Reaching for the Skies: March 2016

Tuesday, 15 March 2016

Monday Spotting Part 2

So here's part 2.

There the planes were, waiting in line to takeoff. Saw 2 A320s holding short of the runway. Looking towards the edge, there were no landing lights visible. I thought to myself, probably they're just getting clearance.

BUT, here's the one that came in.

HM Aerospace Diamond DA-40D (9M-HMS)

4 trainer aircraft came in that morning. HM Aerospace, for those who are training to be a pilot. They could be from Langkawi, seeing a fleet of them parked at the apron during LIMA 2015. I wonder if they were feeling the pressure of holding back a few flights :)

Tigerair A320-232 (9V-TRK)

The tiger above completed the pushback sequence, but returned to the gates shortly and stayed for about 40 minutes before departing late. Wonder what happened.

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYD)

AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AQR)

AirAsia (9M-AQP)

HM Aerospace (9M-HMU) - Another trainer

Sriwijaya Air B737-8Q8 (PK-CME)

Sriwijaya has upgraded their fleet. They used to send -300s and -400s to Penang in the old scheme. We would also get the adorable -500 series too. Now however, they come in the -800 series, in this scheme.

Jetstar A320-232 (9V-JSK)

As we approach the afternoon, we get Jetstar, the grey/orange after the sea of reds. Moving back to them....

AirAsia (9M-AQR) with Jetstar in the background

Malaysia Airlines B737-8H6 (9M-MSB)

Firefly ATR72-600 (9M-FIE)

AirAsia (9M-AQD) - Time for a closeup

Lion Air B737-8GP (PK-LOH)

After about half an hour (or more) it was time for the trainers to depart. Managed to catch 3 of them. It was too hot to continue waiting there, and with no other specials or heavies coming in (Neptune Air not showing any signs of movement), it was time for me to leave.

HM Aerospace (9M-HMN)

HM Aerospace (9M-HMS)

That's all for this session. Mostly the usual ones, but with Neptune Air and the HM Aerospace trainer aircraft.

SSLee

Tags:
hm aerospace da-40
penang plane spotting sslee neptune air
lion air 737 penang wmkp sslee
plane spotting jetstar penang
tigerair airasia a320 penang

Friday, 11 March 2016

Monday Spotting Part 1

Well this was from a Monday. Not that it is a bad day to spot, it is just that there were not as many heavies as I expected. Nonetheless, one was there, so the spotting commenced:

Dragonair A330-342 (B-HLC)

Dragonair departs at about 8 to Hong Kong. Was a little late, and Thai Airways was on time, so missed the baby Thai. This usual spot for departure shots have been covered with grass and shrubs. No way to stay there for long. Had to try other locations along the runway.

Malindo Air ATR72-600 (9M-LMG)

The fun thing about this new place is that you get to see ATRs and some 320s rotating in front of you (with the exception of China Southern Airlines, which usually use quite a good length of the runway before taking off)

Tigerair A320-232 (9V-TRK)

Lion Air B737-8GP (PK-LOM)

Malindo Air B737-8GP (9M-LNP)

Malindo Air ATR72-600 (9M-LMO)

AirAsia Expedia Livery (9M-AFG)

One thing about this location is that you get to see the rotation of the aircraft. By this point, ATRs would be several 10s of feet off the ground. You also get to see aircraft turning out on the high speed taxiway.

Nepal Airlines B757

Looking up, we sometimes get traffic flying overhead, like for the case above, a Nepal Airlines 757. Sometimes a C130 can be visible too. Here are more takeoff shots.