Gallery Update: A Dark Morning at PDX

I am pretty much kicking myself now... I had to drive up to PDX this morning so my sister could catch her flight back to Utah. After dropping her off, of course I would take some time to go planespotting at my usual place. Unfortunately, it was still dark outside so I wasn't able to photograph half of what I saw, which was frustrating because there was some really good air traffic activities. Here's the photo gallery link:

Portland (PDX) 10

What's even more frustrating about this spotting trip was that it was cloudy weather (typical Oregon...). Even worse, the weather really screwed up my lighting. And here's where I'm kicking myself: After coming home, I read the manual on what settings my camera has and lo and behold, there WAS a setting I could have switched to in order to compensate for the weather lighting conditions. Wish I knew about that earlier... Anyways, my photos turned out okay after tinkering with them in Picasa. Here's a preview of some things that were my highlights:

Last time I photographed the Canadians, they were still branded as Air Canada Jazz. Now this De Havilland Dash 8 DHC-8-301 (C-GTAG) is in the Air Canada Express (Jazz Air) livery.

Though a common sight and livery here at PDX, this Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-490 (N788AS), being a 400-series is one of the older 737s in the fleet (It entered service with Alaska in 1997). These older versions of the "baby Boeing" aren't going to be around much longer...

Not really a whole lot of CRJs in Alaska Airlines colors... This Canadair CL-600-2C10 CRJ-700 (N217AG) is operated by SkyWest Airlines and is mainly utilized on some of Alaska's West Coast routes where it is not feasible to operate with Horizon's Bombardier Q400s or Alaska's Boeing 737s. SkyWest purchased N217AG from Horizon Air (ex-N609QX) when they retired their CRJs and went to an all-Q400 fleet. This aircraft pictured here is seen initiating a go-around for some unknown reason.

I finally photographed a McDonnell Douglas MD-11! Operated as an MD-11F (freighter) by FedEx Express. Unfortunately, this is one of the photos of mine that got affected by the poor lighting so I can't identify it through the aircraft tail-number. It's such a shame on what's become of the once mighty tri-jet. In an era where twin-jets can do a lot more efficiently, the tri-jets are becoming obsolete. 

Here's another new sight for me: UPS Airlines Boeing 767-34AF/ER flaring over the runway. Again, I'm having a hard time identifying the tail number from the multiple photos I've taken of this aircraft. UPS recently started fitting all their 767 freighters with winglets.

Gallery Update: Tillamook Air Museum

I don't know why I haven't went until now... I've been living in Oregon for about six years and I never went to to the Tillamook Air Museum in the northwest part of Oregon until today when I jumped at the opportunity being off work for the Thanksgiving holiday and all... The museum is inside a giant World War II-era airship hangar and yes, they used to house blimps inside them; up to nine to be exact! You might have seen them in pictures but you have to see these airship hangars in person because THEY'RE HUGE! I'm glad I took this opportunity to go and visit because the museum announced in April of this year that it was planning to move a portion of it's collection (the Erickson Collection, which is most of the airworthy World War II-era planes) to Madras, Oregon sometime before the end of its lease on the blimp hangar, which is until January 2016. Reasons being that the large wooden hangar is need of costly repairs and Madras, which is in a drier climate is actually better for the preservation of the aircraft the museum owns and displays. That in turn has caused the historic blimp hangar to have an uncertain future. Here's the link to the photo gallery:

Tillamook Air Museum

The one unfortunate part about this visit is that not all the museum's aircraft were present, including their P-51 Mustang, a Focke-Wulf Fw-190, P-38 Lightning, and SBD Dauntless. Here's a photo preview:

Like I said, HUGE! Also pictured is the only surviving Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy, which is pretty much the centerpiece of the museum. This historically significant airship hangar, officially known as Hangar B is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As mentioned the deteriorating hangar is in need of repairs and faces an insecure future.

Here's the Mini Guppy. It was conceived from parts off of a Boeing 377/C-97 Stratofreighters such as the cockpit, wings, and tail-section while the main body (the cargo area) was installed by Aero Spacelines, Inc.

Interior view of the Mini Guppy cargo section.

A unique aircraft is the "flying W", the Bellanca Aircruiser. This airframe is one of only two left in existence; it is also the only airworthy example in the world.

The only airworthy example of the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon), nicknamed "Oscar" by the allies in World War II can be found at the Tillamook Air Museum. This airframe was recovered from the Kuril Islands north of Japan.

Gallery Update: Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum Revisit

Five years ago, I got into aviation photography and planespotting and started my aviation photo collection with a visit to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. Last weekend, I figured it was about time for a revisit and I'm glad I went! Since my first visit to the museum five years ago, a lot of new aircraft have been added to the exhibit and this time, I had a better camera to take pictures with! And I am generally pleased with my photo results.

Follow this link to see my album from the museum:

Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum (Revisit)

I sure wished the weather was better for the sake of lighting, but that's Oregon for you... Like I mentioned earlier new things have been added to the exhibit since I first went five years ago. Back then, the space exhibit was open but was really bare and not much to offer. And of course some things have been rearranged to make room for the latest additions. Additions to the museum complex continues... Here are some of the highlights from my recent visit:

The hardest thing to do is getting the entire airframe of the Hughes H-4 Hercules (a.k.a. the Spruce Goose) in the shot. This time around, I was more successful in doing so, minus some of the wingspan.

This is actually a reproduction replica Focke-Wulf Fw-190 (known as 'Red 13') built by Legend Flyers, based in Everett, Washington.

Also built as a reproduction replica by Legend Flyers (from the Me-262 Project) is 'Yellow 5', a Messerschmitt Me-262 Schwalbe (Swallow). The museum now has the largest aircraft (Hughes H-4) designed during World War II, as well as the fastest aircraft designed during World War II (Messerschmitt Me-262).

At first, I thought this was an F-111 Aardvark when I saw the variable-sweep wing until I noticed the 'Red 339' on the fuselage and it only had one engine, when I realized it was actually a Mikoyan-Gurevich  MiG-23 'Flogger'. Apparently, this is one of the latest additions to the museum.

Something I don't want to EVER see in my rear view mirror is the Northrop Grumman RQ-8A Fire Scout.

This is a mock-up of the Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk which the museum received from the manufacturer. This mock-up was originally used  by Northrop Grumman to show off the design of the Global Hawk to the United States Air Force. Ironically, it ended up on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio before they ended up receiving an actual RQ-4 from the Air Force and returned the mock-up to Northrop Grumman, who in turn donated it to Evergreen.

A unique design in general aviation has to be the Beechcraft 2000A Starship (N74TD/cn NC-27). Such a shame that it wasn't a commercial success due to a lousy economy in the late 1980s. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful aircraft and was for 1980s-standards, ahead of its time.

McDonnell Douglas VC-9C (DC-9-32) once used for executive transport by the United States Air Force. This is 73-1683, one of three used by the USAF from 1976 until recent retirement. Occasionally used by the Vice Presidents with 'Air Force Two' callsign.

Another aircraft that wasn't here five years ago is this PBY Catalina nicknamed 'Killer Cat'. This airframe is actually a Canadaian-built Canso A, acquired by the museum in August 2011.

Unrelated to my visit to the museum is the recent news of Evergreen International Airlines announcement of shutting down at the end of this month. Evergreen operates a fleet of Boeing 747s for their cargo operations.There's not a lot of places in the world where you get to see two Boeing 747s at one museum complex, unless you're at Evergreen!

N482EV, a Boeing 747-212B(SF) sits engine-less in front of the museum, having once served Evergreen International Airlines.

N481EV, a Boeing 747-132(SF) stands as part of the main attraction of the Evergreen Wings & Wave Waterpark.

Gallery Update: Hillsboro Air Fair Open House

Wasn't expecting much for the month of October but as it turns out, there IS an event that caused me to visit the Portland-Hillsboro Airport for the second time this year. The Port of Portland hosts an open house event every year called the Hillsboro Airport Air Fair held on the terminal grounds of the airport. A small event really, but I thought it was worth checking out and I certainly enjoyed the sights and sounds of it so it was worth the trip. Major players involved at this open house includes Hillsboro Aviation's Flight School and a couple of the larger jet FBOs located at the airport. Sights included a small static display, view of the airport runway and flight ramp with constantly departing and arriving traffic, as well as a bus tour that took us to the FBOs.

Here are the gallery links:

Hillsboro Air Fair 2013

Portland-Hillsboro (HIO) 1

Preview:

Cessna 162 Skycatcher (N5199K) on static display.

Gulfstream V (N3546), which belongs to Nike, Inc. taxiing to a hangar on the far side of the airport after arrival.
This aircraft's tail number is "Nike" spelled backwards on a telephone keypad.
It's a corporate jet but you have to see it up close to realize the size of these planes because Gulfstreams are HUGE!
(If you own Nike tennis shoes or clothing, you helped pay for this aircraft!)

Gallery Update: National Championship Air Races, 50 Years in the Making

Well, it was that time of the year again. Month of September meant taking time off from work, hopping on a relatively short flight to Reno, Nevada and joining members of my extended family in order to attend the Annual National Championship Air Races. As the title of this post may indicate, this year was special considering that it was the 50th year for this particular event at the location. And for me personally, it was indeed quite a privilege to attend and see some balls-to-the-walls action as well as seeing some of the greatest legacies of aviation this event cultivated be honored. Aviation legends like Bob Hoover and Clay Lacy were present at the event.

Event Highlights:

• Air show headliner: Patriots Jet Team.
• Other air show features: Bob Hoover tribute in a classic Sabreliner and Clay Lacy in his Lear Jet 24, among other performers such as Yves Rossy of Switzerland as the Breitling Jetman, making his second ever public North American appearance (after EAA Oshkosh).
• Two famous and well-known P-51D Mustangs make a special appearance this year's air races: 'Ole Yeller' formerly flown by R.A. Bob Hoover and brought out all the way from Rexburg, Idaho by current owner/operator John Bagley, and 'Miss Van Nuys' of Clay Lacy Aviation, which won the Unlimited Gold Class Championship at the Reno Air Races in 1970.
• Continuation of the government sequester meant no military demonstrations or static displays.
• During the Saturday Gold Heat race for Unlimited Warbird Class, #232 'September Fury' (Hawker Sea Fury) with Robert "Hoot" Gibson at the controls declares a "Mayday" and pulls out of the race. As the plane was passing the eighth pylon, two distinct popping noises were made, caused by failure of the intake scoop on top of the engine mounted in the nose. Pieces from that section flew off, scratching the canopy, damaging the tail section of the aircraft, as well as the engine itself. With expert airmanship, Gibson landed the crippled Sea Fury safely. The aircraft was towed back to the pits and the racing season came to a premature end for team 232.
• Purple is the new red! This year's winner of the Unlimited Warbird Gold Class is returning champion Steven Hinton, this time however, flying in a race-modified P-51D Mustang #5 'Voodoo'. Hinton has previously won four championship titles for Unlimited Gold from 2009 to 2012 in another modified P-51D Mustang, #7 'Strega'. 

Also for this year, I got an official "Pit Pass", which allowed me access to the main racer pits where most of the air racers were parked and I got an up-close look at the planes we got to see in the race. As a result, this year's compilation includes a sixth, new album dedicated to the photos taken inside the main racing pits. And as mentioned above, the ongoing government sequester meant no active military displays or performances, so this year's static display was pretty low-key. Nevertheless, it was still a great year for the air racing community and a once in a lifetime, special 50th. So without further delay, here are the links to the photo galleries for the 50th Annual National Championship Reno Air Races, September, 2013:

Reno 2013 - Air Racers

Reno 2013 - Air Show

Reno 2013 - Flight Ramp

Reno 2013 - Jet Pits

Reno 2013 - Main Pits

Reno 2013 - Static Display

Now, I've gotten this blog post started not too long after I got home from this trip and I went straight into watermarking my photos while in Reno. But between work and what little free time I had to do all this, it wasn't until today that I was able to finish watermarking all of my best photos. I took over 1,000 airplane photos from this trip alone!

Highlighting some of the major things that occurred at the air races as well as some of my personal favorites, here's a photo preview:

2013 Unlimited Warbird Class Champion: #5 'Voodoo' with Steven Hinton at the controls.
North American P-51D Mustang (N551VC) 

#232 'September Fury' being towed back to the pits after the "Mayday" and safe emergency landing made by Robert "Hoot" Gibson. Damage on the top cowling in the nose section is evident. In the background is the Unlimited Pace Plane, a Canadair CT-133 Silver Star 3 with Steve Hinton Sr. (former air racing champion and father of this year's champion) at the controls taxiing past.

#38 'Precious Metal' made a triumphant return after last year's "Mayday" as well as overcoming pre-season  mishaps, this time, sporting a new livery. This aircraft is considered a uniquely modified P-51D Mustang (N6WJ), powered by a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine, driving a six-bladed contra-rotating propeller

Yves Rossy of Switzerland, with jet-powered wing strapped to his back passing the crowd after his demonstration.  This was his second North American public appearance as the Breitling Jetman, the first being at EAA Oshkosh earlier this year.

A unique formation fly-by for the opening ceremonies! An F7F Tigercat, an F8F Bearcat, a P-51D Mustang, and a Supermarine 379 Spitfire FR14 all together in one frame! Indeed one of my personal favorite shots from this year!

I saw them at the Oregon International Air Show and I saw 'em again in Reno! With the sequester cancelling the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds' respective 2013 air show seasons, these civilian formation teams MUST be in hog heaven being the main headliner for air shows across the country! The six-ship formation of the Patriots Jet Team in their Aero L-39C Albatros fly by in the opening act of their show.

Look out! It's Kent Pietsch and his Interstate S-1A-65F Cadet! Still whacky as ever, doing his "routine" Deadstick maneuver, just about to land WITH NO ENGINE POWER!

North American Rockwell NA-306 Sabreliner 60 (N607CF) as part of the Bob Hoover tribute flight taxiing out.

Clay Lacy taxis his Lear Jet 24 (N3137) for his demo flight.

This was the first time I ever got to see a Spitfire in action and it was such a privilege. NX749DP is a MKXIV version (more specifically Supermarine 379 Spitfire FR14) owned and operated by the Commemorative Air Force.

With only five airworthy examples flying in the world, it's a rare sight to witness a Zero and indeed a special privilege. This Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero (NX712Z) owned and operated by the Commemorative Air Force was recovered from New Guinea in 1991.

"Check six! Check six!"
The Commemorative Air Force Zero "chasing" the F8F Bearcat in a mock-dogfight.

Another unique formation fly-by.
Commemorative Air Force F8F Bearcat and P-51D Mustang fly by together, representing their respective military branches of their time.

The two legendary Mustangs together as the center piece for opening ceremonies.
On the left is Bob Hoover's former P-51D Mustang, 'Ole Yeller'. On the right is Clay Lacy's P-51D Mustang, 'Miss Van Nuys'.

The damaged #232 'September Fury' parked in the pits with cowling removed and damage to the right horizontal stabilizer evident.

#64 'Miss Van Nuys' parked in the pits. This aircraft didn't race but was present mainly for the special occasion being the 50th year of air racing.

Reno-Stead Airport stores a lot of Soviet-built aircraft. Pictured here is a genuine Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, a two-seat trainer variant of the fighter jet made famous in the Korean War.

It took a bit of effort to get this shot...
This Ilyushin (VEB) Il-14P has been sitting rudderless at Stead for who-knows how long...

There were a few unique sights in the static display area worth mentioning...
Republic RC-3 Seabee (N64PN) with landing gear retracted, showing it's capabilities as an amphibious aircraft.

Here's a new one I've never seen before:
Dornier Do-28D-2 Skyservant (N273PA)

Grumman G-73 Mallard (N168WS).

Grumman G-111 Albatross (N51ZD).

Wow, that turned out to be a long preview. It was more like a montage!

Gallery Update: Spotting from Reno to Portland

As you may have read from yesterday's blog post, my flight got delayed for nearly two hours. Expect the unexpected right? Well, I took yesterday's flight delay as an opportunity and took some photos of the airplanes that were visible at Reno-Tahoe International Airport; planespotting from the terminal! And then, it all went on from there...

Reno-Tahoe (RNO) 3

Also updated is my commercial air travel aerial photos. In addition to that, I created a new air-to-air album because we actually saw some air traffic flying around us.

Commercial Air Travel (Updated)

Air-To-Air 1

And finally, as we arrived in Portland, I took some photos from my flight as we taxiied to the terminal:

Portland (PDX) 9

Preview:

FedEx Express Airbus A300F4-605R (N685FE) on take-off roll, departing RNO.

US Airways Airbus A319-132 (N826AW), in state of Arizona livery pushing back from the gate for a flight to PHX.
As is obvious from the tail-number, this aircraft was originally delivered to America West Airlines, prior to the merger.

Photo taken from SWA FL442 en route to PDX. My first air-to-air photo. It was pretty neat to see some other air traffic.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N187DN) at the gate at PDX, getting ready for a flight to Tokyo-Narita (NRT).

Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-323X (N810NW) at the gate at PDX, having just arrived from Amsterdam (AMS). As apparent from the tail-number, this aircraft was originally delivered to Northwest Airlines prior to the Delta-Northwest merger that occurred a few years back.
Delta recently upgraded the PDX-AMS route from the A330-200 to the 300 series in order to increase passenger capacity.