Gallery Update: Spotting from Reno to Portland

As you may have read from yesterday's blog post, my flight got delayed for nearly two hours. Expect the unexpected right? Well, I took yesterday's flight delay as an opportunity and took some photos of the airplanes that were visible at Reno-Tahoe International Airport; planespotting from the terminal! And then, it all went on from there...

Reno-Tahoe (RNO) 3

Also updated is my commercial air travel aerial photos. In addition to that, I created a new air-to-air album because we actually saw some air traffic flying around us.

Commercial Air Travel (Updated)

Air-To-Air 1

And finally, as we arrived in Portland, I took some photos from my flight as we taxiied to the terminal:

Portland (PDX) 9

Preview:

FedEx Express Airbus A300F4-605R (N685FE) on take-off roll, departing RNO.

US Airways Airbus A319-132 (N826AW), in state of Arizona livery pushing back from the gate for a flight to PHX.
As is obvious from the tail-number, this aircraft was originally delivered to America West Airlines, prior to the merger.

Photo taken from SWA FL442 en route to PDX. My first air-to-air photo. It was pretty neat to see some other air traffic.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N187DN) at the gate at PDX, getting ready for a flight to Tokyo-Narita (NRT).

Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-323X (N810NW) at the gate at PDX, having just arrived from Amsterdam (AMS). As apparent from the tail-number, this aircraft was originally delivered to Northwest Airlines prior to the Delta-Northwest merger that occurred a few years back.
Delta recently upgraded the PDX-AMS route from the A330-200 to the 300 series in order to increase passenger capacity.

Flight Critique: Southwest Airlines Flight 442 (RNO-PDX)

1.) Aircraft: Boeing 737-300; probably one of the last times I'll ever fly in an older commercial airliner...

2.) Flight Time: Approximately 1 hour, 25 minutes

3.) Bumpy departure. Flight was delayed; originally slated for 9:20 AM departure, ended up departing RNO at 11:00 AM. Delay caused by mechanical problems with aircraft (originally to be a 700 series) and time taken to substitute equipment and switch aircraft from Las Vegas.

4.) Always appreciate the complimentary drinks and snacks served on board, not to mention the colorful corporate culture and sense of humor of the flight crew.

5.) Aircraft wasn't even full; probably about one-third full so we were able to spread out and enjoy some extra space this time. Thanks again Southwest for great ticket prices and decent "American" service! Pretty neat views for an aviation enthusiast too!

Winglet Wednesday Photo highlights from this flight:

Our aircraft, a Boeing 737-3G7 (N691WN) taxiing into the terminal after arriving from Las Vegas (LAS) for a quick turn-around to continue onto PDX.
Built in 1988, it turns out that this aircraft has "been around " serving as TC-JTB (Turkish charter carrier, Sultan Air) and as N159AW (America West Airlines).

RNO, view from the aircraft. Unlike most SWA aircraft in the fleet, ours DIDN'T have winglets!

Aerial view of downtown Reno.

View of Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) just after departure.

View of Reno-Stead Airport (RTS), home of the National Championship Air Races and former Stead Air Force Base.

PDX, just after arrival.

Gallery Update: Reno Baby!!!

After arriving at Reno-Tahoe International Airport on SWA FL2250 from PDX yesterday, I took the opportunity to snap a few photos of any aircraft I can see inside the plane just before disembarking as well as inside the terminal.

Reno-Tahoe (RNO) 2

Also, my commercial air travel album has been updated as of yesterday:

Commercial Air Travel (Updated)

Preview:

Nevada Air National Guard C-130 Hercules of the High Rollers.

THANK YOU SOUTHWEST AIRLINES!

Flight Critique: Southwest Airlines Flight 2250 (PDX-RNO)

1.) Aircraft: Boeing 737-700

2.) Flight Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes approx.

3.) Few bumps of turbulence here and there, especially during departure and arrival but smooth at cruising altitude.

4.) Complimentary drinks and snack services; always appreciated.

5.) Full passenger load so it was slightly cramped. But hey, compared to other U.S. airlines, SWA is good at kicking *** in the industry. Thanks again Southwest for being my ride to Reno! Oh, and thanks again for the colorful corporate culture.

Winglet Wednesday Thursday:

Typical Oregon weather at PDX.

D@*n dirty windows!

In hindsight, sitting on the left side of the aircraft with the rising sun in the east plus dirty windows wasn't such a smart idea.

View of Pyramid Lake as we descended down into RNO.