Bonus Shots III

So, what was going to be simply a batch of extra photos has morphed into a series. I give you dozen number three.

Bonus Shots II

What was originally going to be one post of extra photos grew to be so unwieldly that I split it into two; here are a dozen more. Enjoy!

Bonus Shots

It's' inevitable that while I'm working on assembling photos for one post, I'll end up taking some back out because I found a better one, or because there's just too many and some trimming needs to be done. Or, I'll spot something interesting that has no relation to to subject at hand. Usually those shots get passed by, but this time, you still get to see them. Here's a dozen rescued from the cutting room floor.

Axis of beDevil, revisted

It was a couple of years ago that I devoted a post to the airplanes that regularly show up at LAX that don't really fit at this airport. I recently referred back to that post, and in the process I took another look at it and realized how much has changed since then. The airplanes still don't fit here; that part hasn't changed. What has changed is how many more of them there are now, compared to just two years back. In addition, there's a new type to add to the list. So let's take another look at these monstrosities and who brings them into LAX.

I'll start off with the Airbus A340-600. We usually get four of these daily, and occasionally five. China Eastern is the first, arriving mid-morning from Shanghai. The others all arrive in the afternoon and evening from Europe: Lufthansa brings one from Munich, Virgin Atlantic brings two from London, and sometimes Iberia shows up in one from Madrid (although I can't seem to find any photographic evidence of this at the moment).

We have the same airport restrictions with the B777-300 as we do with the A340-600, but there are a whole lot more B773s than there were two years ago: sixteen carriers bring them to LAX, and at least half of those bring in more than one each day.

From an LAX controller point of view, the worst of the oversize airliners is the A380; it is fairly limited in where it can go, and requires an escort any time it moves on the field. We now see six A380s most days at LAX: Two from Qantas, and one each from Korean, Singapore, Air France, and China Southern. More are on the way: British Airways and Emirates are both expected to have A380s at LAX before the end of the year.

The new addition to the list of aircraft that don't fit at LAX is the B747-8. Lufthansa is the only passenger carrier to bring them here; all the rest are freighters, operated by Cargolux, Cathay Pacific, Korean, and Nippon Cargo. Lufthansa is the only one that is regularly seen during daylight hours; the cargo carriers tend to operate at night. At LAX the B748 requires most of the same special considerations as apply to the A380, including an escort for all movements.