V-Flyer

Just saw a new post on A.net that indicated G-VROY has been repainted into the new livery and is now at LGW. No photos yet, but I can't wait!

Wow i didnt see that one coming.

Another piece of news is that V-HOT was in AMS on the 13th of september. The link to her landing in AMS is below.

Link to Picture

Great to see the 744s getting some attention now.

Love boys toy pics, bring it on[^][oo][y]

Have just read the OP on A.net & it says G-VROY has the purple bit on the tail - surely this is the old scheme?

FWIW, I don't like the new colour scheme personally. IMO, the purple bit on the tail sort of links the inside of the aircraft (UC & PE purple leather) to the outside in a way. But of course, it is another different colour tin of paint that they need for this. Clearly the bean counters are at work again [NB: joke... the new airbrushed red-to-white effect probably costs more than a simple strip of purple].

James

My thoughts exactly, James.

I didn't realise all the A346s had even been painted yet[?]

45.

IIRC There are only around 4 or 5 in the new colours.
The A343 thats been painted has an updated version of the new scheme as it has the purple tail edge.

Here is the A343 with the updated new scheme
A343 New Colours

The reason that the purple is being introduced is becuase it appears on the 787
787 Paint Scheme


The old paint scheme included a purple stripe which curved over the rear of the plane.
Old A346 Tail

Then there is the original new style without the purple tint.
Original new A346 tail paint scheme


All of that money just for a little tint of purple.

Given that a bit of the livery (i.e. the Varga Girl from the nose) were missing from G-VHOT when she was sent to AMS, I wonder if she's gone to AMS for paint, a C-check, or both?

Mike

The Varga Girl is a decal so I don't know if her absense means that the aircraft will be repainted. The paint itself looks pretty good, aside from it being a bit dirty.

Originally posted by tallprawn
1st B744 in new colours.

Great find Rob! Really liking the new livery.

Thanks,
Sarah

I wonder if it got its new premium seats while it was in getting its paint job.(which looks fantastic[8D])

I would assume that it had to be taken out of service for a week or so.[?]

David

Originally posted by David
I wonder if it got its new premium seats while it was in getting its paint job.(which looks fantastic[8D])

I would assume that it had to be taken out of service for a week or so.[?]

David

VS B744's seem to be painted at AMS which is where most of their Boeing maintenance is also completed.

Seating and cabin changes are done elsewhere - Normally Dublin.

I wouldn't expect G-VROY to have the new seating - It will probably be done early next year when the LGW/MAN fleet recieves it's extra UC seating...

I prefer the old livery - I like the way the purple borders the red tail. The new livery looks surprisingly plain in my eyes.

Having said that, as long as the interior is clean and has the right seats I'm not complaining! [y]

When in MCO last month I noticed just how many of the ex LGW a/c had tail paint peeling off. G-VLIP is missing a fairly large chunk. And was wondering if the ex LGW a/c maybe done first.

Does that mean that LGW fleet finally has something ahead of the majority of the LHR fleet?!?!?

Loving the new added purple blend on tail. When first launched I hated and was surprised to have a new livery but with all the corporate branding now finished (check in, letter heads etc) the old livery on the planes looks rather dated!

It does appear to me that the new, new livery is getting closer and closer to the classic Virgin livery.

Is it me or does there appear to be paint scratches and blobs of grey on the tail?

I think it's the reflection of the Virgin logo, but I see what you mean

Er, I'm actually not sure how much I like the livery on the 747. I like the new "virgin atlantic" font on the side and the new virgin logo on the tail, but I'm not liking the way the red turned out on the tail. The new livery fits great on the a340, especially the -300, but on a 747 I don't like it as much.

I didn't like it at first, but it is growing on me. As VS-EWR said, I think it looks a little better on the 34x's but it is growing on me.

I might be wrong, but I think you'll find that the "blob" mentioned previously is an intentional lack of paint. Perhaps there's some sort of sensor or port there that needs to be free of paint. It's hard to tell as it looks like that area was previously not painted red/purple so it wasn't as noticable.

It's artistic license [ii]

45.

It's not paint blobs on the red bit, one is a vent/port & the marks just forward of the stabilizer are the index marks for stan trim.

Originally posted by willd
Does that mean that LGW fleet finally has something ahead of the majority of the LHR fleet?!?!?

Perhaps, but a lot of this depends on when a particular aircraft is due a repaint. I.e. G-VFAB will be the last 747-400 to be painted into the new VS scheme (i.e. revised font and Varga Girl moved back to the front) because it only got painted two years ago.

Having said that VS can make a start on repainting 747-400s during the winter season when demand (especially at LGW/MAN) won't push the fleet to the limits.

My guess would be repaint at heavy C check, unlikely to put them in the hangar for just a paint job!!

Looks like G-VHOT was only a C-check, as it came back after about 10 days.

We know paint for a 744 takes about 14-21 days.

Also, you won't see maintenance checks and paint being done concurrently, one will be done after the other. The paint hangars are usually quite different from the maintenance ones, in terms of being clean and dust-free environments.

Mike

Originally posted by mike-smashing
Looks like G-VHOT was only a C-check, as it came back after about 10 days.

We know paint for a 744 takes about 14-21 days.

Also, you won't see maintenance checks and paint being done concurrently, one will be done after the other. The paint hangars are usually quite different from the maintenance ones, in terms of being clean and dust-free environments.

Mike

I think they're in different locations too. Usually Virgin's aircraft go to Amsterdam to get maintenance done and I think somewhere in Ireland to get painted. If I'm remembering correctly that is.