It may not be earth-shattering news that Iron Maiden has begun the Book of Souls World Tour, landing last week at its first stop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But what is pretty neat is that the heavy metal band is being flown around the world by none other than its lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, at the controls of a heavy metal piece of equipment – a Boeing 747 loaded with the band, its crew and gear.
“The greatest benefit of traveling 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,” Dickinson said.
Named Ed Force One after the band’s mascot, Eddie, the 747 was leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic and branded with an unmistakable Iron Maiden paint scheme. Prior to commencing the tour, Dickinson trained in a 747 simulator based at his own aircraft company, Cardiff Aviation, in St. Athan, Wales, earning his captain’s rating in the jumbo jet.
The planned tour spans more than 55,000 miles around the globe, visiting 35 countries, including stops in China and El Salvador, where the band has never performed before.
See Dickinson’s landing in Fort Lauderdale in the video below.
