Gallery Update: FINALLY Catching a 747-8!!!

I'm back in Oregon for President's Day weekend to visit family. I took today as an opportunity for a shot at planespotting redemption by driving up to Portland and I FINALLY photographed a Cathay Pacific Cargo Boeing 747-8F after blowing the last opportunity to do so at the end of 2016. In addition to the 747 I've long sought after, I also got a decent shot of Boutique Air's operations at PDX ever since they started last December and I also photographed a few other things I haven't seen before or otherwise noteworthy things. On a side note, I may start spotting at PDX less frequently now that I've pretty much seen everything. Unless a new airline starts serving there or something really unique comes in, spotting at PDX gets old pretty fast. I still want to make a late-afternoon/early evening trip  in the summer to chase some of the cargo heavies that fly in there, but I really need a new airport to go spotting at with much more diversity. Regardless, here's the link:

Portland (PDX) 27

Preview:

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N494AS) arriving on 28L from Los Angeles as ASA563.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N171SY) departing on 28L as SKW3382 to Kansas City. 

Peninsula Airways-PenAir Saab 340B (N677PA) taxiing for departure as PEN181 to Arcata/Eureka. 

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier CL-600-2C10 CRJ-700 (N223AG) rotating on 28L for departure as SKW3342 to Seattle/Tacoma. For some reason, Alaska Airlines resumed some CRJ flights after they should've been phased out last November. There have been rumors that the Alaska Air Group is having SkyWest fill in for Horizon Air on some of these routes...

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N228WN) departing on 28L as SWA5600 for Burbank.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-790 (N644AS) departing on 28R as ASA652 to Dallas-Fort Worth.

Compass Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N630CZ) departing on 28R as CPZ5708 for Los Angeles. Initially, Delta stopped flying regional jets between PDX and LAX and Compass started flying the route full-time for American Airlines on behalf of the American Eagle brand. However, Delta has brought some Compass-operated flights back to PDX flying under the Delta Connection banner flying to Seattle and Los Angeles on a seasonal basis.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N525AS) taxiing for departure to Washington National as ASA764.

Dassault Falcon 50 (N860BA) arriving on 28R.

Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (C-GGOY) departing as JZA8118 for Vancouver. Air Canada just unveiled their new livery branding earlier this month!

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N443QX) in the University of Alaska at Anchorage Seawolves livery arriving on 28L from Spokane as QXE2695.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N409AS) arriving on 28L from San Jose as ASA407.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N401QX) in the Washington State University Cougars livery rotating on 28L on departure for Vancouver as QXE2450.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Bombardier CL-600-2C10 CRJ-701ER (N774SK) taxiing for departure to Seattle as SKW4724. Formerly flown under the United Express banner.

Boutique Air Pilatus PC-12-47 (N477SS) taxiing to the Atlantic Aviation ramp after arrival from Pendleton as BTQ353. This airframe inaugurated the restored air service between Pendleton and Portland last December.

Canadair CL-604 Challenger 604 (N116JS) departing on 28R for Kona as JTL116.

Ameriflight Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain (N35336) arriving on 28L as AMF1924 from North Bend/Coos Bay.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N402QX) in the University of Montana Grizzlies livery arriving on 28L from Seattle as QXE2039.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N478AS) taxiing for departure to Los Cabos as ASA292.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-401 Dash 8 Q400 (N403QX) in the Montana State University Bobcats livery departing on 28L as QXE2014 for Seattle.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N955NN) arriving on 28L as AAL1580 from Dallas-Fort Worth.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N179SY) departing on 28L as SKW3384 to Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8653A) arriving on 28L as SWA855 from Oakland.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N446WN) arriving on 28L from Chicago-Midway as SWA3237.

Alaska Airlines 737-490 (N793AS) departing on 28L as ASA408 to San Jose. The airline's 737-400 fleet will be completely phased out by the end of this year.

Ameriflight Beechcraft B99 Airliner (N199AF) arriving on 28L as AMF1964 from La Grande.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N751SW) arriving on 28L as SWA2177 from Ontario.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N969AN) departing on 28L for Chicago-O' Hare as AAL86.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-401 Dash 8 Q400 (N407QX) in the University of Oregon Ducks livery arriving on 28L as QXE2502 from Boise.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N241WN) arriving on 28L as SWA1986 from Burbank.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8319F) taxiing for departure as SWA2484 to St. Louis.

Virgin America Airbus A320-214 (N627VA) "Runway Angel" arriving on 28R from San Francisco as VRD219. Still unconfirmed as to what will become of the Virgin America branding, but there are rumors circulating that the Alaska Air Group will possibly do away with the newly-acquired airline because it seems as if they are trying to cancel incoming aircraft orders that Virgin America has with Airbus. A single operating certificate for the two airlines is scheduled to be received some time in 2018.

Cessna 560XL Excel (N894MA) airborne after departing via 28R for a short hop to Aurora.

Learjet 60 (N29LJ) airborne after departing on 28R.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N181SY) arriving on 28L as SKW3457 from Burbank.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N177SY) arriving on 28L as SKW3463 from Ontario.

Peninsula Airways-PenAir Saab 340B/Plus (N331AG) arriving on 28L as PEN180 from Arcata/Eureka. This is the newest Saab 340 in PenAir's fleet. First delivered to Mesaba Airlines as N430XJ flying for Northwest Airlink followed by Delta Connection following the Delta/Northwest merger. It was then re-registered to the current N-number and flew for Silver Airways before acquisition by Peninsula.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N577AS) arriving on 28L as ASA587 from Santa Ana.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N172DZ) departing via 10R for Tokyo-Narita as DAL69. It was odd that this flight requested departure on 10R when the winds were still favoring 28L. As a result, this flight had to wait for a gap in traffic using 28L in order to depart on 10R.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N188SY) arriving on 28L as SKW3449 from Fresno. N188SY is one of the newest E-175s in the SkyWest fleet flying for Alaska Airlines.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N182SY) arriving on 28L as SKW3463 from San Jose.

JetBlue Airways Airbus A320-232 (N521JB) "Baby Blue" arriving on 28L as JBU1522 from Long Beach.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N944WN) arriving on 28L as SWA5747 from San Diego.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N825NN) arriving on 28L as AAL319 from Phoenix-Sky Harbor.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-323 (N816NW) departing on 28L for Amsterdam Schiphol as DAL178. Delta Air Lines will start summer-seasonal flights to London-Heathrow in May of this year; the flights will utilize Boeing 767-300/ERs. It will be PDX's first direct flight to the U.K. Such flights from PDX were made possible because Delta's joint-venture partner Virgin Atlantic will be taking over London flights from Seattle, which Delta currently operates.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-932/ER (N802DN) departing on 28L as DAL2565 for Atlanta.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N780SW) arriving on 28L from Phoenix-Sky Harbor as SWA2179.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N976NN) arriving on 28L as AAL1355 from Dallas-Fort Worth.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N623NK) arriving on 28R as NKS260 from Las Vegas. This is my first time catching this particular livery from Spirit Airlines. It's also my first time seeing sharklets on one of Spirit's Airbuses. The only thing this airline is still good at is pissing off all their customers!!!

N477SS taxiing for departure back to Pendleton as BTQ354. Boutique Air currently flies between PDX and PDT three times a day.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 departing on 10L as SWA2123 for Oakland.

Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (C-GKUK) arriving on 10L as JZA8125 from Vancouver.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 717-23S (N991AT) departing on 10L as DAL1552 for Los Angeles. The -3S Boeing customer code indicates that this airframe is leased from Pembroke Capital.

And now finally, the aircraft I waited all day to photograph, my very first Boeing 747-8, operated by Cathay Pacific Cargo!

Cathay Pacific Cargo Boeing 747-867F/SCD (B-LJE) arriving on 10R as CPA3281 from Los Angeles.

Cathay Pacific Cargo started flights to PDX last November. The last regularly-scheduled 747 service PDX saw was from Asiana Airlines Cargo, which ended in 2013.

I caught the red anti-collision lights in this shot!

The 747-8F first flew on February 10, 2010 and uses modern designs similar to what the Boeing 787 has, including the same engine and cockpit technology. It is powered by four General Electric GEnx dual rotor, axial flow, high-bypass turbofan jet engines.

A look at the rear profile of the 747-8F, including it's GEnx engines and the wingspan with the raked winglets. The 747-8 (both freighter and passenger versions) is the longest commercial airliner in the world at 250 feet in length, surpassing the Airbus A340-600, which is 3.1 feet shorter. It is also certified with a maximum takeoff weight at 975,000 lbs., which currently makes it the heaviest aircraft manufactured in the United States

CPA3281 taxiing to the cargo ramp. Cathay Pacific flies their 747-8Fs in PDX every Thursdays and Saturdays.

Cathay Pacific routes this particular flight into several legs. Their twice-weekly 747-8Fs are first launched from their main hub in Hong Kong as CPA3280 to Anchorage and then to Los Angeles. From LAX, the flight number changes to CPA3281 and departs for PDX. After Portland, the flight continues on to Anchorage for a technical stop before returning to Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific was the first Asia Pacific airline to take delivery of the Boeing 747-8F back in 2011 and currently operates 14 of this aircraft type in its cargo fleet. 

Portland is also becoming one of the fastest growing hubs for e-Commerce related shipments in the Pacific Northwest region, which compliments Cathay Pacific's cargo network really well.

Cathay Pacific's PDX cargo service was intended to meet growing demand to move a wide range of commodities from the Pacific Northwest and the United States to various parts of Asia, which provides shippers with greater choice and flexibility when connecting to the airline's international cargo network through it's hub in Hong Kong.

The "Queen of the Skies" is becoming a rare sight. Cathay Pacific ended passenger service on the 747-400 last year. Both United and Delta will be the last U.S. operators overall of the 747 (with their respective 747-400 fleets to be retired by the end of this year). There will still be a few foreign operators holding onto their 747s and we'll definitely still see many of them operating cargo flights like this one for years to come. But the era of four-engine passenger jets is swiftly coming to an end...

Long live the Queen of the Skies!