The Mojave Desert is literally a hot spot for aviation. There's Virgin Galactic based out there, the Paul Allen-funded "biggest airplane" project, and soon, something odd enough to attract even more attention. Christoph Buchel—he’s a Swiss artist—is getting ready to install his latest masterpiece into the middle of the sand in the Mojave Desert. Best of all, the thing he’s planning to bury in the sand is a whole freaking airplane.

Some will argue the benefits of this art installation, but as aviation geeks we’re obviously a little intrigued about seeing the project from beginning to end. The plan is to submerge a Boeing 727 into the desert as part of an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Those wanting to take a peek will have to take a ride out from Los Angeles, but it sounds like the road trip might be worth it. ]]> kjb 2012-02-01T09:03:26-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/31/64135/1373

If you still haven’t had the opportunity to sneak a peek of the Boeing 787, there’s still plenty of time to check it out as the Dreamliner World Tour continues to roll fly on. The plane has made stops in the United States and Europe—Ireland seemed to love it—and now it's heading to Asia to show off the latest and greatest in airplane technology.

The 787 will be filling up its tanks with plenty of airplane gas, as it heads off to Bangkok between February 9 and 11 to show off all its goodies to the suits over at Thai Airways. After that the plane will head to Singapore to meet and greet with Singapore Airlines, but it also will stick around a little bit longer...]]> kjb 2012-01-31T10:13:08-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/26/85458/9036

The Jaunted Singapore A380 Series:

Reaching the end of our series on flying the Singapore Airlines A380, it's time to look back and well...just look closer.

Paying attention to the design details means that the airlines will have to pay attention to them as well. And, let's face it, when recounting a particularly great flight, you'll utter a sentence something like this: "Oh, it was so nice...I slept and ate well and they had [detail], [detail] and [detail]!" Personally for us—on the SQ A380—we'd fill those spots with "Givenchy linens," "the cutest stackable salt & pepper shakers," and "an onboard sommelier."]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-26T15:15:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/24/85841/2436

The Jaunted Singapore A380 Series:

First, let us begin by saying that although we flew this baby in biz, we would absolutely go for it in economy as well. Or in Suites Class? You know the answer to that question. Still, Singapore Airlines is known for their business class product—there's the leather seats so wide two people can comfortably sit and chat, the Givenchy china and linens, the flight attendants who greet you by name even when you're away from 25D, and (of course) the fact that they blow other airlines' First Class out of the water. We're just stating facts here.

And actually, it's this better-than-first-class-business-class on Singapore which makes the JFK-FRA-SIN route so famous among frequent flyers. Sure, there are other airline options for flying from New York to Frankfurt, but if you can expense it or redeem miles, business on SQ is typically top choice among those who know about these things.]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-25T11:04:54-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/19/15142/9956

On Monday, January 16, the massive Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 took off on its inaugural flight for the epic route JFK - FRA - SIN. This is flight number SQ 25, and we'll be sharing tons of details and photos from it for the next several days.

The Jaunted Singapore A380 Series:

We're going to be totally straight with you; jetting off into the sky onboard an Airbus A380 makes our eyes well up a bit. No, it's not quite tears, but it is being overwhelmed by the thoughts surrounding what exactly is happening right then. It's the fact that one can be cozy in an engineering masterpiece, a double-decker airplane, which can lift off from the ground as gracefully as any tiny aircraft and then manage to fly to places it once took weeks of travel to reach by uncomfortable boat.

On this route, the famous SQ 25 running New York-JFK to Frankfurt to Singapore, Singapore Airlines has now traded the 747 for this fresh A380, an upgrade on every level and totally deserved by passengers who spend over 20 hours traveling on it. Just before zipping away on this first run, we quickly snooped around the plane, peeking into all the leather-lined nooks and meticulously clean crannies to discover just why the Singapore A380s have been causing a hubbub since debuting in 2007.]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-19T15:38:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/16/21408/6745

It wasn’t too long ago that the Boeing 787 took off on its world tour, and now it’s already time to welcome it back home. After checking out spots in Asia and Africa the plane is scheduled to head back to North America, but not before swinging through Ireland to grab a pint and check out the scenery.

The plane won’t be visiting major cities or transportation hubs in the United States, as most of its stops on Segment 2 of the Dream Tour have to do with paying a visit to engineers and designers. The 787 will say hello to workers and employees in Wichita, Kansas as well as Huntsville, Alabama. They’ve even got a stop scheduled for Rockford, Illinois to say hello to the men and women at Hamilton Sundstrand who designed and distributed like nine different systems for the next generation aircraft. ]]> kjb 2012-01-17T08:58:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/9/6157/25176

We’ve all rolled our eyes after the pilot has turned on the fasten seatbelts sign for like the umpteenth time, but once again we’re reminded that the folks up front have good reason to so.

Over the weekend a handful of passengers were tossed around a bit after hitting some pretty decent turbulence aboard a Qantas A380 flight from London to Singapore. There were seven passengers that reported injuries, and there were four that actually needed to head off to the hospital to get checked out. Most of the injuries involved bumps and bruises, and everyone has since been cleared to fly with no lasting problems.

The folks sustaining injuries were actually out of their seats and still meandering around the cabin when the plane hit the pocket of severe turbulence, so let this serve as a remember to follow along with all those lighted signs and placards. ]]> kjb 2012-01-09T09:29:04-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/