Penang Planespotting #002 - 16 April 2016 Part 2

Gosh... it has been 2 months........ Gotta keep up.

Korean Air Cargo B747-4B5F (HL7437)

This is where the fun is, with big ones moving in opposite directions for takeoff and landing. 

And now for the narrowbodies.

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

Some Malindo planes are already having their tails in Batik Colours. Waiting for one to come in to Penang.

China Southern Airlines A320-214 (B-6289)

SilkAir B737-8SA (9V-MGI)

AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AQA)

Alliance Airlines Fokker 100 (VH-FKA)

This Fokker is on it's trip back to Perth after some heavy maintenance in Slovakia. Curious to have to send a plane so far just for maintenance, unless of course there are no other facilities available nearby.

AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AJA)

Sriwijaya Air B737-86N (PK-CLA)

Notice the turn angle of the nose gear as Sriwijaya prepares to make that 180-degree turn on the runway.

Semangat Harimau Muda (9M-AFI)

Sky was getting gloomier and gloomier. No rain though, but with the abscence of good lighthing, it was time to head off. One last shot for the road with a blip.

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

That's all for this session. There are quite a number of trips made within the past 2 months. Will be posting them shortly.

SSLee

Tags:

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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

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Catching Panda

Found out that -MUD was arriving from Narita on that day, and boy was I excited. Got all the stuffs ready and off I went. It was about 2 hours before the arrival, sometime around 630pm. It was a little bit risky as the flight was showing that it slowed down and would not reach till sometime about 7. After some thought, it was a GO. After all, a China Airlines Cargo was scheduled anyway, so even IF I were to miss -MUD, at least I would have something. Being the beginning of the year, darkness doesn't fall till about 7.30pm, so that was also a driving factor.

Anyway, arrived to see 9M-MXV arriving. Gear was not up so it was just a feast to the eyes. Was greeted non-stop by 4 turboprops. Intervals between arrivals were slightly longer than that of the morning sessions.

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYG)

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYA)

As time progressed, the sun set more and more, moving towards the horizon and the big hill. Skies were quite clear, giving great lighting to the arriving planes.

Malindo ATR72-600 (9M-LMM)

Malindo ATR72-600 (9M-LMQ)

On the outside, the -500 and -600 series look completely identical. It is on the insides where the changes are more apparent, the cockpit being one of them.

Then came AirAsia's special. One specially painted for the concert. A nice surprise I must say. This one is inbound from Langkawi.

AirAsia A320-216 (9M-AHM)

The silhouette appeared, gracefully descending to its destination. 2 engines with a blister on the nose.

MASKargo A330-223F (9M-MUD)

"Malaysia Welcomes Fu Wa & Feng Yi". I, welcome 9M-MUD with open arms and smiles.

Malaysia Airlines B737-8GQ (9M-MLD)

MAS comes in to end the day. This one still in the older livery. 

Thanks for enjoying.

SSLee

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Same place, Different views - 02 / November [Part 1]

It's been almost a month since the last spotting session. To all the readers here, thank you for frequenting this blog. I truly appreciate it. Do leave comments if you have any thoughts.

Time sure flies. Before you know it, week after week, month after month passes in just a blink of an eye. Resolutions are made, deadlines are set, though many are still not met. However, a new year is coming. Time for new (renewed) resolutions and goals.

Back to the spotting session. A lot of shots are made from the ground showing the aircraft in the air. This round, more ground-ish shots are included, just to give a different view and perspective.

Airbus Faceoff

Lucky to have both the A330s push back at the same time. Pilots must've been waving to each other.

Dragonair A330-342 (B-HLI)

First to depart gracefully was Dragonair. Light was out and everything was just perfect. Towards the end of the year, the day tends to be brighter earlier, allowing for better early morning shots. Did not realise the rare species until I reviewed the shot on the camera screen. Saw it??

Thai Airways International A330-321 (HS-TEB)

To be able to catch the Thai from this angle meant that it had rotated really early. Guess it must have been a light load. This route was previously served by the A300 before they were retired and replaced by B734s. For me, whatever comes, if it flies, then I'm fine with it.

Malindo Air ATR72-600 (9M-LMK)

I did mention that there will be some different views in these postings. So here's the first one, giving you the feel of how tiny the ATR is when compared to its surroundings. With majority of my shots zoomed in right to the aircraft, the size gauging may be off sometimes.

AirAsia A320 (9M-AFM) with the Hat's of to Dato' Pahamin Livery

This was one of the special AirAsia that departed Penang. Nice grey touch as opposed to the original reds on AirAsia's fleet. They have very short turnaround times, allowing shots of the same aircraft at different times of the day.

China Southern Airlines A320 (B-6288)

This one was on its way back to China. Looking forward to seeing (and capturing) a Boeing in this livery here in Penang.

Korean Air Cargo B747-4B5F (HL7438)

It goes to show that no aircraft, not even the queen of the skies can escape from the effects of crosswinds. A slight tip to the port side shortly after lift off. Pilots were quick to correct the effects.

Malindo Air ATR72-600 (9M-LMO)

Malindo Air is constantly receiving new turboprops to its fleet. Now the registration has already gone to LMR. Good job to them. Their flight tickets are cheap too, with free baggage and light snacks served.


More updates on the second slot. To be continued........






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Tuesday Spotting [2014.09.16] - Part 3

Last Part...

Time to wrap up this session.

Indonesia AirAsia A320 (PK-AXL)

Towards the end of the day, all that came in were lightweights.

Firefly ATR72-600 (9M-FIA)

Wanted to try a different angle for some of the aircraft coming in. So here is the back view of AirAsia.

9M-AJB

Then came this ATR. Not much different from the other Malindos coming in, but this had a tinge of nature in it. Just moments before, there were some birds flying around the approach path of their larger metallic cousins. (Cropped quite a bit so quality is lower)

Then came this metallic bird.....

Malindo Air ATR72-600 (9M-LMM) with a Brahminy Kite

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYI)

And to sum up this session, here are two B738s from two neighbouring countries.

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

SilkAir B737-8SA (9M-MGE)

The bright patch of light near the forward cargo hatch of Silkair is a reflection of the vehicles passing below.

That's all for now.

Hope you enjoyed it.

SSLee

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2014.08.17 Spotting Session - Part 1

Hello everyone. It has been long. But it was a good wait. It has been raining almost everytime I go spotting. It has greatly increased my ability to lie at a perfect angle so as to be able to snap the planes coming in, while still be in the shade from the rain.

But guess what??! This time, it was SUNNY and BRIGHT. One could not have asked for better lighting than that day. So here it is. The first bright set of photos after a long time.

Indonesia AirAsia A320 (PK-AXL)

9M-AJE, equipped with sharklets

Of course we cannot have Airbuses all day. So to break the trend, this baby Boeing flew in gracefully. Short and sweet. The winglets sure make the wings look that much longer.

Sriwijaya Air B737-524 (PK-CLO)

And we are back to Airbuses. The next shot is one that I do not get everytime. Lots of light, even enough to shine into the engine intakes, and enough for me to push the shutter speed to 1/800th of a second. This was at F8.0. Should I get this opportunity again, would be opening up the aperture to F5.6, and snapping at about 1/1600th or 1/2000th of a second, seeing if I am able to freeze the engine fan blades.

9M-AJG

Malindo Air ATR72-600 (9M-LML)

Malindo came in after all the jets, flying pass some thick cloud formations. They have rather distinctive light arrangements and the ATRs are quite easily recognisable from a distance.

AirAsia (9M-AJN)

Firefly ATR72-600 (9M-FIB)

9M-FIB is now fitted with a new paint job. Are they going to be doing this for all the new -600 series that are delivered??

That is all for now, will be adding the back segment soon, with UPS' 767, FedEx's A310 and SilkAir's 738. Stay Tuned.........

*PS :- trying out a different programme in resizing the images. There may be slight changes in image quality.



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