Tag Archives: china southern

New Bradley Midfield Terminal

When I was last at LAX, there was plenty of construction underway in the middle of the field.  The Bradley International Terminal was being expanded to accommodate the growth that had taken place.  This was all pre-pandemic of course.  On this visit, it looked like everything was complete.  The new midfield terminal area was looking finished and there were aircraft on the gates including a China Southern A380.  With that fleet due for retirement, that might be my last chance to see one.  Not sure whether I will get to use the terminal or not but it looked good.

787th 787

The current generation of wide body jets are being built at rates that would have been hard to imagine a few years ago.  Fourteen jets a month is so much more than would have been contemplated before.  That is the sort of build rate that the 787 and the A350 are achieving.  The result is a lot of jets being in service not that long after the fleet first appeared.  Boeing recently built the 787th 787.  It was a jet for China Southern and I got a shot of it returning to Everett.  I’m glad it was an Everett jet rather than a Charleston one.  I wonder who got to make that decision!

737 First Flight

I was walking along the trail that goes through the park next to the airport at Renton taking a look at the stored jets.  There is a bridge across the river that is used by Boeing to move jets from the production areas to the flightline and, as I got close to the bridge, I could see the tractor hooking up to a China Southern 737-800 that had yet to be painted.  They looked like they might bring it across the bridge.  I figured I might linger and see what was up.

Sure enough, they started to pull the jet out and towards the bridge.  I stayed out of the way but the wings of a 737 hang over the trail when they are moving it.  This was not a problem so they were happy for me to stand there as the jet was moved out.  I figured a little iPhone video was in order.

They pulled the jet onto a taxiway and left it there so I figured it might be heading out on a test flight.  With the light now slightly to the other side, I chose to go back to the car and move to the overlook on the west side of the field.  The jet was starting up but they clearly had a few things to run through so I had time.

They taxied to the south threshold which initially disappointed me.  The wind had flight operations in the other direction which would have meant a takeoff towards us and into the light.  Going the other way meant they would be airborne a long way away and heading over the lake.  What I hadn’t figured on was, just like at Everett, they would do a run with an abort first prior to flying.  They carried this out and were then at the north end of the field.

A turnaround at the far end of the field and they were soon lined up.  A floatplane was flying about in the background as they got ready to take off.  Then it was power on and rolling.  There was a lot of crap in the foreground and this was a bit of an obstruction at the point of rotation but I was able to get some good shots as they got airborne and climbed out past us.  The green primer/protective film was glinting in the sun.  The flight will have ended at Boeing Field where I hope everything was trouble free.

China Southern Second Attempt

AU0E3687.jpgThe timing of my visit to Seal Point Park did coincide with the scheduled arrival time of the China Southern Boeing 787. This was one that I had meant to shoot previously and had bodged as a result of being distracted. That was discussed further here. This time I thought I would make a more concerted effort to get it right. I was just hoping that the heat haze would not be a problem.

As it worked out, I did not lose track of what was going on and I was ready when the colorful jet showed up on the approach. He was a bit far out which meant the haze was a problem from some angles but still good enough to get a reasonable shot as it passed which was combined with an Air Canada A320 heading downwind for its arrival.

787s

wpid13148-C59F7603.jpgBoeing is building 787s at something like ten a month these days. Consequently, seeing a Dreamliner is not such an unusual event any more as they are getting to the airlines at a rapid pace. However, it does mean that more airlines are getting the type. I have not seen a whole lot of different carriers using them yet although that will, no doubt, change. However, when a new one shows up, it does get my interest. China Southern started flying them to SFO and I saw my friend Roger had caught one. It has a pretty interesting color scheme so I wanted to get one too but they only fly three times a week and I hadn’t been there on one of those days.

wpid13130-AU0E9733.jpgThen I did end up in place when one was coming in. I heard it call up on the approach so knew it was coming in. At this point, my brain shut down completely. Another Asian jet was taxiing out of the international terminal area and came straight across the runway to taxi up alongside the bay. This provides a good view and some nice shot possibilities so I starting shooting it. Meanwhile, guess what was landing. I only realized at the last moment. I did get some shots of it on the ground but not exactly what I had in mind. However, since they will be coming for a long time, I guess I needn’t beat myself up too much. There will be another chance.  In the mean time, here are a selection of Dreamliners I have shot so far, even if some of them are not in pristine condition!