Cobham Flight Precision

Back from 2012,
a shot I hadn't published previously...
A Cobham Flight Precision Beach Craft on a night-stop with a PGA Fokker 100 taxiing on the back to runway 05...history already...
PGA's Fokker 100 were, some years ago, phased out and Cobham isn't making the calibrations around here also for some years....

Cobham Flight Precision Beachcraft 350 Super King Air G-COBM with PGA Fokker 100 CS-TPD taxiing on the back.
Check the other pics of this plane on this night HERE

O Beechcraft da Capital

Já tivemos por cá este Beech 200 Super King Air da Capital umas quantas vezes mas, nunca tinha calhado apanhá-lo.
Neste dia tive sorte e o G-KVIP acabou por marcar presença por cá, dando-me finalmente oportunidade de fazer-lhe umas fotos à aterragem,

The Calibrator

Once in a while we have around here the "Calibrator", a Flight Precision Beechcraft used to calibrate the air NAV Aids.

It's been quite a while since I last caught it flying but, last Tuesday got it departing to the Azores after a couple of days calibrating Madeira's NAV Aids.

Getting ready for the departure, while Tuifly's DB Air Two (D-ATUC) taxies to the stand, after arriving on runway 23

Cleared to taxi... (to runway 23)

...and quite an early take off, from G-COBM

Medevac Nocturna

Ontem à noite, o C-295 da Esquadra 502 da Força Aérea Portuguesa efectuou (pelo menos) mais uma Medevac nocturna, a partir do AM3, na ilha vizinha de Porto Santo.

Quando o Paulo Brito me ligou, estava em Santa Cruz, pelo que dei um salto ao aeroporto para tentar fazer mais umas fotos nocturnas do 295...

Enquanto o 295 não chegava, aproveitei para umas fotos ao CS-TPD, da PGA, que se preparava para saír...
(este ano ainda não tinha fotografado nenhum PGA...acho eu...)

Outro dos motivos que me levou ao aeroporto foi este Beechcraft da Flight Inspection.
Ainda não o tinha fotografado com estas cores...
Entretanto, o CS-TPD estava em hold, no taxiway Charlie, pois o C-295 estava já na final para aterrar na 05

Acabaram por mandar o 295 (16710) para o Alpha 13, longe como tudo e com  imensos postes, etc entre mim e o avião...
A única forma de fazer um "tiro limpo", sem "lixo à frente, foi mesmo neste ângulo, utilizando todos os milímetros disponíveis na 50-500....

Aerocondor at Madeira

This is a post on request from Paulo Olim, Asas Madeira Blog. ;)

He asked for Aerocondor pics at Madeira.
This was one of the airlines that assured the Madeira-Porto Santo flights. I don't now exactly during which years they made this route but I'll try to get exact dates and post later.

I don't know if I really got all the planes they used at Madeira but I'm pretty sure I did....

The most used type was the Shorts 360...(ugly box....) with CS-TMN and CS-TLJ

Sometimes they also used the Do-228, a litle plane that I allways enjoyed seeing.

Only caught it once or twice and was used usually due to mechanical problems with the Shorts.

The other plane they used (not for long) was an ATR-42, which they even said it would be used on regular basis for the Madeira-Porto Santo but by then, things were going really down with the company and it never made more than a few days or weeks on the route....

The "Moscas" (Flies) was also operated by Aerocondor.

It was used to transport and air release of infertile fruit flies, produced at a regional lab, as a way of combat to these insects.....

After Aerocondor, Sata went for this route with ATP and still assures it, now with the Dash Q200....

O Moscas (Flies)

Haven't been processing any new pics, so another topic of memories, also back from 2005.

This a gone aircraft (and company). It was operated by Aerocondor which also operated the Madeira-Porto Santo route and went bankrupt.

It was used on a strange and diferent mission, in suport of the Madeira MED Program...spreading flies... :))

On a short explanation, there's a Govermental regional lab that "produces" sterile fruit flies and this plane was used to spread them over the island as a way of birth control of this species.

The plane was usually called "O Moscas" (The flies)...