New Year spotting

Happy New Year everyone. A new year calls for new things, new spotting locations and other new things. And since we are now at the beginning of the year, lighting will be much much better than before. Hope you all enjoy.

First up will be Thai Airways, departing in the morning at about 8 as usual.

A320-232 (HS-TXA)

I have seen them sending their 737s, their A300s and their A330s. With the retirement of the A300s and the slow withdrawal of their 734s, Thai Airways have been sending their A330s and sometimes their 772s to operate the PEN - BKK route. Now however, they are using the A320s from Thai Smile.

Dragonair A330-342 (B-HLB)

Next up was Dragonair, on their daily morning flight to Hong Kong. This was just moments before they made the right turn to avoid Butterworth AFB airspace. Slowly starting to miss Cathay's fleet - their 340s, 777s, 747s and 330s.

Apart from taking closeups of departures, there were many flying overhead. MAS, SQ and AirAsia were among them. Here's MH cruising in the sky.

Malindo Air ATR72-600 (9M-LMO)

ATRs are common still. Some all good, while others without landing gear doors. This one's good.

Air Contractors A300B4-622RF (EI-EXR)

Now back to movements on the ground. Have always been bugged by heat haze coming from the runway. However this time, -EXR arrives slightly earlier in the morning. Seen here about to exit the runway with full spoilers and flaps.

RMAF B200T (M41-03)

This was one of the surprise. While waiting for an aircraft to depart, there was a small black speck in the distance slowly ascending. Grabbed my camera and zoomed in, and it was still a small speck, now with wings and two propeller engines. This Beech looks like its going over to Butterworth AFB.

AirAsia A320 (9M-AHH)

Ahh...... one of the first few AirAsia departures for the day. No Idea where it's headed to. See the blue skies ?? 

Korean Air Cargo B747-4B5F (HL7449)

Changed location and caught Korean Air Cargo with a little bit of Penang in the background. Engines are at full power, emitting smoke and all. Looking at this picture makes me feel amazed at how designers made the Queen of the Skies. 

From some little reading, the cockpit placement on the second deck was mainly meant for the placement of the front cargo door for cargo operations. This trait became so well accepted and has been enhanced over and over again, from the -100 to the -800 series.

Air New Zealand Link ATR72-600 (ZK-MVF)

After Korean Air's departure, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw a black T-tail. No mistake whatsoever. Should be on a delivery flight from Toulouse to New Zealand, wherever it is based. Penang usually play host to delivery flights, serving as a fuel stop. 

Still many more to come. Stay Tuned.....

Tags:

air new zealand penang sslee zk-mvf

rmaf b200t penang sslee

korean air cargo sslee penang

mas dugong a380 contrails sslee

thai airways a320 hs-txa penang sslee