Penang Planespotting #007 - 06 August 2016 - Part 1

While spotting aircraft on the ground is underway, it is sometimes beneficial to look to the skies too.\

Dreamliner in flight

The day was nice and windy (not to mention cloudy), giving a great condition to go long haul (in spotting I mean). Was there early enough to catch the early AirAsia arrival. Greeted by a special one.

AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AHL) - Prince Lubricants livery

Dragonair A330-342 (B-HLJ)

Thai Smile A320-232 (HS-TXK)

Little did I know that Thai Airways was no longer going to serve this route. Instead, they are handing them over to their subsidiary, Thai Smile, similar to what Cathay did with Dragonair. Started to notice when FR24 showed a different aircraft type (32S) instead of the conventional 320. Nice to see them, but I am hoping that the big ones will make a visit every now and then.

Air HongKong A300F4-605R (B-LDD)

Proceeding on to Taxiway J

Some shots of this special-livery AirAsia.

While ATRs are a norm here in Penang Island, this one's a little different. First, it wasn't one that has been seen before. This was carrying part of the MASWings livery, part because part of the tail logo was missing. Secondly, it made such a "grand" entrance, tippy toe-ing in.

MASWings ATR72-600 (9M-MYD)

Based on the timing, I can only assume that this one was operating for Firefly. Since MASWings and Firefly are part of the Malaysia Airlines group.

AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AFW) - AirAsia Mobile App livery

While planespotting is a very fun activity, I could not help but notice this bird right next to me. I present to you MY-NAH.

This one however was slightly different. Felt like it has been domesticated and at the same time seriously bullied by its peers. OR that it was very tired. It did not bother this bird that I was so close to it. Just staring into empty space.

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYF)

FedEx MD-11F (N606FE)

To be continued in part 2....

Penang Planespotting #003 - 29 May 2016 - Part 1

So here we are, on another spotting trip. Was not expecting anything in particular. But hey, always are we surprised by the unexpected.

Private Bombardier Global Express (N360LA) Larger

Sitting there was this Global Express, with sunshades all up . Was hoping that it would depart during the duraion of this trip but timing wasn't right. No worries, there were a lot more.

Korean Air Cargo B747-4B5F (HL7449)

It was raining quite a bit in the morning. This allowed for some amount of condensation to be created by this Jumbo. Click click click.......

Malindo ATR72-600 (9M-LMR)

We have quite a number of narrobodies turning into the runway via Taxiway B. I guess that is to save time since 320s and 737s don't need the full length of the runway anyway.

AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AHF)

Waiting for aircraft on Final

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYF)

Look at how level the plane can be off the ground. This firefly took a rather long time to touchdown. But when it did, it was one smooth landing. I doubt passengers might even feel the usual bump. Now for some Narrowbodies.

Malindo B737-8GP (9M-LNS)

AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AJA)

SilkAir A320-233 (9V-SLK)


China Southern Airlines A320-214 (B-6290)


Malindo B737-9GPER (9M-LNL)


Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYF)


AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AJA)

Now that we are done with the Narrowbodies, the next post will feature more widebody cargo aircraft and some special schemed aircraft too.

Tuesday Spotting [2014.09.16] - Part 2

Continuation ....

Once again, we have another aircraft attempting to lose weight and save fuel by removing on landing gear door. :) Should be a maintenance routine as it happened to 9M-FYA last year. Link

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYF)

Next up we have the Air Contractors' aircraft. They are operated by Air Hong Kong and are quite frequent into Penang. Here, it extends all its flaps and spoilers for us to see. Wonder what's up with the extreme rudder deflection.NOT RELATED but lots of leaves growing on the metallic fence wire.

Air Contractors A300B4-622R(F) (EI-EXR)

Up next are two narrowbodies from competing companies, Boeing and Airbus.

Malindo Air B737-9GP(ER) (9M-LNK)

AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AQY)

Aaaaannnddd the main catch of the day. Korean Air Cargo.

Korean Air Cargo B777-FB5 (HL8285)

This freighter was a real treat as most of the Korean Air Cargos that I've snapped were 744Fs. This is a great change. The new outlook, the elegant raked wingtips, those huge engines, and the AWESOME sound it emitted. (so much different from the 773s and 772s of Cathay, granted they are different engines)

After a great burst of happiness, it was time to head over to the arrivals part to get even more traffic. One arrival that I was anticipating was UPS' 767 from Kuala Lumpur which sadly never arrived.

Treated with baby Boeing of Sriwijaya Air though.

Sriwijaya Air B737-524 (PK-CLH)

Followed by Airasia. Bird sees plane, pilots see bird, bird flies away, pilots continues approach.

AirAsia A320 (9M-AQE)

One more edition coming up.


Tags:
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airasia malindo b737-9gper

2014.06.09 - Monday Spotting (Part 1)

Now that the Singapore Airshow edition is over, let's snap back to Penang. I've made many trips, so I shall put them up here session by session.

Arrived at 10am to catch MASKargo's A332. Waited a while before seeing it come in. From a far, it was making a hard left turn from the West, too close to the runway and at too high an altitude. Made some adjustments to the left, then to the right, before abandoning that approach and performing a go-around.

MAS Kargo A330-223F (9M-MUC) - Performing a Go-Around

MUC seen from a far

Turning in for the second approach

Successful second attempt

And with this capture, I'm happy to have hit the target of getting all 4 of MASKargo's A332Fs. The next one that came in was much smaller than the Airbus.

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYF)

This trip's weather was intermittently good and bad, with clouds blocking out the sun one minute, and sun shining the next. (YES, really changing by the minute).

SilkAir A320 (9V-SLS)

And the sun came out once to light this flying tiger. Tiger Airways is also known as Tigerair, with some of their planes already painted with the new name / livery. Some of them also come with sharklets installed. For now, I shall label them as I see them.

Tiger Airways A320-232 (9V-TAZ)

After the tiger came roaring in, the clouds came back. Though no worries, as it provided me with nice and comfortable shade. Besides, from a far, there were gaps in the clouds where the sun beams could shine through. This next one was a relatively new aircraft.

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

Shortly after the -800 series, the -500 series paid me a visit, well more like paid Penang a visit.

Sriwijaya Air B737-524 (PK-CLO)

The -500 series looks really cute, with its rather short body but wide wingspan, enough to earn it the term "Baby Boeing".

This was about the best the weather was that day. It started getting worse after this baby Boeing. Part 2 coming up real shortly.

Stay tuned.

Tags:

sslee a330-200f mas kargo penang go around

sslee 737-500 penang landing

sriwijaya baby boeing penang

sslee a332 go around penang

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