Gallery Update: Allegiant Begins Provo/San Diego Service & an Allegiant A320 Sighting

It's pretty uncommon that I get two blog posts on here in a single day! Following my flight earlier this afternoon I went out for a quick, late lunch before I had to return to the airport for ground school. While I was out for lunch, I got a notification from FlightAware.com about an incoming Airbus A320 operated by Allegiant Air for a charter flight carrying the University of Toledo Rockets football team; they play against BYU tomorrow night right here in Provo. Football games usually occur on Saturdays but because this coming weekend is the first weekend of October, that means it's LDS General Conference weekend this week with broadcasts from Salt Lake City, hence a Friday night home football game for BYU, the most LDS school you'll ever know! Having never seen an Allegiant A320 due to the fact that their A320 fleet seems to be consolidated primarily to the east coast and midwest, I just knew that I couldn't pass up this opportunity!

Speaking of Allegiant, today the airline kicked off a new route out Provo with twice-weekly flights to San Diego (flying on Thursdays and Sundays for this route) and I also happened to photograph the arriving flight. This makes this three California destinations travelers can get to out of Provo and fourth overall (I'm a little surprised that there are no flights to Las Vegas via Allegiant out of Provo yet!). Here's the link:

Provo (PVU) 13

Preview:

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N303NV) taxiing to the terminal after arrival as AAY1007, the inaugural arrival from San Diego. Airframe formerly registered as G-EZET and in service with EasyJet under lease from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). In order to make efficient use aircraft, Allegiant rotated this airframe around between Oakland, Provo, and San Diego; N303NV started the day as AAY1004 from Oakland to Provo, then departing as the inaugural flight to San Diego as AAY1006, followed by a return flight to Provo as AAY1007, and then finally returning to Oakland as AAY1005. Long day for the aircraft and flight crew!

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N225NV) arriving on 13 as AAY4604 from Toledo, OH with the Toledo University Rockets football team on board. Airframe started it's life as RP-C3221 in 1997 with Philippine Airlines before being transferred in 2013 to it's low-cost subsidiary PAL Express. Allegiant acquired this airframe in 2015.

AAY4604 taxiing to the terminal. The differences in length between the A319 and A320 is quite obvious! After seeing so many A319s in this airline livery here in Provo, it's kind of nice to see something new. Also as of this date, I have seen at least one example of every aircraft type currently in operation by Allegiant Air!

Pilot Life: Flight with Ground References

Slowly but surely, I'm accumulating flight hours each day I'm able to go flying! Every day that I fly, my logbook gets filled out, detailing what was covered for the duration of the flight lesson along with how many landings conducted and how many flight hours I've earned. And each day I'm able to get up into the air under the guidance of my flight instructor, I slowly gain a little more confidence in being able to demonstrate the concepts of proper airmanship. And I'm always grateful for my instructor for putting up with me!

Diamond DA-20-C1 Katana (N221NH), "Wolf 04," the aircraft I went up in today's flight.

Today's flight consisted of reviewing a few things from a previous lesson, along with a few new ones. After pre-flighting the airplane and getting started up, I once again picked up our flight's taxi clearance from the Provo ground controller on the radio and I even got to do the read-backs this time! We taxied to the run-up area and did the routine run-ups, as is standard practice. Once that was done, we taxied up to the runway and I got the takeoff clearance from the control tower. Departure was a little different today, however... I didn't notice until we got on the runway, but a Gulfstream G-IV operated by FlexJet (a leading provider of fractional, jet card and charter services owned/managed by aviation entrepreneur, principal and chairman of Directional Aviation Capital, Kenneth C. "Kenn" Ricci) was taxiing right behind us and was ready for departure as well. Once we were off the ground and at sufficient altitude, the air traffic controller instructed us to make a left turn (not the usual right when heading to the practice areas!) in order to make way for the departing Gulfstream. Once we were downwind of our departure direction and east of the airport, the Gulfstream began its takeoff roll and we watched them depart; pretty cool sight to see from the air!

We had to give way to a Gulfstream IV similar to this one. Photographed earlier this semester.

Once the departing Flexjet flight was clear, we flew mid-field over Provo Airport and we were cleared to proceed to the practice area. Once at our designated practice area of the day, we proceeded with some flight maneuvers. We started with reviewing slow flight, then some power-on and power-off stalls.

Another beautiful day, just south of Utah Lake!

After the review, my instructor flew us down to a lower altitude and we got into ground reference maneuvers, which are are training exercises flown to help pilots develop a division of attention between the flight path and ground references while controlling the aircraft. The specific maneuvers we did today were turns around a point followed by some S-turns. My instructor started by demonstrating and then had me do turns around a point, which is flying a constant radius turn around a pre-selected point on the ground while banking the aircraft while maintaining a constant altitude.

A view to the south. Our callsign for today's flight was "Wolf 04." Even with a cellphone camera, you can tell we're much lower to the ground here!

Following turns around a point, we got into S-turns, which help pilots correct for wind drift in turns. Requiring left and right turns, S-turns relies on a straight line of reference, such as a road, railroad tracks, or fence. The objective of the S-Turn is to fly a pattern of two half circles of equal size on opposite sides of the reference line. Normally in ground reference maneuvers, pilots have to make adjustments in their bank angles depending on general wind direction in the area but today was an exception to that because there wasn't much wind to contend with. Truth is, I've actually done these two ground reference maneuvers before in my uncle's Cessna 172 so I was somewhat familiar with it.

View over the left wing, looking towards the Spanish Fork/Springville area.

Once we were done with that, we headed back to Provo. Air traffic was slightly busy as we made our arrival so we were constantly on the look out for other aircraft, something to tolerate as anyone progresses in their respective aviation careers. Last time I tried to land the aircraft, it ended up being a bouncy landing! This time however, that didn't happen, but my landing technique still needs a little work; something to work on for the next couple flights hopefully! After landing, it was a quick taxi back to the ramp and we called it another flight. As usual, it's a lot to take in but I'm enjoying every minute of it!

Pilot Life: Cleared for Bounce & Stop!

It's been a whole week since I last flew! Last Thursday, my instructor needed to take a day off and the day was a wash when it got rained out on Saturday (Wasn't I supposed to leave western Oregon specifically for this reason alone in order to get adequate flight time??? ◔_◔) so I ended up receiving some ground instruction from my flight instructor. I've yet to get through an entire week where I fly for the three days I'm assigned! Hopefully, this week will be the week to do so.

So today, my fourth flight occurred. We flew to a new practice area just west of Provo on the far side of Utah Lake near Fairfield and once again, my awesome instructor put me through the paces. Let's start from the beginning following pre-flight before we departed; I got to work more with the radios this flight! My instructor had me pick up our flight's ground clearance (the clearance needed to taxi the airplane on the ground at an airport with a control tower, like Provo) from the ATC ground controller. Once we taxied to the runway in use following the routine run-up, I picked up our flight's take-off clearance from the air traffic control tower on the radio and we wasted no time in lining up and rolled on out for departure. Once we got off the ground, my instructor asked, "Did you see that?" I was puzzled before he proceed to tell me, "That takeoff was all you. I didn't even touch anything." I had just performed my first takeoff without any assistance! Talk about a personal boost in confidence!

It was a beautiful day flying in the Wasatch in the vicinity of Utah Lake! Snow-capped mountains in the back ground indicative of the end of summer and beginning of fall with winter soon to follow.

Once we were in the practice area. My instructor once again, handed me a pair of foggles and I was blind. Like last time, I got to practice doing some coordinated turns relying on my instruments. And like last time, my flight time using the foggles was relatively short. My instructor then briefly took control of the airplane and had me remove the foggles and we then went into steep turns. My instructor demonstrated one going at 45 degrees and then had me do a couple. During the turns, I was required to maintain the same angle and altitude during the turn  and return the same heading I started the turn at. So basically, it's just a full 360 turn while maintaining a 45 degree bank. I nailed the first one; the way I know is because my instructor told me about a little we felt at the end of the turn, which as it turns out was our plane's own wake turbulence. A pilot know's he's made a perfect steep turn when he hits his own wake turbulence (yes, even small single-engine piston driven airplanes generate wake turbulence!).

DISCLAIMER: I took these quick pictures while my instructor was in full control of the airplane!

Following the steep turns, my instructor took the controls again and he demonstrated to me a few more stalls to show me what to do if I ever find myself in such a scenario; I wasn't required to demonstrate them at this stage of my flight training. After the demonstrations, we simulated and practiced some emergency procedures, particularly for engine failure. For the first one, my instructor had the controls and I read through the emergency checklist. Then it was my turn to fly the plane with a simulated engine failure. It was good practice and good to know how to be prepared, but I am hoping to get some more practice with it in the future. After simulating an emergency, we returned to Provo. The approach and arrival was routine; my instructor even had me do most of the landing. Now I nailed a textbook takeoff today. The landing on the other hand... wasn't that great. I'd rather save face on it, but I bounced upon touch-down (hence the blog title!)! But the airplane is reusable... and I need to practice some landings! Like last time, there wasn't any time for touch-and-goes, but hopefully we'll find time to do some real soon because I need the practice for them. After the "bounce-and-stop," it was a quick taxi back to the UVU ramp and we called it another flight and added to the logbook.

The view up front. Those black lines show the propeller blades; interesting photography effect when shooting with a smart phone!

A quick remark on confidence: In reflecting on what I've experienced during today's flight and how I felt a little more confident, I was drawn back to some rather painful memories that I don't like talking about, yet it seems appropriate to briefly mention here... 

I've spent years trying to overcome personal tendencies of timidness and lack of self-confidence. Some early memories for me begin in Japan learning the Japanese language, going to a Japanese pre-school, but my family moved to the United States after only a few years. Once placed in the American education system all those years ago, I grew up while trying to overcome language barriers. I grew up with little friends in grade school and middle school and I was often picked on by others; my third grade teacher even had the audacity to view me as an "inevitable train wreck" just because I had difficulty keeping up with the class and I had a great deal of difficulty grasping the English language. I was considered a below-average student in elementary school and my grades reflected that, but that soon changed as I got older and finally started to get a feel for my surrounding during those teenage years of middle school and high school. I became a better student with good grades, but I still had doubts about myself and confidence in myself wasn't getting stronger. I was still one of those kids with very few friends. As a result, I became someone who was independent of others; I had a hard time warming up to and trusting others. I became hard on myself and hard on others and expected nothing but the best with a no-nonsense attitude and mindset. I've mellowed out since then, however... It would take several more years before I would get to where I am currently. 

Seven years have passed since I graduated from high school. I earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, I got to go back to Japan on a church mission, I earned an Associate's Degree from Brigham Young University-Idaho a little over a year ago, and I even volunteered at the Legacy Flight Museum to immerse myself further with aviation. I successfully held several jobs, including a quality-control job in the food industry and even got promoted to supervisor while holding that job. I've learned some valuable life lessons since those early years... And now here I am majoring in Aviation Science at Utah Valley University; I'm pursuing my life-long dream of becoming a pilot in the aviation industry after years of waiting for the opportunity as well as for the sufficient amount of money to pay for it. I am learning something I love. But to me, the most important is that I'm proving wrong to all those who couldn't see what I would become and to those who have given up on me. I'm no "train wreck," and I love proving those who thought I was, dead wrong.

And I love proving that b**** of a 3rd grade teacher wrong every time!

Gallery Update: Chasing an Allegiant MD-88 in Provo

The first day of fall and it ended up being a wet day! I'm done with classes by mid-morning on Fridays so I decided to get a little planespotting in today with elements of the rainy weather. Today, one of the Allegiant flights coming into Provo turned out to be another McDonnell Douglas MD-80. But this was not just any MD-80, but an MD-88, which as it turns out is a rare aircraft type here in the western United States!

The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series includes five sub-types: the MD-81, MD-82, MD-83, MD-87, and the MD-88. Allegiant Air was the only US-based carrier to have operated all five sub-types of the MD-80 series and all of them except the MD-87 have the same fuselage lengths. Apart from the shortened MD-87 (another rare aircraft type here in the United States!), the differences between the long-length MD-80 sub-types are relatively minor and only differ from each other in having different engine variants, fuel capacities, and weights. The MD-88 is the sole exception along with its successor, the MD-90s and MD-95 (currently known as the Boeing 717-200) by being equipped with more modern, up-to-date flight decks.

Here's a quick low-down on the standard MD-80 family:

• The MD-81 is the basic, first production model of the MD-80 family. 

• The MD-82 is equipped with more powerful engines and was intended  for operation from 'hot and high' airports but also offered greater payload and range when in use at standard airfields. 

• The MD-83 is a longer range version of the basic MD-81/82 with higher weights, more powerful engines, and increased fuel capacity. Allegiant Air currently operates 40 MD-83s in its fleet, with plans to retire them by 2020. MD-82s could also be re-engined and then re-certified to become MD-83s, a conversion process that Alaska Airlines (which once operated MD-80s from the 1980s until 2008) and Allegiant Air have already done. American Airlines also currently operates a mixed fleet of MD-82s and MD-83s, with plans to have them phased out of the fleet by 2018.

• The MD-87 is a shorter fuselage variant of the MD-80, and could seat between 109 and 130 passengers depending on configuration. The designation was intended to indicate its planned date of entry into service, 1987. Allegiant Air used to operate 4 MD-87s in their fleet and used them solely for charter purposes until 2010, with all four airframes being scrapped afterwards. Currently, no U.S. airline operates the MD-87 sub-type but there are a handful of them in use or in ownership of private owners and leasing companies. Seven airframes are currently in use as converted waterbombers by Erickson Aero Tanker.

• The MD-88 was the last variant of the MD-80 and is basically similar to the MD-82 or MD-83 except it incorporates an EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System) cockpit instead of the more traditional analog flight deck of the other MD-80s. EFIS became standard on the MD-80's successor, the MD-90 and Boeing 717-200. Allegiant Air currently operates six MD-88s in its fleet with plans to retire them in 2020 along with its MD-83s. Delta Air Lines is the world's largest operator of the MD-88 sub-type with 116 aircraft in its fleet. However, it appears that Delta concentrates their entire MD-88 fleet to the eastern and partially the central United States and not so much in the western part.

The MD-80 is quickly becoming rare aircraft type to see in many parts of North America. Here's the link:

Provo (PVU) 12

Preview:

Allegiant Air McDonnell Douglas MD-88 (N403NV) arriving on 13 as AAY132 from Phoenix-Mesa. This is my first time photographing an MD-88 since getting into planespotting!

AAY132 taxiing to the terminal. Airframe was first delivered as N161PL to AeroMexico under lease from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). Allegiant purchased the airframe in 2008.

Long live the mighty "Mad Dog!"

Gallery Update: Another BYU Sports Charter & a Weather Diversion

I didn't go flying as scheduled today due to my instructor wanting to take the day off. I was fine with that and was glad he let me know what was going on. Besides, I had something else in mind as a sweet consolation: another BYU football team charter! BYU plays against the West Virginia University Mountaineers in Morgantown, West Virginia this coming Saturday. And who do you call when BYU needs to fly to some far off state for an away football game? Why, Allegiant Air and one of their Boeing 757-200s of course! And better yet, today's 757 charter was a different airframe compared to the last time. I went straight to class after I photographed this rare visitor to Provo. But it was after class that things got really interesting. Due to some weather up in Salt Lake City, an Alaska-SkyWest flight from (wait for it!) Portland, Oregon of all places ended up diverting to Provo while I was in class and I got to see this flight take off not too long after I got out of class! The airports in both Provo and Ogden are capable of accepting any Salt Lake City-bound flights in the event the airport there closes due to weather. Rather than talk about it some more, here's the link:

Provo (PVU) 11

Preview:

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N302NV) taxiing to the terminal after arriving from Phoenix-Mesa as AAY1029. On the Thursdays, the Allegiant flight from Phoenix runs in the afternoon with a different flight number compared the usual mid-/late-morning flights on all other days. Allegiant currently serves Provo every day of the week except on Tuesdays.

Allegiant Air Boeing 757-204 (N906NV) departing on 13 as AAY4408 for Baltimore (the nearest major airport to Morgantown, WV) with the BYU football team on board. I got front-row seats on the ramp to photograph this one! Airframe arrived earlier in the day as AAY4407 on a ferry flight from Las Vegas.

AAY4408 beginning rotation on 13. This was the sixth and final 757 delivered to Allegiant for their Hawaiian service. Airframe was originally delivered in 1994 as G-BYAP to Britannia Airways and spent it's entire service life in the U.K. until going to Allegiant. Ten years after delivery, the aircraft was transferred to Thomsonfly while under a lease to AerCap in 2004. The aircraft then flew under the Thomson Airways banner after its creation following the merger of Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways. At the end of the lease term, the airframe was ferried to Abu Dhabi for maintenance in 2011 followed by delivery to Allegiant Air in 2012 for use on routes to Hawaii.

This has to be my favorite shot of the aircraft! 

As previously mentioned, Allegiant Air ceased flying to Hawaii with their 757s after an unprofitable run there due the airline's business model not really meshing well with the Hawaiian market.

For the time being, the 757s will continue to see use for sports charters and possibly some high-density flights when called upon for regular scheduled service.

Pilatus PC-12/45 (N425EV) taxiing for departure.

Gulfstream Aerospace (G-IV-X) G450 (N450KR) taxiing for departure.

Pilatus PC-12/45 (N260HS) taxiing for departure.

N450KR departing on 31.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N182SY) taxiing for departure to complete its flight to Salt Lake City as SKW3482 after spending some time on the ground during a weather diversion to Provo. This flight originated from Portland, Oregon. Cool to see something unusual in Provo but sucks to be the passengers on this diversion! N182SY is one of the newest E-jets delivered to SkyWest to fly for Alaska and fifth airframe to sport the new Alaska Airlines livery.

SKW3482 departing on 31 to complete the journey to Salt Lake City. After seeing this bird off, the weather started to deteriorate again!

Pilot Life: Third Flight's the Charm!

I felt really good about today's flight. In fact, I flew in the same airplane today as the one I flew on Saturday (and it hasn't flown since that flight!). I'm not making this up; I actually had to remove some cobwebs off the airplane during pre-flight! Is this also a good time tell you that I HATE spiders??? Anyways, I really enjoyed this flight because I did well on quite a few things today. After conducting the pre-flight inspection and got started up, we taxied to the runway and my instructor had me get our takeoff clearance from the Provo air traffic control tower; I got to make my first radio call from an airplane! My takeoff was a little better too; last time, I was weaving all over the runway but this time I managed to keep the plane mostly on the center line.

After takeoff, we flew southeast to a different practice area from last time. Once we were situated, my instructor handed me a pair of foggles, which are glasses that have been made to simulate foggy conditions to the wearer. Foggles are frosted on the top half to limit the field of vision of pilots and force them to use only the flight instruments; they help to simulate the conditions of low cloud ceilings, heavy fog, night, and other Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). I'll most likely use these a lot more when I'm training to earn my Instrument rating in order to be able to fly IFR (Instrument Flight Rules). The purpose of wearing the foggles for these VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flights is to force me to depend on and look at my instruments during the maneuvers my instructor asked me to perform, which included climbing and descending turns. And I did pretty well doing these maneuvers while wearing the foggles! I have to admit, when I could only see my instruments and not be able to look out the canopy, I realized the value of my flight instruments. By taking away my ability to see outside the airplane, the flight instruments were the only sources to tell me how I was doing and how the airplane was flying; I came to rely upon them a lot more, which explains how I did well on today's maneuvers compared to last time.

I didn't have to wear the foggles long, however as the rest of the flight was more visual. After removing the glasses, my instructor demonstrated slow flight to me. Slow flight is a requirement that a pilot must master in order demonstrate capabilities in operation. Slow flight is essentially a portion of an airplane's performance envelope above the speed at which the plane will stall, but below the aircraft's endurance speed. A more accurate description of slow flight is Minimum Controllable Airspeed (MCA), and the name doesn't get any more self-described than that. Pilots have to learn how the controls in an airplane feel and how it performs at slow airspeeds. Controls get rather "mushy" in slow flight and not a lot of input is required to make turns in slow flight. I did alright attempting slow flight. After that, the fun really began by practicing some stall recovery! My instructor first demonstrated and then had me do a couple of power-on and power-off stalls. Power-on stalls can occur when a plane taking off (because you're usually applying full power on the engine to accelerate!) and power-off stalls can happen during landing (you take out engine power during landing!). As such, pilots need to know how to demonstrate recovering from stalls during these sequences of flight just in case it happens to them so they'll know what to do when one happens for real. And I did pretty well doing a couple of stall recoveries after my instructor demonstrated them!

After we were done with the stalls, it was time for us to return to Provo Airport and call it another flight. My instructor had me do most of the landing sequence (we were short on time, so we did a full-stop landing this flight with no touch-and-goes); I did pretty well except for the actual landing! It wasn't my best but I'll improve on that eventually. My instructor is always telling me that initially, I'll be bombarded with a lot of information over the course of my flight instruction but things will start to stick one concept at a time. I'm grateful that he tells me that because that tells me I just need to roll with it not give up. Besides, I've already sunk a lot of money into being here so I don't think giving up is an option! But regardless of where I'm currently at, my logbook got another flight hour recorded!

My logbook! These things are so cool to have and look through!

A Sight No More: SeaPort Airlines Ceases Operations

I learned today that the Portland, Oregon-based commuter airline SeaPort Airlines has ceased operations effective today due to Chapter 7 bankruptcy and subsequent liquidation. Headquartered at Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon, SeaPort Airlines started operations on June 5, 2008 with a business model that targeted commuters between Seattle and Portland wishing to avoid congestion at the larger Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the main commercial terminal at Portland International Airport. SeaPort Airline's Pacific Northwest network saw limited expansion on October 21, 2008, when it was awarded a two-year government grant under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program to provide commercial service from Portland to Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton, Oregon; the services commenced on December 1, 2008, replacing subsidized service by Horizon Air when it converted to an all-Q400 fleet. Using the callsign 'Sasquatch' for radio communications, the airline played off this in early 2013  by introducing "Roger, The SeaPort Airlines Sasquatch" as the airline's official company mascot.

In early 2011, SeaPort Airlines attempted to expand its Pacific Northwest network yet again by starting up flights from Salem's McNary Field as well as Oregon coastal cities such as Astoria and Newport to Portland with connections to Boeing Field. However, these proved to be unprofitable from the start. And as a further consequence, SeaPort Airlines was left with a bad reputation among these communities, especially with the coastal cities of Astoria and Newport, both claiming that the airline only served these cities only for the monetary incentives offered, only to leave once those sources of cash dried up. On July 18, 2011, SeaPort Airlines expanded into Idaho via Pendleton, Oregon with service between Boise and Idaho Falls, restoring a void left by Horizon Air when it stopped flying this route on August 22, 2010. This turned out to be short-lived however, as the service was discontinued on December 31, 2011 due to issues and difficulties in getting maintenance on their PC-12s as well as the impending changes in the airline's fleet strategy.

In late 2011, the small Pacific Northwest airline began to reinvent its business model and the carrier ended its namesake route between Seattle (Boeing Field) and Portland on January 27, 2012. As part of its shifting business model, SeaPort Airlines began nonstop flights between Portland International Airport and North Bend/Coos Bay utilizing Cessna 208 Caravan single turboprop engine aircraft on January 15, 2012. The airline traded in all of their Pilatus PC-12/45s for the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan during this time as well. The North Bend/Coos Bay service ended on March 20, 2016; PenAir subsequently began flying the Portland-North Bend/Coos Bay route with their Saab 340Bs a day after SeaPort stopped flying it.

The airline also became a bidder for Essential Air Service (EAS) contracts and expanded into several regions throughout the country, starting with its Mid-South network, all of which was federally subsidized under the Essential Air Service. Using Memphis International Airport as the central hub in its Mid-South network, SeaPort Airlines won a two-year EAS contract to provide three daily flights between Salina, Kansas and Kansas City International Airport; part of this growth included securing approval from the Department of Transportation to add daily flights between Kansas City International Airport and Harrison, Arkansas. In July 2011, SeaPort Airlines began serving Dallas Love Field with flights to South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field in El Dorado, Arkansas and Memorial Field Airport in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The extensive network of routes in the Mid-South region saw city pairs change and disappear often but SeaPort ceased most, if not all services in the region on January 16, 2016, citing a nationwide shortage of regional airline pilots as the reason for the cutback in routes.

SeaPort Airlines also expanded into the Southwest on May 1, 2013 by connecting Imperial/El Centro to San Diego and Burbank. The EAS contract, which was  awarded to SeaPort in January 2013, replaced incumbent carrier SkyWest Airlines, which linked Imperial to Los Angeles. On October 1, 2014, the Southwest network expanded with the airline beginning flights to San Diego. Following the expansion into San Diego, SeaPort Airlines also added service to Sacramento and Visalia as well as its first international destination, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. The airline shut down its entire Southwest network on January 15, 2016, citing a nationwide shortage of regional airline pilots.

On February 5, 2016, the airline filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being forced to reduce its route network apparently due to a shortage of pilots. When the airline filed for bankruptcy, it was planning on re-expanding its home network in the Pacific Northwest by connecting Portland with Seattle-Tacoma via Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, effectively returning (in a way) to the airline's original namesake. However those plans (which ultimately never came to fruition) were put on indefinite hold when the airline filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. During this time, the airline was in the process of reorganizing until it converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation today, effectively ceasing operations after eight years of being in business.

In light of this news, here's a photo montage of all the SeaPort Airlines aircraft I've photographed in my planespotting career:

SeaPort Airlines started out with a fleet of Pilatus PC-12/45s serving routes primarily out of Portland International Airport to Seatte-Boeing Field as well as Eastern Oregon Regional Airport at Pendleton (the latter under the Essential Air Service contract). Pictured here is N933SP on static display at the 2009 Oregon International Air Show. Photographed on August 29, 2009.

SeaPort Airlines also leased PC-12/45s such as this one, N58VS. When this aircraft was photographed back in 2012, it was no longer part of the SeaPort fleet as the airline had just finalized transitioning to a fleet of Cessna 208B Caravans. Photographed on April 5, 2012.

Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N950PA) taxiing for departure at Portland International Airport. This was the first 208B to join the SeaPort fleet. Photographed on June 28, 2012.

SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N1026V) getting ready for departure out of Portland. Photographed on November 29, 2014.

SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N1154F) taxiing out for departure from Portland. Photographed on December 23, 2014.

SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N803TH) airborne after departure out of Portland International Airport. Photographed on May 20, 2015.

Double 208B sightings on the SeaPort ramp at Portland. N803TH is on the left while N1154F is on the right. Photographed on July 3, 2015.

SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N208TW) pulling up to its parking spot at Portland. Photographed on November 29, 2015.

SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N932SP) taxiing up to parking in Portland. Photographed May 18, 2016.

N932SP on static display at the 2016 Oregon International Air Show, just a month before the airline would shut down. Photographed August 6, 2016.

I wish the very best of luck to all the pilots and staff who worked at the now-defunct SeaPort Airlines in securing new jobs in the wake of this airline shutting down.

Gallery Update: A "Mad Dog" and a Baby Boeing at Provo

It's been a while since I updated the gallery with anything; it's expected, now that I'm dedicated to spending time learning how to fly and getting classroom instruction on top of that. But it doesn't mean I'm not taking photos when opportunity permits or if something cool or unique is operating out of Provo. Here are some links to photos I've taken in the past few days:

Provo (PVU) 8

Provo (PVU) 9

As for today, I noticed Allegiant Air was operating an MD-80 out of Provo today so I opted to catch this one with my camera lens after so many Airbus sightings. Not only that, but a Boeing 737 was also scheduled to arrive in Provo today as well so I stuck around to catch it as well (crediting FlightAware.com for this one!). However, this wasn't just any regular 737; it was a privately-owned 737 configured as the Boeing Business Jet! Considering that I have never seen this type of 737 before, I just had to photograph it!  Here's one more link:

Provo (PVU) 10

Preview:

Allegiant Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (N417NV) rotating on departure from 13 as AAY345 for Los Angeles. Normally on Mondays, the Los Angeles flights arrive/depart mid-morning, but today it was extremely late and is usually operates with the Airbus A319 and rarely the MD-80. My guess is that this MD-80 was called in as an equipment substitution.

N417NV started its life as an MD-81 and first delivered as SE-DMD to Scandinavian Airlines - SAS in 1992 before being re-registered as LN-RON and converted into an MD-82 in 2005. The airframe was then withdrawn from commercial service in 2008 and the tail code returned to SE-DMD before going briefly back into service in 2009. In early 2010, the aircraft was ferried into to Jacksonville, Florida and converted for use by Allegiant Air; during its service life with Scandinavian Airlines, the airframe was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-217C low-bypass turbofan engines. When converted for Allegiant Air, it was re-engined with the updated JT8D-219, adhering to MD-83 standards.

SOCATA TBM 850 (N850U) taxiing for departure.

Boeing 737-73Q (BBJ) Boeing Business Jet (N977JG) arriving on 13 from Salt Lake City. Any Boeing aircraft (the 737 model being the most common) privately owned and configured for VIP/luxury operations are designated as the Boeing Business Jet. If you've got several billion dollars you want to spend, this is the way to go!

My first time seeing a BBJ! The -3Q customer code indicates that this airframe was first delivered to Boeing under the ownership of the Boeing Capital Corporation (BCC) Equipment Leasing in 2000, registered as N349BA before transitioning to CIT Leasing Corporation in 2006. The aircraft was the re-registered as N377CJ in 2011 and went to Premiair operating for Czar Aviation, Ltd. in Indonesia. Then just a little over a year ago, the airframe was returned to the United States and re-registered to its current tail number under private ownership. 

N977JG taxiing to the TAC Air FBO ramp. Having just moved from the Pacific Northwest, it's kind of sad that the first Boeing Business Jet I see happens to be in Provo, considering that Boeing builds these things all the time up in Seattle, yet I never saw one while there!

Pilot Life: Highlights from the Second Flight

I fly every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. And I got to log another flight hour today! I couldn't have asked for a better schedule between flight lessons and classroom instruction. And for those of you who are wondering, I'm taking 16 credits this semester! And in my opinion, there's no better way to spend a portion of my Saturdays than to go flying! I didn't get any pictures from this flight as a personal decision because I am in flight training after all, and I stand by that decision. You know the old saying: There is a time and place for everything. Any pictures I do take during my flight training sessions will be from the ground only.

Today's flight was on a Diamond DA-20-C1 Katana (N988CT) "Wolf 18." Photo taken earlier this semester.

Today's flight was more or less the same as this past Thursday. We flew to the same practice area but I got to do a little more compared to last time. For starters, my instructor walked me through a takeoff; it certainly wasn't my best takeoff but then again, I didn't expect it to be. I can only go up the proverbial ladder of success and improve from here on, right? I got some practice in making some turns again, this time while reading the heading indicator and turning to a certain point at the commands of my instructor. Again, I still got quite a bit of learning to do! Throw some altitude monitoring into the mix and I was truly in for a learning curve in today's flight! Again, I can only make improvements and learn from each flight from here on out. Before returning to the Provo Airport, my instructor took the controls and demonstrated a maneuver designed to lose altitude quickly before reaching pattern altitude (specified altitude to be flying when near airport operations). Known as the steep-descending turn,  the aircraft turns in circles while in a descent to reach a desired altitude. And of course there are some G-forces involved.

One thing that made this flight interesting was that a commercial airliner arrived into Provo just as we were making our way back. Ultra low-cost carrier Allegiant Air serves Provo with weekly flights to Phoenix, Los Angeles, Oakland, and starting later this month, San Diego. It just so happens that one of their flights from Phoenix came in and my instructor and I were next in the landing queue after the larger Airbus! It was really cool to be in the same traffic pattern as a commercial airliner and this encounter served as a reminder for what my ultimate goal was and why I came to UVU to learn how to fly in the first place. Of course, following a commercial jet airliner into the airport in a tiny Diamond DA-20 Katana (Airbuses eats DA-20s for breakfast!) did come with a little element of concern to all pilots: wake turbulence. Simply put, it's turbulence that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air much like how a boat or a ship leaves a wake trail as it passes through water. Wake turbulence can be hazardous, especially for small aircraft like the ones we fly as the turbulence can easily upset the flight path and handling of an aircraft. The dangers of wake turbulence are exponentially more hazardous in the vicinity of airports because planes are operating at lower altitudes and slower speeds, a pretty narrow margin of error to recover in. The solution to counter the Airbus' wake turbulence: we came in over the runway from a higher altitude above where the wake turbulence was. Like last time, we did one touch-and-go landing and came back around for a full-stop landing before concluding today's flight session. And during both landings, I got to do a majority of it with my instructor walking me through it all.

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-112 (N308NV), the same airframe that arrived into Provo while my instructor and I were in the traffic pattern. It was so cool to see this fly in and be in the same airport traffic pattern as a commercial airliner! Photo taken several days prior.

Flying on Saturdays = Not a bad way to spend a late morning/early afternoon!

Pilot Life: 1st Flight Logged!

The first time for anything is always and should be a memorable moment. And my first flight where I logged my first flight hour is no exception to that statement! In fact, this particular flight was several "firsts" for me. Not only was this my first flight where I got to log my first flight hour under the watchful eye of an instructor, but this was also my first time flying in the left seat. This was also my first time flying in a Diamond DA-20 Katana. So far in terms of general aviation aircraft, I've flown in a Mooney M20, a Cessna 152, a Cessna 172, and an Atec Faeta, getting only a taste of flying each time.

Diamond DA-20-C1 Katana (N957CT), "Wolf 05," the aircraft that I logged my first flight hour in parked after my instructor and I took it for my introductory flight. The first plane where I officially logged my first hour in has a special place in my heart!

Today's flight served as an introduction to what I will be experiencing in the days and weeks to come. My instructor and I took "Wolf 05" to a section of airspace just south of Provo and west of Spanish Fork near Utah Lake we immediately went into some basic maneuvers such as turns and maintaining altitude and speeds. Control of the aircraft shifted between me and my instructor frequently during this, which was expected since this was an introductory flight. On the ground, my instructor even allowed me the opportunity to taxi the aircraft. And before I forget, yes, I once again did a preflight inspection of the aircraft, as is expected every time one goes flying!

Instrument panel of "Wolf 05."

At one point during the flight in the designated practice area, my instructor took control of the aircraft and he demonstrated to me what to do and how to react when an airplane goes into a stall. Recovery from a stall in an aircraft is a requirement a student pilot is expected to master and I expect to be doing so during a training flight in the near future. A stall occurs on fixed-wing aircraft when the wings are not able to produce sufficient amount of lift (usually due to a high or increased angle of attack, a nose-up attitude). It's that lifting force an aircraft wing generates that keeps it in stable flight. As a result of the reduced and loss of lift, an aircraft slows to the point where it can drop out of the sky. Stall recovery training is where pilots deliberately put an aircraft into a stall situation and then get themselves out of it by recovering the aircraft back to a stable flight condition. Such maneuvers introduces some G-forces and that was the other element my instructor wanted to introduce me to as he wanted me to get an idea on what these G-forces are going to feel like. If you've ever ridden on a roller coaster, it's that kind of feeling!

View from the left seat prior to departure!

After learning some of the basics and getting to know the DA-20's flight handling characteristics a little bit, it was time for us to return to the Provo Airport. Once again, my instructor allowed me to take the controls as we headed to the airport. He took control again to show me what exactly we do for a landing and we did performed a touch-and-go, which is landing and taking off again without coming to a full stop (Trivia: Touch-and-go landings allows many landings to be practiced in a short time). Once we were back in the air, I was given control of the aircraft and my instructor walked me through on performing our full-stop landing to get an idea what this will be like. And just like that, we were back on the ground and we taxied back to the UVU ramp and my first flight was complete! And just for the record, it was a very good, educational first flight and I'm looking forward to the next one! By logging this first hour, I have taken a big step forward towards my private pilot certification and the rest of my aviation career.

One flight hour down, with (hopefully) many more hours to go! The flying adventures are just getting started!

Pilot Life: The Pre-Flight

This morning, I met and got acquainted with my flight instructor for the first time on the aviation campus of Utah Valley University at Provo Airport. And believe me, things are starting feel very real and I'm getting excited to finally start building up flight hours and begin my official flying career! I should've started learning how to fly ten years ago, but living in a post 9/11 Washington D.C. area back then and tight finances made it pretty much impossible at the time. I've waited all my life for this moment! My first lesson with my instructor was held entirely on the ground though, as I needed to get to know the type of aircraft I'll be working in to earn my private pilot certification. Utah Valley University operates a fleet of Austrian designed (and Canadian license-built) Diamond aircraft, consisting of the DA-20 Katana, DA-40 Diamond Star, and DA-42 Twin Star. For the duration of my private pilot training, I'll be flying exclusively the DA-20 Katana.

One of UVU's Diamond DA-20 Katanas, photographed earlier in the semester.

Today's lesson consisted of learning the checklists I'll be using for every flight as well as all the necessary paperwork I need to fill out prior to each flight for the UVU Flight School Dispatch staff. In addition to all the logistical stuff, my instructor took me out onto the ramp to a vacant aircraft and taught me how to do a pre-flight inspection. In aviation, a pre-flight inspection (also known as an outside check or walk-around) is a required and highly emphasized practice for all airmen and aircrews. This is where pilots check and inspect certain elements and components of an aircraft prior to boarding mainly for the sake of security, safety, and operational purposes. Obvious components pilots check on pre-flight inspections include exterior control surfaces, wheels, brakes, etc., making sure they're in good working order as well as checking for fluid leaks, which includes oil, fuel, hydraulics, etc. Basically, a pilot is looking for anything obvious that could potentially make an otherwise perfectly working airplane unsafe to operate!

Instrument & control panel of a Diamond DA-20. Nothing fancy here; just the usual analogue "steam" gauges, which I prefer!

As mentioned in previous blog posts, I've had some exposure to general aviation flights before and that included seeing pre-flight inspections being done. But now, I can start to do one for myself (under the watchful eye of my flight instructor, of course!). And better yet, these will be MY flight experiences! Aviation is a great lifestyle, but only if you have the right people to share it with. Aviation is also a very tight-knit community, and I've always wanted to be a part of that. The adventure for me begins!