SWISS’ First 777 Goes Home Today!

SWISS’ First 777 Goes Home Today!

SWISS has signed on the dotted line earlier this morning and has taken delivery of their first 777.

Later this afternoon, ‘HB-JNA’ will depart Paine Field in Washington at 1:35p (local PAE time) and head for Zurich where she’ll be greeted with a bit of fanfare over the next few days.   This is the first of 9 777 aircraft that SWISS is set to receive.

For those of you wishing to check in on her flight, you can track it as flight LX7771.

For related posts covering the LX 777s, please click on the following:

SWISS’ 777 Is Back From The Paint Shop.

SWISS’ 777 Is Ready For The Paint Shop.

SWISS’ 777 European ‘Training’ Schedule.

More SWISS 777 Photos.

a plane flying over snow covered mountains

SWISS’ first 777 will sport this livery.


a plane flying in the sky

SWISS’ First 777 Is Back From The Paint Shop……But There’s More…….

SWISS’ First 777 Is Back From The Paint Shop……But There’s More…….

Thanks to poor weather conditions in the Paine Field area, the return of SWISS’ first 777 from the paint shop in Portland was delayed by a day.  In fact, the plane was forced to land at Boeing Field in Seattle thanks to how quickly weather deteriorated at PAE.  It would spend the night at BFI before flying to Paine the next morning.

Here is a shot from the first moments after the aircraft arrived in Paine Field on January 5.  A big thanks to Jennifer Schuld for sharing her photo.    Jen is an active spotter at Paine Field and you can see her other great photos on twitter (@JenSchuld).  She literally has new content almost every day!

 

a large white airplane on a runway

Courtesy: Jennifer Schuld

 

Nevertheless, she is finally at Paine where she will undergo final preparations ahead of being handed over to SWISS in the coming weeks.

However, the paint and graphics work is not quite finished.    To mark the occasion, SWISS will be applying a unique graphic to the fuselage that will make it even ‘more’ SWISS.

 

a plane flying over snow covered mountains

 

The graphic was designed to showcase the SWISS heritage and will be a film that will be applied to the fuselage once the aircraft arrives in Zurich.     This livery will be unique to this 777.

Over the coming months, SWISS will be introducing their 777s primarily on domestic European routes which will allow for their crews to train and become acclimated with the aircraft before they start flying their long haul routes.


a plane flying in the sky

Paine Spotting ‘February 2015’:  Part II

Paine Spotting ‘February 2015’: Part II

Here is the next installment of images from my recent trip to Paine Field.

If you missed what I’ve posted so far from this ‘series’, here is the index of what has been published so far:

Paine Spotting: February 2015 (Part I)

Lufthansa Cargo’s D-ALFE Goes Home

Lufthansa’s D-ABYS Showing off at Paine Field

Lufthansa’s D-ABYT Retro-Jet:  Inaugural Flight

Lufthansa’s D-ABYT Retro-Jet:  Returns From Inaugural Flight

Lufthansa’s D-ABYT Retro-Jet:  Even More Pictures!

 

 

a green airplane taking off

Aeroflot 737

a large white and red airplane

Virgin Atlantic 787 (G-VZIG)

a large white airplane on a runway

Saudia Cargo (HZ-AK71) prepares for test flight.

a plane taking off from a runway

…and subsequent return.

a large airplane taking off

Lufthansa’s D-ABYS returns from a Customer Flight – It has since been delivered to Lufthansa.

a large white airplane on a runway

Lufthansa’ 747-8i (D-ABYS)

airplanes at an airport

LAN’s newest 787, CC-BGB, being remove from Paint Hangar. Photo taken from my hotel room!

a white airplane on a runway

JAL’s newest 787 prepares for B-1 Flight.

 


a palm trees on a beach

 

a large white and green airplane on a runway

EVA’s 777 (B16721) prepares for delivery flight…

a large white airplane flying in the sky

Cathay’s 777 returns from Customer Flight.

an airplane in a hangar

Cathay’s 777, B-KQW, seconds after its completion. Seen here being towed to the Paint Hangar area.

an airplane on a runway

American’s second 787, N801AC, departing for test flight.

a white airplane on a runway

 


a collage of magazines and a baseball player

‘Paine’ Spotting February 2015:  Part I

‘Paine’ Spotting February 2015: Part I

If you’ve been visiting LH Flyer over the past few days, you might be thinking that the only things happening at Paine Field last week were related to Lufthansa aircraft.    Granted, Lufthansa did take delivery of their last Cargo 777 (D-ALFE), they did unveil the much anticipated Retro Livery on one of their 747-8i (D-ABYT), and of course there was yet another 747, D-ABYS, that underwent her final flight tests ahead of delivery to LH.    For those of you that may have missed some of these moments, you can find those posts here:

D-ALFE:  Lufthansa Cargo’s last 777F

D-ABYS:  Final test and customer flights ahead of delivery.

D-ABYT: Part I (First Looks & Inaugural Flight), Part II (Return From Inaugural Flight), Part III (Additional photos).

However it was a busy week at Paine Field for other carriers as well.   Several airlines took deliveries of their newest birds, Boeing unveiled a few newly painted planes and a variety of test flights filled the 3 days that I spent there.  I’m glad that I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Everett since it’s location right next to the airport made it easy to see everything that was going on, even in the middle of the night!

Because of the amount of photos, I’ll break this plane spotting post into 2 or 3 parts.   Part 2 and 3 will follow in the next few days.

To see my other Plane Spotting related posts, please visit the Plane Spotting Index or Aero-Shots.com where you can see my growing collection (i.e. work in progress) of Airline photographs.

Enjoy!

 

a large white airplane on a runway

Cathay’s B-KQV enters the runway for her test flight

a large airplane on a runway

A new United 787 departs on her final test flight prior to delivery.

a large airplane in the sky

TK’s TV-JJV 777 approaches Paine Field

a large airplane on a runway

Turkish 777 touchdown after ferry flight from California where she was painted.

a large airplane on a runway

Singapore’s 9V-SNA prepares for a test flight.

a white airplane in the sky

Qatar’s 787 A7-BCS departs for a final test flight


a close-up of a sign

an airplane on a runway

Its not all about modern AIrliners at Paine Field…..This DC3 prepares for takeoff.

an airplane parked in a hangar

A rare sight, an ANA 777 being moved in the Boeing Factory.

a large airplane on a runway

KLM’s 777 (new livery) prepares for her first-ever flight.

a plane flying in the sky

KLM’s newest 777 approaches Paine Field

a red and white airplane parked in front of a building

Hainan’s newest 787 minutes after being removed from the Paint Hangar.

a large white airplane on a runway

Cathay’s B-KQV enters the runway for her test flight

a large white airplane in the air

A unique angle as this CX 777 executed an intentional missed approach.

a green and white airplane taking off

Batik Air’s newest 737

a green and yellow airplane flying over a runway

American Airlines 737


a blue sky with white clouds

LUFTHANSA’s 747-8i, D-ABYS, Showing Off At Paine Field

LUFTHANSA’s 747-8i, D-ABYS, Showing Off At Paine Field

Over the next month, Lufthansa will take delivery of their final 3 747-8i aircraft.   When all is said and told, 19 ‘Queens of the Sky’ will be in the fleet for what should be 15-20 years.   It also marks the beginning of the end of new 4-engine aircraft for Lufthansa (there are also 2 A380s set to still join the fleet).

The first 747-8i joined the fleet in 2012 and had her inaugural flight on June 1, 2012.  I was fortunate to be in Frankfurt for the festivities surrounding the first 747-8i to join the fleet and now look back and see how quickly time has ‘flown’ by.  Pun probably intended.

With ‘YS’ ready for delivery, it leaves D-ABYT and D-ABYU as the final 2 747-8ii that will join the fleet.   ‘YT’ is the much-anticipated ‘Retro Jet’ who will sport the livery that was on Lufthansa aircraft in the 1980s.   ‘YU’ should have her paint work completed this weekend and I’ll be able to bring you a few images of her as the last 747-8i that is scheduled to join the fleet.

a group of airplanes at an airport

Here is a look at the Retro Livery. She’s parked over a mile away and unfortunately a SCOOT 787 is in the way……

 

For now, here are several shots I took at Paine Field as ‘YS’ was put through the motions during a ‘B2’ test flight.   Typically new aircraft go through three test flights:  B1, B2, C1.   The ‘B’ flights are conducted by Boeing pilots who troubleshoot and certify the aircraft.  The C flight is conducted by the ‘Customer’ and typical involves the Airline’s pilots and technicians.   Once A ‘C’ flight is completed, it is ready for delivery to the airline.

By the way, if you missed yesterday’s posted regarding LH Cargo’s last 777F delivery, click here!

Enjoy!

a large white airplane on a runway

Entering the taxiway towards runway 16R

 

a large airplane on a runway

 

a large white airplane on a runway

Entering 16R

a white airplane on a runway

Takeoff Roll

a large airplane flying in the sky

Returning from B2 Flight

a white airplane flying in the sky

Final Approach

a large white airplane taking off

Over the numbers…..

a large white airplane taking off

Flare…..

a large airplane on a runway

Touchdown…..


a close-up of a plane