If You Like to Watch
The (sensible) way to bring the future of in-flight viewing into your cabin.
by Nick Kolakowski
Those screens at either end of your cabin might be great for watching your jet’s oh-so-suspenseful approach into New York’s Westchester airport (“Oh, look! The plane icon just moved another two pixels!”), but they lack a certain audio/visual-oomph when playing movies or TV shows — especially when compared to your 42-inch Dolby plasma stunner back on the ground. If you’re a stickler for ultra-quality viewing who experiences a certain letdown every time you go airborne, it might be time to check out a high-definition screen for your plane.
Something such as Rosen Aviation’s 1,920 x 1,200 widescreen ($16,000, not including installation), for example. Twenty-four inches a beam, it’s about as wide as will fit in a bulkhead, but at just 2.34-inches deep, it’s still remarkably space-efficient. The 89-degree viewing angle also makes the screen visible to just about everyone in the cabin.
Your next question is which source equipment to buy? The answer may surprise you: none. At least not yet. Unless you’re such a risk-taker that you can’t resist gambling even on your plane’s entertainment system, you’re better off just hooking your screen into your existing system and waiting for the ongoing battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD to come to an end. Like VHS versus Betamax and other such technological forks in the road before it, this, too, will run its course — probably as early as the first half of next year, once Christmas-season sales have been tallied to help determine a winner. (And, no, unfortunately you can’t hedge your bets with a dual system, as you may do at home. The current multi-format players all have front-loading disc trays that are too susceptible to aircraft vibrations.)
So, treat yourself to a new in-flight screen now, before the NFL playoffs start. It will still be about a hundredfold upgrade from your current viewing device. Then schedule Phase 2 for right around the Masters.
The Best Flight Movies of All Time: The Aviator
It would be hard to contain a life so full of ups and downs as Howard Hughes’s in one movie, but this lavish Martin Scorsese biopic gives it the good old-fashioned Oscar-nominated try (becoming our next nominee for Best Flight Movie of All Time).
Scorsese joins Hughes just as he’s breaking into Hollywood as a daredevil flyboy/film producer, following him for two decades as he breaks flying records . . . and slides slowly into madness. While the scenes on the ground feature some crackling performances by Best Supporting Actress winner Cate Blanchett and Leonardo DiCaprio in one of his better roles, it’s the movie’s flight scenes — including Hughes’s unscheduled demolition of Beverly Hills with his malfunctioning XF-11 — that truly make this film a contender.
The man might have been as nutty as a Southwest Airlines galley toward the end, but no one had made planes this big or this fast before. And it was a sight to behold.
To vote for The Aviator or nominate your own Best Flight Movie, go to PrivateAirDaily.com.
My Plane, My Shuffle: JoJo
Teen pop star JoJo may be barely old enough to drive, but she has already flown in two private planes — even before she landed a record deal. Those trips, courtesy of label executives keen on signing her, were enough to get her hooked on the superstar lifestyle. “With private planes,” JoJo, 16, notes, “no one hassles you, goes through your luggage or makes you go through security. It’s a really quick process.” Since then, she has released two albums, become the youngest solo artist to have a chart-topping single and starred in two movies — putting her on track to eventually own her own plane. The rotation on her iPod is equally mature, and includes relaxing soul classics and modern hits perfect for flying.
Jill Scott “Whenever You’re Around”
“The track has a real groove; I love her voice on it.”
James Taylor “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”
“I love James Taylor. He’s from my home
state of Massachusetts.”
Kanye West “Champion”
Joni Mitchell “Free Man in Paris”
D’Angelo “Brown Sugar”
“It’s a great song to chill to.”
Musiq Soulchild “Thequestions”
Eric Benet “Femininity”
JoJo “Never Say Goodbye”
“A gorgeous, innocent love song, sung by me!”
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles “I Second That Emotion”
Beyoncé “Be With You”
Jill Scott “Crown Royal”
Chaka Khan “Through the Fire”
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