Where'd it go?

I took some nice shots this weekend, but when I hooked the camera up to the Mac, one entire day's worth of shots seemed to have disappeared. In their place, I found this. I'm sure I had a purpose here, but for the life of me I don't remember what I had in mind when I attempted this shot.

Normally, I don't keep photos like this. I do periodically share them with Totally Jacked Up Aircraft Photos, where plenty of my failed photos can be seen. With the recent acquisition of a new camera, I've produced a fair quantity of shots like this lately. Just for the sake of nothing in particular, here's what that shot should have looked like:


Meanwhile, here's another shot of the ongoing removal of the American maintenance shed, taken this afternoon:

More construction photos

Last time, I showed you construction at the TBIT. But that's not all that was happening this past weekend. We had a runway (24R/06L) closed for the entire weekend. This presented some photo opportunities for arrivals on 24L. For each of the ones I got, I missed at least one more, but then the American tax payer isn't paying me to take pictures; I am expected to do some actual work occasionally! And, as usual, there's something sneaky about one of these pictures. Guesses are welcome!

Nippon Cargo has this one plane with a green nose; I haven't noticed it in quite some time, but recently it's been through several times

I was hoping this was going to be the yellow-tailed Polar

Even when it was sunny, the June gloom wasn't far away

Submitted as proof that I am able to take a picture of something that isn't a heavy jet!

Construction update

It's been a while since I've shown you how the construction is progressing on the Tom Bradley International Terminal. So despite today's reappearance of June gloom, here are a couple of shots. Seen above is the north end of the TBIT, as seen from the tower. Below, the south end:


There are also a few extra tidbits in these shots. The north-end photo also shows the repaving project taking place in the D-10 alley, which has temporarily deprived us of nine or ten gates. Another item is this:


Just yesterday, demolition began on the former American Airlines maintenance facility. Just as the old American Eagle terminal had to make way for the Taxiway S relocation project a couple of years ago, the old American maintenance shed is going bye-bye as the next stage of the Taxiway T project. The above shot was taken fairly early yesterday morning. By lunchtime, they'd gotten this far:


By the mid-afternoon, just before I went home, they'd cut all the way through:


This shot was taken today, about 24 hours later:


But wait! There's another little something special, barely seen in the opening photos. Can you spot it? Here's a closer view:


Not yet? How about now?


Now that we have five A380 arrivals each day, the midday cluster of three (Korean, Singapore, and Air France) means that somebody has to park at one of the remote gates. So far, it's either been 212 or 216. This is how an Air France A380 appears from the tower when it's parked at Gate 212.

Pretty in pink

It's been a while since I've seen a Delta B767-400 here, and I've never seen this livery on one before. In years past, Delta had a B757-200 in pink (for breast cancer awareness), but it's been quite some time since I've seen it. HR gets photo credit for this one:

Evening shot

Another shot taken by my cohorts whilst I was busy entertaining the pilots. Photo credit for this one goes to TT.

For extra credit: This shot unintentionally also continues another series, also unintentional.

Shot of the day: Boxing Kangaroo

This Qantas B747 will transport the Australian team to London for the Olympic Games later this summer

Shot of the day: Another from the "Left the camera lying around" file

Friday the 13th: Shot of the day

Thanks to JB for this shot!

Web comics about airline seats

While you guys are sending in your caption ideas for Tuesday's photos, here are a couple of links to web comics about seating on airliners:

xkcd.com

The Oatmeal

Caption contest: Stuff that happens when I leave my camera lying around

So, occasionally I leave the camera in the tower, with the thought that somebody may have an opportunity to catch a shot of something cool while I'm not there. For example, this first shot; I'm pretty sure (but can neither confirm nor deny) that it's the U.S. Airforce's latest stealth fighter (the XF-3.14) doing a touch-and-go on Runway 24 Right:



I think this next shot was intended to show how large the engines on a B777 really are; it certainly looks like you could park that van in the engine, instead of alongside:



Umm, the woman with the yellow glasses?



Anybody seen an airplane around here?



This final shot shows the top deck of the Terminal 5 parking garage, where space is apparently at a premium (Hey, wait - I see an empty spot!), along with part of the new physical plant being built next door; this might be the view if you were about to take a flying leap off the tower:


I've supplied my initial ideas for each of these photos; now it's your turn: Suggest your ideas for captions in the comments. Instead of my usual practice of holding off on publishing your submissions for a few days, suggestions/comments will be published as they come in, more or less - comment moderation remains in effect.

More summertime arrivals

Here's a common refrain: "I can't believe it's (fill in the blank here) already." In this case, it's July. Which puts us squarely in the midst of summer (for those of you in the southern hemisphere, maybe that thought will help keep you warm). I mentioned the summer travel season in an earlier post, and today is some more of the same.


Hawaiian has brought B767s back to LAX. We see several Hawaiian A330s to/from Honolulu each day, but recently the B767s have reappeared as well. They are being used on new Hawaiian seasonal service between LAX and Maui. This is a route that several other carriers (American, Delta, United) already cover, but Hawaiian has added it for the summer (and has now decided to extend it through the end of October: Pacific Business News article)


As some of you have already noted, we've started getting KLM MD11s. This is an added flight between Amsterdam and Los Angles, three days a week (Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday), through mid-September. For a video of one arriving and departing, visit here: NYCaviation It's been several years since we've had scheduled MD11 passenger service at LAX; the last scheduled passenger MD11s I remember operating here were either Varig or Swiss. We still see cargo MD11s daily; both Eva and Fedex operate MD11s at LAX. The KLM MD11s are nearing the end of the line, as KLM is replacing them with new Airbus A330s. Thanks to JB and BX for getting these shots.



Something else we only get to see during the summer and holidays these days is Virgin Atlantic in B747s on the early afternoon arrival (the later arrival is still in A340-600s). I wish we got to see more of this one:


Alitalia has also returned to LAX for the summer, operating our only service direct to Rome, Italy. Service is expected to run through mid-November: Fodor's article

Gratuitous (almost) shot of an Air New Zealand B777 arriving on runway 25 Left. I say 'almost' because it's been quite some time since I've noticed a -200 in New Zealand colors; lately they've had only -300s here.