Before I took a friend flying this afternoon, a few aircraft parked on the ramp caught my eye. That means, I wanted to photograph them, so we checked them out! I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Salem (SLE) 90
Preview:
 |
| Rutan VariEze (N88KL) parked on the ramp. Always a treat to catch this unique home-built! |
 |
| Ryan Navion A (N5122K) parked on the ramp. Registered to a private owner out of Independence. Always neat to see something vintage such as a Navion! |
Well, I wasn't expecting this! I was informed that a Boeing 737 landed at Salem a few hours prior and I had a hunch it hasn't gone anywhere, so I decided to go out to see if I can snap a few photos of it! And to my delight it was still on the ground and it wasn't just any 737, but a Boeing C-40, the military version of the Boeing 737-700 BBJ (Boeing Business Jet) used for VIP transport of government officials.
The C-40 consists of a standard Boeing 737-700 fuselage with the strengthened wings and landing gear of the larger and heavier 737-800. It is also equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks allowing for increased range. Around 30 C-40s have been built by Boeing to-date. Basically, the Boeing C-40 is a militarized 737-700 on steroids!
Preview:
 |
| United States Air Force Boeing C-40C (737-7CP) BBJ (02-0203) parked on the ramp. Based out of Joint Base Andrews (JBA), Camp Springs, Maryland with the District of Columbia National Guard's 113th Wing, 201st Airlift Squadron. |
 |
| Arrived earlier this afternoon as BOXER45 from Gray Army Airfield/Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Apparently, this C-40C brought the Secretary of the United States Air Force into town. |
 |
| This airframe is one of two C-40Cs the D.C. Air National Guard's 201st Airlift Squadron acquired. Unlike the C-40A Clipper used exclusively by the Navy (not to mention the "Clipper" nickname is used only by the A-model used by the Navy!) and the C-40B, which the Air Force uses to transport senior military and high-ranking government officials as a mobile "office in the sky" with high-end communications capability, the C-40C holds the distinction of being the first U.S. military aircraft to be acquired as an "off-the-shelf" aircraft for the Department of Defense, primarily operated by the Air National Guard and National Guard Bureau as an airlift platform for military personnel. |
 |
| As such, the C-40C is not equipped with advanced communications capabilities found in the C-40B. The C-40C's unique design is found in its versatile capability to change its seating configuration to accommodate anywhere from 42 to 111 passengers, a rather wide range considering it's main role is to airlift military personnel. |
 |
| Other C-40C operators include the 932nd Airlift Wing out of Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, with four airframes currently stationed there. |
 |
| Always a thrill to see a Boeing 737 in Salem of all places! |
Before going flying this evening for a quick cross-country, I got some photography done. In addition, I also made a quick stopover in McMinnville en route to my cross-country destination because an ATR-72 formerly with the now-defunct 'Ohana by Hawaiian landed there yesterday. Now I've photographed this airframe already at the beginning of last year (before the pandemic hit!), but the plane was being worked on when I last saw it, so that meant I had to work around the crew who were around the plane. Considering that this was an opportunity to photograph this airframe undisturbed, I decided to take up the opportunity. Plus, I figured I'll go for broke considering that I've photographed the majority of the ATR turboprops in the 'Ohana livery during this year alone and I might as well go for all of them!
With all the former 'Ohana by Hawaiian ATR-72s now on the mainland, there is only a single ATR-42 (as per flight tracking sites) that has yet to make it's Pacific crossing from Hawaii over to the mainland (And I think I'll keep an eye out for it, considering that I haven't seen a passenger ATR-42 in action before either!).
Preview:
 |
| Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser (NC98944) doing an engine-run on the ramp. Based off of the J-5 Cub Cruiser. A vintage built in 1946! |
 |
| Southern Cross Aviation (d/b/a Empire Airlines) ATR-72-201F (N811HC) parked on the ramp. Arrived from Honolulu last night as SXA666. The crew spent today un-installing the ferry tanks and will depart tomorrow morning for Coeur D'Alene. |
 |
| While I saw this airframe in February of last year, the doors were open and the crew were in the process of installing ferry tanks, so I'm glad I got to photograph this airframe again, this time, undisturbed and free of clutter. |
 |
| Face-to-face with the ATR-72! |
 |
| So this will be my final time seeing this livery on the ATR-72. There is one ATR-42 that has yet to make it's journey to the mainland. I also recently learned that there was supposed to be a fourth ATR-72 slated to join the 'Ohana by Hawaiian fleet, registered as N816HC; obviously, it was not taken up by Hawaiian Airlines due to the repercussions from the pandemic. According to PlaneSpotters.net, it was delivered to Empire Airlines February of last year and was getting prepped for Hawaiian operations before it went to long-term storage at Coeur D'Alene as of June 2020. Based on some of the most recent photos of N816HC found online, it never got to wear the 'Ohana by Hawaiian livery. |
 |
| NXT Jet (d/b/a Alliance Aviation) Gulfstream Aerospace Gulfstream G-IV-SP (N44GV) parked on the ramp. Arrived yesterday afternoon from Kalispell as KPO44. |
So last month, I was informed by my multi-engine flight instructor out of Aurora that Aurora Flight Training's Piper PA-30B Twin Comanche, the plane I was doing my multi-engine flight training was totaled in a landing accident down in Corvallis after the the renters who were flying made a series of poor decisions (from what I understand); thankfully, there were no fatalities and those on board were able to walk away. Apparently, this occurred at the end of April and I didn't even know about for a month!
This is a major setback for me when it comes to flight training because it means I'm going to have to have to find another twin-engine airplane to complete my multi-engine add-on in somewhere down the road. I decided three weeks ago to terminate my membership with Aurora Flight Training afterwards because there was no point in paying monthly flight club dues for insurance when they no longer had the airplane I want to fly in available (while they're working to get a replacement twin, I just can't justify in waiting on them). It goes with saying, but I have nothing but good things to say about Aurora Flight Training, it's people, and of course my multi-engine instructor. But I am frustrated.
I'm frustrated that I'm going to have to go find another twin-engine airplane to complete my training in somewhere (and likely shell out more money in the process because this Twin Comanche that got wrecked was the best deal out of all the places I looked into for multi-engine flight training!)! I'm frustrated that my single-engine commercial certification and checkride has been dragging for way too long with all the delays, setbacks, and constant rescheduling; I HAD hoped to be done with the single-engine commercial early in the year and I should've had my multi-engine done by now as well (well-before the loss of the Twin Comanche that I flew!). I'm also starting to feel resentful of the fact that I feel left behind. I resent that many of my peers whom I went to school with are already flight instructors and are well-on their way to fulfilling qualifications to become airline pilots. I'm also slightly bothered by the fact that many of my peers and former classmates have had better luck (and track record!) than I have, as they were able to get their certifications done in a shorter period of time and are better-positioned than I am at the moment. I should be in the career field by now at least as a flight instructor, but I'm not...
Not having Aurora Flight Training as a viable option anymore has been a HUGE bummer and once again served to remind me that I've consistently had the worst luck with the one thing in my life that I'm passionate about. Believe me, I'm getting sick and tired of all the setbacks!
Preview:
 |
| Piper PA-30B Twin Comanche (N125RJ) at her final resting place. |
 |
| Props all bent up, right-main and nose gears collapsed. |
 |
| My poor Twin Comanche! |
 |
| Seeing it in this sorry state fills me with a mix of sadness, anger, and frustration. |
 |
| Nothing more than a pile of scrap. |
 |
| Anything that is salvageable will likely become spare parts to support other airworthy Twin Comanches, since production of the Comanche and Twin Comanche lines ceased following the great Susquehanna River flood of 1972, wich flooded Piper's Pennsylvania manufacturing plant, destroying airframes, parts, and much of the tooling necessary for production. Rather than rebuild the tooling, Piper chose to abandon production of the Comanche and Twin Comanche lines (which is a shame!) and continue with two newer designs already in production at their Florida facility at the time. |
