Remarks: The 3-seat Schweizer 269C or Hugues 300 first flew in 1969, and still remains in production. This one, delivered in 2005, was doing some autorotation training at Whiteman that day.
Remarks: A derivate from the legendary Bell Huey of 1956, the Bell 412HP (High Performance) is powered by a pair of PW 900-shp turboshafts and has an MTOW of around 5400 kg. Over 800 Bell 412s have been produced.
Remarks: The S-70 is a civil derivate of original UH-60 Black Hawk which was first flown in 1974. The Firehawk can carry almost 3800 litres of water or fire supressant, with and MTOW of roughly 10 tonnes. This unit was delivered in 2001. Love the complexity of the articulated rotorhead.
Remarks: About to start a sighseeing flight over LA in this brand new R44, minutes before I landed after a great flight. The helicopter had only a few hours on it. Check the floatation devices in the skids of the helicoper, powered by a 245 hp 6-cilinder Lycoming engine. It uses a semi-rigid rotorhead, with no Lead-Lag hinge. Manufactured in Oct 2008.
Remarks: A pair of Twin Otters of the parent companies Scenic and Grand Canyon Airlines ready for its flight over the canyon. N177GC was manufactured in 1970.
Remarks: Overflying the amazing Grand Canyon in this old Twin Otter manufactured in 1974. The snow had been falling over the canyon during 3 days before this picture was taken.
Remarks: This Twin Otter was sitting in this airfield close to Las Vegas, in the middle of the desert, waiting for another flight over the Canyon. Manufactured in 1976. MTOW 5670 kg.
Remarks: A nice colorscheme for this Learjet delivered in 1994. Not the most spectacular thing that you get to see at LAS airport, by the way, but a nice jet nonetheless.
Remarks: Right before push back for another flight of this 737, taken while waiting for my flight AS 316 to SFO. The eskimo on the tail wears now a lei (flower necklace) to celebrate the new flights to Hawaii. Delivered in 2006.
Remarks: Onboard "The Jack Vidal" on the second leg of this empty WN248 LAX-OAK-SEA flight. Southwest Airlines, founded in 1971, currently operates a fleet of 537 Boeing 737s. Much to my surprise, the flying experience is better than on a lot of European flag carriers. This very unit was manufactured in 1995. Thanks to Danae, Jordi and Tere for sharing this trip with me!
Remarks: The cockpit of "The Jack Vidal" during the stop at Oakland while operating WN248 LAX-OAK-SEA. Great people at Southwest airlines! Check the Oackland charts and the "winglet aircraft" sticker int he cockpit. Delivered in 1995.
Remarks: Horizon Air, the sister carrier of Alaska Airlines, has its main base at Seattle, WA. The carrier announced in July 2008, with fuel arriving to a very high price, that would get rid of all the jets in their fleet to operate only the Dash-8-Q400 by the end of 2009. This unit depicted was delivered in 2004. The MTOW is 29,2 Tones and it has 74 seats.
Remarks: 'Airplane 2.0' right before takeoff at LAX. Love two things in this picture: the yellow flowers in between the runways and the american flag in the wingtip ;-). This A320 was delivered in 2008.
Remarks: The colorful Southwest's scheme taxiing to the active at LAX. My latter flight with them was a very nice experience. This 733 was delivered in 1988.
