Shots of the day

I'm trying something different this week; instead of one large posting, I'm doing a few smaller ones.

Both of these B747s have been in and out of LAX a number of times, but this was my first opportunity to get them with the camera during daylight.

The TBIT keeps getting bigger

The sun shines on Fedex

Ghost plane

How about a picture of no airplane?

Stay tuned . . .

Calm before the storm

Yes, yes, I know . . . I'm overdue for this week's post. Last night's mid and the day shift before were both . . . can I just say grueling?



In the meantime, here are some assorted interesting shots for your perusal:

Volaris currently has two A320s; one I showed you last month, and this is the other (and more interesting) one.

Naturally, after I waited some weeks to show you this Sun Country B738, they showed up early one afternoon. Here's a better view.

And speaking of 737's, US Air has recently brought in a B733 from Phoenix a few afternoons.

Horizon has some more college liveries. They originally had some of their CRJ7s bearing various school colors, but they're now an all Dash-8 fleet. Horizon has also added destinations out of LAX; one off the top of my head is San Jose, CA.

Republic (callsign: Brickyard) has also brought in something a bit unusual. While we get E190's on a daily basis at LAX, we don't normally see the smaller E170. As far as know, Republic is the only carrier to ever bring them here.

Thanks to the Rose Bowl game, we must have had a good chunk of Ryan International's fleet on the ground at LAX; I think I counted seven of their aircraft here, six of which can be seen in these two shots.

And a slightly belated Happy New Year to all. I should've had something special for that, but this will have to do. I've got some stuff in the works, but if you're interested in something particular leave a note in the comments.

How to tell you're having a bad day

I was working with my current trainee on ground control the other morning when this happened. We had just been discussing how he should be making "Plan B" at the same time he's making "Plan A" so that if Plan A doesn't work out he'll already know what he's going to do next.*

This B777 was stuck in the position shown here for about ten minutes, completely blocking the intersection of C and C-9. At certain times of day, something like this can really throw a wrench into the operation. Fortunately, this was not one of those times.

This close-up was taken a few minutes prior to the opening shot, and gives a better view of what's happened. Hint 1: The tug was towing the airplane along that curving yellow lead-in line in the lower left corner of the photo. Hint 2: Anytime that many guys are all gathered around looking at something, it can't be good. Hint 3: The airplane is normally supposed to be behind the tug. Hint 4: Look at the angle of the airplane's nosewheel.

* ATC101: This is a standard practice among controllers; it's what we do. You evaluate the situation and make a plan for how to resolve it. While making Plan A, you're also making Plan B so that you don't have to think about what to do next if Plan A doesn't work out. While making Plans A & B, you should also have a good idea of what Plan C may need to be, and at least an inkling of what Plan D might be. More simply stated: Always have an "out" (aka "exit strategy" or "escape hatch")