A nonstop, first class ticket of thanks to BATW Ambassador Thiemo Busch for taking the beans to the tarmac!

Good afternoon, pilots, flight attendants, and those who've watched Airplane! as many times as the beans have (don't call them 'Shirley', either...), and welcome to Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt, Germany! Frankfurt's metro area, the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, sports a population of somewhere around 4 - 5 million, making it Germany's second largest city. But even though Frankfurt isn't the largest city in Germany, it's airport definitely is the biggest. Fifty million passengers, 62,000 employees, and 460,000 flights a year come in and out of here, along with 1.6 million metric tons of air freight. So it's a pretty busy place, and one that the beans are glad to visit on a day when the weather is good and there are no major flight delays to get in the way of their fun. 'Cause having to stand in line behind 50 million other people at the ticket counter would be a drag.

Now, while you're enjoying this up close and personal viewpoint of this German Lufthansa Airlines / Boeing 747-400 (named “Wolfsburg” - how cool is that for an airplane name?), please note exactly where we are. These aren't any ordinary old "looking out the window" photos here, kids. Nope, we're outside - at the gate - staring up at this baby. In other words, these are shots that would be just about impossible to pull off back home in the U.S. of A., thanks to a little government division known as Homeland Security. So that's why BATW Ambassador Thiemo deserves extra bonus points - for sneaking the frijoles onto the runway, and for not getting the beans sent off to some mysterious cell in Guatanamo Bay for their efforts. The beans were really tempted to climb up there and jump in the pilot's seat for a while, but alas - they left their cool pilot hat and clip-on plastic wings at home. But at least the flight crew was nice enough to toss them down a couple of in-flight magazines.

Here the beans re-create that gory scene from the pilot episode of "Lost", where poor soul #49 met a quick demise by being sucked into the spinning engine of a smashed Oceanic Airlines 747. (He must not have paid his union dues.) Not a very pleasant way to go, is it? If it were all the same to you, the beans would much prefer to meet their maker while dancing with a pretty showgirl - not by being pureed in a monster fan blade.

Do you remember seeing in...oh, about 9 bazillion movies...where someone is able to sneak on board an airplane by hiding in the wheel well? Well, that's exactly what the beans were thinking about doing -- hide out for a couple of hours, maybe take a little snooze, and when you wake up - surprise! You're in the French Riviera! Unfortunately, there were three major flaws with this plan: The beans didn't check the flight schedule - stowaway on the wrong plane, and you might accidently end up in Detroit. It's mighty cold in the wheel well when flying at 50,000 feet - odds are high you would never wake up from your nap. Or at least have one heck of a cold afterwards. Getting in there is easy - but getting out without smashing onto the runway from several hundred feet up when the landing gear comes down? That could prove to be a little tricky. So the beans chickened out and abandoned their plan. Still, it sounded like fun, and I suppose they can always declare themselves as "cargo" and ride in style. So there you have it - a fun afternoon with the airlines. The beans would like to thank Thiemo, Lufthansa, and the nice people of Frankfurt for letting them play with the big toys.