The year nears it end. It's finally time to summarize it. It was a rich year. Rich in trips, photo opportunities and aviation related activity.
I shall start with my personal TOP5 photos of the year. In no special order. I tried to show a diversified range of shots. Not necessarily top quality, but all of them represent something that might be special to me (like let's say a memory) about it. Choosing just 5 wasn't easy. Sometimes I had to go with the one that has a bigger story behind it.
1. Arriving back home after a short trip to fly a T154. The weather over Warsaw was clearly fantastic giving me an opportunity to see almost my entire city from top with good light. Both airports in sight, downtown and major routes leading in and out. A great summary of the entire trip. Later during the year I luckily managed to repeat it on arrival from ARN. Entry source of the photo.
2. An Iran Air Boeing 747-SP cockpit in Kuala Lumpur after a flight from Tehran. This photo as a summary of the Iran trip in October. A dream come true to fly the plane and see an active cockpit. Entry source.
3. Antonov 225 Mriya. The biggest flying plane there is. Just one active. So seeing it fly is incredible. I decided to go to Ostrava to witness it land over there. The drive was much longer than my stay, but hey! you need some dedication to achieve your goals. Entry source.
4. Paris Air Show 2015 was the spark for a aviation oriented trip to Paris. Spotting both at Orly and Roissy. Three days, all spent at different airports. My first A350 and first visit at PAS. For the entire trip. Entry source.
5. Work being an important part of anyones life takes a lot of time and sometimes gives opportunities. Mine does give me some spotting ones. Like this Eurowings A320 being pushed back with some winterish light and reflections from the water. At first sight - a normal photo - but for me, it may symbolize the working part of my year (maybe, perhaps, I didn't yet get to other photos from work that would fit here better). Entry source. Many photo opportunities (and views) like that (or the El Al 737 at the bottom of the entry) are given to me at work. It does really sooth an eye and is a heavy reason why to keep the job.
And now back to the beginning.
My first flights were in mid January. A quick trip to the UAE with Air Serbia. Visiting Abu Dhabi (with a short spotting session), and Dubai itself (also spotting in Dubai). On the return flights I caught a longer stop in Belgrade during which I visited the Belgrade Aviation Museum among other things in the city.
One week after returning home, together with a couple of friends we took a car for a ride south - direction Ostrava. Why? The reason was very simple. The Antonov 225 Mriya was performing a couple of cargo flights in and out of the airport. Early morning departure for us, after around 5-6 hours of driving we arrived at our destination, took a couple of pictures and after 3 hours departed for the return trip. Luckily we all know OSR pretty well from previous NATO Days that were held there so it was easy to get around. That way we drove a total of around 12 hours only for a couple of pictures, but it sure was worth it!
From some bigger, more noteworthy events after that drive: we had a LH Cargo Boeing 777F land in March to pick up some heavier freight. And that would be more or less all for the next two months when I had to redirect myself fully to the art of studying.
In May, after all my exams I returned to the airport. First, they opened the new (well, old, but refurbished) section of the Terminal. Together with that fact a viewing terrace has returned to the airport making for a great spot for any John that would like to simply look at airplanes. From the downside: it has a tall glass wall.
Still in May, Warsaw held the Final of the UEFA Europa League. This year the game was between Sevilla and Dnipropetrovsk making for a large number of chartered flights from both cities (but mainly from Spain). From the cooler planes: 2xB744 Vamos, an A330, UIA B763. Additionally lots of Vueling A320s. All was made better by a great initiative of the airport to invite some spotters to take pictures from the tarmac. From a great location just beside the runway. It really did give me a unique opportunity.
That same day I had to catch a flight to Minsk. After we left the restricted area of the airport I got a friend of mine to give me a lift to the terminal where I picked up my bag and check in for my Belavia flight to Minsk. Today a Boeing 737-300. Why, you may ask, did I fly to Minsk? Easy. It was all to fly the Belavia Tupolev 154 two days to Geneva. Additionally I had a chance to visit the city itself. The T154 flight was to be the last commercial rotation of the type in Europe. A real treat to catch it together with other enthusiasts on that route. The return leg was full to the last seat so I was happy to fly this way. I had as much space as I wanted to have. Using the occasion, I also went spotting in Geneva with my friend Aaron and later visited the city itself before taking a SAS flight to Copenhagen. There I have had at first a plan for some night sightseeing but taking into account the level of tiredness I had and the weather I decided not to. Instead I found myself a cosy spot to nap the night away before another SAS flight, this time to Warsaw. And of course some through the window spotting in CPH. This was, I can now say, one of my best approaches to Warsaw I ever had. I had a fantastic overview of the entire city during approach. Lovely!
I shall start with my personal TOP5 photos of the year. In no special order. I tried to show a diversified range of shots. Not necessarily top quality, but all of them represent something that might be special to me (like let's say a memory) about it. Choosing just 5 wasn't easy. Sometimes I had to go with the one that has a bigger story behind it.
1. Arriving back home after a short trip to fly a T154. The weather over Warsaw was clearly fantastic giving me an opportunity to see almost my entire city from top with good light. Both airports in sight, downtown and major routes leading in and out. A great summary of the entire trip. Later during the year I luckily managed to repeat it on arrival from ARN. Entry source of the photo.
2. An Iran Air Boeing 747-SP cockpit in Kuala Lumpur after a flight from Tehran. This photo as a summary of the Iran trip in October. A dream come true to fly the plane and see an active cockpit. Entry source.
3. Antonov 225 Mriya. The biggest flying plane there is. Just one active. So seeing it fly is incredible. I decided to go to Ostrava to witness it land over there. The drive was much longer than my stay, but hey! you need some dedication to achieve your goals. Entry source.
4. Paris Air Show 2015 was the spark for a aviation oriented trip to Paris. Spotting both at Orly and Roissy. Three days, all spent at different airports. My first A350 and first visit at PAS. For the entire trip. Entry source.
5. Work being an important part of anyones life takes a lot of time and sometimes gives opportunities. Mine does give me some spotting ones. Like this Eurowings A320 being pushed back with some winterish light and reflections from the water. At first sight - a normal photo - but for me, it may symbolize the working part of my year (maybe, perhaps, I didn't yet get to other photos from work that would fit here better). Entry source. Many photo opportunities (and views) like that (or the El Al 737 at the bottom of the entry) are given to me at work. It does really sooth an eye and is a heavy reason why to keep the job.
And now back to the beginning.
My first flights were in mid January. A quick trip to the UAE with Air Serbia. Visiting Abu Dhabi (with a short spotting session), and Dubai itself (also spotting in Dubai). On the return flights I caught a longer stop in Belgrade during which I visited the Belgrade Aviation Museum among other things in the city.
One week after returning home, together with a couple of friends we took a car for a ride south - direction Ostrava. Why? The reason was very simple. The Antonov 225 Mriya was performing a couple of cargo flights in and out of the airport. Early morning departure for us, after around 5-6 hours of driving we arrived at our destination, took a couple of pictures and after 3 hours departed for the return trip. Luckily we all know OSR pretty well from previous NATO Days that were held there so it was easy to get around. That way we drove a total of around 12 hours only for a couple of pictures, but it sure was worth it!
From some bigger, more noteworthy events after that drive: we had a LH Cargo Boeing 777F land in March to pick up some heavier freight. And that would be more or less all for the next two months when I had to redirect myself fully to the art of studying.
In May, after all my exams I returned to the airport. First, they opened the new (well, old, but refurbished) section of the Terminal. Together with that fact a viewing terrace has returned to the airport making for a great spot for any John that would like to simply look at airplanes. From the downside: it has a tall glass wall.
Still in May, Warsaw held the Final of the UEFA Europa League. This year the game was between Sevilla and Dnipropetrovsk making for a large number of chartered flights from both cities (but mainly from Spain). From the cooler planes: 2xB744 Vamos, an A330, UIA B763. Additionally lots of Vueling A320s. All was made better by a great initiative of the airport to invite some spotters to take pictures from the tarmac. From a great location just beside the runway. It really did give me a unique opportunity.
That same day I had to catch a flight to Minsk. After we left the restricted area of the airport I got a friend of mine to give me a lift to the terminal where I picked up my bag and check in for my Belavia flight to Minsk. Today a Boeing 737-300. Why, you may ask, did I fly to Minsk? Easy. It was all to fly the Belavia Tupolev 154 two days to Geneva. Additionally I had a chance to visit the city itself. The T154 flight was to be the last commercial rotation of the type in Europe. A real treat to catch it together with other enthusiasts on that route. The return leg was full to the last seat so I was happy to fly this way. I had as much space as I wanted to have. Using the occasion, I also went spotting in Geneva with my friend Aaron and later visited the city itself before taking a SAS flight to Copenhagen. There I have had at first a plan for some night sightseeing but taking into account the level of tiredness I had and the weather I decided not to. Instead I found myself a cosy spot to nap the night away before another SAS flight, this time to Warsaw. And of course some through the window spotting in CPH. This was, I can now say, one of my best approaches to Warsaw I ever had. I had a fantastic overview of the entire city during approach. Lovely!
In June I have finally managed to complete a spotting guide for Warsaw [EPWA/WAW] in cooperation with spotterguide.net portal. I've been working on it from the start of the year, but because of work I had to do in the, so called, meantime it took me that long...
Same month, the Emir of Dubai came in for a short visit in Poland. The weather was almost perfect for his visit.
June was an important month for me also because of the fact that I started working. Where? Well, at the airport :P And, whats more, I still do. This fact gives me sometimes a unique opportunity to photograph planes from a very different perspective. I don't always have my camera with me so sometimes my phone has to do it, or I just feast my eyes. But about that, perhaps later on.
In June this year the Paris Air Show was held at Le Bourget. Together with Robert from rag-pics we flew there for the occasion. Additionally we used it for some spotting both at Orly (and visiting a Concorde!) and at de Gaulle. I took LO333 to get there and returned with LO332. Additionally I used the time before my flight in Paris for some more spotting at CDG.
Later a month of no flying, but in August the time came for a domestic trip. A flight to SZZ and the return from POZ. A day in each city. Entry link
In September we had two visits of Etihad Cargo. I managed to catch one of them and an additional Trade Air Fokker 100.
Then came October with the trip of the year. Iran with a bunch of plane geeks from all over the world. For the entire trip I flew WAW-KBP-IKA-KUL-DMK/BKK-CPH-WAW with Ukraine International (B735 and E190), Iran Air 747SP, Malindo Air B739, Norwegian B787 Dreamliner and a finish on a well known SAS CRJ900. And to add I have to the domestic sectors in Iran. 4xJumbolino (two with Mahan and two with Qeshm Air), an A300, a B727, and An-74. The trip itself was magic connected with the possibility of meeting more geeks and planepervs. Unluckily the 743 broke down so that didn't work. But well, happens - always a reason to return.
Later I was supposed to finish my flying this year, but as it frequently happens, I didn't. I finished in December with a trip north, to Tallinn and Stockholm with a goal of flying the BAe ATP on TLL-ARN. Additionally I got a ride on the BAe Jetstream on TLL-KDL-TLL. [this aswell will soon appear on the blog, patience please]
I can't forget about some unique photos from the ramp that I have taken. You can see some under here and all of them in the section called "spotting in Warsaw" on the blog with direct links to each day.
Summing up the year. 2014 is beaten up. More flights (8 more) more miles and more time spent in the air. In total: 33 flights (of which 14 domestic), over 76 hours in the air (that makes for over 3 days). Over 45 thousand kilometers traveled. This years TOP3 airlines: LOT (6 flights), Mahan Air (4 flights) and ex aequo Cimber for SAS and Air Serbia (3 flights each). TOP3 aircraft: ex aequo A319 and BAe 146 (4 flights) and the CRJ900 (3 flights).
This sure was a great flying year with more than a couple fantastic new places visited. My first trips for 2016 are already booked, those are the from the "strange, perhaps a bit funny" type. Other plans are in making, hope to realize most of them, that sure is possible!
See you in 2016!
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