So I was little dissatisfied with the way the 2021 Oregon International Air Show was formatted this year. To rectify that, I decided to drive up to PDX to see the Thunderbirds and the F-22 Raptor takeoff and land there for their respective performances. Unfortunately, I missed the F-22 departure and subsequent arrival due to traffic (on a Sunday, no less!), but got the shots I wanted of the Thunderbirds. This spur of the moment spotting trip was worthwhile, because I got to photograph a few additional things I was either after or caught by surprise.
In addition the Thunderbirds, highlights from this spotting trip include:
- The new livery/logo of private jet operator XOJET.
- An Icelandair 757, something we haven't seen at PDX for a while due to last year's dumpster fire.
- My first time seeing the new United "evo-blue" livery on one of their Boeing 737-800s.
- Seeing a SkyWest Airlines CRJ-700 in the American Eagle livery for the first time at PDX.
- Adding a new aircraft type to my portfolio, something that I've been trying chase for several months to no avail until today; the CASA C-212 Aviocar.
- An iAero Airways Boeing 737-300.
Portland (PDX) 62
Preview:
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| Colonel John "Brick" Caldwell in Thunderbird #1 leading Major Ian "Bear" Lee and Major Zane "Strobe" Taylor in #s 2 & 3 respectively in the Diamond after getting airborne off 28R for McMinnville to perform on the final day of the 2021 Oregon International Air Show! |
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| Lead Solo Major Michelle "Mace" Curran in Thunderbird #5 airborne off 28R after the Diamond! |
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| Opposing Solo Major Kyle "Gumbo" Oliver in Thunderbird #6 airborne off 28R following the Lead Solo! Major Oliver was absent from the Friday performance I saw. |
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| Slot Pilot Major Michael "Thorny" Brewer in Thunderbird #4 taxiing back to the ramp after not getting airborne with the Diamond. Sounds like the team has been plagued with maintenance issues all weekend... |
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| Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 300 (N772JS) taxiing to the FBO after arriving on 28R. |
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| Beechcraft G36 Bonanza (N925LR) airborne off 28R for Santa Rosa. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N274SY) airborne off 28R as SKW3649 for Seattle/Tacoma. |
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| AirNet Express Learjet 35A (N220CK) airborne off 28R as USC240 for Oakland. |
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| Slot Pilot Major Michael "Thorny" Brewer in Thunderbird #4 scrambling out after departing on 28R to catch up with the rest of team after switching over to the single-seat F-16CM. |
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| XOJET Cessna 750 Citation X (N774XJ) airborne off 28R as XOJ774 for Bozeman. |
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| Icelandair Boeing 757-208 (TF-FIN) departing on 28L as ICE664 for Reykjavik-Keflavik. Icelandair so far has been the only non-North American airline to resume service to PDX so far this year. |
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| NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N505QS) airborne off 28R as EJA505 for Seattle/Boeing Field. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7Q8 (N7864B) arriving on 28R as SWA2698 from San Jose. |
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| The Thunderbirds Diamond formation returning after performing over at McMinnville! Thunderbird #1 initiates the overhead break for landing! |
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| Thunderbird #2 initiating the overhead break! |
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| Thunderbird #3 initiating the overhead break away from Thunderbird #4 for landing! |
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| The Thunderbirds solos following suit! |
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| Thunderbird #5 initiating the overhead break away from Thunderbird #6 for landing! |
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| Colonel John "Brick" Caldwell in Thunderbird #1 arriving on 28R. |
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| Major Ian "Bear" Lee in Thunderbird #2 arriving on 28R. |
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| Major Zane "Strobe" Taylor in Thunderbird #3 arriving on 28R. |
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| United States Air Force Lockheed F-16CM Fighting Falcon (92-3898) "Thunderbird #1" taxiing back to the FBO where the team has been staging out of. |
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| Major Michael "Thorny" Brewer in Thunderbird #4 arriving on 28R. |
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| United States Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16CM Fighting Falcon (92-3908) "Thunderbird #2" taxiing back to the FBO. |
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| Major Michelle "Mace" Curran in Thunderbird #5 arriving on 28R. |
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| United States Air Force Lockheed F-16CM Fighting Falcon (92-3881) "Thunderbird #3" taxiing back to the FBO. |
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| Major Kyle "Gumbo" Oliver in Thunderbird #6 arriving on 28R. |
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| United States Air Force Lockheed F-16CM Fighting Falcon (92-3880) "Thunderbird #5" taxiing back to the FBO. |
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| United States Air Force Lockheed F-16CM Fighting Falcon (91-0392) "Thunderbird #6" taxiing back to the FBO. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737-824 (N77520) airborne off 28R as UAL1453 for San Francisco. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N294SY) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as SKW3516 from Seattle/Tacoma. |
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| NetJets Bombardier CL-600-2B16 Challenger 650 (N208QS) taxiing to the FBO after arriving on 28R as EJA208 from Philadelphia. |
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| Walla Walla University Piper PA-28R-200 Arrow (N55696) airborne off 28R for Walla Walla. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-832 (N384DA) arriving on 28R as DAL2406 from Salt Lake City. |
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| Erickson, Inc. CASA C-212-200 Aviocar (N502FS) airborne off 28R for McMinnville. My first time seeing this Spanish-built turboprop STOL military transport! I've actually been trying to chase this aircraft down for months to no avail; it has been based out of and doing a lot of flights in and around Aurora, where I was doing multi-engine flight training. |
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| As it turns out, this Aviocar has been chartered by the Air Force to carry ground equipment in and out of McMinnville for the Thunderbirds' remote performance at air show! |
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| N502FS making an early turn to clear the departure ends of PDX's two parallel runways. |
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| Note the rear cargo ramp partially opened. |
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| The Thunderbirds all parked following their final performance of the weekend. |
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| The two Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptors from the F-22 Raptor Demo Team parked alongside the Thunderbirds; in the foreground is 06-4117. In the background is 06-4121. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N261SY) clearing 28R after arriving as SKW3556 from Los Angeles. |
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| Air Transport International - ATI (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 767-338/ER (BDSF) (N311AZ) arriving on 28L as ATN3444 from Baltimore. Only my second time catching a 767-300 operated by ATI on the behalf of Amazon and my first time seeing one in operation! Formerly with Qantas and Australian Airlines as VH-OGK. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737-824 (N12218) taxiing for departure as UAL2254 for Denver. My first time seeing United's new livery on the 737-800! |
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| The different shades of blue really works well on the 737! |
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| Cessna 525A CitationJet CJ2+ (N78RK) taxiing to the FBO after arriving on 28R from Denver/Rocky Mountain Metropolitan. |
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| Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-8Q8 (N801SY) arriving on 28R as SCX293 from Minneapolis/St. Paul. No thanks to repercussions resulting from the pandemic, Sun Country has basically abandoned Portland as a focus city and eliminated all the routes they established except to their main hub. |
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| UAL2254 departing on 28R for Denver. |
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| With aircraft paint shops booked solid, it's definitely taking time for United's existing fleet to receive the new livery. With the exception of new aircraft deliveries straight from manufacturers, it has certainly been hard to spot many aircraft in the new livery (at least in my experience!). |
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| United's new livery is still not what I'd consider a common sight yet! |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a American Eagle) Bombardier CL-600-2C10 CRJ-701ER (N758SK) arriving on 28L as SKW3059 from Los Angeles. Only my second time photographing a CRJ-700 in the American Eagle livery! After Compass Airlines ceased operations last year as a result of the pandemic, American temporarily suspended their flights between Portland and Los Angeles until SkyWest stepped in to fill the void. As of right now, this route by American sees the only regularly-scheduled CRJ flights out of PDX (until SkyWest's order for E-175s to be operated for American, which deliveries are currently in-process, is eventually fulfilled). |
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| Learjet 31A (N511KD) taxiing to the FBO after arriving on 28R from nearby Aurora. |
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| Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (C-GGND) airborne off 28R as JZA8124 for Vancouver. Air Canada is still maintaining the route for essential travel only as the borders up north remain closed. |
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| N502FS making another departure from PDX via 28R after dropping off more equipment for the Air Force following the conclusion of the 2021 Oregon International Air Show this weekend, this time returning home to Aurora. |
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| With the way this year's air show was formatted and only the shorter runway at McMinnville being available, the Aviocar with it's STOL capabilities was an ideal platform to bring equipment in and out for the Air Force's participation. |
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| Note the rear cargo ramp is completely closed this time. |
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| Hawker Beechcraft 390 Premier IA (N199BP) taxiing to the ramp after arriving on 28R from Napa County. |
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| Pilatus PC-12/47E (N702PC) airborne off 28R for Spanish Fork, Utah. |
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| N702PC starting an early left-hand turn. |
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| The bank angle allowed for a unique view of the venerable turboprop! |
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| Almost looks like a photo-pass at an air show! |
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| N294SY taxiing for departure as SKW3746 for Los Angeles after a quick turn-around. Note the mismatched engine cowling. |
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| iAero Airways Boeing 737-3H4 (N623SW) taxiing for departure as SWQ6851 for Reno/Tahoe. My first time catching the iAero Airways livery and logo! |
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| Formerly with Southwest Airlines. |
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| SWQ6851 airborne off 28R for Reno/Tahoe. Definitely a casino charter! |
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| The iAero Group, an aviation service firm minority-owned by The Blackstone Group acquired Swift Air in May 2019. The airline continues the business model of Swift Air of doing charter flights. |
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| Since December 2019, Swift Air has been transitioning to rebrand as iAero Airways. While Swift Air is under new ownership, it still retains it's corporate name of Swift Air, LLC. The airline also did not seek a re-issuance of it's operating licenses and certificates, thus retaining the original airline designator codes (WQ/SWQ) and "Swiftflight" call-sign of Swift Air. |
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| It was nice to catch a 737 Classic again! |
