Check Out Iron Maiden's Bitchin' Boeing 747

This year, righteous metal band Iron Maiden will be touring around the world in this Boeing 747 jumbo jet codenamed “Ed Force One,” piloted by lead singer Bruce Dickinson.

Dickinson has apparently been flying since 1990, spent a stint as a professional charter pilot for a now-defunct outfit called Astraeus Airlines and even flew some British soldiers home from Afghanistan on a 747 chartered by the Ministry of Defense.

The band has been dropping teasers for a while, and revealed the 750,000-plus-pound machine on Periscope today (late night local time) at the Cardiff Airport in England. Whoever was running the video stream promised more pictures “soon,” and said the plane is heading to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida next to kick off the “Book Of Souls” tour.

“As we initially announced we’ll be using Ed Force One right around the world as usual but also including the first few shows in Europe this time, making this the first time EF1 has visited Europe on tour!” Iron Maiden announced on their website. “However after the Swedish show at Gothenburg Ullvei Stadium on June 17 we’ll be reverting to our traditional truck & bus touring methods as logistically this makes much more sense considering the lesser distances involved and airport parameters.”

Sounds like the band’s going to be pretty busy this year, their schedule has them booked solid for the next five months.