Iron Maiden Singer To Pilot ‘Ed Force One’ 747 Jumbo Jet On World Tour
Legendary heavy metal band Iron Maiden will set off on their next world tour on their very own Jumbo Jet, with its lead singer at the controls.
Vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who has previously worked as a commercial airline pilot, will be flying the Boeing 747, which is almost twice the size of the 757 that the band has used on previous tours.
Dubbed ‘Ed Force One’, as a nod to the U.S. President’s Air Force One, and Iron Maiden’s mascot Eddie, the massive jet will fly the band, the crew and 12 tons of equipment more than 88,500km around the world
As part of a global tour to promote its upcoming album - The Book of Souls - Ed Force One will be flying to 35 countries around the globe.
Singer and pilot Bruce Dickinson commented: “When the opportunity arose from my friends at Air Atlanta Icelandic to lease a 747 for The Book of Souls World Tour, of course we jumped at the chance, who wouldn’t?
“The greatest benefit of travelling in a 747 is that because of its colossal size and freight capacity we can carry our stage production and all our stage equipment and desks in the cargo hold without having to make any of the immense structural modifications needed to do this on the previous 757.
“Although in reality we cannot carry much more gear, the savings in complexity, time and cost make using the 747 even more practical. All we will need to do is “paint” it and move a few seats around, with the added advantage that there is much more room for band and crew”.
The singer also said that the faster speed and greater range of the huge aircraft means that the band will have to make fewer refuelling stops than previously.
While he has already piloted smaller planes, Dickinson is currently in training to fly the massive four-engine jet across the globe.
“Even though we have worked out the logistics of taking a plane of that immense size out on tour, I still have to learn to fly it before we can go anywhere,” added Dickinson.
“So, I’m currently doing my training to qualify as a pilot and Captain on a Boeing 747. I’m doing this at Cardiff Aviation, my aircraft maintenance facility in Wales, where we recently took possession of a rather splendid 747 simulator which I can’t wait to get practising on!”.
(Image credit: Iron Maiden)
