After I left Oregon a month ago, I found myself back home in the Pacific Northwest AFTER my fall semester started. The reason I had to drive back to Oregon was because I had to pick up my youngest sister and bring her back to Utah with me as she will be starting school after Labor Day; normally, my Dad would make the trip out but work has made it difficult for him to take time off so that left me as the only viable option. Luckily, I have only online classes this semester and the first of my assignments aren't due until well-into September so it was possible for me to be home this weekend.
So here I am, back home in Oregon for a short time helping my family out one year after first moving out to Utah. So today, I had to drop off my other sister and my brother-in-law at Portland International Airport because they were going to leave the country and travel around Southeast Asia in the coming months. For me, it was just another excuse to do some plane-spotting at PDX and it was worth the trip! The main highlights from today's spotting excursion includes an Atlas Air 747-8F operating on the behalf of Cathay Pacific Cargo as well as several flights of F-15 Eagles from the 142nd Fighter Wing. Here's the link:
Portland (PDX) 29
Preview:
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 717-2BD (N940AT) airborne after departing on 28R as DAL68 for Los Angeles. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N770SA) arriving on 28L as SWA2562 from Ontario, California. |
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| A flight of two F-15 Eagles from the 142nd Fighter Wing flying overhead prior to breaking formation for their landing sequence. As soon as I saw these guys in action, I knew this spotting trip was going to be worthwhile! |
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| Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (84-0026) arriving on 28L after a sortie. |
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| Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (78-0482) arriving on 28L after a sortie. Note the air brake deployed and the use of aerodynamic braking by keeping the nose-wheel off the ground as long as possible. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N579AS) departing on 28L as ASA809 for Kahului. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N420QX) airborne after departing on 28L as QXE2558 for Spokane. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N173SY) arriving on 28L as SKW3497 from San Jose. |
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| JetBlue Airways Airbus A320-232 operating as JBU1522 from Long Beach executing a go-around. The arrival of this aircraft prompted an emergency response with fire rescue services being deployed. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N432QX) airborne after departing on 28L as QXE2081 for Eugene. |
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| American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N843NN) arriving on 28L as AAL319 from Phoenix Sky Harbor. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N1610D) departing on 28L as DAL69 for Tokyo-Narita. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8511K) arriving on 28L as SWA2551 from Oakland. |
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| A second flight of F-15 Eagles flying overhead prior to landing! |
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| Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (84-0030) arriving on 28L after a sortie. |
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| Oregon Air National guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (78-0532) arriving on 28L after a sortie. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N428QX) airborne after departing on 28L as QXE2104 for Sun Valley. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N174SY) departing on 28L as SKW3498 for San Jose. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N558AS) departing on 28L as ASA572 for San Diego. |
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| JetBlue Airways Airbus A320-232 (N621JB) "Do-Be-Do-Be-Blue" arriving on 28L as JBU1522 from Long Beach. Emergency fire crews followed the aircraft after it landed so something must have happened... |
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| Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15D Eagle (85-0130) arriving on 28L after a sortie. |
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| Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (85-0106) arriving on 28L after a sortie. |
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| American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N800NN) departing on 28L as AAL1500 for Dallas-Fort Worth. |
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| Peninsula Airways-PenAir Saab 340B/Plus (N331AG) departing on 28L as NLA197 for Crescent City. PenAir filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization earlier this month and as a result, terminated all flights to and from their recently-established Denver hub entirely as well as much of their Pacific Northwest network to Klamath Falls, Redding, Arcata/Eureka, and North Bend/Coos Bay. The only route remaining for now due to commitments for Essential Air Service is between Portland and Crescent City, which the airline has filed with and is currently in the process of terminating with the Department of Transportation; this process typically takes 30-90 days until a new carrier is found to take over the affected EAS route. It's unfortunate that it had come to this for PenAir here as they've been serving in the Pacific Northwest for a little under two years. Best of luck to all the PenAir employees who have been adversely affected by this. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N626QX) arriving on 28L as QXE2047 from Seattle-Tacoma. This is only my second time photographing a Horizon Air E-Jet and my first time catching one in Portland! |
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| Atlas Air (d/b/a Cathay Pacific Cargo) Boeing 747-87UF/SCD (N856GT) taxiing for departure as CPA3281 to Hong Kong via Anchorage. Atlas Air is currently wet-leasing two 747-8Fs to Cathay Pacific Cargo since the beginning of May to supplement and add capacity for the summer season, particularly with berry season in full swing here in the Pacific Northwest. I am thrilled to catch my first U.S. registered 747-8 and first time photographing an Atlas Air aircraft! |
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| CPA3281 crossing 28L at B6, due to the taxiway orientation and proximity with nearby runway equipment. This particular 747-8F first flew under lease from Atlas Air for Global Supply Systems under the British Airways World Cargo banner as G-GSSD. After Global Supply Systems ceased operations in 2014, the aircraft returned to the United States and flew under Atlas Air's subsidiary Polar Air Cargo for DHL Aviation (hence the yellow paint on the tail section of the aircraft). The aircraft reverted back to normal Atlas Air operations in April of this year just prior to the wet-lease agreement with Cathay Pacific. Aside from being a cargo carrier, Atlas Air uniquely serves another niche market by being a provider of outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services, like it's currently doing for Cathay Pacific Cargo. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N565AS) departing on 28L as ASA400 for San Francisco. This was the flight my sister and my brother in-law were on! |
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| CPA3281 departing on 28L for Hong Kong via Anchorage. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N185SY) departing on 28L as SKW3454 for Burbank. This airframe was the 600th E-170/E-175 built by Embraer. |
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| Compass Airlines (d/b/a American Eagle) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N208AN) arriving on 28L as CPZ6020 from Los Angeles. |
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| N174SY departing on 28L as SKW3498 for the return-trip to San Jose. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N433QX) arriving on 28L as QXE2236 from Redmond. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N468AS) arriving on 28L as ASA419 from Los Angeles. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N272WN) arriving on 28L as SWA2334 from Kansas City. |
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| N173SY departing on 28L as SKW3441 for Fresno. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-490 (N793AS) airborne after departing on 28R as ASA905 for Seattle-Tacoma. Alaska's 737-400s will soon be a thing of the past... |
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| Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (C-GGMN) airborne after departing on 28R as JZA8316 for Calgary. |
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| Boutique Air Pilatus PC-12/45 (N649P) airborne after departing on 28R as BTQ354 for Pendleton. At least the Essential Air Service between Portland and Pendleton is still intact... |
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| Mooney M20K (N755FM) airborne and making an immediate turn to the south after departing on 28R, headed for Tonopah, Nevada. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-932/ER (N844DN) departing on 28R as DAL1503 for Minneapolis/St. Paul. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8324A) departing on 28L as SWA3185 for Phoenix Sky Harbor. |
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| 84-0026 launching on 28L for another sortie. |
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| 84-0030 launching on 28L for another sortie. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8329B) arriving on 28L as SWA2176 from Denver. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N171DZ) arriving on 28R as DAL37 from London Heathrow. Delta started Portland's first ever flights to the U.K. on May 26, 2017 and operates only during the summer season with four flights a week. The PDX-LHR routes were made possible when Virgin Atlantic (which Delta has a 49% stake in as part of a joint-venture) started operating flights to London from Seattle. Prior to Virgin Atlantic starting the Seattle-London service, Delta primarily flew that route. |
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| 85-0106 launching on 28L for another sortie. |
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| 78-0532 launching on 28L for another sortie. |
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| N843NN departing on 28L as AAL319 for Chicago O'Hare. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-3H4 (N380SW) arriving on 28L as SWA428 from San Diego. Southwest will soon begin taking delivery of the new 737 MAX series and as part of their fleet revision, their 737-300s will be retired. |
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| N621JB "Do-Be-Do-Be-Blue" airborne after departing on 28R as JBU1521 for the return trip to Long Beach. The flight departed later than scheduled due to the emergency the aircraft had earlier. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-232 (N693DL) arriving on 28R as DAL2066 from Atlanta. |
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| United Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N496UA) arriving on 28R as UAL549 from Chicago O'Hare. |
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| Compass Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N632CZ) airborne after departing on 28R as CPZ5691 for Seattle-Tacoma. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N402QX) in the University of Montana Grizzlies livery airborne after departing on 28L as QXE2083 for Redmond. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N435QX) in the University of Washington Huskies livery arriving empty as a ferry flight on 28L as QXE9990 from Salt Lake City. |
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| N208AN departing on 28L as CPZ6020 for the return trip to Los Angeles. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N486WN) arriving on 28L as SWA4285 from Las Vegas. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N179SY) arriving on 28L as SKW3387 from Boise. |
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| Spirit Airlines Airbus A319-132 (N530NK) taxiing to the terminal after arriving on 28R as NKS990 from Los Angeles. Many of the older A319s in Spirit's fleet are slated to be retired. |
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| United Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N488UA) airborne after departing on 28R as UAL2054 for San Francisco. |
