Tag Archives: government

Japanese Government Comes to Town

I was sitting at the gate waiting to board a flight when the sound of a heavy jet reversing thrust outside caught my attention. It was a Japanese 747-400. JAL retired their 747s a few years ago and that made an appearance on the blog here. That meant this was a Japanese Government 747. I was really annoyed to have only seen it at the last minute. However, I was on the right side of the plane on takeoff to try and get a look. I did get a shot but looking through the camera made me lose the wider view. The Japanese 747s tend to travel as a pair. Sure enough, a second jet was parked up and I didn’t spot it was there until too late.

Janets

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The shuttle of flights run out of McCarran Airport, Las Vegas by private contractors for various departments of the US Government are known as the Janets. Previously operated using Boeing 737-200s, the flights have now been upgraded to 737-600s, probably as a result of the low price of these jets given their lack of popularity with airlines. They operate a pretty busy schedule at certain times of day. The flights file a plan to a location and then cancel it en route as they divert to whatever secret installation that is their true destination. Paul, Chris and I decided to try and find a good location to catch one as it departs since they make a tight turn out and should have good light in the evening. Several arrived while we were there and we were too late for one of the departures but we did catch one of them heading out. The light ended up being very favorable.