Wednesday, September 24, 2014

We've got Spirit, yes we do!


Spirit recently announced that they will be repainting their aircraft in this eye-catching scheme. This was the first one to pass through LAX, late last week. Thanks to CG for the photo!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Bonus Boeing shot


This shot was originally going to be in yesterday's post, but it didn't fit with the Big Blue Boeing theme, so instead it gets a post of its own. The B727 in the background is noteworthy for having winglets, along with upgraded engines from an MD-80 installed; this mod is rarely seen on a -100. The B757 in the foreground happens to be Mexican Air Force One.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Big Blue Boeings!






After my last post, the Blogger dashboard showed a very inauspicious number of posts, so I hurried to put together another one. So here are some more Boeing shots. It would appear that the color blue is a common factor in all of these shots.




Sunday, September 21, 2014

And now, for sport


Wow -- two posts in one weekend. Clearly somebody needs a social life. Meanwhile, there was recently in Brazil a little get-together about some ball games. Excuse me, matches. While I didn't follow the World Cup closely, I did hear about it hear and there. A couple of B747s might have clued me in.





A little closer to home, San Francisco has a baseball team:


Saturday, September 20, 2014

Boeing pix




This is for all of you who believe that I can only take pictures of A380s. I grant that recent posts would lead one to that conclusion, so today's post will be exclusively Boeing products. The opening features an AeroMexico B737-800 with the new split scimitar winglets developed by Aviation Partners. United was the first carrier to put these on their planes; I also have seen them on Alaska, Southwest, and WestJet.

Kalitta Air (callsign: Connie) is a regular at LAX, but rarely seen during daylight hours. I got lucky last week when they showed up -- not only during the day -- but also on Runway 24 Left:




Next, we have another arrival:


Now that FedEx has retired their B727s, the B757 is the smallest FedEx airplane we see at LAX. At the moment, I believe we get two per day; the remainder of the FedEx flights are A300s, DC-10s, and MD-11s. 



United is the first carrier to bring the stretched B787-9 to LAX. The shot above shows a B787-9 getting towed onto the gate, while a "normal" B787-8 rolls for departure. Below, a B777-200 passes behind in a shot taken slightly earlier.






Thursday, September 11, 2014

Air New Zealand bids farewell to the B747



Air New Zealand B747s disappeared from the LAX scene over a year ago, and today was the type's final day with the carrier. The final revenue flight was from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand. Air New Zealand has operated B747s since 1981, but has opted (like many other carriers) to replace the type with newer, more fuel-efficient B777s and B787s. According to The New Zealand Herald, the aircraft utilized for the final flight is the same one (ZK-NBV, seen here) that made the last LAX appearance, in the summer of 2013.





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