1996. It was my first visit and also my first visit to nevada. Well, guess what. It's made it up to 32 degrees here today. Woo - HOO!!! Tomorrow, we're expected to get some snow, so prepare yourself. This winter weather has caused me to flash back to 45 years years ago this very week in 1979 when I was at the end of my winter break from college. My mom was still living in NYC and I was on my way back to Madison, WI. As it was, Chicago got clobbered by a blizzard and O'Hare was closed, so they diverted our flight to Indianapolis. They put us on buses to get us up to O'Hare. The drivers were incredibly professional and well organized. The bus I was on identified as Happy Pappy had he would tell the other drivers the latest road conditions. He would say "Back on ice, back on ice". We finally got up to O'Hare at nearly midnight and after pleading with the ticketing agent, he put me up for the night. The next morning, it was 10 below zero in Chicago and when I got to the airport, ALL of the flights up to Madison were cancelled. Then, I remembered the ad for the brand new bus service between O'Hare and Madison called Alco Bus. I took it and finally got back to Madison at 3 in the afternoon. It was 5 degrees outside and that morning, it had been 28 below zero. This was a very cold, snowy and brutal winter (1978-1979). We're having king tides here this week reaching 13 feet.. And on June 6th at 11:20 AM, we'll have the lowest tide of 2024 at -3.4. BE THERE.

[@sla31]

It’s still barely above 0 here. I’d take 32 😂. One of my pipes is still frozen 🫠.

[@scottbridge9391]

@@sla31 Wow. Hang in there. It's gone up to 34 here. It's 0 in Des Moines, IA and 14 below in Havre, MT.

[@heatherstub]

I remember that New Year's Eve and the next day and how it was snowing like crazy when we got to the airport in Moline, Illinois. Fortunately, we had a flight straight to Atlanta, and it was very cold. Then, there was the Winter of 1996-1997, and it got down to 26 below Zero in Moline, and I was recovering from knee surgery and still in a wheelchair. We had to fly to St. Louis to catch a TWA flight back to Atlanta, and we'd been delayed in Moline due to the freezing conditions, and the plane had to be warmed up for a long time before we could be cleared for takeoff. Of course, there was the de-icing of the plane, too. Once we landed in St. Louis, we only had ten minutes to get to our connecting flight back to Atlanta, or we'd be stuck there for who knows how long. Thank God the Sky Team from TWA got my mother and me to the plane in time! We had to run like mad from one end of STL to the other, too, and that's a pretty big airport. Once back in Atlanta, we had to find our luggage, but we finally did and made our way back to Stone Mountain where we lived at the time. The freezing, bad weather seemed to follow us back down to Atlanta, arriving the next morning, but we were warm inside our house. What a blast!

[@calpal9983]

Spectacular!

[@sla31]

Thanks for watching my friend!

[@piplotfs]

NPA's finally launched and his is a plane I would definitely want to fly on. I like the livery, and it has some very practical routes.

[@sla31]

I had two really good flights with them. I flew the RT ONT-RNO-ONT. The other flight will post this Saturday. I'll definitely fly them again, and I hope they add more service. I'd love to be able to fly them from ONT-ANC.

[@piplotfs]

Yeah, NPA is definitely on my bucketlist after this video@@sla31

[@johnmorris3776]

The take off is like going to the moon.

[@spicyaviation]

That takeoff looked very steep!

[@sla31]

It was. Good old overpowered 757 with only a 40% load. Like a rocket ship.

[@SaagarShivsaiKhandrika]

Thank you sir for uploading the video once again 😊🎉😂❤❤and what is your next flight video?

[@sla31]

Next up, on Wednesday, is a flight on Southwest from HNL-LIH and then on Saturday we're back on New Pacific as we fly from ONT-RNO.

[@SYDAirlineEnthusiast]

I had been to Reno five times (four of which was during the period from late November to late March), and not once did I see it snow in the city of Reno.

[@sla31]

I did get very lucky here.

[@OwenLoney]

Classic Reno take off from New Pacific 757

[@RoadsOfAsiaBen]

Great fly! Did you get Winier Storm Warning in your area which snows a lot? We get tons of snowed here and it is a mess. All school in East Tennessee are closed tomorrow.

[@sla31]

We did get snow, so I'm sure we were in a winter storm warning at some point, but I hadn't really been paying attention to it too much as I'm home right now and not flying. I care way more about the weather when I'm flying haha.

[@MaliksarmadMuneerawan-xg3ki]

Nice 👍 good beautiful full flight ✈️ video and so beautiful i comment from Pakistan 😊❤

[@Jraptorblue8465]

I like the New Pacific Airlines how was it

[@sla31]

The two flights I took were good. I really enjoyed them and who doesn’t love 757’s?

[@Pkmn_mlp_sonic_fnaf_fan]

This plane flew pass my house before!

[@davidhill9546]

Skylite Productions, I have a question? Do you travel to visit friends and family and do you have a spouse and kid at home that you spend time with?

[@sla31]

I mean, occasionally I fly to see friends and I just film as I go. But usually the flights I take are specifically to get the footage for the channel and I have not other purpose in taking them. And yes, I'm married and my wife and I have one child.

[@williamstoertz]

Ha-ha~ personal TMI ~ everybody needs some "down time" once in a while. No questions asked.

[@btbd2785]

Yup SUPER FAST!!!

[@Leo-ob1fk]

You should fly to Burlington Vermont. I’ve flown there a bunch of times and it’s beautiful there

[@sla31]

It is on my list, as Vermont is one of only 4 states I’ve never been to.

[@Leo-ob1fk]

The place in Vermont to visit is Echo lake

[@bforkner01]

I’ve never heard of this airline before

[@asafblasbergvideographer]

I noticed the pilot used the speed breaks during descent. Does that usually happen even during mid-flight?

[@sla31]

It’s not something that happens normally during the middle of a flight. Like when you’re cruising. But, it’s very common for the speed brakes to be used when the aircraft is descending for landing. In fact, I’d say it’s more rare when they aren’t used during the descent phase.

[@asafblasbergvideographer]

@@sla31 ok thanks for explaining

[@williamstoertz]

Aerial speed brakes are used (1) on gliders to land on a short field; (2) in supersonic combat fighters to get behind the other (enemy) fighter; and (3) on commercial aircraft for braking to make the turnout and taxi to the ramp. They're not used too often in mid-flight.

[@williamstoertz]

That's used to initiate the descent from altitude. They raise the spoilers for just a minute, as the plane begins the descent.

[@cito1101]

52:36 How close was that plane that flew above you?

[@sla31]

Well, I don't know how close we were, but I'm sure it was within the mandatory separation limits above 10,000 feet. Everything above 10,000 feet is controlled airspace, so everyone up there will. be dealing with ATC at that point.

[@mattcoleman7738]

@@sla31 - Just ran the FR24 replay to figure out who that was... It was a United B752 (reg. N12125) running DEN-LIH at FL340 (1000ft above).

[@thecameramantraveler4830]

when the time comes, i really hope to fly on this airline once they start flying to jfk. i also hope that they will have cheaper prices from Jfk to anc

[@sla31]

Yeah me too. I'd love to take Alaska's JFK-ANC flight, but man it's expensive! Of course, it doesn't start for another few months, but still.

[@williamstoertz]

Man ~ you sure do get around ~ i figure your great photo artistry more than pays for the flights, and the great folk you must meet and "wet a right nipperkin with"!

[@taxiviaalfa]

Hydraulics sound like the 737. I didnt know the 757 sounded like that. This is a great aircraft. It's weird for me seeing New Pacific Airlines instead of Northern Pacific, and to be honest I like the name Northern Pacific better

[@sla31]

Well, I think everyone liked Northern Pacific better. Including those at New Pacific, but they didn't really have a choice. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway effectively sued them for trademark infringement. BNSF still owns the rights to the Northern Pacific Railway, which by the way, hasn't been around for 50 years now... Anyway, I personally I think BNSF was being rather petty here, but that doesn't change what they did. Northern Pacific changed their name to New Pacific to avoid a lengthy and costly court battle. So, you can't really blame them.

[@taxiviaalfa]

@@sla31 yeah I didn't know that happened. Makes sense now

[@sla31]

@@taxiviaalfayeah kind of a cruddy deal for New Pacific. Because you know, BNSF was so worried people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a new airline and a 50 years gone railway 😂.

[@partyrock2081]

You should fly to Las Vegas from Ontario on southwest.

[@sla31]

Well I can certainly keep it in mind, but unless New Pacific starts ONT-ANC, I probably won't be back in Ontario for a bit. I have three other ONT flights to still post now haha.

[@tomsamuelson8512]

Wiki says that this is a former USAir 757. How many people were there? Some of the shots looks like there wasn't enough to fill a DC-3 let alone a 757. Lot of people on the internet say airline will be short lived...Glad you had a nice flight....

[@sla31]

The flight was probably 40% full. You know, New Pacific was set up for a whole different type of flight than they are doing now. They wanted to be the Icelandair of the Pacific. Which wasn't a horrible idea. Using Anchorage (which is where they're actually based) as their hub. They also run a fairly good sized feeder network in Alaska already under their Ravn Alaska brand. So, when the Russia/Ukraine conflict started and US airlines were banned from flying in Russian airspace, it was a huge blow to New Pacific and the whole business model they were building towards. So, on one hand they're doing good to be operating at all considering. And if they had A319's or a 737-700, then this flight would've been like 60% full. I think they're doing what they can to keep things alive while they try to reposition, or wait out the airspace closures. They've already way outlasted Red Way, who many thought had a better model than New Pacific. Red Way lasted like 5 weeks haha. New Pacific has already been operating for 6 months.

[@partyrock2081]

When’s the next Ontario flight coming on KZbin

[@sla31]

Saturday when I post the ONT-RNO segment.

[@partyrock2081]

@@sla31 what about the southwest Ontario video

[@sla31]

I don't have any of the other videos scheduled yet.

[@TUKUMZ]

I used to entertain myself in airports by paging whoever I’m traveling with..now I have a game that doesn’t end until I see a passenger wearing black old school converse high tops

[@sla31]

Haha, well then I've likely been the person who ends your game before 😂

[@TUKUMZ]

@@sla31 haha! Great videos

[@Captain_ProjectFlight]

I actually didn't know the 757 has one split scimitar winglet. (if you know what I mean)

[@sla31]

Yup, just like the NG 737's, the 757's can be retrofitted with split scimitar winglets too. Thanks for watching!

[@Captain_ProjectFlight]

@@sla31 alright, Thanks man! keep it up!

[@PeterEdin]

I thought that part of the US was always warm even in winter.

[@sla31]

Oh no, it varies lot around that area. Unlike Las Vegas and the desert like Southwest that sits at 2,000 feet above sea level, Reno and the Reno/Tahoe area sit at over 4,500 feet above sea level. Reno has mild summers and cold winters. Reno is also the gateway to over a dozen ski resorts. So Reno's climate is quite a bit different than the general climate that people associate with the American Southwest.

[@PeterEdin]

​@@sla31Thanks for the info. I'm not keen on cold but the scenery is lovely though. Never tried skiing which is probably just as well, I'm bad enough on 2 legs 😅

[@PRO-PLANE]

My first video on this channel. Thanks author

[@sla31]

Well, you're welcome. Although, I guess I'm not 100% sure what you mean by that. Were you on this flight?

[@PRO-PLANE]

@@sla31 My English not good)))

[@heatherstub]

Is this the 1st video you saw from this channel?@@PRO-PLANE

[@JoseHernandez-xn6tp]

Returning to gate it’s happened to any airlines around the world for maintenance issues and not matter if the aircraft is new or old

[@sla31]

Yup, you are right. It's happened to me on pretty much every airline I've ever flown at some point.

[@partyrock2081]

OMG! YOU FLEW TO ONTARIO

[@sla31]

I did Indeed. There are several other Ontario flights coming up too. I flew a United A320 in, this same New Pacific 757 out to Reno, and then I flew a Southwest 737-800 out as well. So lots of ONT flights coming up.

[@partyrock2081]

Okay, looking forward to those videos

[@Ride-Drive]

How often do you fly?

[@sla31]

I typically fly around 200 segments per year. Usually I'm in the air about 8 days per month.

[@n310ea]

1:17:26 What are those circles on the ground?

[@williamstoertz]

Those are round irrigation systems that revolve around slowly, sprinkling everything within the circle. They're over a half-mile (a km) wide! They're everywhere now.

[@sla31]

Those are simply crops. In areas where it's too dry to grow crops naturally, they irrigate them, and a lot of those systems work out of a point that then circles the field. Then the crops only grow where water gets to.

[@N9197U]

is it just me or is that inboard flap/spoiler panel a little misaligned?

[@williamstoertz]

The reason they appear slightly out of geometric synch is because the spoiler/flap must not rub against the mainframe of the airfoil. A bit of air leaks through but it's worth it.

[@bradleysika]

Brr 🥶it’s cold in grapevine Texas

[@sla31]

Yeah, it's cold here too. Currently 3 degrees here, feels like -12, and is on the way to a low of -4 tonight.

[@bradleysika]

@@sla31 oh my

[@SYDAirlineEnthusiast]

How cold is it there? People in the Silicon Valley call 70 degrees Fahrenheit freezing, so I ask.

[@bradleysika]

@@SYDAirlineEnthusiast 19 degrees

[@Saa42808]

👍

[@sla31]

🫡

[@Saa42808]

@@sla31 🙏

[@bforkner01]

A new airline

[@sla31]

A new airline in general, and a new airline for the channel!

[@bhinbayoucity5691]

Why did the plane have to return to the gate?....

[@sla31]

Maintenance issue, although they never told us what it was, and they never put the jetbridge back on. So your guess is as good as mine 😂

[@chrism6764]

Not a great start to the first flight on this airline but safety first. You don't want pilots with an "it'll be fine" attitude.

[@sla31]

Well, this wasn't their first flight, nor was it my first flight on them. And to be fair, even with the 15 minute delay, it was still considerably better than 75% of the Breeze Airways flights I've had which are routinely delayed for hours because of maintenance on brand new A220's haha. This is just the first flight I've posted from New Pacific. I flew ONT-RNO too and that flight is coming up on Saturday.

[@williamstoertz]

Amen, you can say that again. In the flying business we say, "There are no old bold pilots." (Can you guess why?)

[@Crea8Craft]

Interesting, the plane returned to the gate? I have never seen that happen before.

[@sla31]

There was a small maintenance issue that popped up after we pushed from the gate. It ended up being only about 15 minutes to take care of. We had to return to the gate because we were blocking the alley, and the American 737-800 that we were blocking needed to push back. In the end, it was a very minor delay that looks way worse than it was because we had to get out of the way of the other aircraft by going back to the gate. The jet bridge was never even put back on.

[@asafblasbergvideographer]

If I want to minimize my turbulence, is it better to flight at night vs day or does it matter?

[@sla31]

You’ll never really be able to predict it. Because you never know what the weather is going to be like when you book a flight weeks or months in advance. However, statistically, early morning flights are the smoothest. Generally, this is when the air is the calmest, because the sun has not been up yet to heat everything up.

[@williamstoertz]

That happened to me for a similar reason on a United flight from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles. Interestingly, an inner voice came to me as we were taxiing: "Watch out, something's wrong with the baggage door!" I was just going to alert the stewardess ("flight attendant") and then the announcement came over the P.A.: "We're returning to the gate to check a warning indicator on the baggage door." It took an extra half hour, but we still made our connection for Seoul. That was rather uncanny, but there were no problems after that.

[@bforkner01]

Why did the plane return to the gate

[@sla31]

There was a small maintenance issue that popped up. We really didn't need to return to the gate as it was all resolved in about 15 minutes, but when we were parked in the alley, we were blocking in an American 737 that needed to push. So they pulled us back to the gate to get out of their way. Nothing major.

[@williamstoertz]

That's indicated at the bottom where it says "Return to the gate." The crew (pilot) mentions a baggage issue. But at first I thought they forgot someone, maybe a V.I.P. was a bit late. It happened to me once -- they put me on a flight from Columbus to Atlanta (i didn't pay enough attention) and we had to go back to the gate because i was supposed to go to JFK!

[@nodical802]

Such a steep climb out

[@sla31]

Powerful plane and light load 💪🏻

[@Dubbers613]

757 plane new

[@antoribala_p6]

first comment

[@sla31]

Thanks for watching my friend!

[@darrinward4699]

New Airline but not a new airplane... This is a old bird and one of the inboard spoilers was not seated correctly with lots of excess fluid caked on the wings. I would not have flown on this airplane

[@sla31]

This wing looks no different than most of the American Airlines aircraft I get on. In fact, I'm looking at a thumbnail for one of next week's videos, and this wing here on this 28-year-old 757 looks significantly better than the wing of this American 777-200/ER I'm looking at. In this case the 777 has WAY more old oil caked all over the wing. So much oil left over that it runs all the way down and off the back of the flaps in multiple places. So, I'm just curious. Are you not flying on that one either? Is it the aircraft's appearance that matters to you, or is it the airline? Because in the end, the FAA requires all commercial aircraft in the US to go through the same stringent maintenance procedures, so this plane is just as safe to fly on than any other 25-30-year-old aircraft based in the US.

[@williamstoertz]

Once (1984) I flew a vintage DC-3 (!) from Martha's Vineyard Island to La Guardia, NY. It rumbled along wonderfully, safely, reliable. Great view too! Close to the terrain. Planes are really made well. It's a very trustworthy business and they are constantly well maintained. Par for the course, right?

[@williamstoertz]

Oh -- and the US Air Force still uses B-52s that served in Korea, Vietnam. And those old birds were first designed and built in ...... 1954! A good old solid workhorse. They constantly upgrade the engines, avionics, hydraulics, and all systems. "If it works, don't fix it."