2014 - summary.

I interrupt the series of entries from DPRK to summarize shortly the year 2014.
As the year nears its end it is time to sum up what happened during it. Flights, memories, pictures, experiences. Everything connected with my activity in the air.

Let me start from my Personal TOP 5 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.

1. A pair of MiG-29 departing for one more training before the parade in Warsaw. I chose that shot because of the equipment I used, because I like the frame, because I love fire, because that was a superb day. Entry source and the direct photo source.

2.The 787 performed a stunning low pass during the Red Bull Air Race in Gdynia. Something I will never forget. A fantastic plane performing a fantastic stunt.

3. Kalitta coming to Warsaw was a big thing. Two Jumbos, a -400 and a -200. Fantastic planes, one of my personal favorite shots due to the background.

4. This shot is the one I chose from the DPRK. I didn't manage to play with all my shots yet, but that one is surely one of my favorites from the trip. For the awesome trip, awesome people I met, and awesome metal flying there. direct photo source and the entry source

5. Last but not least. A shot made during landing in Istanbul, flying from Warsaw. I love the background, I love the angle, I love the plane. For all the classics still flying out there - may they fly as long as possible. Entry source

And now back to the beginning.

Air Koryo Antonov 148

We made it safely back to Pyongyang from Samjiyon on the Il-18. We got on the bus, the bus took us to our next plane. The newest addition to Air Koryo's fleet. The Antonov 148.

We were scheduled for a 30-45 minute pleasure flight around Pyongyang. Free seating, the entire plane just for us. Lots of space for everyone. Each person could practically choose the seat they wanted to sit at. Lets not forget about the freedom of moving around during the flight, taking pictures of both the inside and the outside of the plane from basically any window you want to. One thing, I don't like in the plane is the engine position, there is basically no way to look at the fans :( they are simply to much at the front. But from the back seats you get a very nice view of the ground and the wing over your.
After we boarded, and all the checks have been performed we slowly taxied to the runway and smoothly departed.

Air Koryo Ilyushin 18

My last entry left us in China. Now lets jump a bit to the east to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, or as some prefer simply North Korea. As some of you might know, Air Koryo (the national airline of the DPRK) owns some pretty old metal. Planes like the Ilyushin 18, the Il-62, the Tupolev 154 or the 134. All of them combined are a dream for many aviation enthusiasts.  About the process of entering and exiting NK I shall write a different entry in some time, when we get to the end of the trip.
Back to the point though. The first flying part of the visit was a return flight from Pyongyang to Samjiyon. The goal in the itinerary was a visit at Mt. Paektu. Both of the flights were operated on the Ilyushin 18. The plane registered P-835 has been build in 1966 and since then is flying for Air Koryo. Currently only domestic routes. A film review of the inside is available at the end of the entry.

First flight: JS3501 FNJ-YJS.
I woke up early, or should I say we, as it was a group. At the airport we've arrived around 7:30am, 1,5h before the flight. We had to wait a bit for boarding but that is not a problem if you are surrounded by a group of people with very similar interests. Time flew by very quickly and soon we were already on the bus to the plane. Boarded quickly and soon the engines have been turned on and taxiing commenced.

China Aviation Museum - Datangshan

During my short stay in Beijing the China Aviation Museum in Datangshan was a must see. After leaving the airport and arriving at my hotel where I left my luggage I headed north. Getting to the museum is quiet easy although time consuming. By public transport take the subway line 5 all the way to Tiantongyuan North station then change to bus nr 643 where people will surely help you get out at the right stop (easier to achieve if you have a paper with the museums name written down in Chinese) . From my hotel it took me around 1,5 hour and cost 3 yuan one way. Additionally you have to walk around 10 minutes from the bus stop to the museum itself.

The first thing that grasp your sight is a collection of planes flown by Mao Zedong. Four of them. You can even enter the Ilyushin 18 for 10 yuans. From that spot you can see numerous fighters both soviet and Chinese ones. Basically wherever you look you'll see a plane and it won't be all. There is a cave part to which the entrance fee is around 20 yuans. Unluckily I was out of funds so I didn't enter. From video and photo footage I saw, it is worth going in.

The display has been renewed recently, planes repainted and cleaned and a couple new additions added. Plane description under each photo and you can find a full list of planes being displayed at the end of the entry together with full museum details.

Mao's fleet

BAW232 medical emergency.

Emergencies happen everyday everywhere. Either it is something technical or a human factor is involved and someone gets sick forcing the plane to divert and land. One of the latter happened a couple days ago when Speedbird 232 from Moscow to London had to land in Warsaw due to medical reasons. I don't want to go into what exactly happened, let him rest in peace. Every cloud has a silver lining. The Boeing 777-236/ER G-VIIH which was operating on the rotation landed in Warsaw at around 6:10pm LT and departed again to London after 2 hours. Luckily for us, spotters from Warsaw, the plane parked on one of the new stands, PPS12 (which itself is a great topic for a different entry). We were able to stand a couple of meters in front of the plane and take photos from basically any frontal angle. Here are some pictures I took and want to share with all of you.

closeup on the nose

Medical assistance

Swiss A330 experience

LX196 (1320LT-0515LT)
I have previously flew into Zürich from Warsaw on a Helvetic Airways Fokker 100 but ZRH was just a stopover in my trip. After exiting the plane I headed for the train that would take me to gates E section from where my next flight would depart. I must say that this section is very elegant. The mix of gray, black and brown composes very well. Because my previous flight was delayed 10 minutes the moment I got to my gate and changed some money at a shop the pre-boarding documents check has already begun. I'm not a fan of queuing so I relaxed a couple of minutes and made order in bag as after the flight the mess was unbelievable. Ready to go I stepped up and had my documents checked. Quick, easy, without a single problem. I returned to my seat when boarding begun. Ehh a queue again... After a unsuccessful attempt of logging into the wifi I got my ass up and moved up to to, now short, queue. The plane, HB-JHA (named Schwyz, first flight 23/03/2009, serial number: 1000, powered by two RR Trent 772B-60 engines) made a good first impression on me. Although signs of usage could be seen here and there overall I though it's going to be a good flight. I got to my seat, prepared for the flight and push-back started. We taxied to runway 16, and departed after just a couple of minutes.

Gates E section of Zürich Airport

Taxiing onto the runway

Flying the Helvetic Airways Fokker 100

LX1343 (0935LT-1140LT)
Helvetic Airways operates on behalf of Swiss International Airlines on some routes. One of them is Zürich - Warsaw. Helvetic (2L OAW) has 6 Fokker 100 planes and 1 Airbus A319. Warsaw gets the F100, sometimes Swiss sends its own metal, an Avro or an Airbus. Luckily the plane on my flight did not change and I got to fly on HB-JVG (serial number 11478; first flight 29/09/1993; powered by two RR Tay 650-15 engines). Unfortunately the 'best' seats have been reserved by PZPN (Polish female U17 team going for a couple of friendlies in Switzerland) thus having a view into the engine was impossible and seat 10A had to do. Just in front of the leading edge of the wing. Some might say it's only 8 rows away and the sound will be similar but the truth is that it is very different, much quieter. The more up front you're seated the quieter it gets.
A short session before the flight:

SE-LRA, Saab 2000 on Apron 10 - taken before arriving at the terminal

SP-LND arriving at its gate

Flying the LOT 737-400

After my flights to/from Istanbul on the 734 I wasn't fully satisfied, I didn't get a cockpit shot and the ones I had from before weren't decent. So, knowing that LOT flies them to Brussels and I'd have to get to Belgium I looked for a deal on flights operated by the 734. Luckily There was a Crazy Wednesday to BRU with the dates I needed, great! I booked a return flight on the classic 737. Flights LO233 and 234 direct WAW-BRU-WAW.

LO233
1625-1830 SP-LLF, seat 19A. Delay 35 minutes on departure and 25 on arrival.
A short session before boarding.

SP-LRD

2014.08.20/21/22 Kalitta Air Boeing 747

Wednesday, 20th August 2014
744 ARR 1225LT
742 ARR 1252LT
744 DEP 2158LT

Thursday, 21st August 2014
744 ARR 1703LT
742 DEP 2345LT
lack of photos due to being busy and unknown delay time during the night.

Friday, 22nd August 2014
744 DEP 1035LT

N741CK

N741CK

2014.08.16 777 JAL, A340 Iberia

Saturday after a holiday and a great day at an Air Force base with awesome equipment. Who would have thought that at a such short period of time, so much could happen around Warsaw. The Japan Airlines Boeing 777 arrival has been announced a couple of weeks ago, the Spanish A340 brought Real Madrid players for their friendly with Fiorentina (which came the day before to Modlin with LOT Polish Airlines) has been announced around a week ago.
Iberia ARR 1210LT DEP 0025LT
JAL ARR 1358LT DEP 1814LT
in addition a couple of photos made during the occasion

EC-LEU

EC-LEU