This spotting opportunity was definitely worth getting up early for! Yesterday, thanks to FlightRadar24, I learned that a National Airlines Boeing 747-400F flew into PDX for a special, one-time flight; it was flown in to pick up COVID relief supplies as well as a shipment of vaccines (from what I've heard). And thanks to word spread by social media, I learned that jumbo jet was departing this morning for Brunei! This was a golden opportunity I did not want to miss, so that meant another trip to PDX!
National Air Cargo, also operating as National Airlines is an on-demand cargo and passenger charter carrier currently based in Orlando, Florida. It was founded in 1985 and initially flew small turboprops for cargo operations. The National Airlines name can actually spark confusion among aviation enthusiasts because it has been used by several different U.S. airlines, including a version based in Miami that operated scheduled passenger service from 1934 to 1980, a passenger charter company that operated from 1977 to 1986 (initially under a new name), a company called Private Jet Expeditions that operated as National Airlines in the 1990s, a Las Vegas-based low-cost scheduled carrier that operated from 1999 to 2002, and the current version operating since 1985.
In addition to chasing after the 747, there were some other worthwhile highlights on this spotting trip, including two A321neos in the standard Alaska Airlines livery, an A320 in the new United Airlines livery, and an Ameriflight EMB-120 Brasilia sporting a unique livery.
Portland (PDX) 61
Preview:
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-175-200LR E-175LR (N258SY) airborne off 28R as SKW3613 for Seattle/Tacoma. |
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| Alaska Airlines Airbus A321-253N (N930VA) departing on 28L as ASA795 for Seattle/Tacoma. Only my second time photographing an A321neo in the standard Alaska livery! While the Alaska Air Group has plans to eventually return to being an all-737 operator for mainline operations and phase out their older A320s that they inherited from Virgin America by 2023, they apparently LOVE their A321neos and have been putting them on some of their longest domestic routes, primarily trans-con routes. We've yet to see what Alaska will do the neos... |
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| American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N301PA) departing on 28L as AAL2216 for Dallas/Fort Worth. |
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| FedEx Express McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N576FE) arriving on 28L as FDX1857 from Oakland. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N453AS) taxiing for departure as ASA502 for Los Angeles. |
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| American Airlines Airbus A319-112 (N766US) taxiing for departure as AAL2658 for Phoenix-Sky Harbor. |
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| FedEx Express Boeing 767-300F (N138FE) taxiing for departure as FDX412 for Memphis. |
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| ASA502 departing on 28L for Los Angeles. |
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| FDX412 departing on 28L for Memphis. |
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| AAL2658 departing on 28L for Phoenix-Sky Harbor. |
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| Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N836VA) taxiing for departure as ASA566 for San Diego. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900/ER (N274AK) taxiing for departure as ASA197 for Anchorage. |
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| ASA197 departing on 28L for Anchorage. Got the double-beacon in this shot! |
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| Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N847VA) taxiing from the remote stands over to the terminal. Scheduled to depart later in the morning as ASA1200 for San Francisco. |
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| FedEx Express McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N642FE) taxiing for departure as FDX3604 for Indianapolis. |
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| FDX1200 departing on 28L for Indianapolis. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N546AS) taxiing for departure as ASA652 for Dallas/Fort Worth. I'm surprised to see that this one still hasn't been repainted into the Alaska's current livery yet. |
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| ASA652 departing on 28L for Dallas/Fort Worth. Seeing this old livery was pretty nostalgic for sure. |
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| United Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N419UA) airborne off 28R as UAL550 for Houston-Intercontinental. My first time seeing the "evo-Blue" livery on an A320! |
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| NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N606QS) airborne off 28R as EJA606 for Marana, Arizona. |
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| Ameriflight Beechcraft C99 Airliner (N6724D) taxiing for departure as AMF1964 for Hermiston. |
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| Ameriflight Embraer EMB-120RT Brasilia (N1110J) taxiing for departure as AMF1906 for Redmond. I've actually been waiting to photograph this Brasilia in this livery, which is still in the basic colors of it's previous operator, Fairbanks-based Everts Air Cargo (hence the Alaska state flag stylized on the tail). Former operators include Comair and SkyWest Airlines operating this frame on the behalf of United Express. |
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| Ameriflight Beechcraft 1900C (N34RZ) taxiing for departure as AMF1994 for Medford. |
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| N576FE departing on 28L as FDX400 for Memphis after a quick-turn. |
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| AMF1964 airborne off 28L for Hermiston. |
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| Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N841VA) taxiing for departure as ASA850 for Ontario, California. |
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| AMF1906 airborne off 28L for Redmond. |
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| Ameriflight acquired this Brasilia last year, and I'm glad they've kept the livery (at least for now...). |
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| AMF1994 airborne off 28L for Medford. |
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| National Airlines (d/b/a National Air Cargo) Boeing 747-428M/BCF (N952CA) taxiing for departure as NCR821 for Brunei. My very first time photographing National Airlines (N8)! National Airlines is a rather rare sight as they have a small fleet consisting of five 747 freighters, an A330-200, and two Boeing 757-200s. |
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| Embarking on a 14.5 hour journey, Portland to Brunei is not a typical route, so seeing this airline and aircraft here indicates that National is likely transporting COVID relief down to Brunei. It would make sense, considering that National is in the business of providing on-demand cargo and passenger services. |
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| Airframe was built as a 747-400M, a passenger/freighter "combi" variant and delivered to Air France as F-GISA in September 1991. It was then converted in a full-freighter in June 2007 and continued to fly for Air France Cargo for another three years. |
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| National Airlines acquired this airframe in June 2010 and was re-registered to the current N-number. Later that same year, N952CA was again re-registered to TF-NAC in September 2010 and was operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic for extensive use in Europe. National Airlines re-took ownership of this frame in December 2011 and re-registered it back to N952CA; it also received the nickname "Ed." |
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| The National Airlines livery certainly suits the "Queen of the Skies!" |
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| Alaska Airlines Airbus A321-253N (N929VA) taxiing from the remote stands to the terminal. Scheduled to depart later this morning as ASA764 for Washington-National. My third time photographing an A321neo in the standard Alaska livery! |
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| NCR821 departing on 28L for Brunei. |
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| The National Airlines name has been used by four of five different U.S. airlines, so the name could stir up confusion among aviation enthusiasts! |
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| And off she goes for her 14.5 hour flight down to Brunei. Always a pleasure to be graced by the Queen of Skies' presence! |
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| Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321-271N (N204HA) taxiing for departure as HAL25 for Honolulu. It's certainly been a while since I photographed anything from Hawaiian Airlines; not since prior to the pandemic. |
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| HAL25 departing on 28L for Honolulu. |
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