Shots of the month

Unlike many of the cargo aircraft that we see, this Avianca Cargo A330-200F is a factory-built freighter. The A330-200F can be identified by the bump on the underside of the nose. The passenger version of the A330-200 sits slightly nose-low, and since a level floor is preferable for cargo loading and unloading, the -200F has the nose gear mounting point repositioned to achieve a level floor while on the ground. The under-nose bulge is the revised nose gear well and doors, a feature that P2F conversions of the A330-200 lack. Noteworthy is that this is only necessary on the -200F; the -300 naturally sits more level on the ground. Thanks to reader tercio bomfim for calling out my initial misstatement.

Silk Way West is a cargo carrier from Azerbaijan

Retro or legacy liveries are a nice break from the day-to-day airplanes at LAX; I don't recall Horizon having one when they were operating the Dash-8, but it looks good on this E175

 

Brazilian Women's World Cup team plane visits LAX

 

This Dreamliner carried the Brazilian Women's World Cup team to the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Brisbane, Australia. The markings on the aircraft are a tribute to Iranian human rights protesters Mahsa Amini and Amir Nasr-Azadani.

 

The colors of Condor

 

The German airline Condor is upgrading its fleet, and with new airplanes comes new paint. This stripes theme seems reminiscent of beach towels and awnings. So far, only the new A330neos seem to be getting the all-over stripes; the older A330s that I've seen only have stripes on the tails. The reaction among my coworkers has been pretty mixed, but I like it. I especially like the planes of different colors; anybody remember the jellybeans and flying colors of Braniff?

Before the Airbuses and the new livery, Condor brought B767s into LAX:

Do you want to be an Air Traffic Controller?

The FAA has announced that there will be an open season for air traffic controller new-hire applications. There will be a very limited period to apply. Applications will be accepted online May 5 -8 of 2023. If you are at all interested, start getting ready. More information on how to apply can be found at:

https://www.faa.gov/be-atc