Iron Maiden use their own plane when they go on tour and its flown by lead singer and Pilot Bruce Dickinson - Video is from 2008

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str1ker2k7@reddit

I remember this image

https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1f8uvxj/2016_iron_maidens_747_dwarfs_the_jets_of_the/?tl=de

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farva_06@reddit

Ended up better than Timberlake's world tour.

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Aquur@reddit

Got to see that plane in person when they came to YVR in 2016.

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ravenous_bugblatter@reddit

Both the Iron Maiden 747 and the big boy Antonov were at Perth in 2016. A mate and I weathered the mayhem to get out there. Photo: Andrew Richie

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enwza9hfoeg@reddit

Apparently he found being a rockstar too boring he had to also be an airline pilot, radio and TV presenter, author, and entrepreneur. I really need to learn time management

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enwza9hfoeg@reddit

Lol good point maybe if I weren't on Reddit all the time I'd be flying a 747

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elkab0ng@reddit

Hey I’m on Reddit and manage to fly a 747 and

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chowyungfatso@reddit

and? and?!? and!?! Finish your sentence after you land, I guess.

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Carlito_2112@reddit

Why the hell are there goats on that cloud?!

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TheCowzgomooz@reddit

I dunno why the absurdity of this comment made me laugh so hard, but I genuinely belly laughed at 3 am sitting in bed, thanks for that friend haha.

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ventuspilot@reddit

If you want to fly jets the only thing you have to do is

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boogertee@reddit

He earned his rockstar money. He was born to absent teen parents and raised by a coal miner and a house wife. He's as working class as they come. All Reddit's usual excuses don't apply.

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sequentialogic@reddit

What about the time he snuck into a war zone to play a gig there?

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AmnFucker@reddit

He also flew into Bagram to fly home some British RAF troops home.

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megalithicman@reddit

I once snuck a 35 mm camera into an Iron Maiden concert back in the mid 80s. Megadeth opened. I fukd up and bought the wrong ISO speed film and so all the pics were all underexposed. Major fail.

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Ok_Adhesiveness_4939@reddit

But he puts his pants on like the rest of us, one leg at the time. The only difference is, once his pants are on... he does all the things you mentioned.

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calcaneus@reddit

And an author. A couple of books came out of his writing stories at least partly to entertain the roadies. His auto bio, What Does This Button Do, is a good read as those things go.

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covex_d@reddit

he is also into trains. i saw a show with him talking about railways and trains.

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time_to_reset@reddit

He had a TV show about planes on Discovery Channel called Flying Heavy Metal and he was in an episode of Ultimate Trains.

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Roadgoddess@reddit

Honestly, this reminds me so much of watching This is Spinal Tap, lol

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K_Linkmaster@reddit

Money helps. Do they ever get hotel rooms or just go back to the plane?

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damir_h@reddit

Don’t forget also that this dude busted into a war zone to play a gig. Particularly in Sarajevo under siege. “Scream for me Sarajevo” is a movie I recommend everyone to see.

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ilook_likeapencil@reddit

Didn't he also do some competitive fencing?

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AbbreviationsOld2507@reddit

He did well on celebrity University Challenge too

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FZ_Milkshake@reddit

When he did he was type rated on 737 and 757 and did the 747 specially for their tour. Complete set of iconic airframes.

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mbashs@reddit

How did he get type rated while being a celebrity ? Must have been a pain or charter/cargo flights

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The type rating is done wholly in the simulator. Afterwards, you still need some actual flights in the aircraft before you are good to go as per the company's ops certificate, but the actual part where it goes on your license, that's all done without ever stepping foot on the real jet. When I did my 777 type, I was legal to fly it the minute I stepped out of the checkride, the checker physically writes "B777 Type Rating" into my license and then I had to wait for the permanent sticker to come in the mail (which they sent to a wrong address and I had to drive an hour and a half in rush hour traffic to go pick up from the office or else the 90 day validity of that signature was gonna run out...).

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daygloviking@reddit

He worked for Astraeus. From what I’ve heard he was the kinda guy who went the extra mile

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JamieLambister@reddit

That's not very fuel efficient

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daygloviking@reddit

To be fair, he ran to the hills.

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FluffyBootie@reddit

And to think for the rest of the band, when they were just 16, a pickup truck!

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Polonius_N_Drag@reddit

Out of money too! Hope they had some luck

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FZ_Milkshake@reddit

He was commercial pilot for Astraeus Airlines and then founded Cardiff Aviation Ltd (maintenance company). From what I know he flew mostly charter flights, so he could choose the schedule.

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Sherlock_bones@reddit

wtf? Got any more info about that Naples flight?

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FZ_Milkshake@reddit

"I was originally supposed to be going to Iceland and flying down to Las Palmas and Tenerife, but this looked a lot more interesting so I'm flying the team down to Naples."

By then he was also marketing director for Atraeus, so I am sure he could choose his flights.

https://pilotweb.aero/news/pilot-profile-captain-bruce-dickinson-6255460/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-11583221

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Sherlock_bones@reddit

That's awesome. Worst LFC squad ever, but super cool

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Twitter_2006@reddit (OP)

He also did relief operations in 2011 for earthquake areas I believe.

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defiancy@reddit

You don't actually need flight time on those commercial products to get rated (you need hours but not flying a 737). You get licensed at a school on a simulator and then you're rated and can start flying right away.

Nathan Fielder did in the second season of The Rehersal

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ywgflyer@reddit

He started an ACMI company as well, Cardiff Aviation. They did charters for various airlines and sports teams, events, etc.

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That-Makes-Sense@reddit

He also trained pilots on the 737. To me, that's like the cherry on top of his flying accomplishments. He's one of the most bad-ass individuals alive.

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Old_EdOss@reddit

And he still sings!

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SigmundFloyd76@reddit

I saw him in Prauge in June. He can still belt it out and hit those highs.

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Allaplgy@reddit

While running around battling Eddie!

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RingGiver@reddit

He's too old.

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Tinosdoggydaddy@reddit

The plane is called Cowbell 1

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PetesBrotherPaul@reddit

I flew them around South America the tour before the 747. Bruce came up to the cockpit and talked flying for TWO HOURS. He got his Eclipse jet type the Friday before. We were invited to the end of tour dinner and he sat across from me and told us all about going gliding for the first time a day or two earlier.

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flowersharkx@reddit

Up the irons! 🤘

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SnooPeripherals5518@reddit

Just now finished watch it on Youtube. What a great show and what a bunch of really great guys they seem to be. Not a fan of thier music but really enjoyed the show.

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Mekroval@reddit

This was a great video. Really enjoyed it, thanks!

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chapashdp@reddit

When you say Bruce Dickinson do you mean THE Bruce Dickinson?

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flightoffancy85@reddit

If a rockstar has the patience to become a commercial pilot, you can too

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DynamiteWitLaserBeam@reddit

I don't have the patience to microwave a hot pocket. It's lukewarm pockets for me.

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FluffyBootie@reddit

"It tastes better than eating cereal" - Simon

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portugueseninja@reddit

Was not expecting deep cut Nathan references on this post. Bravo.

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UpdateInProgress@reddit

I have the patience, but what I lack is the damn medical 🤣 And the funds, let’s not forget that tiny detail either xD

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MoreElloe@reddit

I have that, just not the money.

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IncredibleReferencer@reddit

Bruce Dickinson is just like the rest of ya. He puts his pants on one leg at at time.

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Independent_Wrap_321@reddit

But then HE MAKES GOLD RECORDS! I was always bugged by the use of his name for Walken’s character, it’s clearly not supposed to be Maiden’s Bruce but whatever. More cowbell!

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Twolef@reddit

They’re spandex though

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fuzzballz5@reddit

Flight 666 was an amazing documentary.

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VermontSkier1@reddit

It's on Youtube

Not to be confused with the 2018 movie with the same title

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douglasbaadermeinhof@reddit

And Flying Heavy Metal! It's from like 2004 or something. I used to love it as a young avgeek. Brilliant presenter and a genuine aviation nerd.

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srirachaninja@reddit

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excellent_rektangle@reddit

Never question Bruce Dickinson!

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StrigiStockBacking@reddit

THE Bruce Dickinson????

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KCdesertrat32@reddit

I feel like this is waaaay too far down the comments. Should be the top one.

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U2ElectricBoogaloo@reddit

It’s not even the same guy, but after all these years, they may as well be.

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slowpoke2018@reddit

Cock of the walk......BABY

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paperscissorsmusic@reddit

Great documentary on them called Flight 666. Highly recommend

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martianfrog@reddit

Legend, I still don't like heavy metal though.

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Worth_Specific3764@reddit

If you ran a black light over the inside of that plane I bet it would look like a Jackson Pollok painting...

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Flat-Quality7156@reddit

That's very old news, Bruce's a legend though.

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enemawatson@reddit

I had no idea. This clip was amazing.

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InevitableOk5017@reddit

I had no idea about this thanks for posting.

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stackology@reddit

Would love to see more of the main-deck loading operation at the rear of the aircraft. Weight and balance for that must have been fun.

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Calm_Tonight_9277@reddit

Love that. The 666 documentary was great.

Bruce’s cousin is doing well for himself too!

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/classic/rob-dickinson-singer-bosss-life-cars

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Mundamala@reddit

Worked for Buddy Holly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P840Jco61v8

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scigs6@reddit

The plane was called Ed Force One which is fucking awesome.

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GGCRX@reddit

And amusingly, when ATC would pick up on what plane it was and call it "Ed Force One" on the radio, he'd respond with the registration number per protocol. Dude does not screw around with flying procedure.

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magentas33@reddit

They broke up the 747 used and sold bits off to fans as merchandise.

They use a mixture of private jets and commercial flights now.

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swarnaditya007@reddit

Flight 666 ✈️

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Sea_Quiet_9612@reddit

He's a professional pilot basically, it's normal that he pilots

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3greenandnored@reddit

Only 66 more likes! Then no more!

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jombrowski@reddit

Looks suspiciously similar to 747. If this is really an Iron Maiden-made plane, they might have stolen the 747 plans from Boeing.

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Routine_Bluejay4678@reddit

A few years ago I was flying from Melbourne to Auckland in one of the Emirates big birds and after landing there was a delay getting into the gate. The Captain came over the speaker to say it shouldn’t be long, a few minutes later another announcement he sounded a bit annoyed this time, third announcement and the clearly quite annoyed Captain comes over the speaker, “sorry for the delay, another plane was blocking the gates”, we turn the corner to our gate and there is the Iron Maiden plane. The plane starts clapping, suddenly it was okay.

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