Well finally I've avoided getting screwed on catching these two arrivals- I go to Founders' Plaza, they both land on 13R. I go to the China Air Cargo parking lot, they go and land on 18R.
I love Korean Air's colors. And they look especially elegant on the brawny lines of the Boeing 777. Here is Korean 31 Heavy turning off 13R on the high speed (Taxiway A4) which nicely points right at the small hill by the China Air Cargo parking lot.
All her feathers are still "out and ruffled" from the landing. This particular Korean Air 777-200ER is tail number HL7575 and is arriving from Seoul-Inchon.
I like how this one turned out, and you can see the port engine nacelle reflected on the fuselage. I think I'll get this one enlarged and printed for my own walls. This particular aircraft, HL7575, was built and delivered to Korean Air in October 2000.
Korean Air's 777-200ERs are always pristine when I've seen them. Their flight and cabin crews stay at the Omni Hotel on LBJ Freeway/Luna Road. In the background of this close up shot is a former FedEx 727-200F used by the DFW fire department as a trainer.
HL7575 rolling down Taxiway B on its way to International Terminal D. West Airfield Road runs right along Taxiway B and under Taxiway A/B a litte further down from my vantage point. It's the *other* dual taxiway bridge at DFW aside from the Alpha and Bravo bridge in the south and Yankee and Zulu bridge in the north that go over International Parkway.
Jackpot! Landing on 13R right behind the Korean Air 777 this particular morning is the newest carrier to serve DFW, Yangtze River Express. Here she is turning off the very end of 13R onto the A5/A6 taxiway.
Established on 15 January 2003 as the second cargo airline in the country after China Cargo Airlines, it was majority owned by the Hainan Air Group (85%) with Hainan Airlines Co (5%) and Shanghai Airport Group (10%) holding the remaining shares. The airline took over the entire cargo operations of Hainan Airlines, China Xinhua Airlines, Chang'an Airlines and Shanxi Airlines, all members of the Hainan Air Group.
In 2006, it divested 49% of its shareholdings to a consortium of companies including China Airlines, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, Wan Hai Lines and China Container Express Lines. Ironically China Airlines of Taiwan became the largest foreign shareholder with a 25% stake. Yangtze River Express intiated services to DFW just this year.
The classic lines of the 747 transcend just being an aviation icon. It's more than that, a cultural and technological icon that even today 40 years after its first flight lives on in the upcoming 747-8 of which the prototype is nearing completion.
Under the pitot tubes in the red cheatline in small white letters are the titles "RVSM Qualified Aircraft".
This particular aircraft was built as a 747-400 (domestic -400 without winglets) for All Nippon/ANA in October 1997. In 2003 Boeing modified it into a 747-400D (domestic version of the -400 that lack winglets).
When this aircraft was sold to Yangtze River Express, it got its winglets back in addition to other conversion work to change it to freighter configuration. The conversion work was done from July 2008 to February of this year by IAI's Bedek Division in Tel Aviv, making it a 747-400BDSF (Bedek Special Freighter- basically an IAI counterpart of the 747-400BCF, Boeing Converted Freighter).
Early morning shots aren't great when facing east at the China Air Cargo parking lot, but I couldn't resist this shot of the Yangtze River Express 747-400BDSF rolling up Taxiway C to go to the West Cargo complex while the Korean Air 777 heads down Taxiway WM to cross 18R and 18L to get to the International Terminal.
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