30 cool aviation photos: The last MD-11 to Dreamlifters to test planes

The MD-11 to fly regular commercial passenger flights takes off on its last flight ever. Here, it departs Seattle on Jan. 12, 2015, en route to an aircraft 'graveyard' in California.

A heavily modified Boeing 747-400 'Dreamlifter' taxies for takeoff from Everett, Wash, on Jan. 6, 2015.

A Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 lights up a taxiway at Seattle's Boeing Field on Jan. 8, 2015. The field is near Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Wash.

Pilots from on board the last MD-11 to fly regularly scheduled passenger flights hold up a sign greeting well-wishers and aviation enthusiasts during a stopover in Seattle on Jan. 11, 2015. The jet, formerly owned by KLM, was en route to a California aircraft 'graveyard.'

The last passenger MD-11 jet overshadows a parking designator of the same during a stopover at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Jan. 11, 2015. The jet was en route to a aircraft 'graveyard' in California.

American Airlines' first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner departs Paine Field in Everett, Wash., on its delivery flight to Dallas on Jan. 23, 2015.

A Delta hangar in Seattle shows support for the Seahawks football team a few days before Super Bowl XLIX.

The city of Los Angeles stretches for miles as seen from a Delta flight on Jan. 27, 2015.

Flight attendant trainees hone their skills in a full-scale Boeing 747-400 training fuselage in Taoyuan, Taiwan on Jan. 28, 2015.

Purple and blue hues from a sunset kiss an engine of an EVA Airways 747-400 over the Pacific on Jan. 30, 2015.

The beautiful scenery of San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area as seen from a United flight on Jan. 31, 2015.

Southwest jets trade places at a rainy Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Jan. 31, 2015.

Honeywell's unique Boeing 757 test bed airplane under the desert sun at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Feb. 2, 2015. The large housing covering it is used to monitor, repair, and swap test engines that the company is producing.

Gone are the economy seats that used to grace this ex-Eastern Airways 757. They've been replaced with testing stations to monitor Honeywell equipment now on board.

Many typically standard passenger features are missing from inside Honeywell's Boeing 757 test bed, such as window and wall covers.

Piping, ducting, and wiring norally hiddden from view from passengers has been removed from the cabin of Honeywell's Boeing 757 test plane, seen here in Phoenix on February 2, 2015.

A next-generation weather radar system, known as intuVue, is installed for testing on board Honeywell's Boeing 757 test plane, seen in Phoenix on Feb. 2, 2015.

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 lands in Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on February 2, 2015.

San Antonio's Terminal A ticketing hall is seen largely empty on a Saturday afternoon in February.

Ready for its next passenger, a Royal Laurel Business Class seat sits empty at a gate in Los Angeles on this EVA Airways Boeing 777. (Jan. 27, 2015).

Pilots aboard a Southwest Boeing 737 prepare for an early-morning departure from San Diego on Feb. 7, 2015.

A US Airways Airbus A321 jet climbs out of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport on Feb. 2, 2015.

Rarely seen in the aviation world, the upper deck of an EVA Airways Boeing 747-400 stands ready for boarding in Taipei on Jan. 30, 2015.

A flight attendant with EVA Airways carriers a kids meal to a waiting passenger on a Hello Kitty-themed flight on Jan. 29, 2015.

A flight data recording device - also known as a 'black box,' despite the color - rests in a display at the EVA Air training center near Taipei, Taiwan.

A LAN Boeing 787 takes off from Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 27, 2015.

Etihad's first Boeing 787-9 is delivered from Seattle on Jan. 3, 2015.

Notes of affection and thanks grace the exterior of the world's last passenger MD-11 jet. The jet made a stopover in Seattle en route to an aircraft 'graveyard' in California.