Tuesday saw the startof my 4 day spotting/business trip which was to see me take in 7 airports, and “enjoy” 4 flights. An early start on Tuesday morning got me to Luton, where I boarded G-EZJA for Aldergrove. On the way to the office we stopped off at City Airport, and I got a few photographs, including this interesting German Citation:
2 days worth of business ensued, and on Wednesday evening it was back to Aldergrove in the torrential rain, and I checked in for the flight back to Luton. A 40 minute delay was put on the flight, and so I spent much of the time with AndrewM at the viewing gallery and getting something to eat.
At the scheduled departure time I decided to go thorugh to the gate, as that gave me 30 minutes until the new boarding time according to the screens. However in the security queue I got a shock when the “final boarding call” was announced for my flight, which decided to make an on time departure after all. I boarded G-EZJB, and an uneventful if slightly bumpy flight followed.
At Luton it was back to the car, and the hour long drive followed towards Stansted airport, where I would be staying with wannabe pilot before our flight the next morning.
Another early start, and we were at Stansted, quickly checking in, and going through security before watching the comings and goings, and finally boarding EI-DAG to Shannon. The flight departed on time, and the seats were more comfortable than both the EZY 319 and 737 I had experienced in the last month. Another slightly bumpy flight later, and we were on the ground in Shannon, where a very interesting and rewarding day was spent, with lots of exciting movements, let down only by the weather.
AN72 on a race horse charter
Belavia TU154 to Minsk
Very interesting Gulfstream G200 on delivery from the factory in Tel Aviv to the finishing plant in Savanna.
A “rear” view of a World Airways MD11 showing the aircraft visible on the Shannon Aerospace ramp
A more normal view of the MD11, showing the other aircraft of interest on this side of the field
A very boring Euro Atlantic 767 operating 3.5 hours late for Air Atlanta to Almeria.
Oh and wannabe pilot with his new toy 😀
By: Airline owner - 5th June 2005 at 19:14
Fantastic shots there.I like the Iceland Express MD80
By: Humberside - 5th June 2005 at 19:02
Fantastic shots there
By: bmi-star - 5th June 2005 at 14:37
wow, they took their time, but hey was worth it!
By: Mark L - 5th June 2005 at 13:20
Sadly not, we arrived 15 minutes after it departed, and didnt have the time to go down on the Tuesday morning. Hopefully I’ll catch it in the summer as I’m in Belfast quite a lot throughout July and August.
By: David2386 - 5th June 2005 at 13:04
Good pictures Mark,
Did you catch the CO @ BFS when you flew in?
By: Mark L - 5th June 2005 at 12:26
Andy, the 737 on the extreme left of the Shannon Aerospace ramp was another UAL 737 I believe. It was completely stripped out, but the logo was still just visible on the tail. Quite a lot of the UAL 735s are being retired at the moment, and all the ones going through to Europe seem to be being handled through Shannon. That Sibir 735 was also an ex UAL one, although the SkyEurope was an ex EZY.
Thanks for the comments everyone 🙂
By: LBARULES - 5th June 2005 at 12:20
Absolutely stunning shots from both of you, that Cable and Wireless Ryanair is my fave 🙂
By: A330Crazy - 5th June 2005 at 11:56
An excellent report from you Mark, and some stunning pictures to boot. There sure is some rare bits seen in the photos from Shannon. Is the 737 in front of the “Shannon Aerospace” sign, from the USAF?
Some nice pics from both of you on this thread. 🙂 Nice job guys.
By: BHXlocal - 5th June 2005 at 11:54
Great shots both of ya! Nice report aswell 🙂
By: MSR777 - 5th June 2005 at 10:08
Stunning pics guys, thanks for taking the time to share. I did not realise that World Airways had re-instated the 60s style livery on the MD11, is it a limited “retro” deal or full time? 🙂
By: steve rowell - 5th June 2005 at 04:23
Excellent shots
By: MANAIRPORTMAD - 5th June 2005 at 01:37
Great report and pics!
By: davforr - 4th June 2005 at 23:54
Great shots Lads …..sorry to hear about the extended stay in the cramped conditions Mark
By: tcx00 - 4th June 2005 at 23:17
mark l – wicked pics sounds like you had a great time, also a really good report.
wanna be pilot – again wicked shots, got i say i love the myt!
By: BigJet - 4th June 2005 at 23:13
Excellent report there and brilliant pics to go with it aswell! 😀
By: wannabe pilot - 4th June 2005 at 23:10
Excellent stuff there Mark, twas a well worthwhile trip. As I said to you on msn, I’d add my few from STN when you made a thread to save having 2 of the same stuff. So here they are, mainly repeats of what Mark has already posted.
By: RIPConcorde - 4th June 2005 at 23:05
Excellent pics! Thanks for taking the time to post them. 🙂
By: Mark L - 4th June 2005 at 22:48
The return flight was not nearly as nice as the outbound one. Firstly a woman had a seizure shortly before boarding, which clearly caused a delay in itself, as well as later on when her bags had to be located as she was no longer allowed to fly. This was not a problem in itself, but meant that we were stuck in the aircraft for a good hour and a half. This normally would not have concerned me greatly, but as Dan has already mentioned the aircraft was a brand new one, EI-DCY, which had the new seat pitch installed.
I am 6’3, and instantly after sitting in the seat I was uncomfortable, with my legs crushed more than they had ever been before. By the time the flight was over I was in considerable pain, and my legs were severaly cramped. Little opportunity was had for being able to walk around the cabin midlifght, but much longer in that seat and I would have had to get up and walk around, the pain really was quite noticeable.
The flights were only £17 return, which cannot be sniffed at. I can usually accept the surly service, the out of the way airports, paying for food and the scrum during boarding, but being subjected to physical pain is beyond my tolerance level, and I will be actively avoiding Ryanair now, alongside the routes that Easyjet use their 319s on. I just cannot be subjected to that torture no matter how cheap the fare.
Anyway, the next day Dan and I spent the morning at Stansted itself. Despite checking the arrival boards we managed to miss most things of interest :rolleyes:
Air Berlin Fokker 100
Cable & Wireless
Dreamliner – The only pic I managed to blur that morning :rolleyes:
FCA A321
NOR SHuttle 737
Iceland Express MD80
And one of the new Oxford Aviation Service/Houston Jet Services/Greggair Legacys
I had intended to go home via Luton and Heathrow, but ended up finding a shortcut to the M25 instead of Luton, and joined that instead. A blocked M1 put a stop to any hope of a LTN visit, so I just continued round to LHR where I got a few pics:
BA A321
JAL 777
Austrian A319
THY 737
I journeyed home rather exhausted via Farnborough, whereupon it started raining, with no movements whatsoever. Hardly disapointing after 4 very interesting and productive days!
By: Arabella-Cox - 4th June 2005 at 22:39
Canny photos there Mark, especially like the Atlantic Airlines photo.
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June 4, 2005 at 10:33 pm