Iron Maiden is one of the most famous rock bands of all time, reports Justin Foster for Simple Flying. The English heavy metal band first formed in 1975, nearly fifty years ago. The band was started by the famous bassist, Steve Harris.

The makeup of the band changed early on, although some, like Nicko McBrain, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers, were some of the most consistent band members.

Additionally, the band added Bruce Dickinson as its singer in 1981, which many consider the move that brought Iron Maiden into one of the most popular heavy metal bands of all time.

The band found great success in the late 1990s and the 2000s, especially after Dickinson returned to the band after a hiatus. His hiatus was spent learning to fly, as he was an avid aviation enthusiast, and he eventually earned an airline transport pilot's license. Overall, the band sold over 130 million copies of their albums.

The band became so popular that it performed on some of the biggest world tours of all time, including the Somewhere Back in Time World Tour and later The Book of Souls World Tour. These tours were so big that Iron Maiden required a large private jet to transport them and their equipment.

Both of the aircraft for these two tours were nicknamed Ed Force One, which was the winner of an online competition. Let's take a closer look at the aircraft that Iron Maiden flew on for some of their most popular tours.

The first Boeing aircraft on tour:

The first Ed Force One was utilized on the Somewhere Back In Time World Tour, which lasted from 2008 through 2009. This aircraft is a Boeing 757-200, and is currently registered as N938FD.

This Boeing 757 was first delivered in March 1989, and it went to Air 2000, initially. Since then, the aircraft has also passed to Canada 3000 Airlines several times.

However, in March 2006, Astraeus Airlines, a charter company that was based in Crawley, United Kingdom, took control of the aircraft. Under the control of Astraeus Airlines, the aircraft was registered as G-OJIB.

During the time the aircraft was owned by Astraeus is when Iron Maiden chartered the aircraft for its international tour. This aircraft flew for the band over 90 different tour dates, which spanned 52 countries. It also featured a specific livery for the band, that Astraeus Airlines left after the tour was over.

However, after Astraeus Airlines went bankrupt in 2011, FedEx took ownership of the aircraft. It has been flying with the company since July 2012, after it was converted to a freighter aircraft. It remains in service to this day, per ch-aviation.

Read more, and see photos, at Simple Flying.