Glw Apt 2015 October

Among the noteworthy visitors to Glasgow International during the month which I didn`t manage to photograph were Learjet 35A D-CJPG and Turkish-registered Challenger 300 TC-AFF. German Air Force C-160D Transall 51+09, possibly here in connection with Exercise Joint Warrior, took off around 1445hrs having night-stopped from 30 September (1st); Diamond Aircraft DA42 Twin Star G-ZAZU and Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-8F2W TC-JHY (2nd); Beech 200 King Airs OO-LET and D-ISKY, Condor`s Boeing 767-330W D-ABUE, a diversion en route from Las Vegas - Frankfurt which landed around 1035hrs and Tyrol Air`s Israel Aircraft Industries IAI-1125A Astra SPX OE-GBD (3rd); Beech Beechjet 400XP OK-PPP, Cessna 510 Citation Mustang OE-FFB and Learjet 31A D-CGGG (4th); Gulfstream 150 D-CGEP and Socata TBM900 N900CU (5th); Airbus A320-232 EC-MEQ of the Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling Airlines landed in the afternoon, a diversion from Edinburgh (6th)...

Two Polish aircraft arrived today in connection with the Scotland v Poland international European Championship qualifier: Embraer 190 SP-LNB of the country`s national carrier LOT brought the Poland football team while Enter Air Boeing 737 SP-ENZ brought the fans (7th); Ramstein-based US Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Hercules 06-8612 dropped in around 7.20am and stayed for a couple of hours. Manx-registered Beech 200GT M-CDJC appeared later (8th); Among the Thomas Cook airliners calling in today to cope with the additional October holiday traffic were three first-time visitors to Glasgow, namely A321-211s G-TCDV and G-TCDY and A320-214 YL-LCK. Boeing 757 D-ABOL of Condor/Thomas Cook also appeared. Other noteworthy arrivals were RAF C-130J ZH873 and Learjet 45 9H-BCP (9th); Parked up on `Area Juliet`were Cessna 510 Citation Mustang OE-FFB and Socata TBM900 N979MB, while Gulfstream 550 CS-DKE and RAF C-130J ZH879 were allocated space on Taxiway `Y`. The Hercules arrived at 1745hrs and stopped overnight. Latvian-registered Airbus A320-232 LY-VEK appeared in the afternoon. Other airliners of note were Boeing 737-73S(WL) F-GZTH Europe Airpost, Jetairfly Boeing 737-8K5(WL) OO-JAH and Condor Boeing 757-330(WL) D-ABOL (10th)...

Boeing 757-330(WL) D-ABOL Condor, Embraer 505 Phenom 300s CS-DTQ and CS-PHD (11th); Boeing 737-85RW SP-ENQ of Enter Air made its first visit to Glasgow Airport when it touched-down during the early hours with the Scotland football team (12th); Biz-jets today included Interflight`s British Aerospace HS-125-700B G-IFTE, Gulfstream 550 CS-DKK and Falcon 2000EX CS-DLG, both belonging to NetJets Europe. Learjet 35A N131AJ arrived on a medivac flight in the afternoon. Boeing 737-73S(WL) F-GZTH of Europe Airpost and Air Malta Airbus A320-214 9H-AEO also appeared (13th); Lynx MK.85 serial number 19201 of the Portuguese Navy dropped in at 1145hrs and stayed for around 90 minutes. It had flown-in from a Royal Navy warship involved in Joint Warrior 15:2, a large-scale twice-yearly military exercise which takes place off the west coast of Scotland. After a refuel the chopper rejoined the its own Frigate NRP Francisco de Almeida (F334). Executive traffic today included Learjet 35A G-JMED, BAe 125-1000B G-GMAB and Beech 200 King Air G-ZVIP. Airbus A320-214 TC-FHY of Turkish charter airline Freebird, a late evening arrival, was on its first visit to Glasgow (14th); Falcon 2000 CS-DFD of NetJets Europe which had been here since 9 October, finally departed just after midday. Army Air Corps Aerospatiale AS365 Dauphin II ZJ782 dropped in a couple of hours later using the call-sign `Lord 18` (15th).

MH-60S Seahawk, serial number 165873 (BR-34) arrived at Glasgow International during the afternoon of Friday 16 October and stayed for an hour. The US Navy chopper belongs to HSC-28, the `Dragon Whales` of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Two Eight and is home-ported in Norfolk, Virginia. the Seahawk may have flown in from USS Mount Whitney, a Blue Ridge-class Amphibious Command Ship, which arrived on the Clyde at the end of Joint Warrior 152. The timing of her visit was purely coincidental as she was not thought to have been involved in the exercise.

I think this Sea Hawk, photographed at the MOD jetty at Glen Mallan on Loch Long, is the same one that called in at Glasgow Airport on the 16th.

Boeing 757-330W D-ABOI of Condor/Thomas Cook was a first-time visitor and two Europe Airpost Boeing 737s, F-GZTM and F-GZTH arrived one after another in the afternoon (17th); Visiting, all for the first time, were Multiflight Boeing 737-329 9H-MTF, Cirrus SR-22 G-GCVV and Challenger 350 9H-VCD. Other noteworthy arrivals were BAE 125 CS-DUC, Learjet 35A D-CGRC and Piper PA-31 Navajo G-YEOM (19th); Learjet 45 M-ABGV, US Navy Fairchild Swearingen C-26D 900531 and US Navy Gulfstream 4 V-11 all appeared in the afternoon, the latter pair night-stopping. Cessna 560XLS Citation XLS CS-DXX of NetJets Europe also visited (20th); Thomson Dreamliner G-TUIH made its first visit today and Germania Airbus A319-112 D-ASTB arrived just after 1000hrs to transport the Celtic football team to Norway. A pair of NetJets Europe Gulfstream 550s, CS-DKD and CS-DKK, landed just before midday. The only other biz-jet to appear later was Learjet 45 M-ABGV (21st); Around 1.20 pm, San Marino-registered Piper PA-46TP Malibu T7-ASH arrived on its first visit. Also, Jet Time 737-3L9(WL) OY-JTC called in to ferry Celtic fans to Norway for their team`s Europa League match against Molde FK (22nd); King Air 300 VP-BMK. Jet Time Boeing 737-3L9(WL) OY-JTC and Germania Airbus A319-112 D-ASTB both landed in the early hours bringing the Celtic football team and their fans back from a Europa League defeat in Norway. Unconnected with the match, Airbus A320-214 TC-FBH of Freebird arrived in the evening (23rd); Saturday`s morning arrivals included BAe 125-800XP CS-DRU of Netjets and Tyrolean Jet Service`s Cessna 650 Citation VII OE-GMG (24th); Fairly quiet although Kingair 300 VP-BMK landed again just after midday. Sunday`s only first-time visitor was Boeing 737-8K5W G-TAWL of Thomson Airlines which arrived at 2300hrs (25th).

Above: This is about as big as it gets at Glasgow: Air Transat Airbus A310-304 C-GFAT and Orlando-bound Virgin 747 G-VROY.

On Monday 26 October, a technical issue at the Prestwick Air Traffic Control Centre in the morning caused numerous flight delays at Scotland's main airports. NATS, the ATC company, said that the problem, which occurred in the early hours, had caused interference on some of the radio frequencies used for communication between ground staff and pilots. Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Prestwick airports were all affected, as were some airports in Northern Ireland, but operations were more or less back to normal by midday. At Glasgow, the only visitor of note that day was Belgian Air Force Embraer ERJ-135LR CE-01 which arrived in the morning.

Landing about 1250hrs on its first visit to Glasgow International was `Poker 45`, a US Army Cessna UC-35A Citation, serial number 96-0108. It departed at 2pm (27th); N888HT Beech 200 Kingair, N3534 Beech 100 and Cessna 525A Citation CJ2 G-TBEA. RN Sea King ZA130 (19) which diverted in tech during the afternoon took-off the following morning (29th); Beech 90GTx M-TSRI and a first visit by Freebird A320-214 TC-FHC (30th); Fokker 50 OO-VLM FlyVlm and Cessna 560XLS G-ZENT on its first visit (31st).

Jet Airliners

Thomson Airways Boeing 787-800 G-TUIE.

A Grob Tutor of the University Air Squadron gives way to American Airlines Boeing 757-2B7(WL) N924UW as it taxies out for a Runway 23 departure.

Germania Airbus A319-112 D-ASTB arrived just after 1000hrs on 21 October to transport the Celtic football team to Norway for a European tie.

Boeing 737 C-GUWJ operated WestJet`s Glasgow - Halifax service on Tuesday 20 October.

Enter Air Boeing 737-85FW SP-ENZ taxies out for departure on Friday 9 October, no doubt packed with hungover but happy Polish fans after their national football team shattered Scotland`s dreams of qualifying for the European Championships. A goal in the last few seconds of injury time at Hampden levelled the score to 2-2. There was still a chance of progression but, against all the odds, the Republic of Ireland beat the world champions Germany 1-0.

WestJet Boeing 737-7CT(WL) C-FWSK.

Air Transat Airbus A310-304 C-GFAT.

Prop-liners

G-JECX De Havilland Canada DHC-8-402Q Dash 8 Flybe.

Photographed on 2 October, Canadian-registered Short SC.7 Skyvan C-FARA of Summit Air was a rare sight at Glasgow International. It made a fuel stop en route to Brize Norton. The Yellowknife-based company`s fleet includes Piper PA-31 Navajo, Avro RJ85, Dornier 228, DHC-6 Twin Otter and Dash 8-100 aircraft.

Loganair Saab 2000 G-LGNO.

Biz-Jets

I believe this Dassault Falcon 7X M-GMKM that called in on 20 October is owned by Kylie Minogue although she wasn`t on board.

This US-registered Gulfstream 4SP landed just before noon on Tuesday 6 October. The aircraft is registered to Virginia-based Salamander Services LLC, and belongs to Sheila Johnson who has the distinction of being the first female African American billionaire. It bears her personalised registration N125SJ and has a salamander design painted on the tail.

ohnson made her fortune along with her ex-husband Robert L Johnson when they founded BET (Black Entertainment Television), a cable and satellite network in 1980, subsequently selling the channel to the media conglomerate Viacom for $3 billion.

Luxaviation`s Citation XLS LX-SEH was a night-stopper having landed on Friday 23 October.

On Monday 12 October, a pair Dassault Falcons 2000s of NetJets Europe landed just before midday, namely CS-DLF and CS-DLC. Somewhat unusually, the biz jets unloaded at Stand 39 and 37 respectively before taxiing to Area Juliet to join a third NetJets` Falcon 2000, CS-DFD.

Aptly-registered Bombardier Challenger 350 M-FRZN is owned by the Iceland Frozen Food group.

General Aviation

SOCATA TBM 700 N434MA was photographed on 23 October.

Among Saturday 3 October`s visitors was Sikorsky S-76C G-XXEB c/s `Rainbow 1` of The Queen's Helicopter Flight. This aircraft was delivered to the Royal Household on 4 November 2009 when it replaced another maroon coloured S-76C which was the first dedicated `royal use` helicopter. The QHF`s original helicopter bore the registration G-AEXX allocated in honour of the Airspeed Envoy that the Queen's uncle, the Prince of Wales first flew in the King's Flight.

Military

The Royal Netherlands Air Force`s sole Gulfstream 4, serial number V-11 landed just after 6pm on Tuesday 21 October. The aircraft has been in service with the RNAF since April 1 1996 and operates from Eindhoven with 334 Squadron.

On Wednesday 14th October 2015, US Air Force Boeing C-40C Clipper, serial number 09-0540, was parked up on Taxiway `Y` but it was too misty for a decent shot when I stopped in the morning.

Right: Pictured here being prepared for take-off just before noon on Monday 19 October is Fairchild Swearingen C-26D 910502 of the US Navy. It had arrived around 1430hrs the previous afternoon using the call-sign `CNV6908`. The C-26D is the military utility transport version of the commercial Fairchild Metroliner 23 aircraft. With a maximum payload capacity of 5,020 pounds, the cabin can be configured to accommodate passengers, cargo or both. C-26Ds are used as rapid-response transports for resupply and ferrying personnel often to remote, unserviced sites.