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Iron Maiden Land in Toronto

Posted by Jerrold Litwinenko / March 17, 2008

44 Comments

20080317_iron02.jpgNo, this isn't a review of last night's Iron Maiden show at the Air Canada Center (although blogTO did review a previous show here in 2005). This one is more for the Toronto plane spotters out there.

blogTO reader and aerial photographer extraordinaire Tom Podolec sent us these awesome photographs of Iron Maiden's customized flying tour bus, which is actually piloted by the band's frontman Bruce Dickinson, landing at Pearson International Airport. Even if you don't like the music, you have to appreciate how cool it would be to literally fly around the world, leading your band.

For those of you that are into the band, check out Chart Attack for a review of last night's show.

More photos of the plane after the jump...

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All photos by Tom Podolec.

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James / March 17, 2008 at 04:58 pm
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Lol, I've never actually listened to a single note from them before.. but that is a cool bird there flying and I agree with the writer of this Article.. flying -Your- Band in -Your-
plane has to be one of the neatest things ever.

Nice photos btw.
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Alex in Toronto / March 17, 2008 at 05:01 pm
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Those are great photos!
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sunshinesbetter / March 17, 2008 at 05:11 pm
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very cool.
just wondering why the Ed Force One tag below the pilot's window?
the article says the lead singer (frontman) is the pilot. and his name is bruce.
what's up with that?
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Jerrold / March 17, 2008 at 05:15 pm
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"Eddie" is the band mascot (depicted on the tail graphic) and is a play on the US presidential "Air Force One" plane.
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james a / March 17, 2008 at 05:16 pm
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This whole post is beyond awesome!
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Carrie / March 17, 2008 at 07:59 pm
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Awesome. You don't really see the rock star excess of logo'd planes much anymore. What's not awesome is that I didn't shoot the show. :(
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Shawn Micallef / March 18, 2008 at 12:08 am
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This really is rock and roll, like the Stones '72 tour with the plane with the tongue on it, or Led Zepplin's tour plane.

I have a large soft spot for Iron Maiden. Could kick the ass of so much ironic sad-sack crybaby indie rock. It really needs a good ass-kicking, indie rock, right about now.
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Jerrold / March 18, 2008 at 12:11 am
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What makes this superduperawesome is not so much the plane as it is who's flying it!
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Steve / March 18, 2008 at 09:52 am
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Maiden Rules!
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apetimberlake / March 18, 2008 at 01:54 pm
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That is awsome.
Does he own the 757?
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Russ / March 18, 2008 at 03:37 pm
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Huge Maiden fan here. Thanks for those pictures. Nice work.
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Brian H / March 18, 2008 at 05:21 pm
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I was a huge Maiden fan back in the 80's and still like to rock to them. They always put on an awesome show every time I saw them ( 5X ) This is very kewl to see the pictures of their own aircraft. Thanks Tom, I will be forwarding the link to many friends. I like that (Ed Force One) There huge marionette mascot Eddie was always a sight to see along with the band.
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ringwraith / March 18, 2008 at 05:53 pm
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Very Nice pictures! I linked to your page from my review of the concert. <a href="http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/251772";>http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/251772<;/a>
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ringwraith / March 18, 2008 at 05:57 pm
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@Steve He doesn't own the plane it's part of Astreas airlines fleet, customized for the purposes of the tour. He is however a pilot for Astreas.
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sunshinesbetter / March 18, 2008 at 06:28 pm
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Jerrold - thanx for your update re Eddie....is good to know!
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ROD / March 19, 2008 at 04:38 pm
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That is beyond awesome. Maiden rules the airwaves and The Air.
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Skully / March 20, 2008 at 10:45 pm
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I wonder if it's cool on the inside too, you know a bar, jacuzzi and stuff...
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Slayer / March 21, 2008 at 08:40 am
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Awesome pics, really incredible the "landing" pic with the plane in the air.

Maiden rules forever, is the greatest one Metal band on Earth.

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Eliot MacNeil / March 21, 2008 at 11:37 am
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Please, those of you who have not listened to this band before do so. You can hear many Celtic tones in the music and it is more mythological than the presumed evil. It is truely an art form by true genius men. I am a Clansman.
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phil / March 21, 2008 at 01:49 pm
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The inside of the plane is shown in a fox news report on youtube

I'm too lazy to post the actual link.

The lead singer, bruce dickinson, is a real renessance man. There's a great bio on wikipedia.

Among his other accomplishments - he was ranked as the #7 fencer in great britain at one point.
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Rodge / March 21, 2008 at 02:18 pm
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New rule. You can't use the word "renaissance" unless you can spell it, or least look it up!
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Andy / March 21, 2008 at 02:47 pm
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Here's the link to the inside video.
<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=FvlcYogapm8";>http://youtube.com/watch?v=FvlcYogapm8<;/a>
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GoesTo11 / March 21, 2008 at 05:24 pm
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Now THAT is rock & roll.

I'm about 20 years past my metal stage, but I still listen to Iron Maiden. Any band that can write epic, kick-ass rock anthems about the Battle of Britain and the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" will never die.
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Norman / March 21, 2008 at 06:29 pm
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These musicians are super rich they have their own 757 BOEING!
I do not feel bad at all for downloading their stuff for free.
These guys are SUPER RICH no need to feel bad for them.
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The Slapster / March 21, 2008 at 09:28 pm
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Norman, you moron - READ! The plane is owned by the airline. The band is simply traveling in it (and I'd assume paying quite a bit for using it) on this tour. They've been making music longer than I'd guess you've even been breathing. So yeah, of course they have money. Maybe you'll get a nasty virus, stealing all that music they worked so hard for the rest of us to enjoy. Ya douche.
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Spiros / March 22, 2008 at 04:52 am
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Aces high!
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Duncan / March 22, 2008 at 06:17 pm
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Some of the comments on this forum are hilarious! A jacuzzi in a plane? Anyways the plane is owned by Austraus (I may have the spelling wrong) this is the mob that Bruce flies for when he is not in Maiden. They played here in Melbourne, Australia and totally kicked ass! Great pics by the way.
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Jinder / March 25, 2008 at 08:41 am
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Iron Maiden are super special. This really shows how great they treat their fans - world wide! UP THE IRONS!
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Barry Barcrest / March 28, 2008 at 10:25 am
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Tailgunner... LOL
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steve / April 5, 2008 at 09:23 pm
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hey i was standing acros the road from the guy who took thoes pictures
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tonara / April 26, 2008 at 10:49 am
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OMFG i love these pics so much its not even funny i love you iron meden
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d legal / May 12, 2008 at 01:08 pm
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That is so awesome and pretty smart from a business standpoint. Not much of a Maiden fan but I might just start listening after seeing this.
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Ed / June 5, 2008 at 05:37 pm
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Actually, Bruce Dickinson co-pilots the plane with another captain.
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boogerman / June 11, 2008 at 07:46 pm
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did you know that iron maiden's album "somewhere in time" has special mastering that pushes the "brown note" on two specific songs. if the music is played loud enough through big woofers you will crap your pants. true story. look it up. the brown note is real.
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Debbie M / July 6, 2008 at 09:16 am
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To James, who posted the 1st review on this site on 17 March '08 - you wanna listen to dis band son - they're da best ever. Luv from Debbie, Cookstown, N.I. (aged 53 years!!!).
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G-Digital / October 21, 2008 at 01:05 pm
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IRON MAIDEN KICKS ALL ASS AND ALWAYS WILL!!!!
I just wish i could have seen them on tour.
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Johnny Dick / November 12, 2008 at 08:50 am
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This post has made my day. I love Iron Maiden. My only regret is that I didn't find this earlier. I'm going to blast Maiden all morning now. I thought that the iron maiden sneakers from Vann's were kickass enough, this is waaaaay better!

http://tinyurl.com/5ebwps

Thanks for this wicked post.
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toronto furnished apartments / March 1, 2009 at 12:34 pm
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Iron Maiden visdits Toronto and I hear nothing about it until now?
I need to come out of the rock Im living under.
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Isa / April 22, 2009 at 08:29 am
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Coolest thing ever! \m/
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Cyclonus / April 24, 2009 at 04:10 pm
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I would like to hear the in flight speech before the plane takes off. Plus I bet that plan has a kick ass sound system in it.
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Awesome American / April 25, 2009 at 02:28 pm
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This looks Photoshopped. I can tell from the pixels on the plane, plus I've seen plenty of 'shops in my day.
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Major / April 25, 2009 at 07:09 pm
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Just saw the documentary on that tour. Iron Maiden: Flight 666, it was great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZDOMGAqJ4M
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Amatocianmonk / May 5, 2009 at 03:22 pm
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Iron maiden is my favorite band, i love how awesome it is that they fly around in a custom plane that is piloted by their lead singer.

@Awesome American, This isn't shopped, your not as good at detecting shops as you think. This plane is indeed real.
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Tomi Kola / March 31, 2010 at 01:16 pm
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Can`t wait to see their show on July 3rd 2010 at the Molson in Toronto.
Every Maiden show is a Metal Feast .
UP the Irons !!
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