Gallery Update: Falcon 20 Sighting in Salem

After returning from a quick cross-country flight on a rare, sunny, December afternoon, I decided to get a few quick, discreet ramp shots in. One of the sightings happened to be a Dassault Falcon 20, a business jet designed in the 1960s, making it a vintage sighting! This might be the last of my photography for 2020 as inclement weather is due to return later this week.

Salem (SLE) 66

Preview:

Dassault-Breguet Falcon 20 (N384PB) parked on the ramp. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever photographed a Falcon 20 before! This 1980-built Falcon 20 is a 1960s design still going strong!

Cessna 525 Citation M2 (N864TX) parked on the ramp. Arrived yesterday afternoon from Rapid City.

Gallery Update: Post-Christmas Spotting at PDX

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas in spite of the ongoing challenges, limitations, and restrictions that have been at the forefront of an equally challenging, dumpster fire of a year that's 2020 (it's almost over thankfully!). While I missed any potential Christmas-time/peak season highlights this month due to lousy weather and a busy work schedule, a spotting trip to Portland today was still worthwhile and I'm going to make it my last major outing for the year. Highlights to this trip include catching two Airbus A320neos, one of which was from Volaris in their old livery. I also got to see another Airbus A319 in the new United Airlines livery. And best of all, I got to see another heritage livery from American Airlines, namely the old TWA retro jet!

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Preview:

United Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N429UA) taxiing for departure as UAL2214 for Denver.

United Airlines Airbus A319-132 (N874UA) taxiing in to the gate after arrival from Denver as UAL242. Formerly B-6021 with China Southern Airlines. My second time seeing the new United livery!

Omni Air Transport Learjet 45 (N340SR) taxiing for departure as DRL34 for New Braunfels, Texas.

DRL34 departing on 10L for New Braunfels.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N915NN) in the TWA heritage livery departing on 10R as AAL29 for Dallas-Fort Worth. I am absolutely thrilled to finally photograph one of the most iconic airline liveries in aviation history!

American added the TWA heritage livery (along with other airlines they absorbed) after completing their merger with US Airways, which started the trend of painting retro liveries on their jets to pay homage to their heritage. Glad to see American carry on the tradition!

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900/ER (N275AK) departing on 10L as ASA332 for Fort Lauderdale. Alaska only just recently started flying to Fort Lauderdale from Portland just a few months prior.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N385DZ) arriving on 10L as DAL743 from Detroit.

DAL743 taxiing to the gate.

Learjet 60 (N252RP) taxiing for departure to Teterboro.

N252RP departing on 10L for Teterboro.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N229WN) arriving on 10L as SWA573 from Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Pilatus PC-12/47 (N220JP) departing on 10L.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N403AS) departing on 10L as ASA606 for Phoenix Sky Harbor.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N819NN) taxiing to the gate after arrival on 10R as AAL1220 from Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N216FR) "Cliff the Mountain Goat" taxiing to the gate after arrival on 10R as FFT793 from Denver.

NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N639QS) taxiing for departure as EJA639 for Bozeman.

EJA639 departing on 10L for Bozeman.

Cessna 501 Citation I/SP (N70NB) taxiing for departure to Salinas.

N874UA taxiing for departure as UAL1888 for Houston-Intercontinental.

N70NB departing on 10L for Salinas.

UAL1888 departing on 10L for Houston-Intercontinental.

Volaris Airbus A320-271N (N529VL) arriving on 10L as VOI956 from Guadalajara. Glad to see a Volaris A320neo in the airline's older livery with the black engine nacelles instead the new magenta ones!

VOI956 taxiing to the gate. From what I can gather, there are only a handful of A320neos that were delivered to Volaris in this livery before they added some color and larger, billboard titles.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N927NK) arriving on 10L as NKS765 from Las Vegas.

NKS765 taxiing to the gate.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A321-211 (N705FR) "Ferndale the Pygmy Owl" arriving on 10L as FFT2171 from Las Vegas.

FFT2171 taxiing to the gate.

Gallery Update: More Shots of Taos Air in Salem

Before going flying this afternoon, I decided to get more shots of the Taos Air Dornier 328JET I saw a few days ago, mainly for better lighting and weather. While I'm happy that I got more ground shots, the plane was scheduled to depart Salem later in the afternoon and I was out flying by then. But I'm happy regardless that I got to see this airline livery for the first time this month.

Salem (SLE) 65

Preview:

Advanced Air (d/b/a Taos Air) Fairchild-Dornier 328-300 328JET (N192TS) parked on the ramp. Scheduled to depart for Corvallis as WSN92 and then on to Salt Lake City. The fact that they were departing for Corvallis might indicate sports charter.

NetJets Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 (N344QS) parked on the ramp. Arrived yesterday as EJA344 from Seattle-Tacoma. Scheduled to depart later this evening for Long Beach.

Size comparison between the 328JET and the Phenom 300.

One last shot of the Taos Air 328JET. Love seeing rare sights like this!

Gallery Update: Taos Air Sighting in Salem!

Talk about an unexpected opportunity! I went up for an hour-long local flight and before going up, I had the rare opportunity to photograph a Dornier 328JET owned by Taos Air and operated by Advanced Air that apparently flew into Salem this morning!

Taos Air is a virtual airline operating a seasonal scheduled public and niche air charter service out of Taos Regional Airport in Taos, New Mexico. The airline is owned by Taos Ski Valley, Inc., an alpine ski resort located in Taos, New Mexico and not surprisingly, is used to promote skiing and bring skiers to the Taos-area. The resort pays for operation and upkeep of the aircraft while the Town of Taos provides terminal access, marketing, de-icing service, and a hangar. During their inaugural year of operations, Taos Air offered services to Taos from Dallas-Love Field and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport; Ultimate Air Shuttle was contracted to operate a single Dornier 328JET for the 2018-2019 ski season.

In early-2019 Taos Air was also involved in efforts to bring tourism to the Taos-area and provide flights for the summer season with grant money being raised to . However the grant was never was not disbursed nor did summer flights begin due unavailability of aircraft and pilots from Ultimate Air Shuttle. As a result, Taos Air resumed services for the 2019-2020 ski season with a new contractor, namely, Advanced Air with two Dornier 328JET aircraft. At the start of 2020, Taos Air also added two new destinations in California to bring skiers to Taos: Hawthorne Municipal Airport and McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. These services were short-lived however, as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced all the ski-related public charter services to be suspended. Sadly, with the ongoing pandemic and the resultant uncertainties associated with travel restrictions varying by state, the 2020-2021 ski season flights were also recently cancelled by the virtual airline.

As for Advanced Air, it is a fairly-new scheduled commuter and private charter airline based in Hawthorne, California that began operations in 2018; it is also the owner of the Hawthorne-based FBO Jet Center Los Angeles. While the airline began flying in 2018, the company itself was founded back in 2005 and began California shuttle services in 2015. Advanced Air began scheduled operations after winning it's first Essential Air Service (EAS) contract to provide flights to Phoenix and Albuquerque for Silver City, New Mexico in October 2018. Their scheduled fleet primarily consists of six Beechcraft Super King Air 350s as well as Taos Air's two Dornier 328 JETs (pending seasonal availability). Advanced Air also has a fleet for private charter and shuttle use consisting of two LearJet 45s and a Bombardier Challenger 300, as well as five Pilatus PC-12s for select shuttle routes in partnership with Surf Air, another California-based commuter airline that operates a business model of offering unlimited flight services for a fixed monthly membership fee (Surf Air owns the PC-12s).

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Preview:

Advanced Air (d/b/a Taos Air) Fairchild-Dornier 328-300 328JET (N192TS) parked on the ramp. Arrived this morning as WSN92 from Salt Lake City. My first time seeing the Taos Air livery and I'm quite thrilled about it because it was totally unexpected and a rare sight around here! Also my first time catching an Advanced Air aircraft!

First delivered to Atlantic Coast Airlines in February 2002 as N452FJ and flew on the behalf of United Express. Starting in December of that same year, the United Express livery was removed and the aircraft was painted Atlantic Coast Airline's own livery and flew as a private shuttle under the ACA Private Shuttle branding.

After ACA reinvented itself as Independence Air, the aircraft was transferred to the same in August 2004; it went into storage at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina that same year after Independence Air essentially dumped their 328JET fleet. It then flew for Aviando Services, a private company from September 2007. Acquired by TSVA Holdings, the holding company for Taos Valley Ski, Inc. in October 2019 and re-registered to the current N-number. So unlike their inaugural year of operations (with Ultimate Air Shuttle providing the aircraft and crew), Taos Air essentially owns this Dornier 328JETs outright and contracts Advanced Air to fly it.

Gallery Update: Diamond DA62 Sighting in Salem

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! Thanks to FlightAware, I noticed that a Diamond DA62, Diamond Aircraft Industries' newest twin-piston was en route to Salem today. Since I've never seen one before (with only over 100 built as of April 2019), I figured this was a good opportunity to go see it, considering that plane-spotting is at an all-time low and with new COIVD-related measures having gone into effect. This was fine way to get started on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend!

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Preview:

Empire Airlines (d/b/a FedEx Feeder) Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N873FE) arriving on 13 as CFS7686 from North Bend/Coos Bay.

CFS7686 taxiing to the FedEx ramp to pick up cargo before continuing on to Portland.

Civil Air Patrol Cessna T182T Skylane (N538CP) parked on the Civil Air Patrol ramp. Love seeing the standard military grey on the Skylane!

Diamond DA-62 (N403JL) arriving on 13 from Camarillo. My first time seeing Diamond's newest twin-engine aircraft. While it does resemble the DA-42 Twin Star, but the DA-62 technically wasn't designed from the 42.

Ameriflight Beechcraft 99A Airliner (N1924T) arriving on 13 as AMF3908 from Portland.

N403JL taxiing to the FBO ramp. The prototype DA-62 was designated as the DA-52 and first flew on April 3, 2012. Originally developed from the fuselage design of the single-engine Diamond DA-50 (itself a DA-40 on steroids still in development!), the DA-62 is equipped with two Austro AE300 Diesel engines that burn Jet A fuel. There's also a good possibility that Diamond might offer DA-62s with turboprop engines in the future.

Note the DA-62's long wingspan, 47 feet, 9 inches to be exact! The DA62 was certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on April 16, 2015 and by the FAA on February 23, 2016. 

The DA-62 is available in two weight versions; the "European" version has five seats and a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 4,407 lbs., while the "US" version has seven seats and a MTOW of 5,071 lbs. The lower MTOW of the "European" version is to allow operators to avoid higher weight-based air traffic control user charges. 

Also under consideration is a special version of the DA-62 equipped with an additional baggage belly pod for the air charter market. The DA-62 is definitely a higher-end light-twin, with a price tag going above the $1 million mark!

AMF3908 taxiing to the ramp to pick up cargo before making the short hop back up to Portland.

Gallery Update: Spotting at PDX with My New Lens!

I'm excited that I got to use my new camera lens extensively today with a spotting trip up to Portland. I had to drive up because my little sister was flying in from Utah to be home for the extended holiday season and I suppose it's good timing too, considering some of the new lockdown measures being put in place later this week with anticipated spikes in COVID-19 cases here in Oregon (I am so done with this letdown of a year!).

The main highlight to this spotting trip was FINALLY getting to see the United Airlines' new livery (on an Airbus A319), which was revealed early last year (honestly, I'm surprised it has taken me this long to see it for myself!). I also added a few more Delta Air Lines Airbus A321s to my portfolio, as well as Spirit Airlines' very-first Airbus A320neo. What would've been the biggest highlight of this spotting trip for me would've been seeing my first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, but I somewhat blew the opportunity as I did not see it coming and had to settle for some so-so shots...

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Preview:

United Airlines Airbus A319-131 (N831UA) taxiing for departure as UAL517 for San Francisco. Finally, my first time seeing United's newest livery!

UAL517 departing on 10L for San Francisco.

While this new livery and log is still pretty much the old Continental livery, the new shade of blue actually brought back the old "Rising Blue" colors in a sense. Also note that there are now only four lines of latitude on the globe as opposed to the six that were on the previous globe logo. There's actually some hidden meanings there! United Air Lines was formed through the merger of four smaller air lines: Varney Air Lines, Boeing Air Transport, Pacific Air Transport, and National Air Transport. The name "United" is reflective of that original merger. Homage was paid to the four small airlines that merged to create United throughout the airline's history starting with the 4 stars on a Friendship Livery, 4 stars above the Main Liner shield worn by employees up until 2012 (each star representing those four former airlines!), and the four "petals" that made up Saul Bass' tulip. Likewise, the four lines of latitude in the globe logo appears to pay a subtle homage to the origins of the per-merger United Airlines! Either way, this livery update is long overdue in my opinion!

United Airlines Boeing 737-724 (N15712) taxiing for departure as UAL1888 for Houston-Intercontinental.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N901NK) departing on 10L as NKS2446 for Las Vegas. This airframe was the very first A320neo delivered to Spirit Airlines!

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N383DZ) departing on 10L as DAL1418 for Salt Lake City.

UAL1888 departing on 10L for Houston-Intercontinental.

Cessna 560XL Citation XLS+ (N781KB) arriving on 10L from Prineville.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N177SY) departing on 10L as SKW3414 for Burbank.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N839VA) airborne off 10R as ASA997 for Seattle/Tacoma. It sounds like Alaska's mainline division is leaning more back towards becoming a Boeing 737-only operator, so better catch these A320s while they're still around...

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N317DN) airborne off 10R as DAL920 for Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-932/ER (N906DN) airborne off 10R as DAL713 for Atlanta.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N284SY) airborne off 10R as SKW3518 for Los Angeles.

Atlas Air (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 767-31K/ER (BDSF) (N1487A) airborne off 10R as GTI3731 for Wilmington, Ohio.

United States Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III (08-8194) parked on the military ramp. Based at McChord Air Force Base jointly with the 62nd and 446th Airlift Wings.

Cessna 525B Citation CJ3 (N70FC) airborne off 10R for Salt Lake City.

UPS Airlines Airbus A300F4-622R (N154UP) taxiing to the cargo ramp after arriving from Ontario as UPS2972.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N423AS) airborne off 10R as ASA874 for Palm Springs.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N299SY) arriving on 10L as SKW3529 from Seattle/Tacoma.

Ameriflight Beechcraft C99 Airliner (N221BH) airborne off 10R as AMF1924 for Roseburg.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N279WN) taxiing for departure as SWA3326 for Oakland.

SWA3326 departing on 10L for Oakland.

Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global 6000 (N900LS) taxiing for departure.

Gulfstream Aerospace G280 (N815CE) arriving on 10L.

N900LS airborne off 10L.

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (N5016R) taxiing to the Boeing ramp to get painted after arriving on 10R from Everett as BOE038. I'm kicking myself for not getting a better shot of this one as I did not see this one coming! As the tail indicates, this one's destined for Singapore Airline's low-cost subsidiary Scoot.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N597AS) taxiing to the ramp after arriving on 10R as ASA474 from San Diego.

Sun Country Airlines (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 737-83N (BCF) (N5261A) airborne off 10R as SCX3011 for Fort Worth/Alliance.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LL E-175LL/E-175SC (N265SY) arriving on 10L as SKW3565 from Los Angeles.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N939WN) taxiing for departure as SWA4941 for Las Vegas.

SWA4941 departing on 10L for Las Vegas.

N154UP airborne off 10R as UPS9774 for Gary/Chicago. UPS began serving Gary, Indiana earlier this month.