Gallery Review: New Year's Montage 2020

As the first year of this decade comes to a close, I wish you all a Happy New Year! This year, our society and the worldwide community experienced hardship due to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, which of course took its toll on the overall aviation industry, including the airlines, manufacturers, flight training, as well as air shows. In terms of photography, this year was a rather sub-par year for me because there were no air shows, fly-ins, and aviation events to attend. Subsequently, this year's photography comes only from numerous plane-spotting trips and opportunities and not much else as I focused mainly on flight training while balancing out what social life I had along with work schedules.

January 2020
The year started out slow. Once the holiday season was over, work at my job started to lighten up a bit, but winter in the valley still meant limited flying days, which I took advantage of when the opportunity presented itself. Otherwise, I was pretty busy with work and didn't get a lot of photography done, save for one spotting trip to Portland.

WestJet Encore (d/b/a WestJet) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (C-FUWE).

United Parcel Service - UPS Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N294UP).

Learjet 31A/ZR (N36BL).

Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N1604R).

Compass Airlines (d/b/a American Eagle) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N208AN). Sadly, Compass Airlines ceased operations this past year on April 5, 2020 due to a sharp decrease in travel demand as result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which became the prevalent issue in current events starting in March; sister carrier Trans States Airlines ceased operations on April 1, 2020. 

American Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N159AN).

American Airlines Airbus A319-132 (N827AW).

February 2020
February saw some interesting, individual highlights, especially during an unusual week where we saw good weather (and I took personal advantage of by getting a lot of flying in!). The major highlights of the month in terms of photography were charter and ferry flights.

Dassault Falcon 2000EX (N198SS).

Cessna 208 Caravan 675 (N509JE). My first time seeing and photographing an amphibious Caravan!

Contour Aviation (d/b/a Contour Airlines) Embraer EMB-135ER ERJ-135ER (N16501) "Pride of Contour." My first time ever seeing and photographing an aircraft operated by Contour Airlines! This was one of several major highlights when I visited Corvallis!

Empire Airlines (d/b/a 'Ohana by Hawaiian) ATR-72-201(F) (N811HC). My first time photographing an ATR-72 and second time seeing the 'Ohana by Hawaiian livery on the the mainland!

Unical Defense Boeing CH-47D Chinook (N160CZ).

March 2020
What is there to say about March 2020 other than that it completely sucked? Things got worse for all of us in March once the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit the country, resulting in numerous measures by various levels of government (some of which were extreme and draconian, in my opinion!) requiring us to change our habits as a society by going into quarantine (unless you were deemed as an essential employee at an essential business, like I was!) and exercise social distancing. Of course, the aviation industry took a huge hit from the COVID-19 crisis, which resulted in a sharp decline in air travel. Flight schools closed and flight instructing for the most part were suspended, which wasn't ideal for me since I was still working on my commercial license at the time! I did manage to get a few flights on my own to stay sharp. Other than that, there was only one spotting highlight for the month of March and not much else, as I was forced to take things one day at a time, focus on my job making a living (and doing my part to help kick Coronavirus in the ass!), and hold out with a hope that life would get back to normal sooner rather than later...

Meregrass, Inc. (d/b/a Wildcat Touring) Saab 2000 (N814BB). My third time photographing a Saab 2000 and second time seeing one operated by Wildcat Touring!

Valley Flyers Cessna 172N Skyhawk II (N5174E). I got a few flights in with my uncle in this plane this year, well-before the COVID-19 situation got worse!

Piper J3C-65 Cub (NC21667).

April 2020
The quarantine and social distancing measures enacted by state and federal governments spilled over into April, so that meant things didn't really changed much. Other than going flying when I could and working at my non-aviation job earning some income, I made it a point to have my camera with me wherever I went and photograph anything that was at least halfway worthwhile. Several previously-planned spotting trips for a few inaugural airline flights between the end of March and the beginning of April of course, didn't happen because those flights never happened in the first place! I must admit, the social distancing, isolation, and alienation I felt was starting to drive me a little stir-crazy...

Cessna 525 CitationJet (N529FD).

Piper PA-31T-1 Cheyenne I (N939JB).

Ameriflight Beechcraft C99 Airliner (N997SB).

Empire Airlines (d/b/a FedEx Feeder) Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N956FE).

Dassault Falcon 50 (N629EP).

May 2020
Were things getting back to "normal?" Well, first of all, define "normal." And second, I really couldn't tell! May was pretty much like March and April, but things started to open back up slowly towards the end of it. Of course recovery was bound to be slow in the overall industry, but the segment of the industry I'm focused on at the moment was in good shape so I made sure to get back on the horse. Photography-wise, I just couldn't sit still at home anymore, so I got in a few spotting trips up to Portland, mainly to chase down a few worthwhile highlights. The year itself was still on shaky ground however, as a few aviation events I was planning on attending later in the year got cancelled and called off before they even got off the ground (no pun intended!) during this month, so there was still a level of uncertainty...

FedEx Express McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N590FE).

Atlas Air (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 767-3Q8/ER/BDSF (N1361A). Believe it or not, this was my first time seeing an Amazon-branded 767 equipped with the blended winglets!

UPS Airlines Boeing 747-8F (N611UP). My first time seeing a UPS-operated 747-8F!

West Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N619MA). West Air continued to appeal to me with their second-hand Cessna 208s with signs of the old liveries of their previous operators!

ABX Air Boeing 767-223F (N312AA). My first time catching the standard ABX Air livery on one of their shorter 767-200s!

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N341FR) "Fran the Sea Lion."

FedEx Express Airbus A300F4-605R (N663FE). My first time seeing an A300 operated by FedEx!

West Air Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N228DA).

Oregon Department of Forestry Partenavia P.68 Observer (N9000V).

Tecnam P2006T (N950GV).

Raytheon/Hawker Beechcraft 390 Premier I (N88MM).

Two McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles from the 142nd Fighter Wing conducting a flyover pass in a show of solidarity and salute to frontline and essential workers of the COVID-19 crisis.

Cessna 172 Skyhawk (N5636A). A true vintage!

Piper PA-28-151 Cherokee Warrior (N33376).

Grumman American AA-1B TR-2 (N1438R). My first time photographing one of these!

Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-732 (N304DQ). My first time seeing a Delta-operated 737-700! With only ten examples in their fleet, Delta 737-700s are rare sight for me! And as it turns out, I photographed this one in the nick of time because Delta announced additional retirements of certain fleet types and the handful of 737-700s they operated were on the chopping block.

Flexjet Embraer EMB-545 Legacy 450 (N429FX).

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N322FR) "Captain the Puffin."

Flexjet Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 350 (N593FX).

Cessna 510 Citation Mustang (N603WS).

American General Aviation Corporation (AGAC) AG-5B Tiger (N1196J).

June 2020
Life and society was still getting back to normal, albeit slowly. Still, certain aspects of my life (particularly the social side of things) were still on hold or shut down. Aside from work, I did everything I could to focus on my aviation-related commitments. Sadly for me, by month's end, air show season was done before it even got started as the rest of the air shows and planned aviation events I had hoped to attend were all cancelled. With no air shows or any major aviation events to look forward to, my focus was strictly on flight training. But I made it a point to have my camera on me whenever I flew and I decided to try and explore parts of the west coast and the Pacific Northwest a little more by flying into airports I've never been to before in lieu of an air show season.

Gulfstream Aerospace G280 (N82CW).

Sud Aviation Gardan GY-80-180 Horizon (N9829Y).

Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-941 (N513DZ). My first time seeing the newest widebody airliner built by Airbus!

While this past year saw a downturn in the aviation industry, it still did provide rare and unique opportunities to see aircraft types and airlines I wouldn't have otherwise dreamed of seeing!

Empire Airlines (d/b/a FedEx Feeder) ATR-72-212(F) (N819FX). The second ATR-72 I've seen this year and the very first I saw in the FedEx livery!

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N644NK).

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N340DN).

Boutique Air Pilatus PC-12/47 (N474SS).

Atlas Air (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 767-31K/ER (BDSF) (N1373A).

Gama Aviation (d/b/a Wheels Up) Cessna 750 Citation X (N902UP). My first time seeing one of Wheels Up's Citation Xs!

Learjet 45 (N45LV).

Cessna 195A Businessliner (N1071D).

Cessna 140 (NC2404V) "Arctic Tern."

Pacific Aerospace 750XL P-750XSTOL (N902ST). My first time seeing this New Zealand-built utility turboprop aircraft!

Titan Tornado (N2614C).

SkyStar Aircraft Kitfox Series 5 Outback (N456JT).

Cessna 172 (N6000A).

SOCATA TB-21 Trinidad TC (N21XL). The 1,000th Trinidad built!

Cessna 182M Skylane (N70574). I had hoped to get checked out in this plane and earn my high-performance endorsement this year, but other priorities prevented me from doing so...

Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer (N3563A).

This was a rare opportunity to photograph TWO Pak West/Sierra West Airlines Metroliners in Salem on the last weekend of the month!

Pak West Airlines (d/b/a Sierra West Airlines) Fairchild SA-227BC Metro III (N770TR).

Pak West Airlines (d/b/a Sierra West Airlines) Fairchild SA227-DC Metro 23 (N852DR).

Piper PA-23-180 Apache/Seguin Geronimo (N164YF).

Cessna 180 Skywagon (N180MJ).

Van's RV-10 (N104N).

July 2020
With no air shows for me to look forward to this year, it was now time for an all-out effort to get through my flight training, which picked back up with my commercial instructor during the month! I also took the Commercial Knowledge Exam at the start of the month and passed on the first try, which I was happy about! I also joined my flight club on a club fly-out to Crescent Lake, Oregon during the month, which I had fun time on as it was an alternative to the lack of air shows and part of my drive to explore the region a little bit.

Cessna 310 (N7002L).

Daher TBM-910 (N8LP).

Beechcraft 35-A33 Debonair (N1111Z). I took this photo on the 4th of July; how appropriate! And this is probably (in my opinion!) the best-looking Beechcraft Debonair out there!

United States Coast Guard Lockheed Martin HC-130J (L-382) Hercules (2005) of CGAS Elizabeth City, North Carolina. My first time seeing a Herc operated by the Coast Guard! And also only my second time seeing a variant of the Super Hercules family.

Cessna 551 Citation II/SP (N551GE).

Consolidated PBY-5A Canso-A (N9767).

A shot representing my flight clubs fleet during a fly-out I participated it.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N206FR) "Alberta & Clipper."

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LL E-175LL/E-175SC (N298SY). My first time seeing the special-configuration variant of the E-175!

FedEx Express Airbus A300B4-622R (N726FD).

Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-8Q8 (N815SY).

Atlas Air (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 767-31K/ER/BDSF (N1487A).

Boutique Air Pilatus PC-12/45 (N645PC).

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N248WN), the 2,000th 737 NG airframe ever built.

Sun Country Airlines (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 737-84P/BCF (WL) (N5693A). This was also a new sight as Sun Country Airlines began cargo flights on the behalf of Amazon this year.

Volaris Airbus A320-233 (XA-VLQ) "Los Ornelas." My first time photographing a Mexican registered aircraft.

JetBlue Airways Airbus A321-231 (N965JT) "BluesMobile." My first time seeing an A321 in the JetBlue livery!

Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise (N6KE).

While taking passengers like I have in past years hasn't been much of a priority this year due to social distancing and because I've been doing a lot of local flights to master commercial flying maneuvers, I had a opportunities to take a few people flying with some precautions in place, starting in July!

Flying with siblings Ethan and Marah Christenson.
(Photo credit: Ethan Christenson)

After the flight with the Christenson siblings!
(Photo credit: Marah Christenson)

Flying with some good friends of mine, Peter and Rachel Anderson!
(Photo credit: Peter Anderson)

Night flying with Peter and Rachel!
(Photo credit: Rachel Anderson)

August 2020
Flight training towards my commercial license continued. I also had a few incredible plane-spotting opportunities that I took advantage of. I also picked back up my investigation into the possibility of starting my multi-engine flight training and found a promising lead, which I eventually jumped on.

Cessna T206H Stationair (N1488T).

Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee Challenger (N15741).

Hoffmann-Flugzeugbau H36 Dimona (N87PS). The motorized glider that served as the basis for the Diamond DA20 Katana!

Beechcraft B200 King Air (N169RW).

Sun Country Airlines (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 737-83N/BCF (N7907A).

Cathay Pacific Cargo Boeing 747-867F/SCD (B-LJA). My first time seeing the new version of Cathay Pacific's livery!

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N837NN) in the OneWorld livery. My first time photographing the OneWorld logo.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N248AK) sporting the 100th anniversary of Boeing livery. Definitely one of my favorite special liveries from Alaska Airlines! It's been four years since this anniversary livery was unveiled and I was quite happy to have been able to photograph it this year!

United Airlines Boeing 777-222/ER (N223UA). Another first for me by photographing a United Airlines Triple 7!

American Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N578UW) in the US Airways heritage livery.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LL E-175LL/E-175SC (N270SY).

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N309FR) "Weston the Woodpecker."

Kalitta Air Boeing 767-3P6/ER/BDSF (N764CK). My first time photographing Kalitta Air!

Boutique Air Pilatus PC-12/45 (N111WG).

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N608NK).

American Airlines Airbus A319-112 (N767UW).

Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-351 (N595NW).

Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-83N (N831SY). My first time seeing the new Sun Country livery (often jokingly known as the "Tide Pods livery!")!

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N335FR) "Jo Jo the Grizzly Bear."

Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (C-GJZN).

Cessna 560XL Citation Excel (N97VS).

Velocity XL300 (N274JP).

Piper PA-30B Twin Comanche (N125RJ). I began multi-engine flight training in this plane later on in the year!

Dassault Falcon 2000 (N705WL).

I also had a few fun flights with some friends in August as well.

Me and Barak Mosgrove, a fellow member of the flying club on a little tour of the Oregon coast. He got his private pilots certificate this year and served as my safety pilot for a couple of Instrument re-currency flights!
(Photo credit: Barak Mosgrove)

My good friend Andrew Thomas and I after a little cross-country outing. The repercussions from the pandemic really exacerbated and put some additional strain on many of my relationships I've been trying to cultivate (especially ones with those of my faith); Andrew however, has definitely been one of the few good friends I had this year.
(Photo credit: Andrew Thomas)

September 2020
If I didn't think the year 2020 couldn't turn into more of a sh!tshow than it already has, I was sorely mistaken! Nearby wildfires that have been burning in the eastern portions of the Willamette Valley came uncomfortably close to where I've been doing flight training and smoke from said fires were also blown into the valley, which reduced visibility and resulted in terrible air quality. Needless to say, this disaster put everyone affected on edge; at work, we fell behind and my work schedule basically went to hell due to poor air quality. I was also set to go for my commercial checkride this month, but it got pushed back because of said smoke, which denied my instructor and I of the critical flying days needed to polish up for the checkride an examiners everywhere were booked solid into October from everyone else rescheduling for the same reason (my flight training has been riddled with bad luck and setbacks!). I also had to reschedule my first multi-engine flight THREE times during the month (even though I got some ground instruction during the month)! Needless to say, nothing worked out for me in September as fatigue from working extended hours at my job took its toll on me and the month was full of disappointment...

Cessna 320C Skyknight (N3050T). My first time seeing a Cessna 320.

Berry Aviation Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III (N691AX).

NetJets Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 (N312QS).

Piper PA-32-301T Turbo Saratoga (N8185Y).

Aero Commander 500A (N471D).

Aero-Flite Bombardier CL-215-6B11 CL-415 Superscooper (N386AC). My first time seeing one of these waterbombers!

Helicopter Transport Services Sikorsky S-64E Skycrane (N6979R). Ironic that I photograph a few aerial firefighting platforms just days before some of the nearby communities relative to where I lived were devastated by some of the worst wildfires we've seen.

NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N581QS). This was the reality we had to live with for half of September, thanks to the wildfires that took place east of Salem as well as the resultant smoke that enveloped the Willamette Valley.

Air Spray Air Tractor AT-802A Airtanker (N358AS) "Tanker 829." The one consolation to all these horrific wildfires that happened close to home were the opportunities to see these aerial firefighting aircraft, which were temporarily based in Salem.

North Wind Helicopters Bell UH-1H Iroquois (N353RC).

CHI Aviation Boeing CH-47D Chinook (N949CH).

Baker Aircraft Bell 206L-3 LongRanger III (N412KK).

October 2020

After a tough September, I tried to pick up the pieces in October. However, the month was a mixed bag for me. After some delay, I officially got started on my multi-engine flight training by taking an intro flight. Unfortunately, I also failed the oral exam as I started my commercial checkride, so I had that for a setback (and there were more delays to come!). But I acquired a new lens for my camera, so my plane-spotting and photography capabilities evolved!

Cessna 550B Citation Bravo (N22GF).

NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N624QS).

SC Aviation Raytheon Hawker 800XP (N411MM).

Flexjet Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 (N380FX).

Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-8F2 (N828SY).

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N201LV). Note the mismatched winglet with the old logo!

Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N673PP).

Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 300 (N300KC).

Gulfstream Aerospace G-VI G650ER (N4096Q).

Air Canada Jetz Airbus A319-114 (C-GBIA). This rare sight was another plane-spotting highlight of the year!

Hillsboro Aviation Bell 205A-1 (N223HT).

Columbia Helicopters Boeing CH-47D Chinook (N471CH).

Embraer EMB-550 Legacy 500 (N56CH).

Cat/Peterson Learjet 45 (N657PP).

Wheels Up Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i (N838UP).

November 2020

As the year neared the end, more setbacks occurred. Work got busier in anticipation for another peak season (as if my job wasn't already busy enough as an "essential worker!"), weather started becoming more of a factor, my physical well-being started sliding a little, and I had to keep rescheduling my checkride for one reason or another. And to make matters worse, a new string of lockdown restrictions were implemented just prior to Thanksgiving thanks to a spike in COVID-19 cases. Believe me, I was getting sick and tired of said restrictions and the pandemic as a whole, not to mention the government overreach being in the news. But I was happy with some additional plane-spotting highlights as we neared the end of a tumultuous year.

United Airlines Airbus A319-131 (N831UA). After a little over a year since it was first unveiled, I finally got to see the new United livery for the first time!

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N901NK).

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N383DZ).

United Airlines Boeing 737-724 (N15712).

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N839VA). The A320's days in the Alaska Airlines fleet is numbered...

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N317DN).

UPS Airlines Airbus A300F4-622R (N154UP).

Gulfstream Aerospace G280 (N815CE).

Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global 6000 (N900LS).

Sun Country Airlines (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 737-83N (BCF) (N5261A).

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LL E-175LL/E-175SC (N265SY).

Empire Airlines (d/b/a FedEx Feeder) Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N873FE).

Civil Air Patrol Cessna T182T Skylane (N538CP). Neat seeing a Cessna in the standard military grey!

Diamond DA-62 (N403JL). My first time seeing Diamond's newest twin!

Ameriflight Beechcraft 99A Airliner (N1924T).

December 2020

And we come to a close to what was perhaps one of the worst years I've had to put up with. Unfortunately, I was going to end the year on a rather lackluster note because I was forced to focus on surviving another busy holiday peak season at work, which took a physical toll on me. Again, I had to reschedule my commercial checkride due to first mechanical issues and then weather. At this point, I'll be aiming to get my commercial certification done in early 2021. All I had left to do was to appreciate a few more plane-spotting highlights for the month and try to enjoy the holiday season...

NetJets Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 (N344QS).

Advanced Air (d/b/a Taos Air) Fairchild-Dornier 328-300 328JET (N192TS). This was a pleasant surprise to catch as I never expected to see the Taos Air livery! 2020 was full of unpleasant surprises, but I suppose it made up for it with spotting opportunities like this...

Omni Air Transport Learjet 45 (N340SR).

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N915NN) in the TWA heritage livery.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N385DZ).

Learjet 60 (N252RP).

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N216FR) "Cliff the Mountain Goat."

NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N639QS).

Cessna 501 Citation I/SP (N70NB).

United Airlines Airbus A319-132 (N874UA). The second airframe in the new United livery I got to see!

Volaris Airbus A320-271N (N529VL). First time seeing the old Volaris livery on one of their A320neos!

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N927NK).

Frontier Airlines Airbus A321-211 (N705FR) "Ferndale the Pygmy Owl."

Dassault-Breguet Falcon 20 (N384PB).

Cessna 525 Citation M2 (N864TX).

Happy New Year to you all!

By far, 2020 was a very challenging and disappointing year. There's no denying the fact that this past year can be described as a dumpster fire, a sh!tshow, a clusterf**k, or all of the above. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant precautions ruined and postponed so many plans and events. Needless to say, this year really stretched us in ways we certainly didn't anticipate. Some of us lost friends and loved ones to this pandemic or through other causes. For some, this year put a strain on our physical and mental health.

As an aviation enthusiast and photographer, this year was disappointing primarily because of air shows and aviation events I planned on attending were all cancelled. On a personal note, the challenges associated with 2020 really put a strain on many of my relationships, especially ones associated with my faith. I'm grateful that I had my pilot privileges to fly and continue my flight training; it was the one thing that kept me going and kept my sanity in check in spite of all the challenges! And while I am disappointed that I was unable to get my commercial pilot certification and be further along with my multi-engine training, I can look forward to picking up where I left off in 2021.

But like many, I am so done with 2020. Here's to better days, and a better year ahead as we look forward to 2021.