After working a rather exhausting first week at my new position at work and a new 5-day schedule that now has me working Tuesdays through Saturdays (which I'm still getting used to!), I was craving for some plane-spotting just so I could unwind (and motivate myself in spite of some of my ongoing frustrations associated with flight training) so I did got in an afternoon spotting trip to PDX today.
One thing I've been waiting on is Cathay Pacific Cargo. Since they started serving PDX back in late-2016 with 2-3 times weekly flights, they've primarily used the Boeing 747-8F. But on occasion, they have substituted in their older 747-400 freighters a handful of times in the past. And today happened to be an opportunity to see one; one of the six 747-400s left in their cargo fleet!
Another highlight and an opportunity I've waited for was to catch a Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by United Airlines, preferably one sporting a variation of their post-merger livery that was first applied to them and the 787 Dreamliner when United first started receiving them. Now that the worldwide grounding of the MAX family has been lifted and deliveries ongoing, all of United's 737 MAXs are getting the standard "evo-blue" livery, so I was glad to catch one in their interim "Dreamliner" livery while it was still around...
Portland (PDX) 64
Preview:
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N299SY) arriving on 10L as SKW3649 from Seattle-Tacoma. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N207WN) taxiing for departure as SWA3106 for Chicago Midway. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737-824 (N14242) pushing back for departure as UAL2240 for Denver. |
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| SKW3649 taxiing to the gate. |
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| SWA3106 departing on 10L for Chicago Midway. |
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| Can one really consider himself a plane-spotter at PDX without getting some obligatory shots of Mt. Hood??? Considering the clear skies and Runways 10L and 10R in use today, it was a great opportunity to get some shots of Mt. Hood with some departing airplanes! |
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| Volaris Airbus A320-271N (XA-VRE) departing on 10L as VOI957 for Guadalajara. I believe this is my first time catching one Volaris' A320neos with a Mexican registration. |
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| UAL2240 departing on 10L for Denver. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990 (N319AS) departing on 10L as ASA350 for Los Angeles. |
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| Another obligatory photo of Mt. Hood with a photo-bombing airplane! |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N751SW) arriving on 10L as SWA3251 from St. Louis. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 (N27511) arriving on 10L as UAL2333 from San Francisco. My first time seeing a 737 MAX operated by United and my first time seeing United's so-called "Dreamliner" livery. |
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| Smoking the mains after touchdown! This is also my second time seeing a 737 MAX 9 overall, after seeing one operated by Alaska Airlines earlier this year. |
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| While I'm not a fan of the post-merger Continental globe livery, the "wavy" gold cheatline definitely stands out on this case. In the end, this modified livery did eventually inspire the "evo-blue" livery that would become the standard starting in 2019. |
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| Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (C-GJZD) arriving on 10L as JZA8123 from Vancouver. |
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| UAL2333 taxiing to the gate. |
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| After delivery in early 2019, this airframe almost immediately went into storage following a few revenue flights as the worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX family began. |
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| UAL2333 turning towards the gate. Again, the noise |
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| An excellent perspective of the CFM International Leap engines. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N579AS) departing on 10L as ASA1286 for Las Vegas. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990 (N309AS) departing on 10L as ASA1342 for Palm Springs. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N260AK) departing on 10L as ASA49 for San Jose. |
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| Sun Country Airlines (d/b/a Amazon Air) Boeing 737-86J/BCF (N8059A) arriving on 10L as SCX3050 from Fort Worth Alliance. Quite unusual to see cargo arrivals use 10L. |
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| NetJets Cessna 560XL Citation XLS (N573QS) departing on 10L as EJA573 for nearby Aurora State. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737-824 (N27205) taxiing for departure as UAL729 for San Francisco. |
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| SCX3050 taxiing to the cargo ramp. Airframe first delivered to Air Berlin as D-ABAT in February 1999 before going to Turkish leisure carrier, Corendon Airlines as TC-TJG in April 2010; it was transferred to Maltese sister carrier Corendon Airlines Europe as 9H-TJG in May 2017. Airframe was converted for freighter use in mid-2020 and delivered soon after for Amazon's growing operations. |
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| Boutique Air Pilatus PC-12/47 (N478SS) arriving on 10L as BTQ355 from Pendleton. |
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| UAL729 departing on 10L for San Francisco. |
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| Another shot of Mt. Hood with UAL729 banking left. |
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| Flexjet Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 (N431FX) arriving on 10L as LXJ431 from Pullman/Moscow. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N423AS) departing on 10L as ASA37 for Phoenix Sky Harbor. |
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| And another obligatory Mt. Hood shot! |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990 (N302AS) departing on 10L as ASA620 for Denver. Last time I saw the very-first 737-900 ever built, it still had the previous Alaska livery. Now it's sporting the current one! |
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| Cessna 560 Citation V (N561SR) arriving on 10L as LN561SR from San Francisco operating as a priority MEDEVAC flight. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8622A) arriving on 10L as SWA770 from Phoenix Sky Harbor. |
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| Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign (N55EP) arriving on 10L from Houston-Hobby. |
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American Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N549UW) departing on 10L as AAL2714 for Dallas/Fort Worth.
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| United Parcel Service - UPS Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N263UP) parked on the ramp. Arrived early this morning from Louisville as UPS974 and scheduled to depart later tonight as UPS991 back to the "Worldport." This airframe is also a fairly new addition to UPS, as it's previous operator was Lufthansa Cargo (registered as D-ALCB). Lufthansa retires their final MD-11F this month. This airframe left Lufthansa earlier this year. |
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| Cathay Pacific Cargo Boeing 747-467F/ER/SCD (B-LID) arriving on 10R as CPA83 from Los Angeles. My first time seeing a 747-400 operated by Cathay Pacific! |
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| One of only six 747-400 frames in the cargo fleet, it's no wonder these are a rarer sight for PDX! It's nice to see Cathay Pacific sub in a -400 in lieu of the typical 747-8F! |
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| CPA83 taxiing to the cargo ramp. She'll continue on to Hong Kong via Anchorage carrying the same flight number, as is typical for Cathay Pacific's cargo routing. |
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| First delivered to Cathay Pacific in March 2009, this airframe has spent it's entire life with the Hong Kong carrier. |
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| This flight ran about three hours behind schedule, but it was worth waiting for it! |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N442WN) arriving on 10L as SWA4288 from Denver. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-932/ER taxiing to the gate after arriving on 10L as DAL2406 from Salt Lake City. |
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| Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N837VA) departing on 10L as ASA1344 for San Francisco. |
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| N27511 pushing back for departure as UAL1453 for the return-trip to San Francisco. |
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| NetJets Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 (N390QS) arriving on 10L as EJA390 from South Lake Tahoe. |
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| UAL1453 taxiing for departure. |
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| NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N567QS) arriving on 10L as EJA567 from Sun Valley, Idaho. |
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| UAL1453 departing on 10L for San Francsico. |
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| I'm glad I was able to see this livery while it lasts, considering that United introduced their updated "evo-blue" livery not too long after applying this livery on their early 787s and 737 MAXs. |
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| One last obligatory shot with Mt. Hood in the background! |
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