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.