Airplane Blog Toronto YYZ Pictures

Flight Line

2008-08-30T07:05:00.002-04:00

Flight Line
Originally uploaded by Jim Crocker

Georgian Airways dock at Parry Sound, Ontario. Bush Hawk wing tip and a Cessna 180

Boeing 727

2008-08-27T20:10:00.002-04:00

Boeing 727
Originally uploaded by Jim Crocker

727 approaching YYZ. Don't see many of these any more.

Model Plane

2008-08-27T19:52:00.001-04:00

Model Plane, originally uploaded by Jim Crocker.

Haven't posted to this for a while. Now hooked up to Flickr. Took this at YYZ, then edited it with Paint Shop Pro. I know, I know. Get with Photoshop. Tried it. Didn't like it.

Washington Reagan National

2007-04-09T06:43:00.000-04:00

Take off from runway 1. Gear up very quickly.

Reagan National

2007-04-08T22:39:00.000-04:00

MD-88 taking off from Rwy 1 at Reagan National. Outstanding viewing for this runway - a parking lot right at the end.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737

2007-03-14T20:07:00.000-04:00

Taking off from Vancouver.

YVR Vancouver Airport Runways

2007-03-12T06:56:00.000-04:00

Vancouver airport. Climbing out to the north then turning east over the city.

Air Canada Airbus

2007-03-10T03:44:00.000-05:00

Decent shot of an Air Canada A319 taking off from wet runway in Vancouver.

Leaving YVR

2007-03-09T00:30:00.000-05:00

Climbing out of Vancouver aboard an Embraer E75. Very impressive winglets on these aircraft. The Embraer guys who checked out Airplane-Blog after this post, will think I have something against these aircraft. I don't. In fact, as a passenger they are tremendously comfortable. However - it does seem the Embraer has reliability problems. The aircraft in this picture is not the Embraer we were supposed to be on - it was grounded for mechanical reasons in Edmonton - and this flight was an hour late. At the end of this flight the overhead bin a couple of rows up was finally opened with a lot of force - and a BMW key! Maybe just bad luck?

Vancouver Weather

2007-03-04T15:34:00.000-05:00

Turbo Beaver landing out of the overcast at the Cole Harbour terminal in Vancouver. These guys are non-stop and not clear what weather, if any, stops them.

Air Canada Busy Day

2007-03-04T15:22:00.000-05:00

On the Saturday morning 8am flight to Vancouver. Busy ramp outside the plane. YYZ still recovering from Thursday's storm. Long line-ups in Terminal 1 and many unhappy passengers. I feel for them, thankful I'm not them....and have to say the Saturday flight was as great.

Re the Embraer - like the one in the pic - my seat mate - who had good inside info on these things - was telling me how the Embraer is very unreliable. Not a pilot fave because it's unreliable. Interesting.

Olympic A-340

2007-03-01T21:41:00.000-05:00

Olympic Air A-340 landing on 05.

Two Twins

2007-02-27T07:23:00.000-05:00

Taking pics at the end of 05 on Saturday. Surprised when these two twins flew the approach and landed within seconds of each other on the same runway. Never seen this before and contacted Airport Watch, a group of Pearson enthusiasts who are credentialed to roam the airport vicinity with minimum hassle - and who have collectively likely see a lot of different things at Pearson. Here's response from Pete at Airport watch:

The ATC Manual of Operations allows for simultaneous landing operations assuming certain conditions are met. In this case, without actually having seen just how close these guys got on the runway, the clause that comes to mind allows a light aircraft to land even if the preceding arrival has not cleared the runway as long as he can see his traffic. I m assuming that both of these guys were light aircraft - they look like a twin Cessna & a Piper Cheyenne.

Thanks Pete.

Thomas Cook Boeing 757

2007-02-24T08:18:00.000-05:00

Taken by captain Bill from the front seat of an AC 767. Somewhere over the Atlantic.

Best Office in World

2007-02-18T07:31:00.000-05:00

Concorde Flashback

2007-02-15T08:39:00.000-05:00

From July 2003. Heathrow.

Air Canada A-340

2007-02-14T08:17:00.000-05:00

Dirty underside of an A-340 passing overhead. Somewhere over the Atlantic.

Low-vis Landing

2007-02-12T22:31:00.000-05:00

Into Heathrow. AC 767.

Thomas Cook Airlines A-330

2007-02-12T22:22:00.000-05:00

Somewhere over the Atlantic. Taken by Bill Pratt, Air Canada, from the pointy end of a 767.

ERJ-145

2006-12-15T07:16:00.000-05:00

Runway 23. Soft focus.

Avro Arrow over Toronto

2006-12-08T19:37:00.000-05:00

Complete fake and the editing job is bad - but still an

intriguing image of what might have been.

Toronto Pearson Cargo

2006-11-25T17:41:00.000-05:00

Volga-Kneper AN-124

Another shot of the AN-124. It's big.

Volga-Kneper Antanov 124

2006-11-25T17:32:00.000-05:00

Got lucky on this pic. Just pulling into park when this An-124 showed up. It's a regular visitor to YYZ. First time getting a picture of it.

Leaving Las Vegas

2006-11-21T06:14:00.000-05:00

Some serious remodelling of a mountain south of Las Vegas.

Air Canada from Las Vegas

2006-11-20T08:35:00.000-05:00

Down Westjet and back Air Canada. Excellent flight. Left early, caught a strong tail wind. Home way ahead of schedule.

Only glitch - sound not working on new touch screen entertainment system - which seriously reduces its functionality!

Terminal 2 lounge at Vegas overlooks the various private jet terminals at the airport. Private jet traffic is non-stop. Gotta stop losing money first!

Westjet to Las Vegas

2006-11-20T08:16:00.000-05:00

Last week, experienced the 8:45 pm Wesjet flight to Las Vegas. Gets into Vegas at 10:45 pm - early by Vegas standards. All in all, typical Westjet flight - TV's are just a great feature - especially when Monday Night Football is on.

Unfortunately checking in was a little bizarre. With two flights heading to the States - one to Orlando, the other to Vegas - there was only ONE Westject staffer at the check-in. Actually there we two - one to calm an increasingly agitated crowd, the other to do check-ins.

Ultimately, took us an HOUR to check in - and there weren't a lot of people. How does stuff like this happen? Pretty sure this wasn't the first time these flights had been scheduled. Stuff happens?

Other observation - no taxis at Terminal 2 in Vegas when we got there. Terminal 2 is the 'international' terminal at Vegas - the hinterlands of taxiville. So it cost us $45 to grab a limo to an airport conference hotel. I wonder how much airlines think about their complete passenger experience - including getting picked up once you land? Point being it's not just good enough to get you through the air safely - it's what happens before and after that I assume gets factored into whether I'd ever fly the same airline again. In this case, there's no question I'd check out an American airline as well as the Canadian airlines going to Vegas (AC flies into the same terminal).

Next stop Frankfurt

2006-10-24T07:25:00.000-04:00

Avro Arrow Toronto

2006-10-09T14:37:00.000-04:00

Beautifully done full scale replica of the Avro Arrow rolled out at the Toronto Aerosape Museum this weekend. Arrow was Candian built, advanced fighter. Ahead of its time and killed by the government of its day. Now, speculation is that US applied pressure to end project?

Didn't know there was a Toronto Aerospace Museum but the crowd to see this was impressive. Lots of people on hand who worked on the original. Museum is at Downswview Airport, which is home to Bombardier and right under the approach from the east to YYZ.

T-33 Red Knight

2006-10-08T17:55:00.000-04:00

Winging very low near the road near Barry Ontario.

This pic has been edited to remove the pedestal and wires that would otherwise make it look like a plane sitting on a pedestal under a bunch of wires. Now it flys!

TAGS: T-33, Canadian Air Force, Red Knight

Westjet 737

2006-10-05T07:53:00.000-04:00

Edited with Paint Shop Pro's brush strokes effect.

Westjet founder/CEO currently taking a hammering in the press for being a liar. Emails released by the courts show that he had full knowledge and made good use of the information his company was gathering illegally from Air Canada a few years ago. Previously he had denied much personal involvement.

Have to say I still don't get the lying thing. If you're 'gutsy' enough - this guy is hailed as a 'fiesty, competitive, true entreprenuer' - to lead your organization off into unethical and illegal activity, then at least have the balls to tell the truth when you get caught. Unfortunately, 'Management 2000' as practiced everywhere from country leaders through the boardrooms of North America is all about ducking responsibility and the truth. I guess the buck never stops any more.

TAGS: plane spotting, aircraft spotting, Westjet, Boeing 737, Paint Shop Pro

Avro Lancaster

2006-09-17T21:30:00.000-04:00

From the Canadian Warplane Heritage in Hamilton. Mynarski Memorial Lancaster. Veteran's Memorial flypast. Flypast also included a Havard and a Hurricane. Hamilton lost their only flying Hurricane in a fire over 10 years ago - so it's not clear where the Hurricane was from.

TAGS: toronto plane spotting, aircraft spotting, Lancaster, Canadian Warplane Heritage

CF-18's

2006-09-17T21:27:00.000-04:00

Doing a flypast at the opening of the new Veteran's Memorial at Queen's Park. Straight up Avenue Road from Lake Ontario.

TAGS: toronto plane spotting, toronto aircraft spotting, CF-18

Colourful Jazz

2006-08-26T22:37:00.000-04:00

Got a few evening pics. Great sunset. Air Canada Jazz.

Night Photography

2006-08-22T07:32:00.000-04:00

Trying something different. Interesting result. Needs work - and a tripod. Check out the engine 'tubes'.

Pearson Airport Plane Watching

2006-08-19T09:16:00.000-04:00

An Air Canada 767 over Dixon Road on approach to runway 23.

TAGS: plane spotting, aircraft spotting, Air Canada, Nikon D50

Embraer EMB 120

2006-08-15T06:32:00.000-04:00

Close up dusk approach. Soft focus. Although not officially out of production, the success of the ERJ business has shut down orders/deliveries of this aircraft.

TAGS: toronto plane spotting, Nikon D50, Pearson Airport

A-320, Flat-out

2006-08-14T09:03:00.000-04:00

Shadow of an AC 320 blasting across the parking lot on approach to Runway 23 - still the best place at Pearson if you're looking for some fresh jetblast.

TAGS: plane spotting, aircraft spotting, shadows

Continental Express ERJ-145

2006-07-29T07:52:00.000-04:00

Operated by ExpressJet on behalf of Continental. ExpressJet has a fleet of over 270 ERJ's that will be reduced in the upcoming months to around 200.

TAGS: plane spotting, aircraft spotting, ERJ-145, Continental Express Airlines, regional jets

Small

2006-07-26T22:05:00.000-04:00

A-340 making its ways into the pattern as a mid-afternoon storm moves off to the east.

TAGS: clouds, aircraft pictures

Cessna TU206

2006-07-24T21:56:00.000-04:00

Don't see a ton of these landing at Pearson. Great looking Cessna amphibian. Based on this report from the TSB, not all landings for this particular aircraft are as smooth as this one:

Synopsis
At 0936 eastern daylight time, a Cessna TU206G amphibious float-equipped aircraft, registration C-GGSG (the aircraft in the picture), was approximately three nautical miles west of Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport (LBPIA), Ontario, on approach to Runway 05, and was cleared to land and hold short of Runway 33L. About one minute later a Northwest Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 aircraft, registration N773NC (Flight No NWA971) was authorized to taxi to position on Runway 33L for departure. Shortly thereafter, the airport controller advised NWA971 that a Cessna 206 would land and hold short of Runway 33L, and then issued the take-off clearance.

After the Cessna 206 touched down on Runway 05, the controller issued taxi instructions to the pilot, with instructions to hold short of Runway 33L. The Cessna pilot then informed the controller that he was going around because of a landing gear problem. The controller immediately instructed the Cessna pilot to commence a hard left turn. At the same time the Northwest Airlines flight crew, just after becoming airborne, observed the Cessna and initiated a right turn. The spacing between the aircraft was approximately 100 feet lateral and 100 feet vertical over the threshold of Runway 15R, with NWA971 being higher. There were no injuries as a result of this incident.

TAGS: plane spotting, aircraft spotting, cessna, transportation safety board

Toronto Plane Spotting

2006-07-17T06:59:00.000-04:00

What's left of Fedex Hill. Fedex Hill, used to be one of the good spots at YYZ for spotting. It's called Fedex Hill because the Fedex ramp is to the right in this picture...oh, and it used to be a hill - providing excellent unobstructed views of touchdowns and rotations. Taking off from runway 23.

TAGS: plane spotting, aircraft spotting, YYZ

Sucked into the Vortex

2006-07-15T21:14:00.000-04:00

Took advantage of an interesting cloud formation and American DC-9 on final to mess around again with the 'effects' button on Paint Shop Pro - again!

TAGS: Paint Shop Pro, interesting, photo editing

Gusting to 35

2006-07-14T06:42:00.000-04:00

Although I haven't been able to find any specific research backing this up, it seems that this spring/summer have been exceptionally windy. Judging both by shaky (and at least one missed) approach(es), flying pool umbrellas, swimming lawn chairs, difficult bike rides, and heavy weaving in crosswinds on the 407. In this case strong winds from the north making the approach 33L a little more interesting than usual.

TAGS: Air Canada, Boeing 767, Pearson Airport;wind

Aaaargh!!

2006-07-11T08:10:00.000-04:00

Powerful approach to runway 24 and good reflection too!

El-Al Boeing 767

2006-07-08T17:41:00.000-04:00

El-Al Boeing 767-200 ER. It arrived some 20 minutes after another El-Al Boeing 767-300 ER. According to Wickipedia, that means that 25% of El-Al's 767 fleet arrived in Toronto within 20 minutes of each other. Here's more from Wickipedia on El-Al:

At least six (formerly two) undercover agents accompany each international El Al flight, sitting amongst passengers whilst holstering firearms. All El Al pilots are former Israeli Air Force fighter pilots, and all El Al flight crew members are trained in hand to hand combat. In fact, most El Al employees have served in the Israeli army (since national service is compulsory in Israel).

TAGS: El-Al, Boeing 767, Israel

Air Canada 767

2006-07-06T06:30:00.000-04:00

Just about to touchdown on runway 33L. Another gusty day in TO.

TAGS: Air Canada, Boeing 767, Pearson Airport

Shuttle America ERJ 170-100

2006-07-04T20:08:00.000-04:00

Very nice looking United Express/Shuttle America Embraer on short final. Shuttle America has over 40 these aircraft in their fleet flying for United Express and US Airways Express.

On a different note, the Shuttle America web site is interesting. It's what happens when companies leave web site design solely to web site designers. Very cool. Slow. Tricky to use. Probably impossible to optimize. Not really what web information gatherers are looking for any more.

TAGS: Shuttle America, Embraer Regional Jet, United Express

A340 Thrust Reversers

2006-07-03T07:51:00.000-04:00

Wide open pivoting door thrust reversers on Air Canada A340. Rolls Royce engines.

Eye Care by Air

2006-07-02T06:28:00.000-04:00

This unique DC-10 is the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital. From the Orbis website:

As a nonprofit organization, ORBIS International strives to eliminate avoidable blindness and restore sight in the developing world, where 90% of the world’s blind live.

At the heart of ORBIS's sight-saving work is the Flying Eye Hospital, a DC-10 aircraft converted into a state-of-the-art teaching facility.

The Flying Eye Hospital carries a laser treatment facility and an operating room where doctors participate in surgeries performed by our volunteer surgeons. These operations are broadcast both to the on-board classroom and to remote conference rooms attended by local doctors eager to enhance their skills.

This unique aircraft is flown by volunteer pilots to developing countries, where the 25-member ORBIS medical team and visiting volunteer doctors perform surgeries in order to train local ophthalmologists. In addition to our surgical work on the aircraft, ORBIS also conducts nursing, biomedical engineering and system support training.

While in Canada, the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital will make scheduled stops in Toronto and Ottawa. In each city, the DC-10 aircraft will be open for tours where there will be an opportunity to see its state-of-the-art surgical facilities, meet the dedicated crew, and mingle with Canadian volunteer medical professionals who are actively contributing to ORBIS Canada's dream of bringing vision to the world.

TAGS: Orbis, Flying Eye Hospital, eyes

Red White and Blue

2006-07-01T17:31:00.000-04:00

Bold colours on BA's 777 and Air France A340. Blow up the BA picture and you can see high tech paint job not easily visible at 200 knots.

Letting Your Partner Down

2006-06-28T22:43:00.000-04:00

I'm a fan of Canadian airlines. AC has a great new Embraer service to Dallas and other than the risk of a little domestic spying, any flight on Westjet is fun.

That's not what this post is about. This is about flying out of Minneapolis on AC. Some advice: DON'T DO IT. You see, Minneapolis is Northwest's home. And apparently even if you work for United, Canada's code share partner and the people manning the check-in - your goal is to keep people flying Northwest.

Doing that is simple: 1) no automated check-in 2) separate line for AC passengers 3) process 2 or 3 passengers in half an hour 4) after half and hour and once line is well into hallway - leave - as in...leave... don't have anybody manning the AC check-in 5) 20 minutes later, show up looking stunned and say something dumb like "is anybody in this line on the 6:00pm flight to Toronto?" 6) look even more stunned when the line erupts in anger and abuse 7) stick really angry passengers in final row by the washroom. True story.

The moral here is clear: fly Northwest out of Minneapolis.

However, I don't believe the problem is Air Canada's. It's United's. Watching their staff, one thing was clear - they DID NOT CARE. Truly DID NOT CARE. I guess that whole Chapter 11 thing has been a little rough!

TAGS: United Airlines, customer service, disgruntled employees

Getting Down at Sunset

2006-06-20T22:35:00.000-04:00

Air Canada 767 on long final to runway 23. Evening. Weather filling in from the west.

TAGS: Air Canada, clouds, sunset

Government of Oman Boeing 747

2006-06-19T17:10:00.000-04:00

All the cool camera kids who've been stalking YYZ for years seemed surprised when the Government of Oman 747 got parked, fully exposed beside Derry Road. Don't know whether that's a surprise or not but it did mean some good pics.

TAGS: Oman, Boeing 747, oil riches

Oh man, it's Oman

2006-06-19T17:05:00.000-04:00

Got lucky getting this shot of government of Oman Boeing 747-400. Not a regular visitor to YYZ.

TAGS: Oman, Boeing 747, wealthy

Bling

2006-06-16T07:37:00.000-04:00

Does this?

Plus this????

Equal this????

TAGS: bling, teeth, grills

The Thomas Cook Book

2006-06-14T07:27:00.000-04:00

Strange but true - from the Europe Travel News:

‘Can You Cook It?’ is the product of Thomas Cook’s overseas staff, who provided their local knowledge and favourite recipes. The book includes recipes for starters, main courses and puddings for each of Thomas Cook’s top holiday hotspots. Destinations featured are: Bulgaria, Egypt, Florida, Greece, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Turkey.

Bullseye

2006-06-13T08:14:00.000-04:00

Air Canada A320 with the pointy end fully embedded in the cargo west facility at Pearson. Well, not really.

Looking at this pic vs. the previous one, also an AC, you can see that like a lot of airlines, AC remains logo-ly challenged. Their fleet colours are everything from the old white, green and red through the new public washroom blue and all combinations in-between including white and public washroom blue and even silver and public washroom blue. Then there's Jazz fleet of white and red, white and yellow, and white and green. Know nothing about aircraft painting but assume 1) it's expensive 2) aircraft that aren't repainted in AC's new colors are on their way out?

TAGS: Air Canada, Pearson Airport, branding

Air Canada A319-100

2006-06-12T08:31:00.000-04:00

Nice touchdown on 33L in gusty conditions.

TAGS: Air Canada, A319, aircraft pictures

Long and Wide

2006-06-11T07:11:00.000-04:00

LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767-300. Growing up, blondes and Pols took the brunt of a a lot of jokes. Not so much anymore it seems - well, at least not for Pols...blondes will never change. So here are a couple of air-related blonde jokes:
Q. what do you call 10 blondes standing ear to ear? A. a wind tunnel. Q. what is a blondes favourite drink? A. Perri-Air. Q. what do yo call 10 blondes at the bottom of a pool? A. air pockets.

Then of course, there is the most famous of Polish flying jokes:

Polish Air Lines flight 113 was descending for a landing at an
airport they had never been to before. The pilot looked out the
windshield and suddenly exclaimed to the copilot, "Holy cow! Look how
short the runway is! I`ve never seen one that short!"
The copilot looked out the windshield. "Wow! you`re right!
That`s incredible! Are you sure we can make it?"
"Well we better, were almost out of fuel."
So the captain got on the intercom and notified the passengers
to put their heads between their knees and prepare for an emergency
landing. Then he set the flaps to full down and slowed the plane to
just over stall speed. The big jumbo jet came screaming in, on the
ragged edge of control. The pilot`s hands were sweating, the copilot
was praying. They touched down and came screeching to a halt JUST
before the edge of the runway, the tires smoking. "WHEW! That was
CLOSE!" yelled the captain."That runway was SHORT!"
"Yeah!" said the copilot,"and WIDE too!"

Sun Wing

2006-06-10T19:32:00.000-04:00

Just a gorgeous day for gettin some pictures. Sunwing Vacations Boeing 737-8Q8 on approach to runway 33L. Sunwing is a sub of Sunwing vacations. Flies a couple of 737's and one 757 south and across the country. Believe this aircraft started flying for Sunwing last month.

TAGS: Toronto Pearson, Sunwing Airlines, Boeing 737

McDonnell-Douglas MD-80

2006-06-09T07:45:00.000-04:00

A derivative of the DC-9, the MD-80 series entered service in the mid 1980's. McDonnell Douglas was purchased by Boeing in 1997. Production of the The Boeing 717, the last derivative of the DC-9, ended last month.

World Cup Soccer

2006-06-06T21:13:00.000-04:00

FIFA World Cup soccer starts this Friday in Germany. Here are some stats on the world's favourite football - known as 'the beautiful game': FIFA counts 204 member countries; soccer is bigger than baseball, basketball and NA football combined; the first pro players were from England - in 1879; first World Cup was in Uruguay in 1930; the last World Cup was in Japan and South Korea in 2002; Frenchman Just Fontaine scored 13 goals in the 1958 World Cup; Brazil are the reigning world champions. If you want to know what game's on TV keep this site - tvsoccerschedule.com - bookmarked.
Go out and have a ball!

TAGS: soccer nose, World Cup Soccer, Lufthansa

Alitalia Go-Around

2006-06-04T18:26:00.000-04:00

Alitalia Boeing 767-300 breaking back through low overcast after aborted landing to runway 05. Awkward, slow abort and obvious from photo that flaps, etc are still deployed. Aircraft returned 5 minutes later for normal landing.

TAGS: Alitalia, Boeing 767, aircraft pictures

Greek Goddess

2006-06-03T21:13:00.000-04:00

Icarus would be proud. Olympic Airlines A340-313x close to touchdown en route from Athens. Olympic has 4 of these majestic aircraft.

TAGS: Toronto Pearson, Olympic Airlines, A340

Reflective Approach

2006-06-03T08:29:00.000-04:00

Right wing, landing gear and Dixon Road reflect in the smooth underside of this A-330.

TAGS: Pearson Airport, reflection, airplane

Toronto Pearson LINK Shuttle

2006-06-02T12:29:00.000-04:00

Creatively named and driverless 'LINK' train out for a practice spin. LINK links new central parking and all terminals. Scheduled to start regular service in July. Cost is $56 million according to various docs. Name was free.

TAGS: Toronto, Pearson Airport

Airplane-Blog Gives Green a Shot

2006-06-01T07:35:00.000-04:00

Spotted the ad below on DeepMarket.com, a blog that researches new techniques for stock market analysis. Obvious irony in linking a blog about planes to a blog about climate change, but hey, I care too! The funky clouds in the pic above are after a hot, sweaty, smog-alert day in Toronto, ie, they're not photo-editing but they're not natural either.

Thanks a Ton for a Link!
Concerned about climate change? Want to help reduce dependence on foriegn oil? Just want to make the world a little bit better? Link back to DeepMarket from your blog and we will offset one ton of carbon through our partnership with Carbonfund.org.

Here's my link back to DeepMarket.com.

Have a green day!

TAGS: climate change, clouds

Air Show

2006-06-01T06:45:00.000-04:00

KLM 777-206/ER approaching 33L. Real photographers must hate this, but the lighting effect is pure photo-editing which is turning out to be almost as much fun as taking the pics themselves. This is simple application of Paint Shop Pro's illumination capabilities.

TAGS: Toronto, Boeing 777, KLM, Paint Shop Pro

Westjet: Ethically Challenged

2006-05-30T18:27:00.000-04:00

From today's Toronto Globe and Mail:

"WestJet Airlines Ltd. has admitted to spying on Air Canada in an out-of-court settlement, ending the two-year legal fight.

In a joint statement released before markets opened Monday, WestJet apologized for accessing a confidential Air Canada website designated for reservations.

”This practice was undertaken with the knowledge and direction of the highest management levels of WestJet and was not halted until discovered by Air Canada,” the release said. ”This conduct was both unethical and unacceptable and WestJet accepts full responsibility for such misconduct. WestJet sincerely regrets having engaged in this practice and unreservedly apologizes to Air Canada and Mr. Robert Milton.”

Ok, so now you know you wouldn't want to golf with these people. How do you feel about flying with them?

Jet Blast and a Car Wash

2006-05-28T20:44:00.000-04:00

For sheer, unadulterated jet blast enjoyment, the best place to watch at YYZ is across Dixon Road from runway 23. Approaching aircraft only have to make it across Dixon Road and the perimeter fence before returning to earth. Large parking lots behind the Wendy's and Petro-Canada make it easy to get right underneath the high speed, high noise action. Here a KLM just makes it over the Petro Canada.

TAGS: Toronto, Boeing 747, Petro Canada

FU967-1111 Raptard

2006-05-27T08:29:00.000-04:00

Making a stealthy approach into TO. Any way you slice it, this plane is unreal.

TAGS: Toronto, Boeing 767, Paint Shop Pro

Boeing 777

2006-05-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

British Airways Boeing 777-236ER landing on runway 23.

TAGS: Toronto Pearson, Boeing 777, British Airways

Direct from Karachi

2006-05-22T21:29:00.000-04:00

One of PIA's brand new 777-200's. These planes are big - with capacity for over 300 passengers. Range, according to Boeing is longest in the world at over 14,000 kilometers. Typical city pairings are Toronto-Karachi, London-Los Angeles and Chicago Soeul. Beautiful aircraft. The engines are huge.

TAGS: Toronto, Boeing 777, PIA

Old Fleet

2006-05-22T07:01:00.000-04:00

Air Canada retired theirs years ago but Northwest still flies almost 150 DC-9's. Northwest has one of the oldest fleet of all major airlines at over 18 years. They are replacing their DC-9's at a rate of about 30 per year. The DC-9 was first flown by Delta in 1969.

TAGS: Toronto, Northwest Airlines, DC-9

Dusk Approach

2006-05-21T12:49:00.000-04:00

TAGS: Toronto, Paint Shop Pro, airplane pictures

London-bound

2006-05-20T06:49:00.000-04:00

BA flight 098, sleeper service from Toronto to Heathrow.

TAGS: Toronto, British Airways, airplane blog

Austrian Airlines A-330

2006-05-19T07:05:00.000-04:00

Austrian Airlines A330-200. Departing runway 23 into a post-storm early evening.

TAGS: Toronto, Austrian, airplane

A-340 HEAVY

2006-05-18T18:16:00.000-04:00

Air Canada A-340 Miss Piggy. Not really. Just messing around with the effects on Corel Paint Shop Pro.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2006-05-18T15:13:00.001-04:00

Thought at first this might belong to Peter, Paul and Mary. Parked at Fedex pad. Actually belongs to Flair Airlines - Flair Airlines (?). Not a lot of info on them but some suggest this is the awkward rebirth of Canada 3000. No idea.

Googling 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' turns up over 5 million hits. John Denver and Chantal Kreviazuk rank higher than Peter, Paul and Mary - but their's is the best.

TAGS: Toronto, peter, paul and mary

Gates Learjet

2006-05-06T06:49:00.000-04:00

Note the wire antennas on this Michigan registered, Lear 35a. Built before Bombardier took over Learjet.

Tags: Learjet, Toronto, plane photos

Close Formation

2006-04-28T22:18:00.000-04:00

Two well engineered, aerodynamic bodies in close 69 formation. Big picture view here.

El Salvador's Airline

2006-04-28T21:48:00.000-04:00

TACA is based in San Salvador, El Savador. Cuba-Toronto a unique North American route. Not a lot of US demand. Here's the Wickipedia summary:

History
TACA was founded in Honduras in 1931 by New Zealander Lowell Yerex. According to Time Magazine, 31 December 1945, TACA was once the "world's largest cargo carrier."

A little known fact is that, during the 1940s, TACA also operated an airline named "TACA Venezuela".

TACA Int'l took a 49% stake in Nicaraguan airline Aeronica in 1992.

In 2005, TACA was 25% founder of Mexican airline Volaris

The mexican group Molotov in the song titled "Marciano" from their album Con Todo Respeto makes a reference to TACA.

Destinations
See full article: TACA destinations.

Fleet

Current Fleet
Taca's fleet has surged and ebbed throughout time. Today it is an all-Airbus fleet:

02 Airbus A321-200 (+1 Order)
21 Airbus A320-200 (One wet leased to Martinair)
07 Airbus A319-100 (+ 2 Orders)

Perfect Approach

2006-04-23T06:18:00.000-04:00

Airbus Nosewheel

2006-04-18T22:03:00.000-04:00

Czech Airways A-310

2006-04-13T08:05:00.000-04:00

From here to a very rough, left gear touch down, bounce, yaw, panic nose down, stop just short of runway end. Always nice after a long flight!

Embraer 190

2006-04-10T20:50:00.000-04:00

Air Canada fighting a decent crosswind on approach to runway 23. United 737 a few planes later lined up well outside and went around.

Lufthansa 747 Soccer Nose

2006-04-09T21:31:00.000-04:00

Famous Lufthansa 'soccer nose' aircraft. Getting ready for the soccer World Cup which is headed for Germany this year. According to a Lufthansa press release:
"Germany is again hosting the World Cup for the first time in 32 years. Fans the world over will be coming to Germany to support their national teams playing at soccer stadiums around the country. The Lufthansa aircraft with the football nose will act as football’s ambassadors inviting all to enjoy their stay here," said Lufthansa Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales Thierry Antinori.

TAGS: Toronto, soccer nose, Lufthansa, soccer world cup

Westjet 737-700...what goes up...

2006-04-08T16:03:00.000-04:00

Landing over Arizona's and the The Landing Strip - two well known airport landmarks.

Westjet 737-700

2006-04-08T15:56:00.000-04:00

Departing YYZ runway 23.

World Airways Try Again

2006-04-06T18:57:00.000-04:00

Guys, sorry, I had a better picture. Should have used this one the first time.

The Price of Fuel

2006-04-04T20:27:00.000-04:00

The fuel line-up at the Brampton Flying Club, Sunday afternoon. Busy litte general aviation airport. Here's their website. No idea what they charge for a fill-up and it's not obvious from their site. However, if you're flying in the US, and you're cheap, here's a great site for figuring out where not to land if you need to fill up. Hint: big airports. Some of the facts from this site: national US average price per gallon of: 100LL Avgas - $3.77; Jet A - $3.76; MoGas (for flying on the freeway) - $2.79.

Photoshop vs. Paint Shop Pro

2006-04-02T17:33:00.000-04:00

No bones about it. I'm an amateur. New with a decent camera and new to higher end photo editing. So the question was which software to go with. After checking the internet narrowed it to two options - Paint Shop Pro by Corel or Photoshop Elements by Adobe.

Both can be downloaded for 30 day trials, free from their respective web sites.

Initially downloaded Paint Shop Pro. Frankly, liked it. Only thing that bothered me - every piece of 'how to' on the internet was aimed at Elements. So, 20 days into Paint Shop, downloaded Photopshop. Even at the intitial download, should have seen where things were headed. Download and set-up operations took at least an hour. Slow, slow, frigging slow.

Now decision is clear. Technically, they're probably both similar. Couldn't find an adjustment with one that can't be made with the other. The big difference is speed. Paint Shop Pro X loads faster and is more intuitive to use than Elements. Elements is a pig. It bogs everything down. Ultimately, just too slow, too frustrating.

And here's the ultimate frustration. I never anticipated when I dowloaded something from Adobe, that it would mess with my Adobe Reader. But that's exactly what it did. Likely, there's some setting somewhere to avoid Elements loading every time I want to read a PDF - but who needs it?

The winner HANDS DOWN is Paint Shop Pro. Less than $100 and downloaded/loaded in less than 20 minutes.

Riding the Red Rocket

2006-04-01T16:12:00.000-05:00

This is my favourite Air Canada aircraft. C-FFWN joined the Air Canada fleet in 1991. Has been painted the past 3 years in Air Canada 65th Anniversay livery - red tail, red nose, red maple leaf on a white background mid section of the fuselage. 65th Anniversary is long over but this one looks too good to repaint.

Toronto Lights

2006-04-01T16:00:00.000-05:00

AC Embraer over the approach lights for 24L. The approach lights start in a parking lot of a business park east of Pearson airport.

Smile for the Camera

2006-03-31T16:53:00.000-05:00

Helicopter off Key West Florida getting close to the sailing action. Has nothing to do with Toronto.

Lockheed Starfighter

2006-03-30T06:38:00.000-05:00

CF-104 at the entrance to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario. From the Museum's website:

"The Canadian built CF-104 Starfighter was one of the most successful jet fighter aircraft to serve with Canada's Air Force. A total of 340 fighters were built under license by the Canadian government. The CF-104 was designed as a light-weight nuclear strike aircraft. The aircraft were retired from service in 1986 after being used for over 25 years until they were was replaced by the CF-18.

The CF-104 in front of the museum, bearing serial number 101641, is the "D" model built by Lockheed of which there were 39 purchased for training."

Toronto Maple Leafs

2006-03-28T20:15:00.000-05:00

Unlike the hockey team, these maple leafs will still be flying come the spring.

Olympic Marathon Comes to Toronto

2006-03-25T18:05:00.000-05:00

Olympic Airways Airbus A-340 'Marathon' crossing the buildings south of the 401 on final to runway 33L.

TAGS:Olympic Airways, A-340 picture, airlines

Toronto Pearson Airport Runways

2006-03-24T08:52:00.000-05:00

KLM 747 at Toronto

2006-03-22T00:12:00.000-05:00

This pic has been getting good views over at Flickr