INFO / LOG : The March MAX hunt – Part 1 Washington
Mar 18, 2020 17:52:35 GMT
Post by Admin on Mar 18, 2020 17:52:35 GMT
This is not a full log, as the MAX elements will take some time to sort out. Hopefully I will be able to post those later once sorted.
Last July Sean and I were on a road trip through California, which of course started in Seattle! At the time it looked like the MAX grounding would be brief and we covered the main storage elements in Seattle, as well as Southwest at Victorville. Moses Lake only had a few examples at that time and Kelly was not on our itinerary. With the growing numbers in storage, I booked a trip at the end of December to cover the Boeing factories in Washington, Moses Lake and Kelly Field, as well as the United examples in Goodyear. Victorville was not included as they had not started to store new examples there at that time. As it turned out, the timing was almost perfect before the travel systems started to shut down. Just one blip, mentioned below.
I flew direct to SEATAC on Virgin from Heathrow on Sunday March 8th, having received an e-mail just before I left that the Boeing tours had been cancelled. Sean had flown out a day earlier and managed to get on one of the last tours on Sunday morning, which would come in useful later. Sean picked me up from a station on the Light Transit system rather than the airport.
The first stop was Renton, where 29 examples were stored, including some that had returned from Moses Lake. It was unusual to not see a single example of N1786B, indeed not even any in primer. I had never noticed examples parked alongside the production line before – these can be seen from the open-air section of The Landings car park. Part of the ramp outside the factory was dug up, no doubt taking advantage of the lack of movements.
Onwards then to Everett, where there was a small bonus for me as the doors to the 747 line were open, allowing sight of 2 UPS examples, plus a UPS 767 and FedEx 767, both of which had been identified earlier by Sean. Notable that there were a lot less KC-46As hanging around, while stored MAXs had been replaced by stored 777-9s. Five MAXs stored by the Historic Flying Museum and another two on the production ramps.
Everett March 8 2020
VP-BXX 737M Nordstar
D-ASMA 737M SunExpress Germany
D-ASMB 737M SunExpress Germany
N981BA 737M white
N982BA 737M white
A4O-MF 737M Oman Air
N983BA 737M white with Jet rudder
VP-BIO 747-8F AirBridgeCargo
747-8F primer to be N621UP – production line
747-8F primer to be N622UP – production line
N299FE 767F FedEx
767F primer (l/n 1208) - production line, for FedEx
767F primer (l/n 1209) - production line, for UPS
KC-46A primer (l/n 1205 – USAF) – outside factory
KC-46A primer (l/n 1207 – JASDF) – outside factory
KC-46A primer l/n 1098
KC-46A primer l/n 1100
56010 KC-46A USAF
66014 KC-46A USAF
76024 KC-46A USAF
86042 KC-46A USAF
86051 KC-46A USAF
N461FT KC-46A USAF also wearing 16001
N463FT KC-46A USAF
N884BA KC-46A USAF
N5514V KC-46A USAF – request for mil serial – we could not see the nwd
N5514X KC-46A USAF – request for mil serial – we could not see the nwd
B-20E7 777 China Southern
B-20EN 777F China Southern
N2352U 777 United
TC-LJT 777F Turkish
N779XX 777-9 Boeing
777-9 primer EK winglets
777-9 primer ZA on nwd
777-9 primer ZD on nwd
777-9 primer ZM on nwd
777-9 primer ZT on nwd
777-9 primer 072 on nwd
787 Gulf Air tail only painted
787 Vistara tail only painted
787 ANA tail only painted
B-20EX 787 Juneyao
ET-AXS 787 Ethiopian
G-CLJA 787 Norwegian
JA849J 787 Japan AL
N870AX 787 American
N1003N 787 Vistara cross-runway
N1004M 787 Qatar
N1005S 787 Hainan cross-runway
N1006F 787 Vistara cross-runway
SE-RXA 787 Norwegian
SE-RXB 787 Norwegian
787 Turkish – reg obscured by stairs
UK78796 787 Uzbekistan
4X-ERD 787 El Al
Elsewhere
N637QX E175 Alaska Horizon
N8535S 737 Southwest
N716TV Global 6000
N774XJ Cessna 750
N831FC CJ3
We stayed at the Best Western Navigator in Everett, a reasonable hotel with nearby restaurants but no airport views.
Next morning an early start was made with a quick circuit of Everett – no production changes but the following noted, but popped into the tour building to get my refund for the cancelled tour.
Everett – March 9 2020
N632QX E175 Alaska Horizon
N635QX E175 Alaska Horizon
N124PM Cessna 550
Renton March 9 2020
Another quick circuit in case anything had changed – it hadn’t but just one of interest
N3080F King Air B350
Boeing Field March 9 2020
The car park storage area had fewer aircraft than last July and a number had changed position. The production flight line was fairly full, as well as a couple of storage areas towards the museum – more details once everything sorted.
Others noted included
(169)554 P-8A US Navy
(169)555 P-8A US Navy
N490DS P-8I Indian Navy ‘DAB’
N1796B 737M Southwest rudder – on test ramp
56011 KC-46A USAF
86049 KC-46A USAF
N779XW 777-9 Boeing
N7874 787 Boeing
N366UP 767 UPS
N406UP 757 UPS
N409LC L-100 Lynden
And a good selection of biz as normal
We decided to check-in early at SEATAC for our flight to Spokane, but Alaska only check-in luggage 4 hours before the flight. Fortunately, Alaska’s Kristen took pity on us and moved us to an earlier flight. Nothing spectacular noted before taking N444QX to Spokane
Spokane March 9 2020
The earlier flight allowed a full circuit before the light went and the following were of interest.
N264FE 727 ex FedEx
N240SY E175 Delta
N283SY E175 Delta
N288SY E175 Delta
N298FE 767 FedEx
N404SY E175 Alaska Skywest
N426UP 757 UPS
N442UP 757 UPS
N700FX C208 FedEx
N856FE C208 FedEx
N901FX ATR42 FedEx
N909FE C208 FedEx
N946FE C208 FedEx
N4299A B99 Ameriflight
N175AC PC-12 Aero Flite
N386AC CL415 Aero Flite 262
N389AC CL415 Aero Flite 260
N325AC 146 ex CityJet
N354AC 146 Aero Flite 161
N366AC 146 Aero Flite 163
N403AC 146 ex CityJet
N430AC 146 ex CityJet
N448AC 146 ex Brussels AW
N839AC 146 Aero Flite 160
B-10P5 HondaJet cop of the trip – inside a partly open hangar, having been delivered new here
N119HC Citation appears to be a mis-pole
N400TC B400
N569WA C208
N661WA C208
Next morning another quick look at Spokane revealed nothing new, so on to the main draw of the trip.
Moses Lake – Grant Country
Moses Lake March 10 2020
The drive from Spokane is about 90 minutes and we had good weather. However, others who came a week later had slush on the roads and the cloud was too low for an overflight.
Although a few MAXs have moved back to Renton, there are still around 230 stored here.
We had arranged an overflight with Michael Stein of Columbia Pacific Aviation, who knows exactly what we need mstein@columbiapacificaviation.com.
A thirty-minute flight allowed plenty of photos of the stored MAXs (over 500 – photos, not aircraft) which now need to be investigated to produce a good list.
There are four main groups, the largest in front of the general hangar area, a smaller group near there, a group in front of the Boeing hangar (which can hold three) and others on the old alert pans. Many wear test registrations with a number of repeats, so checking nwd is useful.
Also on the field, of interest, were the following
(A6-PF)C 787 UAE
(N151FE) 727 Big Bend Community College
N747RR 747 ex QA to be a new RR engine testbed
N909FE C208 FedEx all the way from Spokane
N777LW B-23 stored on main ramp
(N9825Z) Catalina stored on main ramp
Convair on fire ground – no reg noted but could be N359SA
(60-3493) T-39 Big Bend Community College
After a visit to Ephrata for a stored Catalina it was back to the Spokane area and a military base
Fairchild AFB March 10 2020
(164)405 E-6A US Navy
80016 KC-135R USAF
80069 KC-135R USAF
80118 KC-135R USAF
91476 KC-135R USAF
91510 KC-135R USAF
00339 KC-135R USAF
23519 KC-135R USAF
23541 KC-135R USAF
23564 KC-135R USAF
23575 KC-135R USAF
37976 KC-135R USAF
Plus two others
With time to kill, why not visit another state, so on to
Coeur d’Alene, ID March 10 2020
N78SD Challenger 605
(N45838) ATR42 white, many parts missing
And a Dornier 328 in ex United Express scheme which we thought was N47838 but seems wrong.
A quick review back at Spokane gave us
Spokane March 10 2020
N152FE 767 FedEx
N875FE C208 FedEx
N903FX ATR42 FedEx
OE-IEV A320 Volaris nothing on nwd, outside paint facility
Next morning Sean had had enough of me – either that or he had a different trip going to many of the same places but in a different order! So he was out of the door early while I had a leisurely morning.
A few noted before my flight to Phoenix, via San Jose
Spokane March 11 2020
N240SY E175 Delta Connection
N765US A319 American
N8566Z 737 Southwest
N306CJ CJ2
N18650 CJ3
Part 2 will cover San Jose and the Arizona element of the trip, with part 3 covering Texas and JFK.
If anybody can solve the couple of queries above, that would be most welcome.
Steve Mitchell / Sean Meagher
Last July Sean and I were on a road trip through California, which of course started in Seattle! At the time it looked like the MAX grounding would be brief and we covered the main storage elements in Seattle, as well as Southwest at Victorville. Moses Lake only had a few examples at that time and Kelly was not on our itinerary. With the growing numbers in storage, I booked a trip at the end of December to cover the Boeing factories in Washington, Moses Lake and Kelly Field, as well as the United examples in Goodyear. Victorville was not included as they had not started to store new examples there at that time. As it turned out, the timing was almost perfect before the travel systems started to shut down. Just one blip, mentioned below.
I flew direct to SEATAC on Virgin from Heathrow on Sunday March 8th, having received an e-mail just before I left that the Boeing tours had been cancelled. Sean had flown out a day earlier and managed to get on one of the last tours on Sunday morning, which would come in useful later. Sean picked me up from a station on the Light Transit system rather than the airport.
The first stop was Renton, where 29 examples were stored, including some that had returned from Moses Lake. It was unusual to not see a single example of N1786B, indeed not even any in primer. I had never noticed examples parked alongside the production line before – these can be seen from the open-air section of The Landings car park. Part of the ramp outside the factory was dug up, no doubt taking advantage of the lack of movements.
Onwards then to Everett, where there was a small bonus for me as the doors to the 747 line were open, allowing sight of 2 UPS examples, plus a UPS 767 and FedEx 767, both of which had been identified earlier by Sean. Notable that there were a lot less KC-46As hanging around, while stored MAXs had been replaced by stored 777-9s. Five MAXs stored by the Historic Flying Museum and another two on the production ramps.
Everett March 8 2020
VP-BXX 737M Nordstar
D-ASMA 737M SunExpress Germany
D-ASMB 737M SunExpress Germany
N981BA 737M white
N982BA 737M white
A4O-MF 737M Oman Air
N983BA 737M white with Jet rudder
VP-BIO 747-8F AirBridgeCargo
747-8F primer to be N621UP – production line
747-8F primer to be N622UP – production line
N299FE 767F FedEx
767F primer (l/n 1208) - production line, for FedEx
767F primer (l/n 1209) - production line, for UPS
KC-46A primer (l/n 1205 – USAF) – outside factory
KC-46A primer (l/n 1207 – JASDF) – outside factory
KC-46A primer l/n 1098
KC-46A primer l/n 1100
56010 KC-46A USAF
66014 KC-46A USAF
76024 KC-46A USAF
86042 KC-46A USAF
86051 KC-46A USAF
N461FT KC-46A USAF also wearing 16001
N463FT KC-46A USAF
N884BA KC-46A USAF
N5514V KC-46A USAF – request for mil serial – we could not see the nwd
N5514X KC-46A USAF – request for mil serial – we could not see the nwd
B-20E7 777 China Southern
B-20EN 777F China Southern
N2352U 777 United
TC-LJT 777F Turkish
N779XX 777-9 Boeing
777-9 primer EK winglets
777-9 primer ZA on nwd
777-9 primer ZD on nwd
777-9 primer ZM on nwd
777-9 primer ZT on nwd
777-9 primer 072 on nwd
787 Gulf Air tail only painted
787 Vistara tail only painted
787 ANA tail only painted
B-20EX 787 Juneyao
ET-AXS 787 Ethiopian
G-CLJA 787 Norwegian
JA849J 787 Japan AL
N870AX 787 American
N1003N 787 Vistara cross-runway
N1004M 787 Qatar
N1005S 787 Hainan cross-runway
N1006F 787 Vistara cross-runway
SE-RXA 787 Norwegian
SE-RXB 787 Norwegian
787 Turkish – reg obscured by stairs
UK78796 787 Uzbekistan
4X-ERD 787 El Al
Elsewhere
N637QX E175 Alaska Horizon
N8535S 737 Southwest
N716TV Global 6000
N774XJ Cessna 750
N831FC CJ3
We stayed at the Best Western Navigator in Everett, a reasonable hotel with nearby restaurants but no airport views.
Next morning an early start was made with a quick circuit of Everett – no production changes but the following noted, but popped into the tour building to get my refund for the cancelled tour.
Everett – March 9 2020
N632QX E175 Alaska Horizon
N635QX E175 Alaska Horizon
N124PM Cessna 550
Renton March 9 2020
Another quick circuit in case anything had changed – it hadn’t but just one of interest
N3080F King Air B350
Boeing Field March 9 2020
The car park storage area had fewer aircraft than last July and a number had changed position. The production flight line was fairly full, as well as a couple of storage areas towards the museum – more details once everything sorted.
Others noted included
(169)554 P-8A US Navy
(169)555 P-8A US Navy
N490DS P-8I Indian Navy ‘DAB’
N1796B 737M Southwest rudder – on test ramp
56011 KC-46A USAF
86049 KC-46A USAF
N779XW 777-9 Boeing
N7874 787 Boeing
N366UP 767 UPS
N406UP 757 UPS
N409LC L-100 Lynden
And a good selection of biz as normal
We decided to check-in early at SEATAC for our flight to Spokane, but Alaska only check-in luggage 4 hours before the flight. Fortunately, Alaska’s Kristen took pity on us and moved us to an earlier flight. Nothing spectacular noted before taking N444QX to Spokane
Spokane March 9 2020
The earlier flight allowed a full circuit before the light went and the following were of interest.
N264FE 727 ex FedEx
N240SY E175 Delta
N283SY E175 Delta
N288SY E175 Delta
N298FE 767 FedEx
N404SY E175 Alaska Skywest
N426UP 757 UPS
N442UP 757 UPS
N700FX C208 FedEx
N856FE C208 FedEx
N901FX ATR42 FedEx
N909FE C208 FedEx
N946FE C208 FedEx
N4299A B99 Ameriflight
N175AC PC-12 Aero Flite
N386AC CL415 Aero Flite 262
N389AC CL415 Aero Flite 260
N325AC 146 ex CityJet
N354AC 146 Aero Flite 161
N366AC 146 Aero Flite 163
N403AC 146 ex CityJet
N430AC 146 ex CityJet
N448AC 146 ex Brussels AW
N839AC 146 Aero Flite 160
B-10P5 HondaJet cop of the trip – inside a partly open hangar, having been delivered new here
N119HC Citation appears to be a mis-pole
N400TC B400
N569WA C208
N661WA C208
Next morning another quick look at Spokane revealed nothing new, so on to the main draw of the trip.
Moses Lake – Grant Country
Moses Lake March 10 2020
The drive from Spokane is about 90 minutes and we had good weather. However, others who came a week later had slush on the roads and the cloud was too low for an overflight.
Although a few MAXs have moved back to Renton, there are still around 230 stored here.
We had arranged an overflight with Michael Stein of Columbia Pacific Aviation, who knows exactly what we need mstein@columbiapacificaviation.com.
A thirty-minute flight allowed plenty of photos of the stored MAXs (over 500 – photos, not aircraft) which now need to be investigated to produce a good list.
There are four main groups, the largest in front of the general hangar area, a smaller group near there, a group in front of the Boeing hangar (which can hold three) and others on the old alert pans. Many wear test registrations with a number of repeats, so checking nwd is useful.
Also on the field, of interest, were the following
(A6-PF)C 787 UAE
(N151FE) 727 Big Bend Community College
N747RR 747 ex QA to be a new RR engine testbed
N909FE C208 FedEx all the way from Spokane
N777LW B-23 stored on main ramp
(N9825Z) Catalina stored on main ramp
Convair on fire ground – no reg noted but could be N359SA
(60-3493) T-39 Big Bend Community College
After a visit to Ephrata for a stored Catalina it was back to the Spokane area and a military base
Fairchild AFB March 10 2020
(164)405 E-6A US Navy
80016 KC-135R USAF
80069 KC-135R USAF
80118 KC-135R USAF
91476 KC-135R USAF
91510 KC-135R USAF
00339 KC-135R USAF
23519 KC-135R USAF
23541 KC-135R USAF
23564 KC-135R USAF
23575 KC-135R USAF
37976 KC-135R USAF
Plus two others
With time to kill, why not visit another state, so on to
Coeur d’Alene, ID March 10 2020
N78SD Challenger 605
(N45838) ATR42 white, many parts missing
And a Dornier 328 in ex United Express scheme which we thought was N47838 but seems wrong.
A quick review back at Spokane gave us
Spokane March 10 2020
N152FE 767 FedEx
N875FE C208 FedEx
N903FX ATR42 FedEx
OE-IEV A320 Volaris nothing on nwd, outside paint facility
Next morning Sean had had enough of me – either that or he had a different trip going to many of the same places but in a different order! So he was out of the door early while I had a leisurely morning.
A few noted before my flight to Phoenix, via San Jose
Spokane March 11 2020
N240SY E175 Delta Connection
N765US A319 American
N8566Z 737 Southwest
N306CJ CJ2
N18650 CJ3
Part 2 will cover San Jose and the Arizona element of the trip, with part 3 covering Texas and JFK.
If anybody can solve the couple of queries above, that would be most welcome.
Steve Mitchell / Sean Meagher