Rock bands have leased large commercial aircraft to stage tours for decades―and not necessarily as ego trips, but rather the most efficient and economic way to transport their entourage from one city to the next. But who could imagine Eddie Vedder or Mick Jagger at the controls, wrestling a heavily-laden jetliner into the sky?
Iron Maiden for one―their 2008 world tour will not only be traveled via a chartered Astraeus Airlines Boeing 757 emblazoned with a likeness of their skeletal mascot Eddie, but captained by none other than lead singer Bruce Dickinson. And if the idea of Dickinson himself piloting the band’s 113-ton 757 evokes a tragic-comic Spinal Tap-meets-Airplane! scenario to some, be advised the singer/former world-class fencer was not only fully trained as commercial jet pilot by a British Airways Captain some years ago, but in 2006 piloted another 757 to Cyprus on a volunteer mission to fly home some 200 British refugees of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. Dickinson claims he came up with the idea of turning the Boeing into a de facto tour bus last year, accomplished by removing the last 10 rows of seats to facilitate transporting the band’s equipment.
“We will be packing as much of the show into the plane as we possibly can,” said Dickinson of his double-duties on the tour. “And it allows me to combine two of my greatest passions: music and flying!”