Gallery Update: EUG Sunrise Spotting

Since I first started spotting in Eugene, Oregon one year ago, I've been wanting to get some sunrise spotting photos at Eugene Airport. I have also been wanting to catch an Allegiant Air aircraft at KEUG. But every time I considered going, the weather wasn't going to be in my favor or something else came up that prevented me from going. I also had to wait for the winter season to end so I could get the optimal condition; timing was key and today I finally got what I was looking for! Even better, I got to photograph a few things I've never seen before at EUG, making this spotting trip well worth the drive. Here's the link:

Eugene (EUG) 4

Photo preview and highlights:

Compass Airlines (d/b/a American Eagle) Embraer E-175LR (N208AN) airborne after departure from 16R as CPZ5990 for Los Angeles. This is my first time seeing the new American Eagle brand. Since I last saw an American Eagle-branded regional jet last year, it has changed from twice-daily SkyWest-operated CRJs to Compass E-Jets. With changes in operators also came changes in flight schedules; initially, Compass Airlines flew once daily to/from EUG arriving in the late-afternoon only return early-evening. As of this spring, Compass now flies twice-daily (one morning and one evening flight) for American between Eugene and Los Angeles. Also, starting this June, PDX will start seeing Compass-operated American Eagle flights to Los Angeles, replacing Delta Connection due to Delta now operating PDX-LAX flights with mainline 717s. 

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Q400 (N433QX) taxiing for departure to Seattle as QXE2296. Even though I see these all the time in Portland, it was really cool to photograph a taxiing Horizon Air Q400 at ground level.

QXE2296 beginning take-off roll on 34L. According to Eugene Airport ATIS, winds were variable at the time of this photo so runway options were open on the condition that there was no other traffic.

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N304NV) arriving on 34L as AAY1016 from Metropolitan Oakland International. My first time seeing an Allegiant Airbus! While I hoped it would be an MD-80, I have waited a long time to catch an Airbus in Allegiant colors since they started acquiring them in 2012-2013. Note the two over-wing emergency exit doors; a feature that makes this Airbus A319 unique. Normally A319s just have one on each side but this airframe is former HB-JZJ of EasyJet Switzerland. EasyJet is a low-cost carrier in Europe (based in the United Kingdom with a Swiss subsidiary) and the airline crammed as many seats (156 to be exact!) as possible into the main cabin. With so many seats, EasyJet A319s have two pairs of over-wing exits instead of the standard one pair configuration in order to satisfy safety requirements. Allegiant retained the 156 seat configuration on their A319s. So basically, this is an A319 trying to imitate an A320!

Flaring prior to touch-down. Allegiant's been in the news quite a bit lately and not for the better. They're being monitored by FAA due to safety concerns and SEVERAL emergency landings and aborted take-offs. Needless to say, Allegiant is in some hot water right now, but I suppose that's the price for operating planes that were acquired for cheap and second-hand...

Smoking the mains! Airbus A319s and A320s are slated to replace Allegiant's entire aging MD-80 fleet by 2020 so I better chase after those old 'Mad Dogs' while they're still out there! 

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-401 Q400 (N414QX) in San Diego State University Aztecs college livery taxiing to the terminal after arrival from Seattle as QXE2295. First time I've seen a Horizon college-special at Eugene; too bad it wasn't the University of Oregon Ducks plane!

After a 1-hour turn-around, N304NV departs Eugene via 16R (allowing me to get this excellent angle!) as AAY1024 bound for Los Angeles.

I also learned from this trip that I cannot trust FlightAware when figuring out aircraft types on several of Allegiant's flights; with this particular flight (and the arriving flight earlier), FlightAware couldn't tell if it was an Airbus and MD-80, adding to my personal anticipation. But given that Allegiant Air is very difficult to catch due to their overall business model, I'll settle for any aircraft type in their fleet when I get an opportunity to photograph them!

N414QX airborne after departing via 16R as QXE2036 for the intra-state commuter flight to Portland International. I really appreciate getting some prop-blur here!

While I see them often, it's always a treat to catch the college specials with Horizon Air!

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a United Express) Bombardier CL-600-2C10 CRJ-702 (N780SK) arriving on 34L as SKW5632 from San Francisco International.

Cessna 182E Skylane (N3140Y) preparing for departure on 34L.

ATP Flight School Piper PA-28-181 Archer (N402A) preparing for departure on 34L. N-number previously registered to an American Airlines MD-82.

Gallery Update: Showing Some Love for General Aviation at SLE

I haven't gotten out much to do anything aviation-related (other than blog articles commemorating the anniversary of an aircraft's maiden flight!) for the past month due to work and online classes. Heck, even my weekends get shot sometimes because I have to work Saturdays sometimes! But this time, things were different. It was a rare sunny spring day today and better yet, I have the weekend off. I didn't have to (nor did I want to) go very far today as I got a little planespotting in at my hometown airport at McNary Field in Salem, Oregon after a little lunch outing. Given the weather, I was hopping there'd be some activity and I got a few things worth noting. This was what I considered "subtle planespotting." There's also "active planespotting" which would be almost nonstop action in aircraft movements (whenever I'm at PDX or any busy major airport for that matter). Subtle planespotting is photographing a few aircraft with long waits in between; during the wait, I have the solace of sitting or standing in silence alone with my thoughts; I find this very therapeutic. And while most spotters go after mainly commercial and military aviation, you gotta give some love General Aviation as well. Anyways, here's the link:

Salem (SLE) 10

Photo preview:

Cessna P210N Pressurized Centurion II (N731NY) parked on the ramp.

Lancair Evolution (N613TX) taxiing to parking. The Evolution's really grown on me. This is the first time I've seen one outside of Nevada, considering that I've seen several on display as well as one as the Sports Class Pace Plane at the Reno Air Races every year; kind of ironic considering that the Lancair factory is based in Redmond, Oregon.

Cessna 180E Skywagon (N2672Y) taxiing to the ramp after arrival.

Beechcraft A36 Bonanza (N88CJ) taxiing to the ramp after arriving into SLE.

Cessna 210A Centurion (N9530X) taxiing to the ramp after arrival.

Cessna 172M Skyhawk II (N515ED) taxiing to the ramp.

Cessna 172M Skyhawk II (N9665Q) taxiing to the ramp.

Cessna 172M Skyhawk II (N503CA) taxiing to the ramp.

Piper J-3 Cub (NC3603K) taxiing to the ramp. This is a true vintage right here! Maiden flight of this airframe was back in 1946!

Cessna 172N Skyhawk II (N75805) taxiing to the ramp.

Statement Regarding to Name Change in Blog Title

Greetings to you all.

Some may have noticed the slight changes that have been made for this blog. From here on out, "Michael with a "K": Passion for Aviation" will now be called ""Wild Card" Aviation Photography." In the eight years since starting up this blog, my passion and overall support for the aviation industry has grown. As previously stated in my page introduction, "The primary purpose of this blog is to showcase the best of my aviation photography."

In early 2012, I started up my Facebook page to serve as the main gallery for all my aviation photos because that was the year I got into planespotting and I started taking many more photos from then on. I initially called this page "Mikel Wynn - Aviation Photography" and later changed it to "Mikel Wynn - "Wild Card" Aviation Photography." I chose to utilize Facebook because many aviation photography-dedicated websites such as Airliners.net only accepted the best of the best and many photos are often rejected by its website screeners and moderators who determine what quality is good for the site's standards. Then in 2014, I created an account on PlaneImages.net when it became available; it was one of the first aviation photography databases that I know of that accepts all photos and has no screeners to determine photo quality. In fact, the moderators of PlaneImages encourages users to be artistic with their photos!

Meanwhile, my blog used the name previously stated above. I initially adopted "Michael with a "K"" as part of the blog name because it was catchy and sort of served as a nickname (given that my name is spelled in such a way) that one of my high school math teachers gave to me so she can remember me. I graduated from high school in 2009 and now that I've been at it as an AvGeek (short for Aviation Geek) for a while now, I felt that "Michael with a "K"" became somewhat old news, stale, and even a little irrelevant to aviation. After some thought, I decided to change the name of this blog to better match with my aviation gallery on Facebook.

Many other aviation photography-dedicated Facebook pages that I follow have catchy and clever names and I wanted to do the same. I chose to implement the words "Wild Card" because it is a reflection of my life and personality. I consider myself a bit of a wild card in my family and among my peers because I don't often conform to cliches, taboos, and even certain norms and styles many are expected to follow. I even consider myself a bit of a black sheep or a social outcast mainly among my peers because not many people I know share the same interests I have in aviation. As a child, I grew up struggling to overcome language barriers between Japanese and English and partly as a result, I often struggled in elementary and middle school because at first, I struggled to think and communicate in English and I grew up with not many close friends, thus feeling like a black sheep or a social outcast. On a more relevant note, I also chose to use "Wild Card" because of what I like to photograph with aviation as my primary subject. In the field of aviation, there are many "wild cards."

One is often in the form of a rare, one of kind aircraft that might be the only one of its kind left in the world from a historical standpoint:

An airworthy Bell P-63C Kingcobra on display at the Legacy Flight Museum in Rexburg, Idaho. Only a handful of this World War II-era fighter are left in existence with only about two or three airframes in the world still airworthy.

A North American P-51C Mustang on display at the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho. While there many P-51s left in existence and in flying-condition, the -C models of this World War II-era fighter are significantly rarer. 

The Horsemen Flight Demo Team performing in three North American F-86F Sabre jets at the 2015 Oregon International Air Show in Hillsboro, Oregon. It is a real treat to see one F-86 fly but seeing three fly in formation doing aerobatics choreographed to a beautiful piece of music truly is a privilege!

Another "wild card" include aircraft with unique, one of a kind or one-time paint schemes and liveries:

A Van's RV-9A with a unique sea turtles mural painted on the vertical stabilizer (something that my sister would appreciate!) at Independence State Airport in Independence, Oregon. Van's RV aircraft are truly wild cards because as kit aircraft they come in different variants and the owners of such aircraft get to paint their planes in their own styles.

A Van's RV-12 at McNary Field in Salem, Oregon. This aircraft uses flames painted on the fuselage as a cheatline. Really, the only word that sums up the appearance of this aircraft: Badass!

Icelandair Boeing 757-200 named Hekla Aurora in a northern lights-themed livery departing from Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon on the inaugural flight to Reykjavik, Iceland. This is the only aircraft in Icelandair's small fleet that has a special livery and seeing that they used it for the inaugural flight between Portland and Reykjavik made this opportunity even more special and memorable.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 in its 'Starliner 75' retro livery departing Portland International Airport. Many major airlines throughout the world has at least one aircraft in their fleet painted in a retro livery in commemoration of their early days or to remember a by-gone era.

 Aviation "wild cards" to me also come in the form of a common aircraft making rare appearances (often as a charter) in places where they're not commonly seen or aircraft/airlines you never heard of before or just don't see on an everyday basis:

United Airlines Boeing 747-400 at Eugene Airport in Eugene, Oregon on a military charter. In a city served mainly by small regional jets, catching a mainline jumbo-jet like the 747 at regional airport like the one in Eugene is a rather bizarre, but welcome occurrence.

World Atlantic Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-83 at Eugene Airport on a college sports charter. There are often airlines people never heard of mainly because they're based on the other side of the country or probably because their business model is strictly focused on charters so they're rarely seen in many places.

Fournier RF-5B Sperber motorglider parked on the ramp at Independence State Airport. There are so many aircraft that I've never seen before and even aircraft I've never heard of!

In 2015, I switched to a DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex) camera after about three years shooting with a digital "point-and-shoot" compact camera and later on, an ultra-zoom digital camera. Since switching to DSLR, the overall quality of my photos have improved rapidly and I have not gone back to my older cameras since then. As a result, I have continued to seek improvement in my personal photography skills with my DSLR camera as it came with new set of unique challenges. With these challenges came the continued desire to seek out the "wild cards" of aviation and photographing them. When opportunities to see rare or unique aircraft whether it be of historical reasons or something appealing, I desire to get the most unique angle and best quality images (based on my own standards!) that my skills allow when engaged in aviation photography, hence my grown passion for such a field.

That being said, I thank those of you who have been following along in my aviation expeditions. Whether you are long-time followers or just stumbled across this amateur work of mine, your interest and shared passion in the field of aviation exemplifies just how tight-knit the aviation community is. And I certainly hope you'll appreciate and enjoy the next big aviation photography highlight of mine. Until I get that opportunity, blues skies, and tail winds to you!

Regards,
Mikel Wynn (a.k.a. Michael with a "K")
"Wild Card" Aviation Photography

Amazing Aircraft: The Aero L-29 Delfín

Before its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the former Central European state Czechoslovakia developed a fully justified reputation for building fine aircraft by starting up a tradition of excellent Czech jet trainers found in the L-29 Delfín (Dolphin), which flew for the first time 57 years ago today on April 5, 1959. Built by Aero Vodochody, the L-29 was Czechoslovakia's first locally designed and built jet aircraft. And it was perhaps one of the finest jet trainers of the Warsaw Pact because of its design and capabilities; the straight wing gave the Delfín very stable handling characteristics and well over 3,600 examples were built between 1963 and 1974.

Aero L-29 Delfín (N7149E) on display at the Tillamook Air Museum in 2013. This particular model was one of several brought to the United States from Indonesia in 1988. This airframe has since been relocated to the Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras, Oregon.

Given the NATO reporting name Maya, the L-29 came to be when the Soviet Air Force sought a jet-powered replacement for their piston-engined trainer aircraft; the requirement set by the Soviet Air Force soon broadened so that the potential aircraft could be adopted as the common jet trainer for all Eastern Bloc air forces and Aero Vodochody responded. The first prototype XL-29 was powered by a British Bristol Siddeley Viper engine. The second prototype was powered by the Czech-designed M701 engine, which would be the standard powerplant in all subsequent aircraft. In a 1961 evaluation, the Czechoslovakian jet was pitted against Poland's PZL TS-11 Iskra and the Soviet Yakovlev Yak-30; the L-29 was declared the winner. Regardless of the results, Poland decided to stick with TS-11 as their primary jet trainer anyways while the rest of the Warsaw Pact countries adopted the L-29 for the role under an economic organization agreement called the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). Production of the Delfín began in 1963 and ran until 1974, an 11 year run.

Australian-registered Aero L-29 Delfín (VH-XET) nicknamed "Miss Independence" at the 2014 Reno Air Races.

Front profile view of the L-29.

As a trainer aircraft, the L-29 seated two pilots in tandem, a student in the front and an instructor in the back with a slightly raised position to see everything the student sees, a common standard for any tandem trainer aircraft. Both student pilot and instructor had ejection seats under separate canopies. Once qualified in the L-29, pilots would become eligible to progress into Soviet fighters of its time such as the MiG-15 and MiG-21.

Aero L-29 Delfín (N179EP) in a Soviet Arctic-camouflage livery at the 2013 Reno Air Races.

As the mainstay of the Warsaw Pact training fleets (with the Soviet Union alone taking delivery of more than 2,000 Delfíns), the L-29 proved cheap and easy to use, and was capable of operating from poorly developed and even grass airfields. Underwing pylons could carry small rockets, guns, or light bombs for armament practice training and if needed, the L-29 can operate as a light ground attack aircraft. Since the collapse of communism, the Delfín has been slowly phased out of former Eastern Bloc Air Forces and replaced by the L-29's successor, the Aero L-39 Albatros, to some degree. However, the Mali Air Force reportedly still operates a limited number of L-29s. Since being phased out mostly from military service and becoming surplus, the L-29 Delfín has since become a popular jet warbird in the warbird community due to its low operational cost and high reliability for a jet. Many airframes still fly to this day in private hands and even a small handful of them constantly participate in the Jet Class of the Reno Air Races against similar jet warbirds such as the L-39, TS-11 Iskra, Lockheed T-33, Fouga Magister, SIAI-Marchetti, De Havilland Vampire, etc. During the September 2008 Reno Air Races, two L-29s took first and second place respectively. Both L-29s consistently posted laps at or above 500 miles per hour. Former Astronaut Curt Brown took first place in "Viper," followed by Red Bull racer, the late-Mike Mangold in "Euroburner."

Curt Brown's Aero L-29 Delfín (N29AD) "Viper," the jet that took first place in 2008 on static display at the 2009 Reno Air Races. 

Mike Mangold's Aero L-29 Delfín (N129SH) "Euroburner,"the jet that took second place in 2008 participating at the 2009 Reno Air Races.

Forward-fuselage section of a modified L-29C Delfín (N37KF) on display at the 2013 Reno Air Races known as "Raju Grace."

Two L-29s racing in the Jet Class Silver Division heat race during the 2015 Reno Air Races.

Let's wish this old jet a happy 57th birthday! The L-29 Delfín may not be the most well-known jet warbird and probably often underappreciated by many. But those who do fly one privately and in air racing surely do have a great deal of appreciation, respect, and admiration for it because of its qualities as a jet trainer: stable, simple, and rugged.