N787BX Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Farnborough 2010

Dreamliner N787BX arrived at Farnborough, UK on Sunday 18th July 2010 - this was the first time the Boeing 787 had been shown outside of the USA.

This aircraft is the third ( ZA 003 ) Boeing 787 to be built by Boeing and has construction number c/n 40692. This aircraft flew for the first time on 14th March 2010 at Paine Field, Seattle, WA, USA.

For many the Dreamliner was the star attraction at this years Farnborough Air Show 2010 - the aircraft was displayed in the static park on Monday 19th July and Tuesday 20th July. The aircraft is made primarily of carbon fibre composite materials. The lighter weight improves fuel efficiency and aircraft range - it also allows the passenger cabin to be pressurised to a more comfortable level than conventional airliners and allows for larger cabin windows.

The photo above shows 787 N787BX being towed out of the static display on the afternoon of Tuesday 20th July 2010 before departing back to Boeing at Seattle, USA. Upon departure the 787 returned to do one flypast at Farnborough with a World War 2 Spitfire alongside each wingtip before heading towards East Midlands airport for a flypast and again at the Rolls Royce factory at Debry ( the aircraft in powered by two Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines )  - N787BX continued on to the west coast of Ireland where it landed for fuel at Shannon airport before the long flight to Seattle.

The first UK customer to receive the Boeing 787 will be Thomson Airlines who are due to receive 8 aircraft from 2012 onwards.

Steve

Bristol International Airport - Lulsgate 17.2.10

This afternoon I spent a couple of hours up at Bristol Lulsgate - the weather was cold and grey with mist and low cloud. This airport is the highest in England.

Despite the poor weather I enjoyed the photo opportunities.



Easyjet Airbus A319 G-EZIA c/n 2420 landing onto Runway 09 was delivered new in March 2005 - note the missing letters on the engine cowling.





Easyjet Airbus A319 G-EZBI c/n 3003 is one of the few Easyjet aircraft to carry a name "Madrid" touches down as "EASY 26X" at approx 15.44


Easyjet Airbus A319 G-EZBI c/n 3003 "Madrid" lines up to depart as EASY 8HZ at approx 16.21


Aer Arann ATR 72 EI-REM c/n 760 arriving from Cork, Eire as "Arran 31B" at approx 16.05 - this aircraft was delivered new in October 2007


Ryanair 737-800 EI-EKC c/n 38495 was delivered new in January 2010 part of the huge fleet of approx 200 similar aircraft Ryanair operate across Europe. Here EI-EKC is seen departing Runway 09 as RYANAIR 8FL to Bergamo, Italy.



Ryanair 737-800 EI-DWY c/n 33635 about to touchdown on 09 as RYANAIR 504 inbound from Dublin, Eire.


Air Southwest are based at Plymouth, Devon and destinations include Bristol, Manchester and Leeds - here DHC Dash 8 311 G-WOWB c/n 334 arrives as SWALLOW 306K. This aircraft was previously based at Bristol as G-BRYT when operating by Brymon Airways for British Airways.




Steve

Palmair Boeing 737-500 - G-PJPJ

A visit to Bristol Lulsgate on 24.1.10 saw G-PJPJ the Palmair Boeing 737-500 depart as Flightstar 324P.

Palmair are a small UK holiday charter airline and have been based at Bournemouth Hurn airport for many years.

Boeing 737-5H6 G-PJPJ departs Bristol on 24.1.10

G-PJPJ was built in 1994 by Boeing with construction number 27355 - the aircraft was initially delivered to Malaysian Airlines as 9M-MFH in 1994. In 1998 it was sold to Jet Airways of India as VT-JAZ. In January 2001 it passed to British Airways as G-GFFJ. BA sold the aircraft in 2009 to Astraeus Airlines who registered it as G-PJPJ in May 2009 to be operated on behalf of Palmair.

The aircraft is named ‘The Spirit of Peter Bath’ ( just below the cockpit windows ) in honour of Palmair’s late founder. It had arrived from Chambery - Aix Les Bains ( LFLB ) in France and departed to reposition to Bournemouth Hurn ( EGHH ).


External Link to the Palmair website



Steve

Airliner Maintenance - Boeing 737

The ILA show at Berlin Schonefeld SXF usually allows an opportunity to view some airliner maintenance.

Lufthansa have a 737 overhaul hangar here and open the facility for the public to have a look - this year 737-500 D-ABIL was undergoing servicing on 30.5.08.


With the nose cone up you can see what I believe to be the the ILS localiser antennae.


This aircraft was built back in 1991 and has been with Lufthansa since new - the aircraft is named "Memmingen" and is c/n 24824 line number 2006.