The regular semester officially ended this past Thursday, which happened to be the final day I took my final exam. But my flight training has been extended to this coming week so I'm not going home just yet (not what I planned for but when your pilot's license is on the line, you gotta do what you gotta do!). So here I am, stuck in Provo for a little while longer, and roommates and the majority of my peers having gone home for the holidays. I needed to break the boredom streak I've been dealing with for the past two or three days so I decided to go do some planespotting.
I noticed on FlightAware (where have you heard THAT before???) that there was a Beechcraft 1900 scheduled to depart Provo earlier this afternoon. The 1900 I was chasing after today was operated by Alpine Air Express, a Provo-based cargo carrier that operates on over 20 routes throughout Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. While based in Provo, Alpine Air's planes aren't seen there on a daily basis most likely because Provo is more of a maintenance base and not part of main route network. Their main hubs within the actual route network include Billings, Montana, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Alpine Air Express currently maintains a fleet of Beechcraft Model C99 Airliners and Beechcraft 1900Cs.
About a year ago, I managed to photograph a Beechcraft 1900D, but I've yet to photograph a 1900C at that point. That all changed today and I am absolutely thrilled to have been able to photograph another rare aircraft that was once a popular commuter passenger airliner, that has quickly become a dying breed!
Provo (PVU) 23
Preview:
 |
| Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N331NV) taxiing to the terminal after arriving as AAY132 from Phoenix-Mesa. Airframe originally delivered to Cebu Pacific as RP-C3191 in 2005. It was withdrawn from Cebu Pacific's fleet in July of this year and acquired by Allegiant Air this past September and put into service in October. This is one of the more younger Airbuses in Allegiant's fleet. |
 |
| Alpine Air Express Beechcraft 1900C (N194GA) getting ready to taxi for departure to Salt Lake City as AIP150. Note the fuselage length as well was the modifications to the belly of the aircraft meant for cargo capacity. Without the cargo modifications, you can get a good idea with the 1900C's fuselage height that warranted a complete re-design for the passengers, which resulted in the 1900D. Still, the 1900 was the ideal commuter airliner for its day. |
 |
| AIP150 beginning its taxi for departure. Airframe has served with several carriers throughout its career, including USAir Express as N8ZR, Gulfstream International Airlines (the predecessor to Silver Airways, which is still in operation today), as well as Sundance Air under a lease for Caribbean operations. |
 |
| Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche (N8791Y) airborne after departing on 13. |
 |
| AIP150 airborne after departing on 13, headed out for the short hop to Salt Lake City and most likely to return to regular cargo service in the main route network somewhere up north. |
No comments:
Post a Comment