Gallery Update: Aeroplanes, Trains, & Automobiles Open House 2016 Recap

I found out about an event being hosted by the city of Spanish Fork, Utah (just south of Provo) by some fellow flight students as well as from a poster hanging on campus earlier this week called 'Aeroplanes, Trains, & Automobiles' being held at the Spanish Fork-Springville Airport. Naturally, I decided to check it out as this was a good excuse to explore the area, stay immersed in the world of aviation (of course, I went for the aircraft!), and just to check out another new airport I've never been to before and believe me, I was not disappointed!

One of the greatest highlights about today's event wasn't even a particular airplane, but rather a person: Colonel Gail Seymour "Hal" Halvorsen. I had the privilege of meeting and shaking hands with this extraordinary man!

Me with Colonel Halvorsen!

Colonel Halvorsen is an inspiration to many! He piloted the Douglas C-47 Skytrain and Douglas C-54 Skymaster during the Berlin Airlift ("Operation Vittles"), which was a response to the Soviet imposed Berlin Blockade, one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. Colonel Halvorsen's most well-known feat was the founding of "Operation Little Vittles", which was an effort to raise morale in the blockaded and divided German city by dropping candy via miniature parachutes to the city's residents, especially the young children. He began "Little Vittles" initially with no authorization from his military superiors. Over the next year for the duration of the airlift, Halvorsen became a national hero with a great deal of support gained from all over the United States, with fellow pilots participating in the airlift joining in on the "Little Vittles" operation. His unique contribution to the overall operation dropped over 23 tons of candy to the children and he affectionately became known as the "Berlin Candy Bomber", "Uncle Wiggly Wings" (because he rocked the wings of his plane to signal waiting children that he was about airdrop his load of candy to them), and "The Chocolate Flier." Gail Halvorsen is an American warrior and hero of the Cold War; he is an icon of the West standing its ground against the expansions of a Soviet-led Communism. May we all remember this incredible, historical feat, and may we all continue to honor and appreciate his legacy!

In addition to meeting Colonel Halvorsen, there were quite a few unique displays of aircraft both modern and vintage. Here are some links:

Aeroplanes, Trains & Automobiles 2016 (Aircraft Displays)

Spanish Fork-Springville (U77) 1

Photo preview:

North American SNJ-5 Texan (N156SG) on display. Aircraft is from the Commemorative Air Force's Utah Wing out of Heber City, Utah.

Boeing N2S-5 E75 Kaydet (N1387V) on display. Also from the Commemorative Air Force's Utah Wing out of Heber City, Utah.

Stoddard-Hamilton Glasair III (N79R) on display.

PZL-Warszawa-Okęcie PZL-104MA Wilga 2000 (N123T) on display. This has to be one of the most unique aircraft I saw in the 'modern' category. The Wilga (golden oriole) is a Polish designed and built short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) Civil Aviation utility aircraft. The PZL-104MA Wilga 2000 was the last variant of Wilga 2000 made in 2005, with improved aerodynamics and winglets, powered by Lycoming I0-540 300 HP engine.

Note the large tundra tires, which is indicative that this aircraft is capable of being used for off-airport operations.

Lancair Legacy 2000 (N707MM), Race #32 "Turbulence" on display. This Lancair Legacy is equipped with a 850 HP Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42 turboprop engine. As of right now, this is the only Legacy in the world with this kind of powerplant.

Lancair Legacy 2000 (N913MP) Race #23 on display

Glasair GlaStar GS-1 (N199GS) on display.

Erco 415D Ercoupe (N99924) "Miss Dolly" on display. Aiframe was manufactured in 1946.

Titan Tornado S (N725Z) on display. The Tornado is a large family of cantilever high-wing, pusher configuration, tricycle gear-equipped kit aircraft manufactured by Titan Aircraft of Austinburg, Ohio for amateur construction. The Tornado S is a two seats in tandem "stretched" fuselage version, intended for the US home-built and light-sport categories.

Acro Sport Baby Ace C (N7EM) on display. The Baby Ace was the world's first aircraft to be marketed as a homebuilt aircraft when its plans were offered for sale in 1929. Plans are still available and Baby Aces are still being built today.

Epic Aircraft Epic LT (N504SM) parked in rather posh hangar!

Lancair Legacy (N36XX) on display.

Raytheon 390 Premier I (N373MM) parked in a rather spotless hangar!

Cessna 560XL Citation Excel (N560JF) parked in a hangar.

Beechcraft Model G18S (N50WA) on static display. Airframe is based out of Heber City, Utah with Worldwide Warbirds, Inc.

Remos G-3/600 (N160LS) parked among some hangars. The Remos GX family are a high wing, two seat, single engine light aircraft, built in Germany and sold worldwide. The G-3/600 model takes advantage of the increased ultralight maximum take off weight.

ICP Savannah (N951RA) parked in a hangar. Classified as an ultralight with side-by-side seating for two, the Savannah is produced in Italy by ICP srl. It has sold in large numbers, particularly in Europe. The aircraft is still in production, sold in both kit and ready to fly form.

Robinson R44 Raven II (N7508Z) landing after taking people up for a sight-seeing flight.

Robinson R44 Raven II (N825TJ) landing after taking people up for a sight-seeing flight.

Cessna 172R Skyhawk II (N516CS) buzzing the airfield.

Bell 407 (N407UH) operated by the University of Utah Hospital.

Gallery Update: Chasing More Jets at Provo

It's been a busy third week at school. Between last week and now, I've been waiting on getting assigned a flight instructor and work out scheduling. As of today, I finally got assigned an instructor and I'll hopefully start flight lessons by next week and start building up flight hours (FINALLY!)! After all that was done, I hung around and did some planespotting, mainly for an Allegiant flight and a pair of corporate jets. Here's the link:

Provo (PVU) 7

Preview:

Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 300 (N313V) departing on 13 for Page, Arizona. Note the Vivint logo on the vertical stabilizer. Vivint is a private smart home services provider in the United States and Canada with its headquarters right here in Provo. 

Cessna 510 Citation Mustang (N7876C) taxiing for departure to Colonel James Jabara Airport in Wichita, Kansas. The Citation Mustang is classified as a very light jet (VLJ) in the Citation family. VLJs are approved for single-pilot operations.

N7876C rotating on 13.

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-112 (N308NV) taxiing for departure as AAY133 for Phoenix-Mesa. Airframe formerly with EasyJet, rotating between the original British airline and EasyJet Switzerland subsidiary as G-EZIF and HB-JZQ respectively.

AAY133 departing on 13.

Gallery Update: A Taste of the 1920s

I hope you're having a wonderful Labor Day weekend! I was presented with a unique opportunity today and of course I jumped at it! Every year, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) conducts nationwide tours of their aircraft. This year, the EAA had a rare Ford Tri-Motor on tour and their tour stop this weekend happened to be up in Bountiful, Utah just north of Salt Lake, so I decided to make the drive up there and go see this 1920s-era aircraft for myself. And like any event like this, they were giving rides so I got to see this classic vintage fly! And better yet, it was at an airport that I've never even knew of! So in addition to the Ford Tri-Motor, I squeezed in some spotting at a new location: Bountiful-Skypark Airport. Here are the links:

Bountiful-Skypark (BTF) 1

EAA Ford Tri-Motor Tour

Preview:

Cessna 310K (N7021L) parked on the ramp.

Rockwell International Commander 112C (N1866J) parked on the ramp.

Face to face with the Ford 5-AT-B Tri-Motor.

Interior cabin view looking towards the cockpit.

Pretty fancy for 1920s standards!

View of the flightdeck. Check out those steering wheels!

Cabin view looking towards the back. And yes, that center door is a lavatory!

On the right, she's the City of Port Clinton.

And on the left, she's the City of Wichita.

Ford 5-AT-B Tri-Motor (NC9645). Aircraft is owned by the Liberty Aviation Museum out of Port Clinton, Ohio based at Erie-Ottawa International Airport. The Experimental Aircraft Association leases and operates the aircraft as part of the "Fly the Ford" tour.

Another angle of the Tri-Motor. Affectionately known as the "Tin Goose," only 199 airframes were built by the Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company.

Another view of the "Tin Goose" with the passenger entry door open.

Painted in the livery of Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT), Inc., a predecessor to TWA. Note that the fuselage is all corrugated metal!

NC9645 on take-off roll on 34.

Just getting off the ground.

Off on a sight-seeing flight for some lucky passengers. It's always a privilege to see one of these old vintage planes still flying!

NC9645 landing on 34.

Hard to believe that this heap of corrugated metal is flyable!

Taxiing to parking.

Positioning into parking position prior to taking the next load of passengers up.

Gallery Update: Triple Allegiant Sighting

I have seen triple! Triple the Allegiant birds in Provo that is (two A319s and a 757; it would've been perfect had it one of the Airbuses been an MD-80)! In addition to the two scheduled flights today, Allegiant sent back the same 757-200 from yesterday back into Provo most likely for more BYU charter operations related to the upcoming first football game of the season being held in Arizona tomorrow. Here's the link:

Provo (PVU) 6

Preview:

United States Marine Corps Beechcraft UC-12F (B200C) Super King Air (163553) airborne after departing 13.

Allegiant Air Boeing 757-204 (N902NV) parked on the ramp. Same airframe I saw yesterday; arrived from Phoenix-Mesa as AAY4403.

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N305NV) arriving on 13 as AAY132 from Phoenix-Mesa, this time on regular scheduled service.

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N328NV) airborne after departing 13 for Los Angeles as AAY345. Airframe formerly registered as RP-C3196 in the Philippines flying for Cebu Pacific. 

AAY132 taxiing to the terminal/FBO.

N902NV airborne after departing 13 as AAY4404 for Phoenix-Sky Harbor (which is a surprise, considering that the airline operates a base at Phoenix-Mesa).

Gallery Update: Allegiant 757 Charter Sighting!

Once again, I credit FlightAware.com for letting me know in advance of what I got to see today at the Provo Airport! One thing I like about college football season is the potential for charter flights and today, Provo got one of those! The first football game of the season for Brigham Young University (BYU) is an away game against University of Arizona, which happens this coming Saturday night. And believe it or not, BYU chartered a Boeing 757-200 from Allegiant Air to fly the team down to Arizona today, and I happened to photograph the chartered jet arriving as a ferry flight into Provo about an hour before my one class this afternoon.

It's kind of ironic and bitter-sweet to see an Allegiant-operated 757 fly into Provo today, considering that the airline officially ceased service to Hawaii just yesterday. Allegiant began acquiring used 757s for their fleet in order to begin services to Honolulu back in 2010 and revenue service started in June 2012; the 757s were acquired specifically for routes to Hawaii as the MD-80s (the only other aircraft type in the Allegiant fleet back at the time) did not have the range. ETOPS rating was gained from the FAA in 2011. At one point, Allegiant flew to Hawaii from ten west coast cities, but then got reduced down to two (Las Vegas and Los Angeles) before ceasing service to this market completely.

Allegiant operated a fleet of six Boeing 757-200s during this tenure, with one currently retired. What caused the Hawaii market to be such a bust for Allegiant was it's business model, which is built on hotel and car packages. Hawaii is dominated by vacation condos/timeshares. Plus, most of the hotel operators in Hawaii didn't want to partner with Allegiant, so they had far worse hotel offerings there than they do in other mainland vacation markets. Without the popular Hawaii hotels at their side, the low-cost carrier was missing out on revenue from hotel rooms, that would've otherwise made all the difference.

Retaining the small 757 fleet is also out of the question because the airframe hours are coming up to when heavy maintenance will be required. Known as a D-Check, it's a very rigorous maintenance routine that averages around 50,000 man hours to complete. Aircraft D-Checks can take up to two months to finish and involves taking the entire aircraft apart to be refurbished or get parts replaced. Heavy maintenance is expensive and Allegiant instead opted to phase out the 757 fleet completely. From a business perspective, this move makes sense. While Allegiant could possibly retain one or two 757s for sports charters (another money-maker for them) because of their larger seating capacity, it makes very little financial sense to support such a minuscule fleet of a specific aircraft type. Plus, there aren't many super long-range routes in the airline's network.

Regardless, I am very happy that I was able to see an Allegiant 757 before the airline retires them (which will happen some time in 2017). Here's the link:

Provo (PVU) 5

Photo preview:

Robinson R22 Beta (N3179A) working the Provo pattern.

Allegiant Air Boeing 757-204 (N902NV) arriving on 13 as AAY4401 from Las Vegas on a ferry flight to pick up the BYU football team. This was the very first 757 incorporated into the Allegiant's fleet. Airframe formerly registered as G-BYAE, first delivered to Britannia Airways before being leased to Icelandair. After returning to the Britannia fleet, it was stored briefly before getting picked up by Thomsonfly while retaining the same registration. After it's service life in Europe, the airframe was re-registered as N964BV under the ownership of AerCap and stored at Phoenix-Goodyear. Airframe was acquired by Allegiant in March 2010 and ferried to Everett, Washington to be configured for Hawaii service.

AAY4401 taxiing to the ramp.

This is probably the largest commercial aircraft to ever land at Provo. I am so glad I got to see one of Allegiant Air's 757s before they get sent to the boneyard!

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N302NV) arriving on 13 as AAY1029 from Phoenix-Mesa. This one came in soon after the 757!

AAY1029 taxiing to the terminal/FBO.

Airframe originally delivered to EasyJet as G-EZBS and then re-registered as HB-JZN flying for EasyJet Switzerland.

N902NV ready to accept its charter passengers. Would soon depart as AAY4402 for Phoenix-Mesa.