Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Not just another RJ


I've been meaning to do a piece on regional jets. We see dozens of them each day at LAX, and some of them aren't so regional anymore. For instance, take a quick glance at the opening photo. Looks like a pair of RJs in Delta colors about to depart off runway 24 Right. Right?

Not so fast! One of these planes is not an RJ. Care to guess which one? You've got a 50-50 chance, and no cheating with the registration numbers.

16 comments:

  1. Top one is a 717.

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  2. One is a mainline DL and the other is a DL Connection. Either way it's a miserable way to fly 3000 miles.

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  3. Delta 717 if I am not mistaken.

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  4. Are you kidding........this seems AWFUL easy......Captain V..........??!!!.......the one in 'position' is a DC-9.......??!!....Can't be that simple huh Cap....lol...?????????

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  5. Is the one on the runway a Boeing 717??

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  6. One about to take off is a Delta mainline Boeing 717 flying.

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  7. The aircraft in position on 24L is not an RJ it is an MD type.

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  8. The one holding in position on the runway is a B717

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  9. Classic good looks of the DC-9.
    Maybe the large barrel of the BR700 looks just a trifle too big.
    Does the Boeing 717 still have the air stairs in the tailcone?

    I should bone up on spotter skills, I had to look up the reg to be able to identify that the front plane is a CRJ-900.
    Amusingly, I first used the FAA regsearch. The type given (or rather model) on that page is CL-600-2D24 .

    --Filip

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  10. The one on 24 Right? looks L to me- is a 717 ex Air Tran. Flown on them many times out of ATL

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  11. The aircraft that appears to be on Echo throws me off with the engines placed high on the fuselage, maybe an E145? So, then is the aircraft on Runway 24L the RJ?

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  12. That is a 717 lined up on 24L.

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  13. The top one is a mainline 717, isn't it?

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  14. Looks to me like the one lined up to take off is not a RJ - the bottom looks like a 145?

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  15. Might be a terrible way to fly 3,000 miles, but they're a GREAT way to get from LAX to SFO. It's such a pleasant commuter flight.

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  16. To my stale eye, the airplane on the runway is some relative of the DC9 family, likely a B717, which has too many seats to fly as an RJ. (One can also count the windows.) The other is some kind of RJ, a type that I avoid like a plague. Heck, even the DC9-MD-B717 family is horrible for a flight longer than ~~90 minutes. Perhaps sadly, the DC9 family was designed for long/thin domestic routes and operated profitably for decades by airlines that apparently hate their customers. On the company side, the family has proven its worth as a reliable machine, often much favored by pilots. For years, my reaction was, 'Oh, not again..." These days, with some RJs flying routes pushing 2500 - 3000 miles, any though of comfort becomes torture. Nuff said. -C

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