Gallery Update: Pilatus PC-7 Sighting in Salem!

Before going up for my first flight in the Cessna 182 to start my high-performance aircraft training, I got a few ramp shots of some interesting aircraft on the ramp, including a Metroliner operated by Pak West/Sierra West Airlines. After my first high-performance training flight, I spotted a a Pilatus PC-7 doing an engine-run on the ramp near the Valley Flyers' hangar row and I just knew I had to photograph it!

Salem (SLE)

Preview:

Cessna 421C Golden Eagle (N421CJ) parked on the ramp. A locally-based twin-piston that I've seen frequently, but unable to photograph until today.

Pak West Airlines (d/b/a Sierra West Airlines) Fairchild SA-227AC Metro III (N63NE) parked on the ramp and getting fueled up. Arrived yesterday afternoon from Twin Falls as PKW928. Scheduled to depart this afternoon for El Paso with the same flight number.

While in standard Pak West/Sierra West colors, this airframe is currently registered to Career Aviation. It first flew for a now-defunct airline that was based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida called Lynx Air International, which ceased operations in 2009. It was one of seven Metroliners that flew for Lynx Air International.

Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer (N66PN) parked on the ramp doing an engine-run. My first time seeing the Swiss-built military trainer! The PC-7 design would lead to the improved PC-9, which would then in-turn lead to the development of the T-6 Texan II license-built by Raytheon and then Beechcraft, which would see use by the U.S. military.

This airframe is the 617th built, meaning it was the second-to-last to be built as Pilatus built 618 PC-7s from 1966 until around the early 2000s.

Gallery Update: Allegiant Air Sighting in Portland

Happy New Year!

This was a last-minute spotting trip I took after leaving work early, but I had to drive up to Portland to pick up some relatives who were flying in from Idaho for a visit this weekend. After finding a cheap fare on Allegiant Air for a direct flight from Idaho Falls to Portland, my relatives apparently jumped at this opportunity. That's right, Allegiant Air now has regularly-scheduled services to PDX now, which was something I don't think anyone saw coming!

A year ago, the Las Vegas-based ultra low-cost carrier announced that they would begin serving Portland initially with flights to Santa Maria and Monterey in California as well as Idaho Falls, which all began in the spring of last year. As it was still the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and domestic leisure travel was recovering much faster than international and business, Allegiant capitalized on unique route opportunities and COVID-weary travelers itching to get out by utilizing their well-known business model to give people the opportunity to travel and recreate in and around popular outdoor attractions (which all three initial destinations had in common) after a dismal year for aviation. The California routes certainly made sense, but connecting Idaho Falls and Portland was certainly a surprise move initially; but given Idaho Falls' proximity to Yellowstone National Park along with other outdoor attractions, the unique city-pairs certainly would work (in theory!) and it has definitely given my relatives a unique opportunity! These new offerings that started last year is Allegiant's first foray into PDX.

Allegiant started service between PDX and Santa Maria on April 15, 2021 with Monterey and Idaho Falls following suit on May 28. Since then, the carrier has also started flying routes to Billings and Missoula (Montana), Des Moines (Iowa), and Grand Rapids (Michigan) on a seasonal basis as of last summer.

Aside from my first time seeing Allegiant at PDX, I was also pleased to catch one of Alaska Airlines' 737s in the OneWorld livery (a new sight since joining the global airline alliance), another one of their 737 MAX 9s, and a few other worthwhile catches.

Portland (PDX) 68

Preview:

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990 (N318AS) arriving on 28L as ASA9903 from Palm Springs. Originally supposed to arrive earlier in the morning as ASA244 but that flight was cancelled. Formerly painted in the "Spirit of Disneyland II" special livery.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N506AS) taxiing for departure as ASA1244 for Seattle-Tacoma.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N486AS) in the OneWorld livery arriving on 28L as ASA1446 from San Diego. My first time seeing the OneWorld livery on an Alaska Airlines frame! This was the second 737 in Alaska's fleet to receive the livery after joining the global airline alliance.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N361VA) arriving on 28L as ASA565 from Los Angeles. Former "Jersey Girl" with Virgin America.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N551AS) taxiing for departure as ASA1366 for Las Vegas.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 (N924AK) taxiing for departure as ASA1187 for Kailua-Kona. As more 737 MAX 9s join the fleet, Alaska Airlines is putting them on some of their longer routes, including west coast routes to Hawaii. Only my second time seeing an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9!

ASA1244 departing on 28L for Seattle-Tacoma.

ASA1366 departing on 28L for Las Vegas.

ASA1187 departing on 28L for Kailua-Kona.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N354FR) "Scarlet the Tanager" taxiing for departure as FFT2170 for Las Vegas.

United Airlines Airbus A319-131 (N836UA) arriving on 28R as UAL242 from Denver.

UAL242 turning towards the gate.

NetJets Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 (N417QS) taxiing to the FBO after arriving on 28R as EJA417 from Reno/Tahoe.

NetJets Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 350 (N781QS) taxiing to the FBO after arriving on 28R as EJA781 from Las Vegas.

Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (78-0532) taxiing to the military ramp after arriving back from a sortie.

Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (78-0521) taxiing to the military ramp after arriving back from a sortie.

Ameriflight Beechcraft C99 Airliner (N7200Z) operating as AMF1926 arriving on 28L. Flight attempted to fly to Redmond, but ended up diverting back to PDX due to weather.

Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330-243 (N388HA) taxiing for departure as HAL25 for Honolulu.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Q400 (N435QX) in the updated University of Washington Huskies livery taxiing to the gate after arriving from Seattle-Tacoma as QXE2264. My first time seeing the updated livery for this college special! Along with a new coat of purple and the current "Alaska Horizon" titles, the "W" logo that used to be on the back of the fuselage has been replaced with the "Go Dawgs!" chant.

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N253NV) arriving on 28L as AAY37 from Idaho Falls, the flight bringing in my relatives to visit for the weekend. Also my first time catching an Allegiant Airbus with the newer sharklets! As the sharklets indicate this is one of those rare airframes in Allegiant's fleet that wasn't acquired second-hand. This was one of 12 A320s Allegiant ordered directly from Airbus.

Allegiant made the order in 2015, and it was the first time in the airline's history to order directly from the manufacturer. The airline chose to do so because it was at a point where the MD-80s and 757s were in the process of being retired, not many used aircraft were coming into the fleet, and the aircraft order was available on short-notice; in fact the new airframe orders Allegiant received in a rather short amount of time from ordering to delivery allowed the airline to accelerate the retirement of their remaining MD-80s. Allegiant received 10 of their brand-new A320s in 2017 and two more in 2018. And being newer airframes, Allegiant elected to shove more seats in their new A320s (a total of 186 seats compared to 177 found in their second-hand A320s) by utilizing the Airbus Space-Flex V2 Lavatory. On an unrelated note, Allegiant surprised the industry two days ago when they announced that they've ordered 30 Boeing 737 MAX 7s and 20 737 MAX 200s!

HAL25 departing on 28L for Honolulu.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 (N8807L) arriving on 28R as SWA388 from Oakland.

SWA388 taxiing to the gate.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A321-253N (N923VA) taxiing for departure as ASA782 for Orlando.

Gama Aviation (d/b/a Wheels Up) Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i (N817UP) airborne off 28R as GAJ817 for Caldwell, Idaho.

ASA782 departing on 28R for Orlando.

Last time I saw this airframe, it was still in the Virgin America livery and nicknamed "3-2-1 liftoff."

Gallery Update: A Short Spotting Trip to PDX

Happy holidays and happy week of Christmas!

I had hoped to get some meaningful spotting on the account that it's the holiday peak season, but fatigue from work and particularly from my new position has taken its toll. I was hoping to catch one of Asia Pacific Airlines' 757s, but once again, I missed it by a matter of hours. But the trip wasn't a total loss as I got to see a few notable firsts for me, which included a 737 MAX 9 in the new United Airlines livery, as well as a few unique corporate aircraft. I'll let the photos speak for themselves here.

Portland (PDX) 67

Preview:

United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 (N37530) taxiing for departure as UAL2177 for Chicago O'Hare. My first time seeing the "evo-blue" livery on the MAX 9!

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N440AS) departing on 10L as ASA545 for New York-JFK.

Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy 600 (N317LL) arriving on 10L.

UAL2177 departing on 10L for Chicago O'Hare.

Empire Airlines (d/b/a FedEx Feeder) Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N957FE) taxiing for departure as CFS4749 for Salem.

CFS4749 departing on 10L for the quick round-trip feeder flight to Salem.

Beechcraft B100 King Air (N923BW) arriving on 10L from Bozeman. My first time seeing B100 model of the King Air family, which is a stretch derivative of the Model 90. The Model 100 would eventually evolve into the T-tail Model 200 model that's still in production today.

Boutique Air Pilatus PC-12/45 (N451SS) taxiing for departure as BTQ354 for Pendleton.

BTQ354 airborne off 10L for Pendleton.

Empire Airlines (d/b/a FedEx Feeder) Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N983FE) taxiing for departure as CFS4712 for Corvallis.

CFS4712 airborne off 10L for the quick round-trip feeder flight for Corvallis.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N953WN) arriving on 10L as SWA554 from Sacramento. Note the "Silver One" stick on the nose. The decals commemorated Southwest's 25th anniversary of operations and was originally adorned on a 737-300 in a polished silver livery. After the retirement of Southwest's 737-700s, the "Silver One" decals were transferred to this airframe.

Gallery Update: K-MAX Helicopter Sighting at Salem

After getting back from a quick local flight, I decided to chase down and photograph a unique visitor to Salem, namely, a Kaman K-1200 K-MAX helicopter, which was parked on the ramp. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Salem (SLE)

Preview:

Kaman K-1200 K-MAX (N161KA) parked on the ramp. Arrived earlier this afternoon from somewhere down south, likely Roseburg.

Previously flew as HB-XHJ for Helog in Switzerland. Currently registered to Superior Helicopter/Leasing LLC, which currently does business as Swanson Group Aviation, a private aerospace company that specializes in aerial construction, logging, aerial firefighting, and unmanned aircraft support based out of Glendale, Oregon. Superior Helicopters and later Swanson Aviation is one of the launch customers of the K-MAX and is considered to be one of the most experienced operators of the type. Fulfilling the aforementioned roles, it makes sense that this company would utilize the K-MAX.

Gallery Update: Chasing Aha! Airlines at Eugene

Happy week of Thanksgiving.

After ExpressJet inaugurated their "aha!" branded service to Eugene earlier this month, I've been keeping an eye on them and their fleet development. What I was after in particular was another one of their (as of right now) three ERJ-145s, preferably one that's actually painted in the "aha!" livery. Well, today happened to be that occasion after confirming which airframe it was via FlightRadar 24, so off I went to Eugene Airport for another spotting trip. And unlike my last outing to Eugene, the weather was actually nice!

Eugene (EUG) 8

Preview:

American Airlines Airbus A319-132 (N832AW) taxiing to the terminal after arriving on 16R as AAL1467 from Dallas-Fort Worth.

United States Navy Lockheed P-3C Orion (161339) airborne off 16R as "Totem 85" following a touch-and-go. This is actually my first time seeing a standard P-3 Orion! The first time I saw a Navy P-3 was actually a modified variant, the EP-3E Aries II back at the 2015 Oregon International Air Show.

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-112 (N324NV) taxiing to the gate after arriving on 16R as AAY514 from Oakland. I last saw this airframe back in my schooling days in Provo, Utah five years ago.

"Totem 85" airborne off 16R following another touch-and-go. Based at NAS Whidbey Island with Maritime Patrol Squadron 69 (VP-69), the "Fighting Totems."

"Totem 85 executing a low-pass over 16R. VP-69 is a Naval Reserve Squadron and is one of two squadrons based at NAS Whidbey Island to still have the P-3 Orion on hand (the other being VQ-1 and their EP-3E Aries IIs).

"Totem 85" executing a missed-approach after shooting an instrument approach for 16R.

"Totem 85" doing a full-stop landing on 16R.

Face-to-face with the Orion!

"Totem 85" clearing 16R and about to taxi-back for departure.

Of course, the Navy is using airports like Eugene to fly cross-country and practice instrument approaches and landings for proficiency all while trying not to anger locals near their home base.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LL E-175SC (N300SY) taxiing for departure as SKW3912 for Seattle-Tacoma. Arrived this morning from Salt Lake City as SKW4069.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a United Express) Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200ER (N937EV) on push-back for departure as SKW5474 for Denver. Arrived an hour prior as SKW5289 from San Francisco.

SKW3912 airborne off 16R for Seattle-Tacoma.

"Totem 85" airborne off 16R back to NAS Whidbey Island.

N832AW parked at the gate. Scheduled to return to Dallas-Fort Worth as AAL1238.

ExpressJet Airlines (d/b/a aha!) Embraer EMB-145LR ERJ-145LR (N846HK) arriving on 16R as ASQ7062 from Reno/Tahoe. Glad to finally catch the actual "aha!" livery!

ASQ7062 clearing the runway. Like all the other ERJ-145s currently in the fleet, this airframe first flew for Trans States Airlines in United Express colors, first delivered in September 2004.

Airframe was then withdrawn from use and stored in St. Louis in March 2016 until June 2018, when it was returned to revenue service. It was also stripped of the United Express livery and instead wore a simple Trans States house livery, used interchangeably between United Express and American Eagle routes as needed.

Of course, when Trans States ceased operations in 2020 as a result of the pandemic repercussions, airframe went back into storage in April of that year.

Aircraft was taken up by ExpressJet just a few months ago as part of their resumption as an independent regional carrier.

ExpressJet officially took delivery of this airframe just last month.

Of the three ERJ-145s currently in ExpressJet's fleet, this is the only airframe to bear the complete "aha!" livery as shown on advertisement renderings. There is another airframe that also has the same logos, but still have remnants of the United Express livery on the lower half (which I hope to photograph!). However N846HK is what "aha!" branded ERJs are supposed to look like!

ASQ7062 pulling up to the gate. Scheduled to depart back to Reno as ASQ7063.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N644QX) airborne off 16R as QXE2097 for Seattle-Tacoma. Alaska Airlines E-jets are also a new sight at Eugene this year, as they've started rotating in along with the Q400s. The E-175s flown by both Horizon and SkyWest are primarily being used between Eugene and Los Angeles, which Alaska started flying out of Eugene this year in order to compete with the likes of Allegiant, Avelo (indirectly with their Burbank hub), as well as United. The other reason is in conjunction with Alaska joining the OneWorld alliance and to provide feed to American Airlines.

SKW5474 airborne off 16R for Denver. Airframe formerly flew for ExpressJet under the Delta Connection brand.

Cessna 525A CitationJet CJ2 (N295) airborne off 16R.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LL E-175SC (N289SY) taxiing to the gate after arriving on 16R as SKW4117 from Seattle-Tacoma. Scheduled to depart later in the day as SKW3576 to Salt Lake City.

Cessna 550 Citation II Bravo (N79DA) getting towed on the FBO ramp. Arrived two days ago from Bend.