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.

Indonesia AirAsia A320-216 (PK-AZJ)

AirAsia (9M-AQU)

Firefly ATR72-500 (9M-FYD)

Silkair B737-8SA (9V-MGI)

Malindo (9M-LMO)

Firefly (9M-FYL)

Noticed anything behind the Firefly? Yup, it is Neptune Air (9M-NEF) and a police helicopter parked by the ATC. Thought

Lion Air (PK-LOM)

Malaysia Airlines (9M-MSI)

Sriwijaya Air B737-8Q8 (PK-CME)

To be continued in Part 2....





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Neptune Air B737

Caught a glimpse of windowless 737 from the other side during the spotting trip. Came to the airport departure hall area to find this cargo jet.

Neptune Air B737-3S3(SF) (9M-NEF)

It appears that it is now making cargo runs from Penang to Singapore. Going to try to catch it in the air.

SSLee

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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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LIMA 2015 Part 06 - Airshow - Indoors and Outdoors, and back Home [Updated 31.01.2016]

Day 2 is an awesome brand new day. We were there early that day. Let's start off with a choper parked outside, an AW-139.

Most of the aircraft were still there at the display area, albeit with a change in position, such as the A400. There was now more items around it like AC carts and some tables for merchandise. The area around dome of the jets were already barricaded, which prevented many from going near them. 

Nose of the A400. Look at the In-flight refuelling probe

Was lucky to be with one of the groups touring the A400. Managed to get a shot of the interior of the A400. Fairly spacious.

Large Cargo area of the A400

Sadly though that they restricted the access to the cockpit, so no shots there. Spent quite some time there before adjourning to the indoor display area. Trust me, it was really hot, and since we had seen most of the aircraft at the outdoor display, it was time to get indoors to enjoy the cool air-conditioned environment.

Let me find more indoor pics to fill this area.

There were quite a number of scaled models within the indoor area.

Patrol Boat Replica

Further on the other side of the display were several submarine models. 

And moving around even further (was not really keeping track of which part of the insides we were at) we had this scaled model of a militarized Saab 2000. Looks like an aerial radar platform.

Saab 2000

There is also a mockup of the leading edge of the A400's vertical stabilizer behind the model.

Yea, it is HUGE. See human for size comparison

And luck would have it that we were at the side portion of the indoor display area with windows. A sound was heard and when we looked up, we saw a greyish aircraft flying past. It was thin and long. It was now time to make a decision. Either to take that this was the final fly-by and to remain inside, OR to rush out as fast as we could and hope that there would be a second fly-by.

Being me, of course I dashed out for that golden opportunity to see IT again. It was the B-52 by the way.

B-52 with Gears down

Lighting could not have been worse with heavy backlit clouds (ugh). But a chance with this BUFF as they would call it, overcame the feeling. Snapped away.

And that was the last fly-by for the entire LIMA 2015 show. It head back after this show.

Continuing on...

The displays were similar to that of the first day, with the Sukhoi SU-30MKM, Dassault Rafale, Viper, Al-Fursan, Black Knights, Aerotree and so on.

Here are some shots that I did not quite nail on the first day.

Al-Fursan Aerobatic Team

Breaking formation

Managed to get this solo performer this round at low altitude (better prepared), the Zivko Edge 540. This is then followed by the Krisakti

Pulling a tight turn

Criss-cross

After 2 hours, the display was all over, and it was time to roam the grounds again for the last time as this was the last day we were there. Had closeups of a few aircraft before hitting the cool air-conditioned area.

USAF P-8 Poseidon

RMAF EC725AP Cougar [Larger]

And to complete the entire airshow, here is the shot of the Jets from around Asia (and France)

Su-30s, F-16s, Rafales

Well that is it for the Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition 2015. It was a great trip there, with opportunities to see the A-400M (Malaysia's First A400), B-52, China's August 1st Aerobatics Team, the Al-Fursan Team, and others from Neighbouring countries. Apart from that, we managed to spot AirAsia's new liveried aircraft (Connecting Asia), as well as the interior of the Falcon 7x.

Of course, all the parked airplanes and helicopters were easily accessible (for photos) and really up close.

So here are some Key takeaways, based on my experience of the airshow, for photographers looking for information for future LIMA events:

• I used a 70-300 mm Lens for all zoom shots, on an EOS 600D (1.6x crop) body
• Solo performers may appear very small (Su-30MKM) should they be up high (even at 300)
• With such bright sunlight, set for fast shutter speed and small aperture. It is normal to have shutter speeds of 1/1250 at F 8.0
• Wide shots were done with a 10-18mm lens (set mostly at 10mm on a crop body). Good for indoor display too.
• Most of the performances will be heavily backlit if viewed from the exhibition area as you are pointing straight up.
• Could try to head to the opposite side of the runway (not tried yet), though that would necessitate a longer zoom lens
• Lens hoods are very useful against flares
• 2 fully charged batteries should be able to take you through the whole day (with minimal video)
• Have an accessible pack for your lenses should you want to change them (and you would want to change them for group performances. I did between the 70-300 and the 18-135)
• 18-135 (or similar) would be good for team aerobatic performances to capture formation breaks 
• An umbrella or a large hat with plenty of sunblock will enhance your experience (umbrella to review your shots on the LCD as with such bright sunlight, and even at maximum brightness of the LCD, you don't see much)
• Before the airshow starts, look for planes with large horizontal stabilizers as they provide a fair amount of shade
• Walk to every corner. You might find a hidden gem.
• 3-4 16GB SD cards would be fine (2-day event). 16GB at 18MP with JPG gives me about 2200 shots
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, enjoy the airshow. Remember to put away your camera once in a while to truly experience the moment. Take it in with your own eyes and ears. It will provide a better memory than the thousands of images captured.

With that said, have a great time. Here are some shots at both Langkawi and Penang Airport on my Return trip. Yes, I had to go down to Subang and back up to Penang.

Weststar B727-23(Q) (N800AK) [Larger]

YES! a 727 at LGK

Then off I wend on my flight. The next few images are from Penang International Airport. First up was Silkair's first B737-800 (9V-MGA), now back in normal colours.

Silkair B737-8SA (9V-MGA)

Silkair departing

AirAsia's 100th Awesome Plane

My ride from Subang

That's all for the LIMA Posts. Back to Penang Planespotting moments.

SSLee