M. Wynn: "Wild Card" Aviation Photography & Images: Gallery Update: 4th of July Weekend Spotting

About This Blog:

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!

Friday, July 3, 2015

Gallery Update: 4th of July Weekend Spotting

I get the day off as part of the 4th of July weekend (my first one being home in two years!) so I treated myself to day of spotting at PDX and did I enjoy it! You'll probably recall a few posts ago about the start up of two new European routes this summer. Icelandair started summer-seasonal service from PDX to Reykjavik in mid-May and Condor Flugdienst reinstated service to Frankfurt, Germany about a month later, filling a void left by German flag carrier Lufthansa when it pulled out of the PDX-FRA route in late 2009. I was able to personally witness the inaugural flight of the new Icelandair service. However, due to long work hours during the month of June, I missed out on spotting the inaugural Condor arrival/departure because I was exhausted. I figured I still have all summer to catch a Condor Airlines bird at PDX and of course, today was my lucky day!

In other news, earlier this week, Alaska Airlines started some new routes via SkyWest Airlines out of PDX to places such as St. Louis, Missouri, and Salt Lake City, Utah using newly acquired Embraer E-175 E-Jet, something I still have yet to photograph. There are also several new routes previously announced that Alaska will utilize the SkyWest E-Jets on later this year. And come September, Anchorage, Alaska-based Peninsula Airways operating as PenAir will begin Essential Air Service to Crescent City, California and Klamath Falls, Oregon using Saab 340 turboprops, filling voids left by SkyWest Airlines following the retirement of their Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops. PenAir will use PDX as it's West Coast hub. The airline also has an established network in the Northeast, providing Essential Air Service using Boston as its East Coast hub.

Today's highlights include Alaska Airlines' Starliner 75 retro livery, my very first Boeing 717, several of the usual PDX heavies, an Antonov An-124 Ruslan (albeit, a very poor angle since it didn't fly today...), the usual Horizon Air college colors, and a special liveried Condor 767 along with so much more. Here's the link:

Portland (PDX) 16

Photo preview:

Modern airliner with a retro look: Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N569AS) in the "Starliner 75" retro livery departing on 28L.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 717-2BD (N967AT) arriving on 28R from Los Angeles. Originally conceived as the McDonnell Douglas MD-95, Boeing bought out the former and marketed the MD-95 as the 717, albeit in small numbers as it did compete with early versions of the 737. This airframe is formerly of Air Tran Airways before being bought out by Southwest Airlines; Southwest did not elect to add a second aircraft type to its fleet and now sub-leases the 717s acquired to Delta. Delta has since been utilizing these aircraft on several regional routes, replacing CRJ-200s that used to fly them. Delta has only just recently brought the 717 out to the West Coast.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-323 (N808NW) arriving from Amsterdam. As the tail number indicates, this is formerly of Northwest Airlines. This is also my first time seeing an A330 arrive into PDX, as well as the unusual sight of seeing it on the shorter 28R. The arriving flight was apparently running late.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-351 (N581NW) vacating the runway after arrival on 28R from Atlanta. Once again, the tail number indicates that this is a former Northwest Airlines bird. This is also the very first Delta 757 post-merger to be fitted with winglets. This is also my first time seeing a Boeing 757-300; you can tell this is a -300 because of how long the fuselage is!

United Airlines Boeing 737-924/ER (N68843) sporting the split-scimitar winglets taxiing for departure. I am normally sick of the post-merger United livery (because I find it dull, compared to the old UAL tulip!) but I have to make an exception for this airframe because this is a brand new 737-900 United took delivery of earlier this year.

Catching this was a pleasant surprise! A United States Air Force Gulfstream Aerospace C-37A G-V (01-0065) operating with the call-sign "Mango 65" doing touch and goes on 28R. This military Gulfstream V is assigned to the 65th Airlift Squadron based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N818NN) arriving from Dallas/Fort Worth on 28L.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-3H4 (N635SW) taxiing for departure.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N757LV) taxiing for departure. Gotta "love" the tail number on this one!

Horizon Air Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N437QX) in Boise State University Broncos colors climbing away.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8653A) vacating 28R after arrival. My first Southwest 737-800 in the new livery with split-scimitar winglets!

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N581AS) climbing away from 28R.

Raytheon Hawker 400XP (N188JF) departing PDX.

Horizon Air Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N401QX) in Washington State University Cougars livery departing via 28L.

JetBlue Airbus A320-232 (N519JB) "It Had To Be Blue" arriving on 28R.

I'm glad I got to see this one again before it disappears: US Airways (operated by American Airlines) Airbus A320-232 (N677AW) arriving from Phoenix on 28L. With the exception of a heritage livery, the US Airways livery is quickly disappearing!

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7CT (N566WN) arriving on 28L. This aircraft formerly belonged to the Canadian version of Southwest Airlines, WestJet as C-FWAD.

SkyWest Airlines Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-100ER (N594SW) taxiing to parking after arrival. This aircraft flew under Delta Connection colors and formerly flew with Comair before that regional airline folded. I am surprised to see that there are still CRJ-100s still around here in the U.S., as many of them have been parked, stored/scrapped, and replaced with larger-capacity regional jets. Not only that, but this regional jet was parked where all the Alaska-SkyWest regional jets were, indicating that this aircraft was used for an Alaska Airlines route.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-76N (N7812G) departing on 28L. Formerly N744AL of the now-defunct Aloha Airlines and D-ABBT of Air Berlin.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N943NN) arriving from Chicago O' Hare on 28L. This aircraft is two years old, having been delivered to American on July 12, 2013.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N409AS) equipped with split-scimitar winglets taxiing for departure.

Horizon Air Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N443QX) in University of Alaska at Anchorage Seawolves livery arriving on 28L. When am I going to sea the University of Alaska at Fairbanks livery???

Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-351 (N581NW) rotating on 28R for the return trip to Atlanta. The PDX-ATL route sees a variety of aircraft used, depending on demand and time of day. The mid-day flight regularly sees non-ER 767-300s on this route but I figured because of the holiday weekend, the 757-300 was used instead.

SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N803TH) parked on the ramp.

SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N1154F) taxiing to parking.

Two SeaPort Caravans in one frame, something I've never seen before at PDX. SeaPort Airlines sure has changed since they first started. Their first business model was their namesake, connecting Seattle and Portland with Pilatus PC-12 turboprops for passengers wishing to avoid congestion at the Portland and Seattle-Tacoma airports by offering flights between Boeing Field and a private terminal at PDX. Now, they operate from the main terminal. They also tried and failed to expand in the Pacific Northwest by offering flights to Salem, Newport, and Astoria, which ended up being short lived. Now they operate Cessna 208s offering Essential Air Service in three separate networks (Oregon, California, and the mid-South). From PDX, SeaPort flies only to Pendleton and North Bend/Coos Bay.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N187DN) rotating from 28R, departing for Tokyo-Narita.

Cessna S550 Citation S/II (N9072U) climbing away after departure on 28R. This registration used to belong to a United Airlines Boeing 737-200.

Air Canada Jazz Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200ER (C-GJZZ) taxiing to parking after arriving from Calgary.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Bombardier CL-600-2C10 CRJ-700 (N630SK) taxiing for departure.

Condor Flugdienst Boeing 767-330/ER (D-ABUE) Janosch special livery:

Reverse thrust deployed.

This livery design is based off of children's book characters conceived by Janosch (real name is Horst Eckert), a German artist, writer, and children's book author. The airline and Janosch are supporting the German relief agency “BILD hilft e.V. – A Heart for Children.” The support is not only through the livery, but also through Condor donating a percentage of its ticket sales and revenue from other special campaigns.

Rolling out to the end of the runway.

Clearing 28R and taxiing to the international arrivals gate to be processed by U.S. Customs. After photographing so many American air carriers, a couple from Canada, and very few Asian airlines, I am thrilled to be adding a few international colors from the European side to my portfolio!

Cessna 650 Citation VII (N19SV) climbing away after departure via 28R.

JetBlue Airbus A320-232 (N519JB) "It Had To Be Blue" just after rotation on departure from 28R.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Bombardier CL-600-2C10 CRJ-700 (N630SK) climbing away after departure via 28R.

Air Canada Jazz Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200ER (C-GJZZ) just after rotation from 28R on its way back to Calgary.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N818NN) departing on 28L back to Dallas/Fort Worth.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N943NN) departing 28L back to Chicago O' Hare.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-323 (N808NW):

Taxiing for departure.

Take-off roll on 28L for departure to Amsterdam.

Gulfstream Aerospace G200 (N740QS) climbing away after departure from 28R. Based off the IAI 1125 Astra, the G200 was originally designed by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) as the IAI Galaxy before Gulfstream Aerospace took over manufacturing after acquiring IAI subsidiary Galaxy Aerospace.

Antonov Airlines (Antonov Design Bureau) An-124-100M Ruslan (UR-82008) parked at the FBO. This is my first time seeing a "Russian Vodka Burner" and I was so disappointed to see that it was here at PDX only to not see it fly today, let alone get a good picture of it!

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990 (N315AS) arriving on 28L. Alaska Airlines is the launch customer of the 737-900 series and has only 12 non-ER versions of it in its fleet.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Bombardier CL-600-2C10 CRJ-702 (N633SK) climbing away after departure from 28R. The CRJ-702 designation indicates one of three variants the CRJ-700 comes in: the series 700 is is limited to 68 passengers, the series 701 to 70 passengers, and the series 702 to 78 passengers.