Alaska Air Cargo has been having a tricky time with its new freighters. These are conversions of some of its older 737-800s and will provide more capacity than the current 737-300BDSF fleet. I got the first of the jets not long after it arrived, but it then was out of service for ages. They have finally got it in regular use now but the delivery of the second aircraft was delayed while they sorted things out. It is now delivered and operating regularly, and I caught it climbing out of SEA one weekend. The second shot is the same airframe back when it was in passenger service a few years ago.
Tag Archives: 737-800BCF
Alaska Air Cargo’s Newest Freighter – Finally!
Alaska Air Cargo has a bunch of converted 737-700s that it uses to run freight around Alaska and down to Seattle. The -700 is not a popular freighter conversion with the -800 being the basis for most NG freighters around the world. Alaska must have decided that they too need the additional capacity and are converting a pair of their passenger jets. The first returned from Kelowna, where the conversion was undertaken, and entered service. I went out one weekend to catch it heading north. I waited a long time as its departure time slipped and slipped before it eventually canceled. It then flew to Oklahoma City for some work of some sort. It did return but then went back to OKC so something was clearly not right.
Recently, it finally returned to Seattle. The weather was not great but it was a weekend and I had some time so I decided to catch it coming in from Ketchikan and then heading back the same way. With the cargo door in the front fuselage and the Air Cargo markings added, it looks pretty good. It hasn’t been used hard yet, so the paint is in good shape. Let’s hope its teething troubles are behind it and I might catch it in nicer conditions. Its sister ship is in conversion currently, so we should have a pair of them before too long.
Departure of the Prime Air 737
Continuing my interest in Amazon Prime Air 737s, the one I saw arrive from the conversion line in China was ready for delivery to Sun Country – the airline that will be operating it for Amazon. It was a pretty sunny day when it went out so heat haze was a bit of a problem. The jet was towed out from the ATS facility. Once it was just short of the taxiway, they unhooked the jet and started it up. Plenty of heat haze looking across the airfield I’m afraid.
It taxied to the north end of the field and then took off towards me. It was obviously not heavy for its flight to Minneapolis and it was off the ground pretty rapidly. This made for more of a belly shot than would have been ideal but it still looked okay and actually gave me a better look at the color scheme than I had expected. It is quite a paint job that they have.
A Better Go at a Prime Air 737
In this recent post, I showed a shot of an Amazon Prime Air 737. With a bit more notice and better timing from an availability point of view, I saw that another jet was coming in to Paine Field from Anchorage. It was being delivered from the conversion line in China and would have the finishing touches taken care of by ATS at Everett. I was there and set up in plenty of time – except… I had one camera ready to go but the other one had been previously used for some video at home and was on manual focus. I was shooting with the 500mm initially and all was well. As the jet got closer, I switched to the 100-400 and everything was wrong. Nothing would focus. It seemed like forever but I must have realized fast and flicked the focus switch because I was able to shoot it as it came level with me and crossed the threshold. What an amateur mistake. Fortunately, I got away with it!
Amazon Prime 737
The Amazon Prime fleet of 767s has grown to be pretty huge. Initially, I was excited to see one out and about but now they are like Southwest 737s! However, the new addition to the fleet is the 737-800. A bunch of them have been showing up and, prior to delivery to Sun Country that will be operating them, they have been coming through Everett, presumably for some final work at ATS. Sadly, I haven’t been able to get up there to see them.
I did get one of them head past the house, though. It was departing for Minneapolis and its routing took it close to us. Not as close as I would have liked but enough for a heavy crop with a long lens. Not ideal conditions for sure. In the same way the 767s are now ubiquitous, these will no doubt be before to long. However, this was my first encounter. Maybe next time I will be a bit closer – even if it does mean moving away from my driveway!