[The motivations for this post are twofold: First, I noticed a Las Vegas City Update for MSFS/Xbox that I installed today. Second, having just flown the iniBuilds A320 V2, I recalled that I'd also acquired, from the Marketplace, a bundled livery-pack (40+ repaints for ~$2) for this a/c, a while ago, when I'd first seen the (freeware) iniBuilds A320 in my (MSFS) a/c list. There, in that livery pack, the striped "Condor" caught my eyes today. The Airbus (A320) repainters populating my MSFS/Xbox marketplace are surely a busy bunch of working ants...🙂...like what I see indoors, in home, this Chicago summer...🙂...Of course, I wish it were the same for the Boeing 737 liveries in the Marketplace. The A320 repainters have given me pleasantly surprising (bygone and nostalgic) liveries such as the (fictional) jellybean Braniff and the (RW) heritage United (see my previous post).]

So, this post is about an airline that has sustained my interest since my earliest days in the hobby. Though quite a historic airline in its own right, it has been somewhat overwhelmed by its in-country (and better-known) airline, Lufthansa. Lufthansa, founded just a couple of years before Condor, was at one-time its de-facto parent (Condor been a wholly owned subsidiary of LH), before they bid farewell to each other (like a parent eventually lets go of the control of a child). Condor was mainly a leisure-flight operator, but an ambitious and pioneering one. It was one of the first such operators to deploy flights to almost every corner of the world. No wonder, it was also the first (leisure) operator in the world to acquire the B747 Jumbo. Pan Am had introduced the 747 to the world in 1970 on regular service, and it was Condor that, just a year later, in 1971, introduced the 747 into the leisure-sector. Condor had 2 747s and 2 707s (I especially recall, In the past SIMs, flying the 707 in the classic (Lufthansa look-alike) Condor colors). Condor's (impressive) destination list included far-reaching places such as China, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand etc.

We know the ubiquitous "Bird-in-a-Circle" logo has always permeated airline liveries across the world. Condor has one such logo, the "Condor" bird in a circle. It's to be noted this bird logo, though similar, is not same as the "Crane" bird-in-a-circle of Lufthansa...🙂...though both are "big" birds indeed. I am now recalling the plentiful (native) Cranes (and pink Flamingos too...🙂...) that I'd spotted around the (multitude of) lakes during my recent Florida Trip. 

After a transient (and short-lived) co-existence with Thomas Cook Group, Condor has recently gone on its own separate way, with an entirely new (corporate) branding, bringing back, after 16 years, the (iconic) bird-in-a-circle logo (seen my images below) from its original livery, along with (fresh) eye-catching colors (whether you like the colors or not...but I like them...🙂...). The A320 (Marketplace) repainters have painted, all the striped "Condor" colors, which are 5 in number: Yellow (Sunshine), Red (Passion) - my choice for this post, Blue (Sea), Green (Island), and Beige (Beach). According to the carrier, these colors are inspired by "parasols, bath towels, and beach chairs..."...Oh well...sounds good to me.

My Las Vegas (visit) memories go back more than a decade and half (not been there in recent years). Two distinct things come to my mind now: (1) During the descent of the United (TED) A320 into KLAS, the Pilots set up a quiz for the pax, "Who can guess the correct (in-flight) weight of the aircraft?" I recall, they provided some clues about fuel, pax etc. Having already conducted a "reconnaissance" A320 flight (I forget if it was Aerosoft or FSLabs), just prior to my RW (KORD-KLAS) flight...🙂..., yours truly came nearest to guessing the real weight of the A320 and was awarded two (pricey) tickets for the Blue Man Group performance, on the Las Vegas strip (2) I was glad to meet (and shake hands with) that "Jaws" character and henchman of the Bond film "Moonraker" (bit of a fan here of that (fictional) secret service agent...🙂...). Richard Kiel, the 7 ft+ towering figure with metal teeth (in the film only), (whom the ever-capable Roger Moore could not defeat in fair fight but somehow managed to switch his allegiance to his side), was sitting, next to a table, on the hallway of a Las Vegas building. He smilingly signed an autograph for me, and then gave me a death-defying bear hug... (now, I know how Roger Moore survived Jaws' deadly attacks...🙂...). The gentle giant from Detroit (MI), whom Roger Moore once called "a big man with an even bigger heart", passed away in 2014.

Las Vegas airport (KLAS) and the Las Vegas Valley are surrounded by scattered mountains on all sides, of which, I took a thorough tour today, in the comfort of my (Condor) A320neo. These mountains are not continuous, so, I set up 5 custom waypoints for the 5 most prominent peaks (storing them first in the MCDU with labels "X11n", n=1-5, and then inserted into the FPLN; see my (cockpit shot) ND Route, shot #5). The tallest of these mountains is Mount Charleston (see shot # 11) of the Spring Mountain Range to west of the city. As I did a full clockwise circle, peak-to-peak, around the Las Vegas Valley, effortlessly and precisely guided by the MCDU of the A320 (takeoff/touchdown at KLAS included, see below), it became clear to me that this valley is devoid of greenery, being actually part of a desert. It gave me the starkly arid and desolate impressions (see shot #s 7-12) similar to those of my (recently viewed) Dune film's landscape...🙂...

Hope you enjoy this collection of pictures, around Las Vegas, of this (flying) Condor (Passion) Red A320 (D-ANCZ), a (barely) 3-month-old new-born Neo bird...! BTW, do note my all-Women duo of Aviators (PIC and FO) in the cockpit (shot #4) ...🙂...these Avatars came with this livery bundle...!

Thanks for viewing...!

Edited June 29, 20241 yr by P_7878

Interesting idea for a circuit flight. And those Condor stripes actually look quite good here...previously I had been less than enthusiastic about that livery makeover.

Very nice shots! 😉 

Fine set, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

17 hours ago, John F said:

Interesting idea for a circuit flight. And those Condor stripes actually look quite good here...previously I had been less than enthusiastic about that livery makeover.

Thanks, John. Yes, it's a small circular area I've covered here...I don't think I ever went further than 25-30 miles (to N/E/S/W) centered around the Las Vegas city. Regarding the striped livery, when it first came out 2 years ago around April 1, some thought it was an April Fools' Joke...🙂...but, I agree, as you get used to it, it has an appeal of its own...quite refreshingly different from the bland whites we get these days...

 

14 hours ago, Alaska738 said:

Very nice shots! 😉 

Appreciated the comment, Will. Glad you liked the shots ...!

 

9 hours ago, pmplayer said:

Fine set, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

Thank you, pmplayer, and you're welcome.

Cheers...!

What a meandering yet thoroughly enjoyable post!

Had no idea about Condor's history - interesting & impressive (747, indeed!).

I'm just not a fan of the circus clown livery, though. Better than the freakish Star Wars and other movie co-branding wastes of money wraps, I suppose.

Vegas is, indeed, rather barren, esp in summer time. But if you want "true" desert, there are sections of Utah that make Vegas look positively verdant 😉

The greater Vegas area is also fun for sim aviators who like to launch and recover from KLSV and other, more secretive, airfields in the region. 🙂

 

Most interesting post again, P_7878! Initially I wasn't a fan of this livery, but as John said, it grows on you 😃

On 6/30/2024 at 12:31 PM, UrgentSiesta said:

What a meandering yet thoroughly enjoyable post!

Had no idea about Condor's history - interesting & impressive (747, indeed!).

I'm just not a fan of the circus clown livery, though. Better than the freakish Star Wars and other movie co-branding wastes of money wraps, I suppose.

Vegas is, indeed, rather barren, esp in summer time. But if you want "true" desert, there are sections of Utah that make Vegas look positively verdant 😉

The greater Vegas area is also fun for sim aviators who like to launch and recover from KLSV and other, more secretive, airfields in the region. 🙂

 

Yes, meandering thoughts...🙂...but glad you enjoyed...

Those parts of the country are certainly interesting topographically...have visited the principal cities including Salt Lake City etc., but have not explored much else...maybe one day ...

 

On 6/30/2024 at 12:42 PM, bernd1151 said:

Most interesting post again, P_7878! Initially I wasn't a fan of this livery, but as John said, it grows on you 😃

Appreciated the comment, bernd...! When the rebranded livery came out couple of years ago, it was considered dramatic and was not well-received...but it's a fun livery to fly in our SIM with 5 different colors...I will fly the other colors since I believe I've all the 5 liveries my hangar now...Cheers ...!