Vivek

Sure, why not? How long is your stay in BOM normally? The area is safe, but an outsider with camera will definitely attract a lot of attention from the local squatters. Maybe, I can take you there if your stopover is on a weekend.

Hi All, After three months of heavy rains and absolutely dull weather, I had a couple of good spotting sessions recently. Here are some of the pics from these sessions on Airliners.net. Click on the thumbnails to view the bigger image. Cathay Pacific Cargo 744F Silver Bullet Indian Airlines A320 in the classic IC livery A surprise visitor - South Korean Air Force C-130 Hercules A Gulfstream V owned by Harrahs Operating Co, Inc. Will update this thread with more pics soon! Enjoy! - Vivek

Hello All, Last weekend was the second anniversary of India's Kingfisher Airlines. And the airline's chairman, Vijay Mallya celebrated the occasion by flying in the Airbus A380 to India. As some of you might be aware, Kingfisher Airlines has ordered five A380s with an option for five more. Here are some pics I clicked during the event. The A380 F-WWJB being pushed back from Bay 41, BOM Terminal 2A. Note how the tail is taller than the terminal The big bird follows the "Follow Me" vehicle on the taxiway. The A380 waits on the taxiway as a Jet Airways 737 turns onto taxiway "Golf" A close-up of the nose The massive RR Trent 1000 engine What a massive aircraft this is Start of the take-off roll And lift-off!!! After an hour's demo flight, the bird returns Touchdown The bird taxies back to the bay. Compare the size with a 747! Hope you liked the action! Apologies for the poor quality, as the lighting and heat were terrible in BOM. Also, didnt invest much time in processing

Lovely tail shots and that lounge shot is simply awesome! A very different perspective!

The URL below has a picture of the engine. http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/uriks/article1520173.ece At first glance, it appears that there is some visible damage (dents due to debris hitting?) near the exhaust nozzle.

Hi Andrew, How bad really is MH's maintenance? Its kinda hard to imagine that an airline like MH should have poor maintenance!

An MH 777-200 apparently lost engine parts while taking off from Stockholm, Sweden. The plane was dumping fuel over the Baltic sea and was to return to the airport. The ATC informed the pilots that ground crew sighted several parts falling on the runway. More details are awaited. Here is a link in Swedish relating to the incident. http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/inrikes/did_13993236.asp - Vivek P.S. Can anyone find out the registration of the aircraft in question? Thanks

Thank you all for your kind comments

Hi All, Here are the pics clicked during my recent Malaysia trip: http://myaviation.net/search/search.php?uid=14203 Comments welcome - Vivek

Some of the RAF personnel were staying with us at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Shah Alam. Got a chance to talk to a couple of them. They mentioned that they were in KL for a week before heading back home. They gave me the news that the RAF aircraft were stationed at Subang. This person I spoke to was one of the staff manning the AWACS aircraft. Quite a jolly fella he was!

Hi All, I stayed at the Holiday Inn Glenmarie at Shah Alam for two days this week and on both mornings, I heard an extremely loud aircraft taking off from Subang at around 0810 hrs. I was ofcourse asleep and was woken up by the loud sound. Any ideas which aircraft this is? There were a couple of RAF personnel staying in our hotel and they too were stunned on hearing the loud sound. The RAF folks were in KL for a week before proceeding homeward on their AWACS aircraft which was stationed at the Subang airport. - Vivek

This looks like a classic case of too much government interference in the running of the airline. Pretty similar to what we have seen with Air India! Due to senseless meddling by the Govt of India in the running of AI, the quality has gone down and a lot of revenue has also been lost due to freebies handed out to ministers and beaureucrats. The best solution for this is to privatise the airline - Vivek

Hey Kevin, Thanks so much for the information. Yes, I tried the same technique of pressing the lens close to the glass surface at BKK as well I was going over the layout of KLIA the other day and there seems to be a shuttle train between the main terminal and the satellite terminal. Is this route underground or elevated? Can one move freely betwen these two terminals even if one doesnt have an imminent flight departure? Also, any chances of clicking pics from the satellite terminal? - Vivek

Hello Andrew, Nice to meet you as well! I will land in KUL on Sep 17 and will stay there till the 19th when I will proceed to PEN. - Vivek

Thank you so much guys for this information. How is the glass at the KLIA viewing gallery? Is it too thick/tinted resulting in pics with background glare, grains or is it good enough for taking some good pics? The one at the Don Muang airport at BKK was thick but I could manage to click a few pics when the light was good. BTW, I am flying from BOM on Sep 16 by MH-195 which is normally operated by a 772. The flight reaches KUL at 0545 on the 17th. Any idea whether an equipment change is common on this route because I had seen an A332 at BOM once. I will be flying to PEN on the 19th by Air Asia flt AK6314 leaving KUL at 1340. Return is by AK6319 on the 21st, arriving at 1315. I will be returning to BOM the same evening by MH194 leaving KUL at 1755. I have earmarked atleast a couple of hours at all airports for spotting. Lets hope I can catch some good action. Will keep you all updated. - Vivek

Hello, Thanks for the information. Any idea on how is PEN airport for spotting/photography? Also, what is the kind of international traffic the airport sees apart from the usual MH and Air Asia birds? Thanks in advance. - Vivek

Hello All, This is Vivek from Mumbai, India. I am travelling to Malaysia on September 16th. Will arrive at KUL by MH195 on 17th. Would be staying in KL for two days and will be off to PEN by Air Asia on the 19th. What are the good spots inside the terminal (both the main terminal & the LCCT) for spotting/clicking pics? I would be travelling with my wife, so would not be able to venture outisde the airport for photography. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks. - Vivek P.S. My aviation pics can be found here: http://myaviation.net/?uid=14203