Norwegian's next B787-9 ( G-CKMU ) tail will honor American baseball hero Babe Ruth:

Pictures here:

https://twitter.com/GoldboxATL/status/9 ... 4932271104

They just got to serve Memphis somehow for an Elvis tail.

Calling The Bambino an athlete seems like a bit of a stretch. Baseball was a very different game in that era, much less strenuous than it is now, and by all accounts Babe Ruth was drunk more than he was sober.

Cool! I can't wait to see what other Americans make it on their tails. I'm hoping for William Boeing, which would be fitting given Norwegian's fleet.

I'm wondering, though, why did they depict Ruth as a drawing? Aren't all their other tail figures shown in photos, if photos exist of them?

Baseball players are not "heros"

kiowa wrote:

Baseball players are not "heros"

Exactly. Goes for all athletes and so called celebs. Still interesting and different.

Have they run out of famous Norwegian types to do ? What about Aha ?

JannEejit wrote:

Have they run out of famous Norwegian types to do ? What about Aha ? -)

No ofcourse not.

A-ha is not dead and is going on tour


They only put People that is no longer with us on the tails

Mortyman wrote:

JannEejit wrote:

Have they run out of famous Norwegian types to do ? What about Aha ? -)

No ofcourse not.

A-ha is not dead and is going on tour


They only put People that is no longer with us on the tails

Aha...I see !
And to think they could use a still from the 1980's ground breaking 'Take On Me' video. Norway's pop music famous sons already existing in line art form...

He most certainly is an American Baseball hero, idolized by millions of kids and fans throughout his career. People only see the fat washed up figure at the end but this guy was an athlete, the best pitcher of his generation when he started and then the best hitter. He still holds the record for inning pitched in a World Series at 14. And he was very generous to those in need, of which there were obviously many during his life.

Anyway, heroes are different things to different people. And not many of them have a great candy bar named after them. I like the new tail myself.

My assumption seeing "hero" in the title was Jackie Robinson. Maybe sometime in the future.

I would have preferred Lou Gehrig.

JannEejit wrote:

Have they run out of famous Norwegian types to do ? What about Aha ?

How about getting Fleksnes on a Norwegian tail? At least he made some of us laugh...

I just knew it

Jackie Robinson is a hero, The Babe is a overweight abusive drunk.

How about John Fox? He’s been a hero to everyone he coaches against! But he’s still physically here.

They should do Norwegian/American Knute Rockne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knute_Rockne

wingman wrote:

He most certainly is an American Baseball hero, idolized by millions of kids and fans throughout his career. People only see the fat washed up figure at the end but this guy was an athlete, the best pitcher of his generation when he started and then the best hitter. He still holds the record for inning pitched in a World Series at 14. And he was very generous to those in need, of which there were obviously many during his life.

Anyway, heroes are different things to different people. And not many of them have a great candy bar named after them. I like the new tail myself.

Yes and he also did it all without drugs that enhance his performance. So unlike current "Athletes" he was a real one.

That plane should have a pinstriped fuselage as well.

They should put people like Michael Jackson on their tails.

That is very cool!

Fine. put Babe Ruth on the tail if you feel it endears yourself better to the local idiocy/population (works in in every country, btw) - no problem.
But Not.A.Hero. nope, no way, no how.

Hero's do things most others will not - ie, put their lives on the lines for uncertain outcomes, give selflessly, serve quietly for little personal gain, on and on and on.
Hero's are not defined by athletic prowess, in 1919 or 2017.

'nuff said.

*******addendum********

apologies to the OP , who is presumably a Norwegian (or broadly European) national, and not a native English speaker. Yes, I understand the use of the word "hero" is completely innocent, and meant to honour a famous figure. All good.
The ugly reality is that the US is (and has been for 100 years) struggling with its internal identity and challenges with racial and economic inequality.
"Hero" is a word that you really want to ascribe to someone who is truly "noble" or maybe "pure". Ruth was just a guy who could throw and hit in an era when entire swaths of US society were excluded (Blacks, Latinos, Jews) and knew how to spend his cash on booze and floozies, so while I don't judge him (I'd likely do the same), he just isn't pure "hero" material. Just like Alex Rodriguez, arguably the best all-around baseball player of his generation isn't a "hero".

Sorry for the rant.
.

It's just tail art......

N415XJ wrote:

Cool! I can't wait to see what other Americans make it on their tails. I'm hoping for William Boeing, which would be fitting given Norwegian's fleet.

I'm wondering, though, why did they depict Ruth as a drawing? Aren't all their other tail figures shown in photos, if photos exist of them?

For some reason they have chosen to do the various people as drawings on the Boeing 787's.On the B737's it'seems to still be Pictures.

I fully agree!!!

they should put A-ha in the tail, they are one of my music heroes !!!

Ok, let´s say hero can be only a person who is special in his work, and nothing more!!!

They ran out of Norwegian heroes?

FlyHappy wrote:

Fine. put Babe Ruth on the tail if you feel it endears yourself better to the local idiocy/population (works in in every country, btw) - no problem.
But Not.A.Hero. nope, no way, no how.

Hero's do things most others will not - ie, put their lives on the lines for uncertain outcomes, give selflessly, serve quietly for little personal gain, on and on and on.
Hero's are not defined by athletic prowess, in 1919 or 2017.

'nuff said.

*******addendum********

apologies to the OP , who is presumably a Norwegian (or broadly European) national, and not a native English speaker. Yes, I understand the use of the word "hero" is completely innocent, and meant to honour a famous figure. All good.
The ugly reality is that the US is (and has been for 100 years) struggling with its internal identity and challenges with racial and economic inequality.
"Hero" is a word that you really want to ascribe to someone who is truly "noble" or maybe "pure". Ruth was just a guy who could throw and hit in an era when entire swaths of US society were excluded (Blacks, Latinos, Jews) and knew how to spend his cash on booze and floozies, so while I don't judge him (I'd likely do the same), he just isn't pure "hero" material. Just like Alex Rodriguez, arguably the best all-around baseball player of his generation isn't a "hero".

Sorry for the rant.
.

You take yourself way too seriously and your not sorry or you wouldn't have started this nonsense about a personality of a very famous American being put on a plane tail that will likely serve the market where gained all that fame. Kennedy was a womanizer and adulterous yet he's a hero. The world will forever be imperfect, go put your effort into fighting forced labor in the seafood industry in the Indian Ocean.

BREECH wrote:

They ran out of Norwegian heroes?

Being that they are an international airline and the US is a Major focus of their growth, it's perfectly understandable. Heaven forbid they slap a famous founder of Texas like Davy Crockett for a plane bound for Austin and other future Texas routes. Oh the horror.

Wonder if they could do a flyby of Yankee Stadium with it.

My vote would be:

A writer - Ernest Hemingway - a man's man!
A sports hero - Jamaican Bobsled team!
Science - Dr. Emmett Brown!
Art - Jackson Pollock - should do the whole plane as one of his paintings - that would be cool.
Music/Entertainment - David Hasselhoff (he may not be dead but his music career is!)
Freedom fighter - Colonel Robert E. Hogan!
Pioneering - Yuri Gagarin
Architecture - Leon Moisseif - not exactly Architecture but his last work is still studied today by civil engineers around the world! :\

All in good fun!

The Grouse that Ruth built.

JannEejit wrote:

And to think they could use a still from the 1980's ground breaking 'Take On Me' video. Norway's pop music famous sons already existing in line art form...

Still the best music video of all time!

Besides, they still need to add ABBA, Roxette and Ace of Base onto tails...but since they're all still alive...

FlyHappy wrote:

Fine. put Babe Ruth on the tail if you feel it endears yourself better to the local idiocy/population (works in in every country, btw) - no problem.
But Not.A.Hero. nope, no way, no how.

Hero's do things most others will not - ie, put their lives on the lines for uncertain outcomes, give selflessly, serve quietly for little personal gain, on and on and on.
Hero's are not defined by athletic prowess, in 1919 or 2017.

'nuff said.

*******addendum********

apologies to the OP , who is presumably a Norwegian (or broadly European) national, and not a native English speaker. Yes, I understand the use of the word "hero" is completely innocent, and meant to honour a famous figure. All good.
The ugly reality is that the US is (and has been for 100 years) struggling with its internal identity and challenges with racial and economic inequality.
"Hero" is a word that you really want to ascribe to someone who is truly "noble" or maybe "pure". Ruth was just a guy who could throw and hit in an era when entire swaths of US society were excluded (Blacks, Latinos, Jews) and knew how to spend his cash on booze and floozies, so while I don't judge him (I'd likely do the same), he just isn't pure "hero" material. Just like Alex Rodriguez, arguably the best all-around baseball player of his generation isn't a "hero".

Sorry for the rant.
.

* The word hero is the word Norwegian use in their marketing

* According to Norwegian, The vertical tail plane feature portraits of historically distinctive Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Finns, and other nationalities , which together with the red nose signals the airline's change-maker spirit.

* I'm Norwegian and I personally have no interest in baseball.It has never really been a big sport here in Norway. But even I know that it's a big sport in the USA and that Babe Ruth is a very big name in that field. I beleave that historically he is one of the great sports / athlete American heroes of all time. While he might not be a hero in the true sence of the Word in Your eyes,he has no doubt been part of some great moments in American sports and created some happy and exciting times for his and the sports followers.

* Heroes come in many forms,and the ones on Norwegian's tailfinns now include war heroes, writers, authors, explores, aviation pioneers, ,scientists, athletes, painters, actressess, musicians, composers, singers, politicians, abolitionist , women's rights activists, nurse, humanitarian, physicist, meteorologist, astronomer, feminist, mathematician, poets, anthropologist, engineers, industrialist, sculptors, physicists, social activist, playwright, architect, evangelical preacher/missionary, statesman, navigator, colonizer, inventors, teachers etc So it's a very borad Field where the person has been important for his or her country's development / status.

WaywardMemphian wrote:

They just got to serve Memphis somehow for an Elvis tail.

AWACSooner wrote:

JannEejit wrote:

And to think they could use a still from the 1980's ground breaking 'Take On Me' video. Norway's pop music famous sons already existing in line art form...

Still the best music video of all time!

Besides, they still need to add ABBA, Roxette and Ace of Base onto tails...but since they're all still alive...

Those dudes are all Swedish though. Not against the idea mind you !

WaywardMemphian wrote:

You take yourself way too seriously and your not sorry or you wouldn't have started this nonsense about a personality of a very famous American being put on a plane tail that will likely serve the market where gained all that fame. Kennedy was a womanizer and adulterous yet he's a hero. The world will forever be imperfect, go put your effort into fighting forced labor in the seafood industry in the Indian Ocean.

No, I actually am sorry to have seemingly come off as an Ass to the OP. I really have no issue with the tail art. The word "Hero" tipped me over at that moment. It was a silly and verbose reaction, that's all.

TWA302 wrote:

WaywardMemphian wrote:

They just got to serve Memphis somehow for an Elvis tail.

If it ever comes to pass, I hope for late 50's Elvis not 70's Qualude Elvis. Some will find offense cause he culturally appropriated some local Memphis African American dance moves.

Wow, that is an offensively awful rendering of Babe Ruth. Their other tails have proper pictures of the people involved, what the hell happened here?

StrandedAtMKG wrote:

Calling The Bambino an athlete seems like a bit of a stretch. Baseball was a very different game in that era, much less strenuous than it is now, and by all accounts Babe Ruth was drunk more than he was sober.

It's still definitely not "strenuous". They stand/sit around for most of the game. Such a boring sport.

LAXLHR wrote:

kiowa wrote:

Baseball players are not "heros"

Exactly. Goes for all athletes and so called celebs. Still interesting and different.

Agreed.

kiowa wrote:

Baseball players are not "heros"

Do you have a candy bar named after you?

This seems to be a really strange move to me. As a Yankee fan, I guess I am happy, but there are better choices, including Lou Gehrig.
And what an American baseball player? C'mon, you're a Norwegian airliner. Stay with famous Norwegians, or perhaps Scandinavians. An American baseball player? Nah, no thanks.
Go Yankees though (well next year).

flybynight wrote:

This seems to be a really strange move to me. As a Yankee fan, I guess I am happy, but there are better choices, including Lou Gehrig.
And what an American baseball player? C'mon, you're a Norwegian airliner. Stay with famous Norwegians, or perhaps Scandinavians. An American baseball player? Nah, no thanks.
Go Yankees though (well next year).

As I huge baseball fan I tend to agree. It's like they had no idea but they decided to just use the babe cus they've all heard of him. Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Gehrig, Mays, would have been better.

kiowa wrote:

Baseball players are not "heros"

To lump thousands of players over a 125 year period into one group of "not "heros"" is a very brash statement. While Babe Ruth was a heavy drinker and enjoyed the company of women it does not diminish his accomplishments. How many other former pitchers hit 700+ home runs? None.

Also, there have been major league players that were killed in action during wartime also. Most notable that comes to mind is Harry O'Neil. Philadelphia A's catcher that played in one game, did not hit nor bat even. He died in Iwo Jima. I learned about him while going through boot camp. Do not assume all players are like the worst players. Cal Ripken is a seemingly good person and played nearly 2700 games without missing one - a dedication to the game and he too is a hero to those that enjoy and appreciate the game.

Do ATC staff complain about these tails like they did about the British Airways Utopia tails ? Citing difficulties in identifying the airline when instructing other traffic to "line up after the departing Norwegian" etc etc ?

kiowa wrote:

Baseball players are not "heros"

There are different opinions about that, it depends on the definition of a hero. However, nobody can deny that he was famous. Even I've heard of him, and I know absolutely nothing about baseball. Only I've seen the movie "The Sandlot" in which he is adored as a hero.

b747400erf wrote:

Jackie Robinson is a hero, The Babe is a overweight abusive drunk.

I don't know about that, however I do know that he must have done some good things otherwise he wouldn't be famous. But let's compare him to Diego Maradona for example. Once a great player, but there's not much left of that now. Looking at his days as a player, he was a hero to a lot of people. Looking at him now, not anymore. There's only the memory of what he once was.

flybynight wrote:

And what an American baseball player? C'mon, you're a Norwegian airliner. Stay with famous Norwegians, or perhaps Scandinavians. An American baseball player? Nah, no thanks.

However it can't be denied that America is an important market to them.

Speaking of that, why don't they put Christopher Columbus on a tail? After all, he was the one that discovered America.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

flybynight wrote:

And what an American baseball player? C'mon, you're a Norwegian airliner. Stay with famous Norwegians, or perhaps Scandinavians. An American baseball player? Nah, no thanks.

However it can't be denied that America is an important market to them.

Speaking of that, why don't they put Christopher Columbus on a tail? After all, he was the one that discovered America.

Columbus is already on a Boeing 737 tail ... but no,it was the viking Leif Erikson that first discovered America.

Mir wrote:

Wow, that is an offensively awful rendering of Babe Ruth. Their other tails have proper pictures of the people involved, what the hell happened here?

as noted above,I beleave that their Boeing 787's for some reasons have paintings / drawings rather than pictures so it's not just Babe Ruth. I don'tknow why they are not using Pictures as they do on their B737's

Hey everyone!

Ben here from Norwegian's marketing team - I thought I might be able to answer a few of your questions about the tail fin program, so I made an account just to say hello from our New York City office.

So, first thing's first - let's talk about structure. We actually have marketing folks in each of the main countries we fly to and the tail fin program is managed by my colleagues on the Brand team, located in our Irish HQ adjacent to Dublin Airport. Each national marketing team has the ability to submit tail fin suggestions, but is responsible for the process of obtaining the legal rights to use the name and likeness of talent since rights and legalities vary from country to country. Since America is a huge focus for Norwegian, it only makes sense for us to start painting Americans onto the tails, just as we have started to paint British, Irish, and Spanish figures, as well. Have we run out of Scandinavians? No way! But the 787 and MAX 8 planes are global - so why limit ourselves when we could honor all of the places these airplanes fly?

So why America? Because Norwegian has more US-based crew than any other foreign airline, in 5 crew bases, and also flies more nonstop routes between the US and Europe than any other European airline. With 15 markets in the US already and lots of future growth planned, our commitment to the USA is massive - and we also support the American economy through our historically large Boeing order as well as for Pratt & Whitney engines on the Airbus fleet (together creating/preserving over 100,000 American jobs in technology, manufacturing, travel, and tourism). Basically, it only felt natural to dedicate some of our planes to us here in the states - we did it as a sign of commitment not just to the market and our suppliers, but also for our over 600 American crewmembers.

The word hero is of course widely discussed and debated. We call this program the Tail Fin Heroes program - and it's been named this since we started painting tails back in 2002, before the word hero became as hot as it is today. If you want to read more about the why, just check this link: https://www.norwegian.com/us/about/our- ... in-heroes/

Now, on to the American tail fin heroes. We already have 3 flying on the 737 MAX 8 fleet and those are Sojourner Truth, Clara Barton, and Benjamin Franklin. Babe Ruth is the first American to appear on a 787. Why Babe Ruth, you ask? Well, there's nothing more American than baseball and The Bambino set record after record, helping shape the sport into the national and worldwide spectacle that it is today. He's routinely been named among the best baseball players of all time and memorabilia related to Ruth is some of the highest-grossing in sports auction history.

In a time where so much divides, and in a place as diverse as the United States of America, the sport of baseball is one rare pastime that brings people together and we felt, as fellow Americans, it was a non-political way to bring a historic American on to the tail. So while Babe Ruth wasn't a war hero or literary scholar, and while you'll find some unpleasantries in most anyone's past if you look hard enough, the game Babe devoted his life to was, and still is, part of the glue that forms the fabric of the United States, and for that, we chose to recognize him, and his craft, on G-CKMU, a brand-new Charleston, SC built Boeing 787-9.

"If sport has become the national religion, Babe Ruth is the patron saint. He stands at the heart of the game he played, the promise of a warm summer night, a bag of peanuts, and a beer. And just maybe, the longest ball hit out of the park."
- Leigh Montville (2006, The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth)

Some of you have noticed the sketch versus photo appearance. This is a valid question and has to do with the weight, longevity, and material used. The 737/7M8 fleet use actual photos right on the aircraft because these are decals. We take delivery of all 737s with white tails and apply the tail art in-house upon arrival for preflight in Oslo. The Dreamliner is a bit different. The tail is actually painted on - it's not a decal - and so we have to get the art set almost 6-8 months prior to delivery because the tail is painted before it is assembled and attached to the airplane. This is so that the proper weight can be calculated for the total frame. We use renderings of actual photos, but not the photos themselves, on the 787 fleet because they are easier to paint, last longer, and provide a bit more room for wear and tear. It'd be hard to find a photo of a high-enough quality to maintain its appearance when blown up to the size of a 787 tail, especially given that many of these heroes are quite historic. So that's why the 787s are sketch versus actual photos. You can see the difference if you look at, for example, the Freddie Mercury 787 versus the 737. Same with Roald Dahl.

As to why we pick who we pick... it is chosen on the local level in coordination with our team in Ireland. The main requirement, aside from having achieved something notable in his/her respective field, is that the person has passed. We do not paint portraits of those who are still living. We base the Americans we pick in accordance with (very tricky) public domain law. If a person we would like to use is in the public domain, then we do not need to obtain the rights to use this person, so we just obtain the rights to use certain photos. If the person is not in the public domain, then in addition to obtaining photo rights, we also need legal clearance to use the name/likeness of the person. In the US, this has become a major business and so while there are countless worthy people that we could paint, many of the more modern ones are protected by licensing agencies who charge big bucks to use them. Jackie Robinson, as has been mentioned above, is one of those people, and we did investigate those rights. Ultimately, and almost always, the fees involved in those kinds of deals are incredibly high - and for us, because the program is not a significant part of our marketing strategy (we do it more as a 'nice-to-do'), we cannot justify paying those fees. Thus, we partner with estates and agencies where we can mutually benefit without steep fees, or stick to those in the public domain.

There are more Americans coming, although it will be about 6-8 months before you see another 787 with an American on the tail. Still, some exciting global heroes all around, and I know all you fellow #AvGeeks will be watching!!

Fun fact: On the 787s, each bulkhead also has a different picture of the person on the tail, meant to depict a more 'life and times' history of the person on the tail. We have many passengers who keep track of how many different tails they've flown on - kind of how some people who flew JetBlue often used to track the names of the planes they flew on.

Feel free to ask questions if you'd like and thanks for your support of Norwegian!

-Ben