Gallery Update: Idaho Falls-Minneapolis Inaugural Flight & More Rexburg/Museum Activities

It has become quite rare of me to post two new gallery updates under one posting, particularly ones involving more than one location; needless to say, it's been a while since I had a big update (Does Idaho Falls and Rexburg count as two different locations???). Delta Air Lines (Endeavor Air d/b/a Delta Connection) reinstated Minneapolis service out of Idaho Falls today and I went spotting again to catch the inaugural arrival and departure. This is quite significant because this route was once operated by now-defunct Northwest Airlines under the Northwest Airlink name with Pinnacle Airlines operating the route. And it was Delta that bought and consolidated NWA in the first place as part of the merger back in 2009-2010. It is technically Pinnacle Airlines (Callsign: Flagship) that's operating this route once again under the Delta Connection name but they were recently re-branded as Endeavor Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines after Pinnacle Airlines Corp. emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization.

After photographing the inaugural Idaho Falls-Minneapolis flights, it was time to get back to Rexburg and do a short shift at the Legacy Flight Museum. I got there in time to catch Ole Yeller take to the skies again; it was practice time in preparation for the upcoming air show. Here are the links:

Idaho Falls (IDA) 7

Rexburg (RXE) 16

Preview (and yes, I mostly overcame the cursed chainlink fence!): 

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Canadair CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200LR (N441SW) for Salt Lake City (SLC) beginning its take-off roll.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a United Express) Canadair CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200LR (N982SW) for Denver (DEN) on its take-off roll.

Endeavor Air (d/b/a Delta Connection) Canadair CL-600-2D24 CRJ-900 (N902XJ) for Minneapolis (MSP) on its take-off roll. This is a former Mesaba Airlines aircraft that flew under the Northwest Airlink name.

A Russian-exported Interavia E-3 (N4413N). From what I've heard, there are not many Interavias left in the world, making this a rare aircraft.

John Bagley piloting his P-51D Mustang (N51RH) 'Ole Yeller', doing a touch-and-go. Always a treat to see this one fly!