Gallery Update: Post-Flight Spotting from Salem

After getting back from another local flight around the valley in continued preparation for my commercial checkride, I got some quick spotting done from the hangar and ramp areas. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking:

Salem (SLE) 80

Preview:

NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N626QS) taxiing for departure as EJA626 for Monterey, California.

EJA626 departing on 34 for Monterey. These Citation Latitudes have become a rather common sight for biz jets at airports all around the world.

Ameriflight Beechcraft C99 Airliner (N223BH) departing on 34 as AMF1967 for Portland.

Piper PA-24-250 Comanche (N7281P) arriving on 34 from Troutdale.

Cessna T210M Centurion II (N10HM) taxiing for departure... that is until they taxied back to the hangars and never departed.

JL Aviation Bell 206B (N2268X) making a midfield arrival from the Fly Jla private strip near Boring, Oregon.

Gallery Update: Another ATR-42 Sighting in McMinnville!

Empire Airlines is definitely moving their ATR fleet dedicated to the 'Ohana by Hawaiian fleet from the salty air of the islands to the mainland while Hawaiian Airlines' regional arm is shut down. Another ATR-42-500 flew into McMinnville on a ferry flight last night according to FlightRadar24 and of course, I had to chase it down so I flew myself up while out on a practice flight out of convenience! Unique opportunities such as this are ones that I can't pass up, considering the unusual sight of seeing a regional turboprop normally serving the Hawaiian islands here on the mainland at GA airport.

McMinnville (MMV) 6

Preview:

Empire Airlines (d/b/a 'Ohana by Hawaiian) ATR-42-500 (N806HC) parked on the ramp. Ferried in last night from Honolulu by Southern Cross Aviation as SXA654. My third time photographing one of 'Ohana's ATR-42s! As of today, I've photographed three of the four ATR-42s Hawaiian Airlines uses for their interisland routes!

Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 (N16DF) arriving on 22 from Van Nuys.

Airframe first delivered to Aeromar, a small Mexican regional airline as XA-TPS in October 1999. Re-registered as F-WNUI in December 2016 under ownership of French lessor, ATRiam Capital; ATRiam Capital most likely leased this airframe to Aeromar until the latter upgraded their fleet to solely ATR-42-600s and ATR-72-600s. Acquired by Hawaiian Airlines in April 2018 for their interisland hops operated by Empire Airlines; airframe was the fourth ATR-42 delivered to Hawaiian's 'Ohana arm for their interisland passenger operations.

N16DF taxiing to the FBO ramp. Apparently, this Phenom 300 is locally-based.

Like the previous occasion last month, this rare opportunity to see this livery and airframe here in McMinnville was only made possible by the unfortunate circumstances of Hawaiian Airlines shutting down their 'Ohana by Hawaiian operations (hopefully temporarily) due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the repercussions its had on air travel.

Piper PA-22-160 Tri-Pacer (N8452D) taxiing for departure to Arlington. This Tri-Pacer was converted from a tricycle gear configuration to conventional (tail-dragger) configuration.

Like the last ATR-42 I saw here, N806HC stopped in McMinnville for required crew rest and removal of the long-range ferry tanks it needed to cross the Pacific. Scheduled to continue on tomorrow morning as SXA654 for Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, headquarters of Empire Airlines. There, the plane will most likely go in for some maintenance and long-term storage away from the corrosive, salty air of the islands while 'Ohana by Hawaiian services are currently suspended.

Twin Oaks Airpark Van's RV-12iST (N317VA) taxiing back out for departure after initially arriving from nearby Stark's Twin Oaks Airpark. This certified, Light Sport version of the RV-12 is one of Twin Oak's latest acquisitions to the flight school fleet.

Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga II HP (N529PE) taxiing in after arriving on 22 from Creswell.

N8452D airborne off 22 for Arlington.

Lancair LC-40-550FG Columbia 300 (N501PF) arriving on 22 from Crescent City. Nice to see an original Columbia 300 built by Lancair!

N317VA airborne off 22 back to Stark's Twin Oaks.

One last shot of N806HC. Unlike the other ATR-42s in the 'Ohana fleet, this airframe is NOT a former Czech Airlines (CSA) bird!

Gallery Update: Lancair ES Sighting in Salem

After getting back from a local flight, I had the opportunity to get a few shots of a Lancair ES, a fixed-gear version of the sleek homebuilt series. Developed from the Lancair IV, only 90 Lancair ES kits were ever constructed, so that makes this a somewhat uncommon sight. Examples such as this are the reason why I try to have my camera with me whenever I fly or go to the airport.

Salem (SLE) 79

Preview:

Lancair ES (N67JD) taxiing for departure to Roseburg.

N67JD departing on 34 for Roseburg. While it's a respectable high-performance fixed-gear homebuild aircraft the ES model was among the Lancair lines that got sold off when the original manufacturer decided to focus on the Lancair Evolution, which eventually became an orphaned airplane with the shutdown of Evolution Aircraft. The new Lancair company based in Texas took the ES model and has since developed the Lancair Mako.

Gallery Update: Ramp Spotting in Scappoose

I went flying from Salem with my friend from the flight club this evening on a little photo mission/personal project of mine up in the Portland-area. After getting the photo mission done, we flew up to the Scappoose Industrial Airpark to make the outing where we both could log cross-country flight time. Now I've landed at Scappoose several times in the past three years as it's a fairly simple cross-country destination. But I've never had the opportunity to explore the airport until today and I'm glad I did as the airport is home to several General Aviation manufacturing firms, where some unique aircraft types are built. It was a worthwhile stop.

Scappoose (SPB) 1

Preview:

Viper Aircraft ViperJet MKII parked on the ramp. I've heard of this homebuilt personal jet, but never actually seen one until today!

Face-to-face with the ViperJet. Made entirely of composite materials, the ViperJet serves as a high performance sport and aerobatic personal jet that comes in kit form, with builders spending thousands of hours building at six-figure prices.

As of 2006, 21 ViperJet kits have been sold and little to no information or updates have come since then.

Cessna 172M Skyhawk (N515ED), the plane we flew in on.

Cessna 150E (N3069J) parked on the ramp. I don't think I've seen a 150 with the original square tail before!

Cessna 210D Centurion (N3960Y) parked on the ramp.

Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee (N7272W) parked on the ramp.

Van's RV-9A (N992SB) parked on the ramp.