"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
The primary purpose of this blog is to showcase the best of my aviation photography. As such, you will find links to my main aviation gallery on Facebook containing photos from aircraft spotting, some kind of aviation event such as air shows and fly-in events, as well as aviation museums. I also critique my flights on commercial airlines and the services they provide. Occassionally, you'll find personally written, independent articles based on news and current events involving aviation. And of course, I'll put up links to official and unofficial aviation-related websites when I find them. And when time permits, I'll talk and discuss about anything involving aviation. But most importantly, this is my way to document my journey into the aviation industry!
Sunday, June 7, 2015
A Sight No More: SkyWest Airlines EMB-120 Brasilia at PDX
It hasn't even been a year yet but just recently, regional carrier SkyWest Airlines transitioned into an all-jet fleet by phasing out their Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia twin-turboprops. And it was only last year, on September 1, 2014, SkyWest's Pacific Northwest feeder flights flying on the behalf of United Airlines' United Express brand out of PDX and SEA using the Brasilia ceased after facing stiffer competition and the reorganization of United's regional arm. Since I started planespotting at PDX in 2012, SkyWest Brasilias were a common sight; a spotting trip wouldn't go by without the sighting of at least one EMB-120 on the ramp. It just became one of those things you didn't appreciate seeing until they were gone for good. SkyWest EMB-120s flew from Portland and Seattle as their Pacific Northwest hubs, flying to several smaller cities throughout the region, often competing with Alaska Airlines' sister carrier Horizon Air on many of these commuter routes. As a matter of fact, it was partly the Alaska Airlines Group that drove United and SkyWest off of these PNW routes. All Brasilias that were in the Pacific Northwest were sent down to LAX and SFO to finish out their careers in SkyWest before being phased out.
In short, I am just grateful that I was able to photograph a bunch of these small regional workhorses while I still could before they went away. Here are some of my top photos of these little turboprops when they were still around:
April 2012: SkyWest house colors (N308SW).
April 2012: Final United tulip (otherwise known as "Rising Blue") livery before being re-painted into United-Continental merger colors (N563SW).
April 2012: House colors (N581SW).
May 2012: United "Battleship Grey" livery (N233SW).
May 2012: "Battleship Grey" liver; this one went straight to the post-merger colors and never saw the final tulip scheme (N295SW).
June 2012: In the "Rising Blue" livery (N583SW).
December 2012: "Rising Blue" livery (N562SW).
January 2013: "Rising Blue" livery (N567SW).
January 2013: House colors (N561SW).
July 2013: Birds of a feather, flock together. House colors (N270YV) and "Battleship Grey" (N234SW).
November 2013: "Rising Blue" livery (N584SW). This would my last time seeing these birds at PDX.
Turns out I never saw in-person one of these planes in the post-merger Continental globe colors.
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