SoCal Spotters & Visiting LAX

KLAX Overview

Tim Wagenknecht — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:06:32 +0000

Just another day at KLAX!

Hello again

Tim Wagenknecht — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:52:29 +0000

Just wanted to updated everyone, we all have had some time off, but will return soon with more updates as warranted. T

Night shot

Tim Wagenknecht — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:18:20 +0000

Jorge has been on all of us to do more, and that at night, so a couple of weeks ago, we spent some time doing late night shooting with a great lens..the 85 1.2 L from Canon. Opened up all the way, this lens coupled with the ability of a good body has the ability to capture what one sees with the naked eye. I have attached one shot, not the best quality, but close enough to get the idea. One awesome lens, and the thirst for more shots like this…enjoy.

Rumour mill…Qantas

Tim Wagenknecht — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:10:47 +0000

Heard from some sources which will of course remain nameless and confidential…Qantas is quite unhappy with their A388. It has the fuel burn rate of about 10 tonne/hour, which puts it in the same basic class as an older 744, and they have not gotten the loads on their LAX routes to satisfy this fuel curve. Perhaps this is why we have not been seeing a dialy A388 into KLAX from down-unda!

Just a thought

Tim Wagenknecht — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:32:23 +0000

One has to wonder…If all the world followed one person, what would we be? If all the world followed themselves, what would they be. If all the world followed each other, what would each be? And if all the world stopped, thought, and then acted…what would it be!!!

A few national budget cuts which will affect the SoCal region

Tim Wagenknecht — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:06:28 +0000

Among the cuts made by the pentagon:
1) Halting all productions of the C-17 cargo plane. Nothing new here, we all knew this was coming, but this makes it official.
2) Cap the production of the F-22 program at 187 planes…no more purchases. Could have been as high as 450…
3) Terminating the VH-71 presidential helicopter program, which was already billion in the red.
4) Cuts in the strategic defense missile defense system.
5) Halting the development of the new US bomber program.
6) Slowing the development of a new type of AC Carrier.

All in all, there will be a significant savings in the budget to us, but at what cost. One only hopes that the SecDef and Pres have our best intentions in mind while making these hard decisions. One thing is clear…these cuts will deeply impact our region, as there are many defense contract companies with many billions in vested interest in our area. Makes one wonder if the job loss will cut deeper in this area.

V Austrailia

Bruin 787 — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:17:35 +0000

February 27th was an exciting day for LAX spotters. V Australia Airlines, a new long haul international airline owned by the parent company of Virgin Blue, started service with flights to Los Angeles from Sydney, Australia using brand new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Pending government approval, Delta Air Lines will also begin offering flights to Sydney from LAX this summer. Arguably the most lucrative route for Qantas Airways, LAX-Sydney just got a bit more competitive.

Since the start of service, V Australia has also announced flights from Brisbane to LA starting April 6th and from Melbourne starting September 15th, attacking Qantas’ dominance on the Oz-US market head on. Qantas promptly struck back by starting a fare war. For those of us on the outside looking in, this is going to get very interesting to watch. It’s exciting to see more choices for those wishing to visit the Land Down Under, but also for the opportunity to see shiny new aircraft over the skies of LA just begging to be photographed! With all the difficulties the aviation industry is currently facing in these harsh economic times, it’s nice to see some energetic new faces giving it a go.

I was able to attend a media preview event at LAX shortly before the start of revenue service for V Australia, but due to a boneheaded accident I lost most of the photography I took at that event. A few pictures did survive however, and I’ve attached them below for your viewing pleasure. The Boeing 777-300ER is a beautiful plane, and the V Australia livery fits her well. I wish everyone involved much success!

Overhead

Tim Wagenknecht — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:50:12 +0000

Air Tahiti Nui Flight 22

Whilst at Red Flag 09-02, we saw some really nice contrails from planes flying east from the west coast. Here is a picture of one of them. The detail was enough to figure out that this was flight 22 of Air Tahiti Nui, going from Los Angeles to Paris. Conditions on that day were so perfect, that even at flight level 330, she was throwing contrails from her trailing surfaces.

Yuma MCAS Airshow – March 14, 2009

Tim Wagenknecht — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:09:42 +0000

USMC T-5

Went to the Yuma MCAS airshow this weekend. A very good show with the typical Navy/Marine type stuff flying about. The best show came from the Alabama Flyboys in their Piper Cub…talk about a controlled crash. They took off from the taxiway sideways, and then went on to perform a very good show, with the plane at the edge of control all the time, ending with a landing on a pickup truck. The end came with a Tora Tora Tora spectacular, with some Japanese Zeros, and torpedo bombers re-enacting Pearl Harbour, finalizing with a wall of flame 10,000 feet long, 40 meteres high. WOW. All in all a very good show. Enjoy the pics…

“Salmon-Thirty-Salmon”

Dave Budd — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:01:14 +0000

“Salmon-Thirty-Salmon” climbing after take-off from runway 24L. Maciej Flis