Remarks: This aircraft left the paint shop at Goodyear Airport on the morning of November 22nd. It is the first CRJ for Belavia. Up until then it was operated by Mesa Airlines in the new United Express color scheme.
Remarks: This beauty sat on the west cargo ramp for a few days as it was on it's way to be painted into the EOS Airlines color scheme. Already owned and operated by EOS, their pre-painted winglets were installed before the rest of the color scheme was applied.
Remarks: The elusive, temporary "Sports Illustrated - Swimsuit Issue 2009" stickers. If all went according to the plan, these stickers would have been on the aircraft for 2 months. I am glad that this bird finally came through PHX at the right time of day to get perfectly lit shots like this....don't even ask how many rolls of KR64 I shot that morning! On the night of March 10th, this aircraft flew into Paine Field in Everett, Washington to have the stickers removed due to the large number of customer complaints and bad publicity from the media. By March 16th, the aircraft was back in service looking like no stickers were ever even there...
Remarks: Operated by the 147th Fighter Wing, 111th Fighter Squadron from the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Field JRB in Houston. This lavish color scheme represents the squadron's 90th anniversary. The yellow on the rudder and wings is the same color that was used on the squadron's Curtiss JN-4 Jennies in the 1920s. The blue on the fuselage represents two aerial victories from the Korean War. The "N5 A" codes surrounding the national insignia on the rear fuselage could also be found on the 111th FS P-51D Mustangs during World War II. In a couple of months time this wing will convert over to being one of the first ANG units to operate the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator UAV.
Remarks: This Thrush is one of many in the Western US used as a fire-bomber. The pilots and ground crews call them SEATs, which stands for Single Engined Air Tankers
