Friday 5 February 2016

Fokker hunting [31 January 2016]

So here we are, in the new year. Would like to take this opportunity to wish all readers a Happy New Year. Thank you for all your visits and your support. I shall strive to add more posts per month this year.

Although this wasn't the first spotting of the year (the first was actually on the 25th), this one is surely more memorable than the first one.

As the title suggests, the main aim of this session was to hunt for a Fokker, doing a stopover at Penang along its long flight from Perth to Slovakia (Thanks to the Perth Airport Spotter's Blog for the flight details) along the route: (SXI 1602) YPPH - WIHH - WMKP - VOHS - OMAL - LTCG - LZIB. Many stops indeed.

Didn't know the route originally, but Fokkers have been known to stop by Penang based on previous experiences. By the time I saw it, it was somewhere over Johor (southern part of Peninsular Malaysia), which meant IF it were to come to Penang, I would have another 40 minutes max. Some digging got me the blog above and it was then when I decided to go for it.

It is getting much more difficult to spot at the end of runway 04 with the construction work going around though.


I did see that UPS had just left KUL (though I wouldn't have thought that I could get this), and it would be an added bonus to catch it. Thanks to traffic, or rather the lack of it, it was seen.

UPS B767-34AF(ER) (N344UP)

Always great to see them UPS birds, whether they are the wingletted or not. The best times would be when their 757s come to Penang.

Next on the list was a regional carrier, Firefly. This was their -500 series, easily distinguishable by the lack of black bandit masks around the cockpit.

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYC)

And after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, it came. It FINALLY CAME.


Alliance Airlines Fokker 100 (VH-FKA)

It was such a splendid view. Penang doesn't get a nice supply of these Fokkers very often, so you could imagine how big the grin on my face was.

It was pretty much the usual after the Fokker, with an ATR and a 737.

Malindo Air ATR72-600 (9M-LMG)

Lion Air B737-8GP (PK-LPO)

One thing fun about the weekends is that you may be pleasantly surprised by Cargo operators with their 747s. Sometimes a Cathay Pacific bird comes, sometimes this one, China Airlines Cargo.


China Airlines Cargo B747-409F (B-18717)

From the big 747, the next one subtly ends this spotting trip. Here's a Cessna.

Private Cessna 525C Citation CJ4 (N194SS)

There was then an itch to head over to the terminal building to see if the Fokker could be spotted parked by the ATC tower. It was, though it was blocked by a much bigger cargo aircraft, Air Hong Kong's A300-600F, with its doors open.


It was just a short 40-minute spotting trip, though the returns are much much more than some trips. That's all for this post. If you have any suggestions or just want to ask anything, do drop comments below.



SSLee




Tags:
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