Plane-Spotting at Hanoi
Our ways and means are a changing, usually for the better, because of technologies that keep getting better by the day. That includes how we watch and witness things.
Especially with fascinatedly watching planes at airports, we now don't just see them zooming-by, we also already immediately know their "identities and circumstances"!
All thanks to many technologies, we now have a wittier ways of knowing "planes"!
Newfangled Plane-Spotting
At airports, the more you know something, the more you become curious and want to learn more about matters related to it. Teka, di ba ganyan ang buhay "in general"?
So eto, marami tuloy akong mahaba-habang ma-i-ku-kwento. Mga karanasan ba!
Example? Here's a Malindo Air Boeing 737-900ER. It was out of the factory in 2013. Bata pa! Yep, 5 years is still young for an airplane in the commercial airline industry!
How did I know it's a Malindo airplane, and how did I know the type of aircraft from that picture? Sekreeet! And before I even answer you, even if we know that Malindo is owned by Lion Air of Indonesia, that plane is Malaysia-registered! Yep, very clear!
Clear? Where? Saan? Paano nga?!
Sa pakpak! Look at the right wing (that means your 'right' if you were a pilot), there's a code that says 9M-LNJ. It may not be very clear to you as blogger.com requires that my photos be of low-resolution at not more than 500kb, pero na-aaninag naman di ba?!
I googled that, and voila, all those info that I just said above. Aliw eh!
Just that scene (now a picture) can lead us to a multitude of information (if we want to) - especially now that there are a lot ways in how to get them - just using a phone.
Like what pa? Ehem, because of the above, I easily checked: that plane was soon to depart for Kuala Lumpur. Since it was already 1237H, it would have been on its final loading process, and would depart at 1250H as Malindo Air Flight OD572 HAN-KUL.
Saan naman nanggaling ang mga kaalamang yan? Eh di sa pictures ko kanina doon sa mga FIDs nila while naglalakad ako! Anong FID? Hah, yun malalaking TV ano ba!
O ha! New style of plane-spotting, once we see a plane, we use our gadgets to know more about them! In fact, if AI (artificial intelligence) were publicly avaialble and free, everything would be much easier. Just a prompt and all info we'd ever need is there!
That thing is "coming soon" to our lives. I know that because I'm fortunate enough to have been selected as member of one beta group testing their functionalities. Aliw!
How easy? Ay, something like: instead of 4 or 5 'things' to do/check/search as above, isang utos na lang sa phone or PC mo, labas na agad ang magkaka-akibat na infos.
My AI-app also tells me things ahead, like "baka itanong mo rin, eto na". Atrevida!
All I need is to describe the scene or even take a picture, and when I ask questions like "what plane is that", ilalabas nya ang mga 'probable' kasagutan - with reasons.
Sana pati sa tao 'no?! Piktyuran mo lang sasabihin na ng AI kung sino yun, ilan ang asawa etc! Oist, serious yan. My mentor says "the world is going in that direction"!
Anyway, while wala pa tayo doon sa "sino yan" hehe, this AI thing is already helpful.
In plane-spotting, aside from airplane names, colors or logos, most important to find is the Aircraft Registration Mark (that always starts with an Aircraft Nationality Mark).
By the way, many airline/airport folks say "Aircraft Registry" or just "Registry" when they mean to say Aircraft Registration Mark (because it's easier/faster to pronounce).
Ano yun, saan yun? Yun na nga yung nasa pakpak. That 9M-LNJ. That's it pusit! It's like a car's plate number (license plate) - always printed out on the body of a plane.
Unlike car or motorbike plate numbers though, info (about aircraft registration marks) are readily available online, minsan kasama pa ang 'plane history' mula pagkabuhay!
The first two characters always mean the country of registry as allocated by the Int'l Telecommunication Union (ITU) and adopted by ICAO, kung bakit, ay it's a long story.
In 9M-LNJ above, the Aircraft Nationality Mark is 9M, and that code is for Malaysia.
So alams na, mapapansin nyo, lahat ng airplane na rehistrado sa Malaysia, all have registries that start with 9M (kahit Malaysia Airlines or AirAsia or private plane pa sila).
After the nationality mark, characters that follow are unique identifiers assigned to a specific plane by a country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAAM=Malaysia, CAAP sa atin).
So, in that 9M-LNJ, 9M is mandatory as per ICAO, while LNJ is assigned by CAAM.
Lagi bang 2-characters ang "Nationality Mark"? No. There are those that use only 1 letter (whether followed by a dash or not). Me kinalaman yan sa history (after WW1). Specifically, N is for US, and guess which countries use C, D, F, G, I, B, M, and P. Da!
The Philippine Style
Aw, sa atin? All registries start with RP. And most that you'll see me dugtong na -C before numbers. Example: RP-C4101, RP-C1018, RP-C8189, RP-C4202. Familiar ba?
Sige nga, pangalanan nyo ang apat na yan!
Note that the local country identifiers may have its own CAA's codes katulad ng "-C" natin. It can be a number agad after the RP-, or pwede ring 5 other letters after RP-.
Class Mark ang tawag ni CAAP dyan. Those 'marks' (letters) can be a C, G, R, U, X, S or walang letter, which automatically means airplane ng gobyerno such as RP-1250.
Try it. Look for the identity of RP-1250 (note: walang letter after RP-), matutuwa ka. If nakasakay ka na dyan, ikaw na! Dati meron ding RP-C0001 pero di ko na nakikita.
Hmm, since we've said many things on this topic, let's finish it na!
According to a friend at CAAP, if a registry says RP-Cxxxx, it means the aircraft fully complies with the 'airworthiness requirements' of CAAP to carry persons or property (passengers or cargo) for compensation or hire. Ibig sabihin, C means Commercial!
If you see a G (as in RP-Gxxxx), the aircraft is a Glider, that syempre, complies with CAAP's specific 'glider airworthiness requirements'. Me ganun pala? Aba yes meron!
If you see an R (as in RP-Rxxxx), it means "Restricted". For aircraft that comply only in a limited respect with airworthiness requirements, mostly for industrial purposes (like crop dusting or survey work), and are not allowed to convey/carry passengers.
I think ang sample nyan eh yun mga plane na nagsasaboy ng fertilizer and the likes.
If you see an X (as in RP-Xxxxx), it means "Experimental". Planes operating under an experimental certificate, typically used for testing new designs or modifications.
You may also see an S (as in RP-Sxxxx). "Special" daw yan. For non-type certificated aircraft. Meaning? Ahay, the aircraft design itself has not been officially certified yet.
Ang latest mare is U (as in RP-Uxxxx) for "Unmanned" Aerial Vehicles - for yun mga walang driver (ay, piloto pala) na nagsimula nang mauso ngayon. Sasakay ka dyan?
And finally, the Number Only (as in RP-xxxx) meaning "Government" daw. Used for aircraft belonging solely to the Philippine government, provinces, or municipalities. Example nga natin above is RP-1250 - alam mo na ba kung ano yun? Hint: sky-blue!
But CAAP says RP-Cxxxx is at times used for specific government planes that must meet commercial transport standards. Like RP-C0001 na wala na yata, di na nakikita!
O tama na muna ang lecture hahaha! Let's go back to my plane-spotting at Hanoi!
At 1241H, this Korean Air (Gate 31), beside Malindo Air (at Gate 30) pushed back.
With Registry Mark HL8002, it is the Airbus 330-323E, and that must be Korean Air's Flight KE480 from Hanoi to Incheon - delayed, since departure schedule was 1215H.
How did I know all those details? Ah, yun na nga ang pinag-uusapan natin kanina sa taas. Plane-spotting, flight-watching or "maritessing" has technologically advanced.
You just google to know almost anything! Did you know you can also 'google search' by uploading photos or shooting live pictures? Yeah, mga 2011 yata yan nagsimula.
Then last year (2017) 'google lens' came out - yung dudutdutin mo lang kahit anong part ng pic, tas i-se-search nya ang bagay na yun! I did that now, with that KE plane!
Mabilis at aliw. Kulang na lang paliguan at bihisan tayo ng technology ngayon!
But the "legacy system" of using our hands and common sense are still useful. Eto:
Those are 4 different pictures of some of Noi Bai Airport's FIDs, I earlier took, while walking around. Binalikan ko lang while flight-watching at the restaurant. Soo useful.
I just compared what I was seeing live, with departure schedules in those pics. Yun pala! When I saw Korean Air pushing back, I looked for their logo on the list. KE480!
Da! So I knew where that plane was going and I knew it was 26 minutes late. Aliw!
No need to go online for that, but I used google to check what type of plane yan and other information, that I was able to tell you above. Plane spotting is now more fun!
Eto pa, I also found that.., that very same airplane ng Korean Airlines na Flight KE480 is also Delta Airlines Flight DL9048, and also Vietnam Airlines' Flight VN3412. O ha!
How did I know that? Ayun sa display o (upper left corner). Pare-pareho ang time at pare-pareho ang gate, alangan naman tatlong eroplano yan. Codeshared Flight yan.
But we have already discussed Code Sharing Flights while in Taipei, remember?
Di ba? It's fun and very educational to know those little things around that might not even be related to our own flights. That's the beauty of travel, learnings left or right!
In this case, all because I saw a Korean Air plane pushing back!
But I am not yet quite done telling you things still from that picture, okay?
The various motorized and non-motorized equipment on foreground, we've already discussed them sometime ago, so I'm sure you now know them well. Naalala nyo?
But I like the make and look of their "pushcarts" - me bubong! As we said in earlier "plane spottings" they differ a lot from place to place (more of country to country).
Yet something else was interesting to me - the other planes! Aside from OD and KE there's also a BR, an SQ and a cute little PG. Can you already identify them by code?
Let's first talk about Eva Air (BR). Can you see it? At left edge of picture, yung berde na buntot lang ang nakita! That is a Boeing 777-300ER (most of their planes are like that), capacity 323 or 333 or 353 passengers depending on the variant. Andami no?
That would be flight BR398 to Taipei, scheduled at 1235H pero 1245H na lang daw. Andun yun sa info display oy! Picture above was 1241H na. It should leave na soon.
Oist, in case you didn't know, Eva Air said it should be written EVA Air for EVergreen Airlines. It took its name from its mother company Evergreen Shipping (now Group).
A fairly young airline, they started in 1991. HAN, SGN and MNL were added in 1992 na agad. And bag-o ra (March 2018) they now have a direct Taipei-Cebu-Taipei flight.
I still remember in the 90s (nasubukan ko!) they were first and was (is?) famous for F/As 'kneeling on one knee' while serving your inflight food! Plus, they were (I think) the first non-Pinoy airline that hired Pinoy pilots. Naging chief pa si Capt. Manzano!
Then there's Singapore Airlines (SQ). Ah, that would be Flight SQ175 to Singapore, it has just departed, on the way to the taxiway, for an eventual takeoff at Runway 11R.
How did I know those? Same as above. But how did I know the runway to be used? By observing how planes were moving as I sat there - having lunch meeting at that!
It's too far in the photo, but I think that's an A359 (aka Airbus A350-900). Kung A350 nga yan, at kahit hindi, masabi ko lang SQ has the most number of A350s in the world!
Oist, alam nyo ba, 2 years ago, Airbus celebrated delivering its 10,000th aircraft, and it was an A350 for SQ. With a registry mark of 9V-SMF, they painted it with 10,000th!
Nice plane-spotting, we now immediately know more information about planes 'live' as they pass! Malay natin, soon, tao na ang malalaman natin, kahit dumadaan lang!
Yun tipong nadaan ka lang, piniktyuran, then we know kung naligo ka o hindi ehehe!
Lastly, still in that picture above, you should see that colorfully cute little airplane. It is actually an ATR72 aircraft - similar to the propeller planes that Cebu Pacific uses.
That is the 12:45PM Bangkok Airways Flight PG996 direct to Chiang Mai, Thailand. How sure was I? Ah same as my references above. I was sure it was on its way out!
An international flight from Hanoi Vietnam to Chiang Mai Thailand just on an ATR72 plane? Relak lang! It's not far. Mga singlayo lang ng Manila to Siargao but over land.
Then I remembered, it is a convenient airline in going to Thailand's smaller airports especially to the islands like Hat Yai or Krabi. Hoy, they own 3 airports - o laban ka?
Bangkok Airways (PG) is unique in that aspect. Not only in Thailand, but all of Asia or probably the whole world. It is not common for an airline to own and operate an international airport (although small) and 2 touristy domestic airports. Kakaiba 'no?
Actually, there are two other domestic (pa lang) airports I know, that are owned and operated by airline companies. One is Lio Airport in El Nido (ENI) owned by AirSwift.
The other is... pag nahulaan mo, I'll give you a "token of appreciation"!
Alright alright.., enough na! Isang kodak lang, ang haba na ng kwento!
Oh well, a picture paints a thousand words. Ituloy natin ang plane-spotting. Eto pa!
While the KE (Korean Air) we talked about above was still pushing back, there came another KE (far at the back, touching down at Runway 11L). Surely another A330-300.
Plus, there's a just arrived EK. Yep, Emirates Air from/to Dubai (DXB), A B777-300.
Okay, 1252H on my phone, Malindo Air pushed back. Dapat lang 1250H ETD nya eh!
But that majestic 'queenly' thing passing at the back, made my heart both jump and sink in nostalgia! It was/is not a ghost, but yes, for some reason, it got 'resurrected'!
This sighting made my day. Yes, grabe! Lumambot ang puso ko ng sandali!
As a child I always marvelled at the B747 being the biggest airplane of my time. I so fondly read articles about it, especially the upper deck. Oy, I got to sleep in a skybed!
Tama na ang muni-muni - nobela nanaman yan! Back to that white Jumbo Plane!
Ayan, I zoomed to see the registry, it's N747CK. O gino-o ko, multo ba ito? Nabuhay!
You who are reading this now.., where were you in 25-JULY-1979? Were you already even born then? That plane was received by Pan American World Airways that day!
Sige mag-compute ka, how old would that plane have been kanina 30DEC2018 when I took that picture? Yet it still flies - with an even heavier load than when it was born!
It started as a passenger plane with registry N904PA nicknamed Clipper Bald Eagle of PanAm. Wag nang hanapin si PanAm. It went bankrupt -planes/routes were sold.
But as early as 1983, N904PA (PanAm) was sold to Japan Airlines that converted it into a freighter (cargo) plane, assuming a new aircraft registry of JA8165, until 2007.
In 2007 it became American again when it was sold by JL to Kalitta Air (cargo airline yan sa US) where it got its new registry N747CK. Eto ka na.., online records say that that plane was "withdrawn from service" by Kalitta in July 2012. But why was it alive?
Yes alive as in buhay na buhay tumatakbo gumagana, ayan nga o! Ghostly!
Well actually.., I learned from friends, that when old aircraft are supposedly "retired" but not yet being scrapped, they're sometimes taken out by the owners to 'fly again' during exigencies, emergencies, such as peak season. Eh Christmas ngayon. Ayun!
Anyway.., that made me miss flying or at least seeing man lang, the good old B747.
Oh, I was in a lunch conversation (meeting yun), but I never really trained my sights away from the tarmac! I always like watching planes come and go - especially now when there are many ways of identifying them, and knowing their individual stories.
Like I was in the middle of the meeting, pa-simple lang, I took that picture at exactly 1300H, because I could see a QR (Qatar Airways) just about to land at Runway 11L.
Ang haba ng ground time nya sa Hanoi, landing now at 1300H, but departing 1830H pa. Ah we may not know the purpose, but we know that plane will have enough rest!
From the taxiway and about to step unto Runway 11R is the 1PM Malaysia Air Flight MH753 to KUL, which incidentally, is codeshared with 3 other carriers - FY, WY & KL.
The blue plane is of course VN, but hard to guess what flight, as it could have been a domestic or international departure. Anyway.., if it was an international flight, it may have been VN506 to Guangzhou ETD 1235H, or even VN615 to Bangkok ETD 1255H.
Na! Dumadami ang codes! But that is part of the fun in travel.
Oyst, not to be missed, on the left edge of that same photo, there is a colorful tail of a plane. That is Asiana Airlines (OZ). Maritess: I heard that airline is now 'in the red'!
Finally, notice there are at least 5 people scattered on the tarmac (fronting Gate 32). That's because they serviced the just-pushed-back Eva Air (natabunan niyang poste)!
Here here, picture taken at 1301H, the Eva Air (BR) plane was being pushed back.
Note the background too, the Qatar Airways (QR) craft is almost but not yet landed.
I followed it with my camera, and... touchdown! Para akong bata. Pero masaya eh!
And there's another blue plane (VN) that just pushed back. My guess, if it wasn't any of the previous two I mentioned above, it may have been VN552 to CTU ETD 1300H.
And oh, there's a newly arrived All Nippon Airways (NH) plane on the taxiway! This:
Registry JA114A that is an Airbus A321-211 and is still about a month from being 2 years old! It was delivered brand new to ANA only on 01 February 2017, so bago pa.
I was in luck. Most of the aircraft movements were within my line of sight. Look!
ANA (NH) replaced EVA (BR) at Gate 32, while Asiana (OZ) went her way to taxi out! Aircraft registry is HL8277. That is an Airbus A321-231, delivered to OZ 01FEB2013.
And here was Malaysia Airlines (MH) 1PM Flight to KualaLumpur MH753 taking off.
Even if far from the camera I was certain that little one was a Boeing B737-800. I say that because MH has a lot of those. I even think majority of their planes are Boeing.
Actually, a B737 isn't really a little one. It is about as big as an A320 or A321 in terms of capacity. But the plane's dimensions is smaller especially if it is near a B747-400.
That B747-400 really just looks majestic, right? Though by-and-by being replaced as a passenger plane, very few use it now, one is Lufthansa (LH), but still best for cargo.
That one in the picture, HL7413, has been a freighter (cargo) plane since 2007. But, it started as an Asiana passenger airplane in 1991. No need to compute, yes it's old.
I had fun spotting and identifying all those planes. I know I know.., some of you may say na-nose-bleed kayo. That is if di kayo mahilig sa airplane, and I understand that!
Ako rin naman medyo jologs pag pribading sasakyang pang-lupa ang usapan - even the vehicles at home. Sa tanda kong ito, bago ko lang nalaman ano ang SUV at AUV!
But from-time-to-time, foraying into other realms makes life more colorful!
O tara, let's fly na to Vientaine!
Especially with fascinatedly watching planes at airports, we now don't just see them zooming-by, we also already immediately know their "identities and circumstances"!
All thanks to many technologies, we now have a wittier ways of knowing "planes"!
Newfangled Plane-Spotting
At airports, the more you know something, the more you become curious and want to learn more about matters related to it. Teka, di ba ganyan ang buhay "in general"?
So eto, marami tuloy akong mahaba-habang ma-i-ku-kwento. Mga karanasan ba!
Example? Here's a Malindo Air Boeing 737-900ER. It was out of the factory in 2013. Bata pa! Yep, 5 years is still young for an airplane in the commercial airline industry!
Clear? Where? Saan? Paano nga?!
Sa pakpak! Look at the right wing (that means your 'right' if you were a pilot), there's a code that says 9M-LNJ. It may not be very clear to you as blogger.com requires that my photos be of low-resolution at not more than 500kb, pero na-aaninag naman di ba?!
I googled that, and voila, all those info that I just said above. Aliw eh!
Just that scene (now a picture) can lead us to a multitude of information (if we want to) - especially now that there are a lot ways in how to get them - just using a phone.
Like what pa? Ehem, because of the above, I easily checked: that plane was soon to depart for Kuala Lumpur. Since it was already 1237H, it would have been on its final loading process, and would depart at 1250H as Malindo Air Flight OD572 HAN-KUL.
Saan naman nanggaling ang mga kaalamang yan? Eh di sa pictures ko kanina doon sa mga FIDs nila while naglalakad ako! Anong FID? Hah, yun malalaking TV ano ba!
O ha! New style of plane-spotting, once we see a plane, we use our gadgets to know more about them! In fact, if AI (artificial intelligence) were publicly avaialble and free, everything would be much easier. Just a prompt and all info we'd ever need is there!
That thing is "coming soon" to our lives. I know that because I'm fortunate enough to have been selected as member of one beta group testing their functionalities. Aliw!
How easy? Ay, something like: instead of 4 or 5 'things' to do/check/search as above, isang utos na lang sa phone or PC mo, labas na agad ang magkaka-akibat na infos.
My AI-app also tells me things ahead, like "baka itanong mo rin, eto na". Atrevida!
All I need is to describe the scene or even take a picture, and when I ask questions like "what plane is that", ilalabas nya ang mga 'probable' kasagutan - with reasons.
Sana pati sa tao 'no?! Piktyuran mo lang sasabihin na ng AI kung sino yun, ilan ang asawa etc! Oist, serious yan. My mentor says "the world is going in that direction"!
Anyway, while wala pa tayo doon sa "sino yan" hehe, this AI thing is already helpful.
In plane-spotting, aside from airplane names, colors or logos, most important to find is the Aircraft Registration Mark (that always starts with an Aircraft Nationality Mark).
By the way, many airline/airport folks say "Aircraft Registry" or just "Registry" when they mean to say Aircraft Registration Mark (because it's easier/faster to pronounce).
Ano yun, saan yun? Yun na nga yung nasa pakpak. That 9M-LNJ. That's it pusit! It's like a car's plate number (license plate) - always printed out on the body of a plane.
Unlike car or motorbike plate numbers though, info (about aircraft registration marks) are readily available online, minsan kasama pa ang 'plane history' mula pagkabuhay!
The first two characters always mean the country of registry as allocated by the Int'l Telecommunication Union (ITU) and adopted by ICAO, kung bakit, ay it's a long story.
In 9M-LNJ above, the Aircraft Nationality Mark is 9M, and that code is for Malaysia.
So alams na, mapapansin nyo, lahat ng airplane na rehistrado sa Malaysia, all have registries that start with 9M (kahit Malaysia Airlines or AirAsia or private plane pa sila).
After the nationality mark, characters that follow are unique identifiers assigned to a specific plane by a country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAAM=Malaysia, CAAP sa atin).
So, in that 9M-LNJ, 9M is mandatory as per ICAO, while LNJ is assigned by CAAM.
Lagi bang 2-characters ang "Nationality Mark"? No. There are those that use only 1 letter (whether followed by a dash or not). Me kinalaman yan sa history (after WW1). Specifically, N is for US, and guess which countries use C, D, F, G, I, B, M, and P. Da!
The Philippine Style
Aw, sa atin? All registries start with RP. And most that you'll see me dugtong na -C before numbers. Example: RP-C4101, RP-C1018, RP-C8189, RP-C4202. Familiar ba?
Sige nga, pangalanan nyo ang apat na yan!
Note that the local country identifiers may have its own CAA's codes katulad ng "-C" natin. It can be a number agad after the RP-, or pwede ring 5 other letters after RP-.
Class Mark ang tawag ni CAAP dyan. Those 'marks' (letters) can be a C, G, R, U, X, S or walang letter, which automatically means airplane ng gobyerno such as RP-1250.
Try it. Look for the identity of RP-1250 (note: walang letter after RP-), matutuwa ka. If nakasakay ka na dyan, ikaw na! Dati meron ding RP-C0001 pero di ko na nakikita.
Hmm, since we've said many things on this topic, let's finish it na!
According to a friend at CAAP, if a registry says RP-Cxxxx, it means the aircraft fully complies with the 'airworthiness requirements' of CAAP to carry persons or property (passengers or cargo) for compensation or hire. Ibig sabihin, C means Commercial!
If you see a G (as in RP-Gxxxx), the aircraft is a Glider, that syempre, complies with CAAP's specific 'glider airworthiness requirements'. Me ganun pala? Aba yes meron!
If you see an R (as in RP-Rxxxx), it means "Restricted". For aircraft that comply only in a limited respect with airworthiness requirements, mostly for industrial purposes (like crop dusting or survey work), and are not allowed to convey/carry passengers.
I think ang sample nyan eh yun mga plane na nagsasaboy ng fertilizer and the likes.
If you see an X (as in RP-Xxxxx), it means "Experimental". Planes operating under an experimental certificate, typically used for testing new designs or modifications.
You may also see an S (as in RP-Sxxxx). "Special" daw yan. For non-type certificated aircraft. Meaning? Ahay, the aircraft design itself has not been officially certified yet.
Ang latest mare is U (as in RP-Uxxxx) for "Unmanned" Aerial Vehicles - for yun mga walang driver (ay, piloto pala) na nagsimula nang mauso ngayon. Sasakay ka dyan?
And finally, the Number Only (as in RP-xxxx) meaning "Government" daw. Used for aircraft belonging solely to the Philippine government, provinces, or municipalities. Example nga natin above is RP-1250 - alam mo na ba kung ano yun? Hint: sky-blue!
But CAAP says RP-Cxxxx is at times used for specific government planes that must meet commercial transport standards. Like RP-C0001 na wala na yata, di na nakikita!
O tama na muna ang lecture hahaha! Let's go back to my plane-spotting at Hanoi!
At 1241H, this Korean Air (Gate 31), beside Malindo Air (at Gate 30) pushed back.
How did I know all those details? Ah, yun na nga ang pinag-uusapan natin kanina sa taas. Plane-spotting, flight-watching or "maritessing" has technologically advanced.
You just google to know almost anything! Did you know you can also 'google search' by uploading photos or shooting live pictures? Yeah, mga 2011 yata yan nagsimula.
Then last year (2017) 'google lens' came out - yung dudutdutin mo lang kahit anong part ng pic, tas i-se-search nya ang bagay na yun! I did that now, with that KE plane!
Mabilis at aliw. Kulang na lang paliguan at bihisan tayo ng technology ngayon!
But the "legacy system" of using our hands and common sense are still useful. Eto:
I just compared what I was seeing live, with departure schedules in those pics. Yun pala! When I saw Korean Air pushing back, I looked for their logo on the list. KE480!
Da! So I knew where that plane was going and I knew it was 26 minutes late. Aliw!
No need to go online for that, but I used google to check what type of plane yan and other information, that I was able to tell you above. Plane spotting is now more fun!
Eto pa, I also found that.., that very same airplane ng Korean Airlines na Flight KE480 is also Delta Airlines Flight DL9048, and also Vietnam Airlines' Flight VN3412. O ha!
How did I know that? Ayun sa display o (upper left corner). Pare-pareho ang time at pare-pareho ang gate, alangan naman tatlong eroplano yan. Codeshared Flight yan.
But we have already discussed Code Sharing Flights while in Taipei, remember?
Di ba? It's fun and very educational to know those little things around that might not even be related to our own flights. That's the beauty of travel, learnings left or right!
In this case, all because I saw a Korean Air plane pushing back!
But I am not yet quite done telling you things still from that picture, okay?
The various motorized and non-motorized equipment on foreground, we've already discussed them sometime ago, so I'm sure you now know them well. Naalala nyo?
But I like the make and look of their "pushcarts" - me bubong! As we said in earlier "plane spottings" they differ a lot from place to place (more of country to country).
Yet something else was interesting to me - the other planes! Aside from OD and KE there's also a BR, an SQ and a cute little PG. Can you already identify them by code?
Let's first talk about Eva Air (BR). Can you see it? At left edge of picture, yung berde na buntot lang ang nakita! That is a Boeing 777-300ER (most of their planes are like that), capacity 323 or 333 or 353 passengers depending on the variant. Andami no?
That would be flight BR398 to Taipei, scheduled at 1235H pero 1245H na lang daw. Andun yun sa info display oy! Picture above was 1241H na. It should leave na soon.
Oist, in case you didn't know, Eva Air said it should be written EVA Air for EVergreen Airlines. It took its name from its mother company Evergreen Shipping (now Group).
A fairly young airline, they started in 1991. HAN, SGN and MNL were added in 1992 na agad. And bag-o ra (March 2018) they now have a direct Taipei-Cebu-Taipei flight.
I still remember in the 90s (nasubukan ko!) they were first and was (is?) famous for F/As 'kneeling on one knee' while serving your inflight food! Plus, they were (I think) the first non-Pinoy airline that hired Pinoy pilots. Naging chief pa si Capt. Manzano!
Then there's Singapore Airlines (SQ). Ah, that would be Flight SQ175 to Singapore, it has just departed, on the way to the taxiway, for an eventual takeoff at Runway 11R.
How did I know those? Same as above. But how did I know the runway to be used? By observing how planes were moving as I sat there - having lunch meeting at that!
It's too far in the photo, but I think that's an A359 (aka Airbus A350-900). Kung A350 nga yan, at kahit hindi, masabi ko lang SQ has the most number of A350s in the world!
Oist, alam nyo ba, 2 years ago, Airbus celebrated delivering its 10,000th aircraft, and it was an A350 for SQ. With a registry mark of 9V-SMF, they painted it with 10,000th!
Nice plane-spotting, we now immediately know more information about planes 'live' as they pass! Malay natin, soon, tao na ang malalaman natin, kahit dumadaan lang!
Yun tipong nadaan ka lang, piniktyuran, then we know kung naligo ka o hindi ehehe!
Lastly, still in that picture above, you should see that colorfully cute little airplane. It is actually an ATR72 aircraft - similar to the propeller planes that Cebu Pacific uses.
That is the 12:45PM Bangkok Airways Flight PG996 direct to Chiang Mai, Thailand. How sure was I? Ah same as my references above. I was sure it was on its way out!
An international flight from Hanoi Vietnam to Chiang Mai Thailand just on an ATR72 plane? Relak lang! It's not far. Mga singlayo lang ng Manila to Siargao but over land.
Then I remembered, it is a convenient airline in going to Thailand's smaller airports especially to the islands like Hat Yai or Krabi. Hoy, they own 3 airports - o laban ka?
Bangkok Airways (PG) is unique in that aspect. Not only in Thailand, but all of Asia or probably the whole world. It is not common for an airline to own and operate an international airport (although small) and 2 touristy domestic airports. Kakaiba 'no?
Actually, there are two other domestic (pa lang) airports I know, that are owned and operated by airline companies. One is Lio Airport in El Nido (ENI) owned by AirSwift.
The other is... pag nahulaan mo, I'll give you a "token of appreciation"!
Alright alright.., enough na! Isang kodak lang, ang haba na ng kwento!
Oh well, a picture paints a thousand words. Ituloy natin ang plane-spotting. Eto pa!
Plus, there's a just arrived EK. Yep, Emirates Air from/to Dubai (DXB), A B777-300.
Okay, 1252H on my phone, Malindo Air pushed back. Dapat lang 1250H ETD nya eh!
This sighting made my day. Yes, grabe! Lumambot ang puso ko ng sandali!
As a child I always marvelled at the B747 being the biggest airplane of my time. I so fondly read articles about it, especially the upper deck. Oy, I got to sleep in a skybed!
Tama na ang muni-muni - nobela nanaman yan! Back to that white Jumbo Plane!
You who are reading this now.., where were you in 25-JULY-1979? Were you already even born then? That plane was received by Pan American World Airways that day!
Sige mag-compute ka, how old would that plane have been kanina 30DEC2018 when I took that picture? Yet it still flies - with an even heavier load than when it was born!
It started as a passenger plane with registry N904PA nicknamed Clipper Bald Eagle of PanAm. Wag nang hanapin si PanAm. It went bankrupt -planes/routes were sold.
But as early as 1983, N904PA (PanAm) was sold to Japan Airlines that converted it into a freighter (cargo) plane, assuming a new aircraft registry of JA8165, until 2007.
In 2007 it became American again when it was sold by JL to Kalitta Air (cargo airline yan sa US) where it got its new registry N747CK. Eto ka na.., online records say that that plane was "withdrawn from service" by Kalitta in July 2012. But why was it alive?
Yes alive as in buhay na buhay tumatakbo gumagana, ayan nga o! Ghostly!
Well actually.., I learned from friends, that when old aircraft are supposedly "retired" but not yet being scrapped, they're sometimes taken out by the owners to 'fly again' during exigencies, emergencies, such as peak season. Eh Christmas ngayon. Ayun!
Anyway.., that made me miss flying or at least seeing man lang, the good old B747.
Oh, I was in a lunch conversation (meeting yun), but I never really trained my sights away from the tarmac! I always like watching planes come and go - especially now when there are many ways of identifying them, and knowing their individual stories.
Ang haba ng ground time nya sa Hanoi, landing now at 1300H, but departing 1830H pa. Ah we may not know the purpose, but we know that plane will have enough rest!
From the taxiway and about to step unto Runway 11R is the 1PM Malaysia Air Flight MH753 to KUL, which incidentally, is codeshared with 3 other carriers - FY, WY & KL.
The blue plane is of course VN, but hard to guess what flight, as it could have been a domestic or international departure. Anyway.., if it was an international flight, it may have been VN506 to Guangzhou ETD 1235H, or even VN615 to Bangkok ETD 1255H.
Na! Dumadami ang codes! But that is part of the fun in travel.
Oyst, not to be missed, on the left edge of that same photo, there is a colorful tail of a plane. That is Asiana Airlines (OZ). Maritess: I heard that airline is now 'in the red'!
Finally, notice there are at least 5 people scattered on the tarmac (fronting Gate 32). That's because they serviced the just-pushed-back Eva Air (natabunan niyang poste)!
Here here, picture taken at 1301H, the Eva Air (BR) plane was being pushed back.
I followed it with my camera, and... touchdown! Para akong bata. Pero masaya eh!
And oh, there's a newly arrived All Nippon Airways (NH) plane on the taxiway! This:
I was in luck. Most of the aircraft movements were within my line of sight. Look!
And here was Malaysia Airlines (MH) 1PM Flight to KualaLumpur MH753 taking off.
Actually, a B737 isn't really a little one. It is about as big as an A320 or A321 in terms of capacity. But the plane's dimensions is smaller especially if it is near a B747-400.
That B747-400 really just looks majestic, right? Though by-and-by being replaced as a passenger plane, very few use it now, one is Lufthansa (LH), but still best for cargo.
That one in the picture, HL7413, has been a freighter (cargo) plane since 2007. But, it started as an Asiana passenger airplane in 1991. No need to compute, yes it's old.
I had fun spotting and identifying all those planes. I know I know.., some of you may say na-nose-bleed kayo. That is if di kayo mahilig sa airplane, and I understand that!
Ako rin naman medyo jologs pag pribading sasakyang pang-lupa ang usapan - even the vehicles at home. Sa tanda kong ito, bago ko lang nalaman ano ang SUV at AUV!
But from-time-to-time, foraying into other realms makes life more colorful!
O tara, let's fly na to Vientaine!
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