HNL Rare Birds ...

Bluewave 707 · Wed Apr 07, 2004 9:29 am

Went out around 1115, and got to see three of the B-52Hs depart. LOUD and smokey! [Miss those days when you could track a plane by it's smoke trail.] They were from the 23rd BS / 5th BW "Bomber Barons" from Minot AFB, SD. One of them was here for the HIK Open House back in August. There is a shot of it on MA.net that I took.

A little historical note, one of the pilots told me the reason their squadron crest is in Hawaiian, is because the 23rd/5th was based @ HIK back in the 40's and 50's. They played a role in dropping bombs in a lava flow that was headed for Hilo back in the day.

An AA 763 (AA031), had to make a go around about 2 - 3 miles before landing on 4R. An AQ 73G (AQ441) broke off his 5 mile final to 4R, when the ATC gave him the option for 8L.

The Lowa Ltd 703 was moved to the SR, in front of the HCC Aviation school.

Got to see the Kamaka Air R4D-8 up close. What a nice bird. Was told It will be ready for test flights at the end of the month.

Got buzzed by a JL DC-10-40 departing late off 8L as I was driving down LD.

A UA 744? That's now a rare bird. Remember when they used to be commonplace? Was it going back to AA), Japan">NRT?

je89_w · Wed Apr 07, 2004 2:08 pm

Wow, lots of interesting stuff going on today!

Bluewave, do you mean that Kamaka Air Super DC-3?

I saw some 08L departures from town, but wish I was at the airport instead.

Bluewave 707 · Wed Apr 07, 2004 2:53 pm

Yes the Super DC-3, the R4D was the USN version of the C-47, and was a bit larger than the C-47, which the other "Gooney" is sitting outside the Genavco hangar. It may get overhauled once the Kamaka Air bird is done, but no timetable is set for N93131.

Will post those pics on MA.net and A.net.

Bluewave 707 · Thu Apr 08, 2004 5:43 am

HNL ATIS still has T/W B closed, and FC has only has a Lear35 as something rare, which arrived last night from VNY. So far, none listed for today.

Bluewave 707 · Thu Apr 08, 2004 12:45 pm

Went out around noon, as I was driving out there, the winds shifted to Kona's. Caught 2 KC-135Rs, a JL744, JL 743, and a JL D14 taxiing to 26L. It was normal before that. As usual the domestics were using 22L. There's a 732, all white, parked @ CA, the reg # is N285TR.

ha763 · Thu Apr 08, 2004 1:29 pm

I saw only 1 B-52 left. Also, the 732 apparently came from FAT. There is another thread asking about the aircraft.

I haven't seen it in quite a while, but I actually had the pleasure of catching the whole 757/767 family at one time in HNL. Gate 23-AC767-200, Gate 22-TZ757-300, Gate 21-DL767-400, Gate 19-AA767-300, and taxiing in from 8L-AA757-200.

HNLFlyBoy · Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:40 pm

Ha763,

last year I saw a UA 744 on taxi around 0730 as well. Is this a flight to SFO? Damn, that is a rare bird a UA 744 at HNL. I wouldn't mind being in one of those F class suites to SFO if that is where it was going. Can anybody confirm where this a/c was headed to and possibly where it came from?

ha763 · Thu Apr 08, 2004 5:07 pm

Just a reminder, NW923 MSP-HNL is scheduled to be a DC-10 in the new livery. ETA is 5:29pm.

Bluewave 707 · Thu Apr 08, 2004 6:43 pm

Also saw a two F-15s depart 22L from the departure end. A third taxied back to HANG, may have had a problem. There were more to depart, but I had an appointment to attend to. The two I did see lit the afterburners and roared off 22L.

I thought I did see a B-52 tail at the Hazmat ramp off of T/W B.

Did you get any shots of the 757/767 "family"?

That NW D10 must be one of the first ones to get the new colors.

ha763 · Fri Apr 09, 2004 9:08 am

The new livery DC-10 should be N226NW. ETA is now 6:00pm. When I left work winds shifted to Kona winds. There are 2 B-52s parked at Hickam again. Also saw 2 C-5s land.

Never got to take a picture of the 757/767 family. Always had people in the way. Also, the timing needs to be just right because the TZ757-300 usually is ready to leave when the last 757/767 member arrives. So if the arriving aircraft is just a little late, you miss the picture. Plus it has to be on the Ewa side of the Center Concourse because Gate 23 is where AC44 blocks in. Today, there was only the AC762, DL764, and AA763.

Bluewave 707 · Fri Apr 09, 2004 2:27 pm

There were Kona's today? What time was that? I missed it.

Heard a couple of C-5s pass by over head as they were descending. Very distinct sound signature.

Has anyone seen the MidPacific YS11s pix taken on the SR? Take a look, the SR doesn't look anything like it does today. Clipperhawaii and a few other HNL spotters can back me up on this one. Some of the buildings still remain, but the LD sure got a face lift.

[Edited 2004-04-09 07:58:14]

je89_w · Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:31 am

Went to HNL today, and there was nothing special. Not even runway ops. Heavies were taking off on 08R, while narrowbodies, including an OAI B752 took off on 08L.

ha763 · Sat Apr 10, 2004 4:42 pm

Not at HNL, but they started filming the tv pilot "Lost" at Mokuleia. I was able to get a picture of what the set looks like before the blow it up at the end of the month.

MyAviation.net photo:

Photo © Erik Nugal

I was wondering what they were going to do about the road which you can see marked by the cones. Well, they covered the road with a good amount of sand which extends about 100 yds before the set till the bushes in the right of the picture. I also wonder if they have some kind of communication with the operators at the airfield to avoid operating over and near the area when they are filming? The location is right where all aircraft turn (and pretty low too) to line up with the runway. Plus, any shots with the mountains in the background have a chance of catching gliders as well.

Bluewave 707 · Sat Apr 10, 2004 4:52 pm

Went out there 2x today, the 1st time this a.m. around 1000, nothing to see. The 2nd time around 1730, saw an ex-US 737 (N349US) @ ASH on the south side of the complex.

Bluewave 707 · Sat Apr 10, 2004 6:35 pm

Found out that the reason why the B-52s were here ... a typhoon headed toward Guam, where they are on assignment, came here to escape the storm

Here's a pic of N349US ...

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Photo © PolishAir42 - Chicago Aviation Photography

I guess that's the aircraft wreckage people were talking about on another thread about a DC-10 crash in Hawaii. If one did happen for real,

I'm quite sure that us airliner enthusiasts in HNL would have remember something like that, as we did with AQ241, and the UA flight to SYD, that lost the cargo door.

FC has this listed ...

Airline Southern Cross Aviation
Flight Number 115
Departure City (Airport) Camarillo, CA (CMA)
Departure Time 04/09/2004 09:05 AM
Arrival City (Airport) Honolulu, HI (HNL)
Arrival Time 04/09/2004 03:49 PM
Remaining Flight Time 00:00
Aircraft Type DH81
Current Altitude 0 feet
Current Groundspeed 0 mph
Flight Status Arrived

... sounds like one of the QFLink Dash8s, but the only one I noticed was a WP on it's ramp, when I was out there in the afternoon, must have missed it(?).

[Edited 2004-04-10 11:50:31]

T prop · Sun Apr 11, 2004 4:02 am

The ferry aircraft is listed as a DH81, maybe it's one of WP's aircraft?

T prop.

Bluewave 707 · Sun Apr 11, 2004 8:02 am

Managed to get some spotting time in, and caught the ex-US 733 taxiing out to 8R on RT, probably headed toward Asia for its new home. There was a light brown G-IV (N415WW) parked next to it @ ASH, and taxied and took off ahead of the 733.

There also was a NetJets BBJ (N129QS) that was @ B/A, getting ready to go, and saw it taxi on RT to 8R.

Had a bunch of KC-135s going out and coming in within a 5 minute span.

I did not see the Southern Cross Dash8 on the LD side. WP has one of theirs in their hangar.

N88ZL is still sitting on the SR.

T prop · Sun Apr 11, 2004 8:50 am

I did not see the Southern Cross Dash8 on the LD side. WP has one of theirs in their hangar.

I asked someone who knows, and the Dash 8 in question is indeed one of WP's. WP sends their Dash 8's to the mainland for heavy checks, this one just came back from a check.

Southern Cross Aviation http://www.southernx.com is the ferry company WP uses to fly their aircraft across the Pacific to where ever they send them.
If you go to the website and look at the gallery, there's a pic of one of Mahalo's old F-27's that they ferried to Hawaii. Wonder if it's the same one that ended up getting scrapped here recently?

T prop.

Bluewave 707 · Sun Apr 11, 2004 2:16 pm

Thanks for the info ... N805WP was sitting right outside the WP ramp yesterday, don't know if that was the one sitting in the WP hangar.

Bluewave 707 · Mon Apr 12, 2004 1:35 pm

Checked FC, and maybe a bit early for tomorrow, but looks like the usual cast of characters, will check again later ... and planning to go tomorrow morning time permitting.

Anyone seen the special 50th Anniversary JL 744 since it's flight here? Seems like its popping up everywhere but here.

ha763 · Mon Apr 12, 2004 3:05 pm

I was just talking about that with some co-workers the other day. The special livery commemorates the first JAL flight between Japan and Hawaii, but it only has been in HNL twice to my knowledge and the last time I saw it was in early February. Unfortunately, the special livery is on a 744 and only one regularly scheduled HNL flight is a 744.

Bluewave 707 · Mon Apr 12, 2004 6:09 pm

Come to think of it you are correct. JL has been using a lot of DC-10-40s, 742s and 743s.

JL072/JL071 that serves Narita is the only 744 flight. I think the only times we see more than 1 JL 744 is during peak travel season, the next one being "Golden Week" @ the end of this month. Would be nice to see it then.

I've heard that T/W B is open again, so it must be a safe assumption that the B-52s assigned to Andersen AFB on Guam have returned?

Bluewave 707 · Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:52 pm

Went out today, nothing rare @ HNL.

A lot of KC-135s, F-15s and F-16s are in and out of HIK.

Keeping an eye for those QFLink Dash8s.

je89_w · Tue Apr 13, 2004 4:51 pm

I did hear some loud roars at at around 03:30-04:00 from my house yesterday, too loud to be an F-15 or F-16. So I'm assuming that theose could've been the B-1s.

Bluewave 707 · Tue Apr 13, 2004 5:41 pm

Loud roars at 0330 - 0400? Could have been B-1s they are quite loud. Darn, I slept through it! I have seen those birds take off @ night with full ABs, and it is a sight to see, and yes, very loud. Well any military jet with ABs @ night is pretty cool to watch.

By the way, the US Navy Blue Angels are coming to MCAF Kaneohe Bay on 09 & 10 Oct 04, according to their website.

Bluewave 707 · Wed Apr 14, 2004 8:22 am

Seems like Rwy 8R was closed this morning between 0800 and 1000, was working in downtown, and seen a bunch of planes depart from 8L. I didn't have my scanner with me.

I just checked HNL ATIS, and 8R is now open. I'm guessing monthly maintenance.

clipperhawaii · Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:25 pm

Today's "HNL Rare Birds" Blast from the Past".

75 years worth to be exact. Quite a record for our little islands.

Bluewave 707 · Wed Apr 14, 2004 3:45 pm

Great choice, and very appropriate. Those Convairs are well remembered. My, how times have changed.

Too bad, HA isn't doing any retro jets with the 712s and the 763s, it would be pretty cool to see those OLD colors on their new jets.

Bluewave 707 · Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:08 am

Rwy 8R was closed until 1115HST this morning. Didn't have time to go out to spot until after 8R was opened. Sad

Nothing rare today, so far.

je89_w · Thu Apr 15, 2004 1:14 pm

Murphy's law is really going strong! Yeah sure

This 08R closures/taxiway closures have been closed whenever I'm busy, whether it's a weekday or weekend, for the past 3 weeks. It just amazes me.

Wow, never even knew HA operated one of those! Thanks for putting that up!

Last night, saw a plane takeoff really close over the city. Looked even closer than an 08L takeoff (perhaps it was a late 08L departure). Sounded like a heavy . . . saw white strobes, no red.

ha763 · Thu Apr 15, 2004 2:25 pm

8R wasn't closed this morning. I was out there until 1030 working and all widebodies were taxiing out and taking off from 8R. It probably closed at 1115 for a short time since the only widebody I saw take off from 8L was an ANA 767 around 1115.

ha763 · Thu Apr 15, 2004 4:26 pm

Also saw contrails from an aircraft passing over HNL this morning. I can't even remember the last time I saw contrails in Hawaii. It was a 4-engined aircraft travelling in a easterly direction.

je89_w · Thu Apr 15, 2004 5:06 pm

Easterly! Yes, I've seen that once by a DC-10, and my guess is that it is a JAL flight to KOA, overflying Oahu. I'm sure Kauai must see a lot of contrails since Asian heavies continue on to HNL.

Bluewave 707 · Fri Apr 16, 2004 7:08 am

The heavy with white strobes may have been a military transport.

Contrails are a pretty rare thing over O'ahu, but it does happen, mostly in a east-west or west-east direction.

je89_w · Fri Apr 16, 2004 5:25 pm

There was a DL B764 in the 1997 color scheme in HNL today, and it left for CVG at 19:30 as DL256.

Bluewave 707 · Sat Apr 17, 2004 6:23 am

With the rain we've been having, I can't see HNL when I'm home during the day, and @ night, it's been the usual.

FC has nothing of interest.

je89_w · Sun Apr 18, 2004 7:46 am

Went out yesterday to Hickam around 17:45, spotted a North American Airlines B763 parked there. Very unusual since they only send the B752 to HNL (daily?).

Also saw a CI B744 taxiing RB for 08R departure at that time (17:45!!!). Must have been delayed, or a diverted flight.

Another NZ10 came into HNL from NAN today at 02:42, this time by a B762, according to FC. Possibly a ferry flight, or a diversion, like last time on the 14 of February.

A TZ L-1011 came in from LAX today, for a military flight. FC says it came in at 5 AM and 10 AM, which confuses me (that is one thing I don't like about FC).

Saw a shooting star-like thing yesterday at around 21:00 which came from the south. Thought it was a comet (because it was way brighter and larger than a star or planet . . . almost as large as a small plane, although it had the comet-like tail) at first, but it was going super fast! After flying overhead, it flashed (kind of like an explosion), then died off. I kept looking, but that was the end of it. Wonder what that must have been.

hawaiian717 · Sun Apr 18, 2004 2:31 pm

This should be in Lihue, having flown from Reno today:

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Click here for bigger photo!

ha763 · Mon Apr 19, 2004 9:02 am

I'm not sure if it is the same L-1011, but this baby was parked on the north ramp,

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Click here for bigger photo!

Photo © Ben Hunwicks

Now, that's pretty rare. I didn't even know that there were even any TZ aircraft in this old livery that would be worth to make airworthy again.

On its left was a Qantas 767-200 headed for the desert and on the right an Omni 757.

Bluewave 707 · Mon Apr 19, 2004 9:09 am

Sorry haven't been posting much. My computer's on the disabled list, so I'm scrounging around for a computer to use.

Went out today around 1300. There was an ex-QF 762 (VH-EAW) and an original colors TZ L-1011 both on the NR, and next to each other. COuldn't get a good angle or quality op.

The ex-QF 762 had the kangaroo logo painted out, but retained the QANTAS titles.

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Photo © David Knudsen

That TZ L-1011 must be the only one in those colors.

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je89_w · Mon Apr 19, 2004 2:33 pm

Here's the info for the QF B762, according to FC:

Flight number: QF6023
Origin: Sydney (SYD)
Date / time of departure: 18 April 2004 / 16:45
Destination: Honolulu (HNL)
Date / time of arrival: 18 April 2004 / 06:22
Aircraft: Boeing 767-238/ER
Registration: VH-EAM

Are you sure it's VH-EAW or is it VH-EAM (like in the photo you posted—in the remark, the photographer said it was being ferried on the 18th, which is today). Can't seem to find any photos of VH-EAW.

je89_w · Mon Apr 19, 2004 6:17 pm

https://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/1219745

I do notice that sound from the ground everytime a B767 flies overhead from the mainland. Sounds like a fart, as you said! Big grin

Seriously, I've heard that noise a lot, not always on a B767 . . . but on other aircraft, upon arrival. It sounds like a gust of air rushing through the cabin, though you can;t really feel it.

Bluewave 707 · Tue Apr 20, 2004 8:43 am

Regarding the 767 noise on descent, you ought to hear it from the inside. It really does sound like it has gas. Definitely, a Maalox-moment! Big grin

My bad, it was VH-EAM and not -EAW. I apologize, I did not correct the error.

ha763 · Tue Apr 20, 2004 8:51 am

Today, the 767 family was lined up in a row at Gates 21-23. An AC -200, HA -300, DL -400 lined up in that order. I always see these kinds of things when I don't have my camera.

T prop · Tue Apr 20, 2004 4:30 pm

Anyone notice the Beech 99's and King Air parked near Bradley? There are three of them. This is Alpine Air out of Utah I believe, they just got the interisland U.S. mail contract. They're supposed to start the 24th of this month and, from what I've heard, they will be bringing in a total of 10 King Airs and 99's.

http://www.alpine-air.com/about.htm

I wonder where on the ramp they'll be conducting their ops from?

T prop.

je89_w · Tue Apr 20, 2004 4:36 pm

Never noticed those birds, thanks for the info!

More new stuff to spot too.

T prop · Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:23 pm

Yesterday I posted that Alpine Air will be flying Beech 99's and King Airs here. Well, I think I might be a little off on the aircraft. Today they have 3 Beech 1900C's and three 99's sitting on the south ramp.

T prop.

Bluewave 707 · Thu Apr 22, 2004 7:55 am

Will keep an eye out for the new air service. Didn't really notice those props near B/A, when I was there today. Same old, same old.

Should be getting my computer back in a day or so.

T prop · Thu Apr 22, 2004 2:13 pm

Saw an E4B taxying on alpha heading for Hickam this morning at 0730. It was passing in front of the United gates at the time. This is a rare one for HNL, I've never seen one here before.

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Bluewave 707 · Fri Apr 23, 2004 8:10 am

E-4s are pretty rare for HIK, something's going on.

Saw those Alpine Air King Airs and 1900Cs @ Anderson:
King Air reg #s:
N237SL, N236AL, N216CS

B1900Cs:
N195GA, N172GA

There are is a 1900C (N179GA) and King Air (N238AL) over @ Eveland Aero.

Got a photo of N237SL @ B/A.

There's also a PR 744 parked @ Hardstand 3.

Will be a while before I'll have another chance @ spotting.

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