Aviation Appreciation Station

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by MRCboicgy

Naming the planes and making assumptions where they are coming from...

A few off the top of my head:

Lufthansa A340-600 from Frankfurt
British Airways 747-400 from London
KLM MD-11 from Amsterdamn
The 2 Air Canada 777-300's, probably Hong Kong and Shanghai
Korean 747-400 from Seoul
Japan Airlines 767-300 from Tokyo
Cathay Pacific 747-400 from Hong Kong
Philippine A340-300 from Manila

All the smaller stuff could be harder to pin down, and I'm just lazy right now.

[MRCboicgy]

Well, the Air North 737-400 from Whitehorse and the Star Alliance Air Canada 767-300 is most likely from Narita. I'd say the UA 737-800 is from Houston.

[mykalberta]

The only that would be impossible to know without knowing the date is the Air Transat

Assuming each plane shown is incoming from a different airport...

Yukon 732 - Whitehorse
JAL 763 - Tokyo
AC 763 Tokyo
UA 738 - Houston or EWR
Air Berlin 333 - DUS (I think it goes there and not Berlin)
AC 763 - London?
UA 319 - SFO
Thomas Cook 763 - LGW?
Horizon Q - SEA
Delta 320 - MSP or DTW
UA CRJ - DEN
AC 763 - PEK
AC 773 - HKG
Alaska 735 - ANC, maybe LAX
Delta CRJ - SLC
AC 773 - Shanghai
UA 319 - ORD
Air China 763 = PEK?
Korean 744 - Seoul
AA 738 - ORD/DFW? ORD probably
UA 320 - ? Probably a double to ORD
USA 319 - PHX
Cathay 744 - HKG
Philippine 343 - MNL
KLM MD11 - AMS
Air Transat 333 -could be from anywhere, my guess would be CDG
LH 346 - FRA (wow is that a long plane)
BA 744 - LHR

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Crew and passengers of an Air Canada 777 help on the rescue of a capsized taught off the coast of Australia. Very cool.

http://gofar.aircanada.com/2012/ac03...south-pacific/

[Bigtime]

Good avgeeking everyone on the YVR video!

Props to the AC 777 crew for helping out with that yacht, love hearing stories like that.

[Acey]

Watched a young lady veer off McKnight today because she was watching AC 845 pass overhead. A330's tend to have that effect.

[Bigtime]

What a newb, I'd only veer off the road for an Antonov 124 or 225, C-5 Galaxy, A388, or the Concorde (one can dream).

[Bigtime]

On another note, as more and more aircraft utilize carbon fibre construction (787) airlines like American Airlines have to look at a new livery since the classic bare metal livery they have had will no longer be possible. In anticipation of this AA was already looking at a new livery, the first glimpse of this is evident on their new 773 at Boeing Field, no longer sporting the brushed aluminum look it is painted:


Oct 16, 2012-9 by sabian404, on Flickr


Oct 16, 2012-1 by sabian404, on Flickr

Looks to be a grey body with white on the tail, will be interesting to see the finished product.

[speede5]

Bare metal is such a pain. When we had bare metal tutors here they were beautiful when polished and waxed up but so hard to keep from pitting and oxidizing. They were also faster than the painted aircraft. I can't imagine trying to keep up a fleet of big birds. One thing good though is it makes inspections a lot easier. No paint striping for crack detection!

I wonder if there were noticable savings over a painted aircraft, as a fully painted boeing weighs ~ thousand pounds more than a bare metal one.

I remember touring the boeing plant many moons ago, and all the aircraft on the line were bare except for the rudders, which were painted so you could tell which airline it was being built for (if you could recognize half a logo, lol). The paint on the rudder affected the balance so it has to be painted before installation.

Anyway, that's my useless trivia for the day.

[Tyler]

It's about time for AA.

The 'tin can' look is severely outdated.

[Bigtime]

I'll miss the 'tin can' look, and their Mad Dogs when they finally get retired.

Mad Dog represent!


American Airlines MD-83 (N599AA) by BigtimeYYC, on Flickr

[MRCboicgy]

Even though the reflection of the sun off a shiny AA plane on a bright day is awesome, I'm glad they are changing.

For swerving about planes, it'd have to be a new 747-8i for me to really care, even though back in 2010 I almost fell into the bay as a 787 did a test run over the Seattle waterfront as I was walking on the pier by the aquarium...oh that sexy wing...

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by MRCboicgy

...oh that sexy wing...

I thought you preferred the tail section

[Bigtime]

Air Canada just announced increased service out of YYC for the fall/winter and the introduction of the Q400 turboprop operated by Jazz starting in 2013:

http://aircanada.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=590

Increased services this fall and winter compared to last year include:

Calgary-Fort McMurray 7 daily (from 6 daily) 350 daily seats (from 300)

Calgary-Grande Prairie 5 daily (from 4 daily) 250 daily seats (from 200)

Calgary-Yellowknife 2 daily (from 1 daily) 100 daily seats (from 50)

In February, 2013, Air Canada will begin gradually deploying made-in-Canada Bombardier Dash 8 Q-400 NextGen aircraft on routes within Western Canada, replacing 50-seat CRJ aircraft. The new ultra-quiet, Q-400 aircraft featuring 74 all-leather seats with roomy overhead bins will initially be scheduled on the following routes:

Calgary-Fort McMurray February, 2013
Calgary-Regina February, 2013
Calgary-Saskatoon February, 2013
Calgary-Yellowknife April, 2013
Calgary-Grande Prairie March, 2013
Calgary-Victoria March, 2013
Calgary-Edmonton March, 2013

[jeffman]

http://gizmodo.com/5951997/chuck-yea...istoric-flight
Im surprised at two things
1) Chuck Yeager is still alive
2)He can still fly an F 15 at 89 years old

[Bigtime]

I'm not surprised at all by both of your points. He is still the best of the best.

[Bindair Dundat]

I've been following this story for a few months now and it looks like they're ready to start digging them up.

As many as 140 Second World War Spitfire fighter planes — three to four times the number of airworthy models known to exist — are believed to be buried in near-pristine condition in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

A British-Burma partnership says it will begin digging them up by the end of the month.

The go-ahead for excavation came earlier this week when the Burmese government signed an agreement with British aviation enthusiast David J. Cundall and his local partner. Cundall, a farmer and businessman, earlier this year announced he had located 20 of the planes, best known for helping the Royal Air Force win mastery of the skies during the Battle of Britain.

On Thursday, however, a retired Burmese geology professor who has assisted in the recovery operation since 1999 said there are about 140 Spitfires buried in various places around the Southeast Asian country, which until 1948 was a British colony. He did not explain the discrepancy in estimates.

Soe Thein said the British brought crates of Spitfires to Burma in the closing stages of the war, but never used them when the Japanese gave up the fight in 1945. The single-seat version of the fighter plane was 9.14 metres long with an 11.3-metre wingspan.

The U.S. Army was in charge of burying the planes after British forces decided to dispose of them that way, he said, adding Cundall interviewed at least 1,000 war veterans, mostly American, to gather information about the aircraft's fate.

He said a ground search was started in 1999 using magnetometers and ground radar, but faced difficulties. Only in recent years did technology become advanced enough to be more certain of the finds, he said.

Each plane was kept in a crate about 12.2 metres long, 3.4 metres high and 2.7 metres wide, said Soe Thein.

The plans under a two-year contract are to recover 60 planes in the first phase: 36 planes in Mingaladon, near the former capital Rangoon's current air base and international airport; 18 in Myitkyina in Kachin state in the north; and six in Meikthila in central Burma. Others are to be recovered in a second phase.

The Burmese government will get one plane for display at a museum, as well as half of the remaining total. DJC, a private company headed by Cundall, will get 30 per cent of the total and the partner company, Shwe Taung Paw, 20 per cent.

Airworthy Spitfire sold for $2.7M
British Prime Minister David Cameron eased the way to an agreement when he visited President Thein Sein in April.

Cundall has said his quest to find the planes involved 12 trips to Burma and cost more than £130,000 ($205,000 Cdn), not including the planned excavation expenses.

Spitfires in working shape are rare and popular with collectors. In 2009, a restored but airworthy Spitfire was sold by British auction house Bonhams for £1,739,500 ($2.7 million Cdn).

The excavation agreement was signed Tuesday by Civil Aviation Director-General Tin Naing Tun, Cundall on behalf of DJC, and Htoo Htoo Zaw, managing director of Shwe Taung Paw.

"It took 16 years for Mr. David Cundall to locate the planes buried in crates. We estimate that there are at least 60 Spitfires buried and they are in good condition," Htoo Htoo Zaw said Wednesday. "We want to let people see these historic fighters, and the excavation of these fighter planes will further strengthen relations between Myanmar and Britain."

The British Embassy on Wednesday described the agreement as a chance to work with Burma’s new reformist government to restore and display the planes.

"We hope that many of them will be gracing the skies of Britain and, as discussed, some will be displayed here in Burma," said an embassy spokesman, who spoke anonymously because he was not directly involved in the excavation agreement.

Myanmar from 1962 until last year was under the rule of the military, which changed the country's name from Burma in 1989. Thein Sein's reformist government has turned away from the repression of the military government and patched up relations with Western nations that had previously shunned it.

The state-owned Myanma Ahlin daily on Wednesday cited Transport Minister Nyan Tun Aung as saying the Spitfire agreement amounts to the British government's recognition of the democratic reforms.

© The Associated Press, 2012

These are believed to be Griffon powered MkXIV's.
Can't wait for the first pictures to appear...

Ron

[Bigtime]

I've been following that story too, an absolute gold mine of WWII fighter goodness.

[Ironhorse]

There goes the market for restored and airworthy Spitfires...

[Bindair Dundat]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

There goes the market for restored and airworthy Spitfires...

Well, the market for Griffon powered MkXIV's will take a kicking...

I can't really see it having much of an effect on anyone restoring a Merlin powered example though. Scarce is scarce. MkII's, V's, and IX's won't lose any value just because anyone with a couple of million can buy an airworthy Mk XIV.