Reaching for the Skies: 9v-trk

Saturday, 3 March 2018

Special Arrivals into Penang

So here we are for the second post of 2018. Today's session was a rather short one with one main catch, the first A330-300 Passenger-to-Freighter unit.

Air Hong Kong A330-322P2F (EI-HEA)

She was an ex Malaysia Airlines bird. It went for a conversion before returning as a freighter. One difference from the A332F is the lack of the nose gear extension blister (and of course the increased length).

Port side view

Heading to the cargo bay

One opportunity not to be missed. A shot of two freighters from A and b.

A and B

Korean Air Cargo departed at 9am, as per the usual departure slot. The 77Fs are the more common type now. Only on some days will be get the glimpse of the 74F. Hoping for their 748F to visit soon. Here's the rotation shot, just as the nose gear lifts off.

Korean Air Cargo B777-FB5 (HL8285)

Flexing her wings

With the departure of the 777F, came back to back arrivals from some rather familiar traffic. From Singapore:

SilkAir B737-8SA (9V-MGM)

Scoot A320-232 (9V-TRK)

Now just as I am about to call it a day, I spot something rather interesting on FR24. A 747, on its descend somewhere off the coast of Phuket. This meant only one thing, it was headed to Penang (my mind just casts off possibilities of it heading elsewhere, too quick to be descending for KL anyway). So I waited. and here she is, all the way from Azerbaijan.

Silkway West Airlines B747-4R7F (4K-SW008)

Now that is one long tail number. She used the entire length of the runway. Wasn't the best conditions for FedEx which was right behind this Queen. I would guess that they had to slow down to minimum speed to allow for this visitor to clear the runway.

All out, flaps, spoilers, reversers

FedEx came in shortly after. She was able to make the turn onto taxiway Delta, though she had to give way.... to the Queen of the Skies.

"After you.."

Here are some shots of the rare visitor.

The Nose

The Tail

The complete set

One last arrival before leaving. Indonesia AirAsia. Gotta have at least a shot of the reds before leaving right?

Indonesia AirAsia A320-216 (PK-AXT)

And back to Silkway.

Heading to the bay

And to end this post, here's a nose bump.

Nose-bump

Thanks for viewing. Keep on visiting for more.

SSLee

Tags:

a330 p2f sslee penang air hong kong

a330-300 passenger to freighter sslee86

silkway west airlines penang 747 sslee

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.