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KS Ong

DC10 - Finals Days of New Era

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She was a rival to the 747s, L1011s, bridging continents, capturing the imagination of many with her unique tail engine. Hundreds flew during the 80s and the 90s and were the pride of many airlines, But today, she is a fuel guzzler and uneconomical to be maintained. She is the DC10 and the only airline in the world that still operates the last passenger version is Biman BANGLADESH AIRLINES. But not for long.

DC10distance_zpsca0f5242.jpg

 

The last of her kind and the second last to be built, S2-ACR (New Era) is counting her days to retirement. Having to know that her "supposed last flight" is on 6 December to KUL, we have embarked to document this historical event. And after many many days of discussion with the relevant authorities we have been given a GO to do the coverage.

 

Meeting with MAB and going through security protocols and presenting a memento.

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Then we are off to get our security screening, clearance and to be escorted..

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FollowMe_zpsdd4762e8.jpg

 

to be continued...

Edited by KS Ong

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We entered KLIA at around 2pm in our vehicle. We drove straight to substation building at 32L facing the hangars. We had to pass through cargo area and the hangars. Hehe....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon arriving at the spot, I took this picture. No obstruction this time and MAHB Security left us to ourselves. Yay!

 

6Dec2013_Hangar_1a.jpg


 

 

 

 

For your information, we split into two groups. One group covered the landing and take off and the other group stationed at the satellite gate.

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Just to recap, weather for the past weeks had been really miserable... as you can see from the satellite image below

1_zpse1cf5629.jpg

 

Date: 6 December 2013

Time: 7:43 am

IMG_7873_zps1c0ee4f3.jpg

MH21 coming in from Paris under a think blanket of cloud. I then went to join the rest of the members to MAB for safety briefing before we start our work for Biman

 

 

Just a side note, during the meeting, one member of the gang had a crush on one of the MAB staff.... rest is history :air_kiss:

01fccea94739397253709ba245768bf6_zpsd8d7

 

hati dia tarak di sini... kekeke :search:

a9a02ac4dce0c2db92584b7017b10376_zps1ef1

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Wait a minute, you actually drove your own vehicle into the airside?

 

Ya laa Kwek. I think in this discipline, KLIA is ahead of your Changi. Hehehehe........

 

And our driver was MdSalleh, the spotter king of SZB. He regretted to play such role as he couldn't spot while driving. Keh keh keh.....

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Hi Azahan, sometimes it's better this way....haha. ........ Looking forward to more pictures please!

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Great stuff guys! That is why everyone comes to Malaysianwings! :)

 

KS, I am not sure what the thread title meant - I thought it was the end of an old Era. Soon there will be no more three holer pax services as KL will also retire its MD-11 fleet quite rapidly...

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Great stuff guys! That is why everyone comes to Malaysianwings! :)

 

KS, I am not sure what the thread title meant - I thought it was the end of an old Era. Soon there will be no more three holer pax services as KL will also retire its MD-11 fleet quite rapidly...

 

Answer found below the cockpit window on the port side of the beauty. :)

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Biman three holer was expected to arrive at 1545. We had 90 minutes to so called 'set up' and 'test our' gear. Hmmm.......

 

 

 

 

I 'tested' my gear by taking this video. One of the 'thousands' of Emirates' triples, this one a Melbourne-bound, dropping by to steal MH's passengers on the Kangaroo run. They are really good at what they do.

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News Biman News

Dear Customer,

There has been a lot of interest lately from press, aviation enthusiasts and the general public, on what will be happening with Biman’s last DC10s, which will be phased out in the coming months with the arrival of new aircraft. These are the last flying passenger DC10-30 aircraft in the whole world. So I thought I would take this opportunity to brief you with the latest news, which will be updated when further firm news becomes available.

Biman currently has 2 DC10-30s flying. As their fuel consumption is higher than other aircraft in our fleet, they are used sparingly. One of those DC10s will come to the end of its economic life on 10th November 2013 (today), and will be scrapped locally. The last DC10 will continue normal flying until 7th December 2013, the start of the revised schedule for the fog period here in Dhaka. Thereafter, it will only be used as a standby aircraft, in case another aircraft in our fleet become unserviceable for any reason. We will not be scheduling it on any route though.

This last DC10 will continue as a standby aircraft until sometime in February 2014. The exact date is not known yet, as it is being coordinated with the arrival of our brand new B777-300ER aircraft from Boeing. We expect to know the exact date in early January 2014.

The last DC10 is being donated to a museum in the USA, a fitting end for an aircraft that has served Biman loyally and well over many year. Accordingly, we will then offer for sale, as a last opportunity to travel on a passenger DC10, anywhere in the world:

a. Seats on a last flight Dhaka to Birmingham (UK). Note this will need a technical stop

somewhere.

b. 2 (or more if demand requires it) one hour ‘scenic tours’ to/from Birmingham

c. We are unsure if the US authorities will give us traffic rights on the Birmingham to USA

sector. If they do, this will also be offered for sale.

d. We are also discussing with the UK POost Office, about the carriage of ‘Last day Covers’

on the last sector Birmingham-USA, for sale at a later date.

Tickets will only be sold via our website, hopefully from early January, so do not buy tickets elsewhere, we want these tickets to go to genuine aviation enthusiasts. If there is a demand for more ‘scenic tour’ flights at Birmingham, we can consider these too.

We hope you will join with us in celebrating the farewell of a loyal, beautiful aircraft, but also to recognize that the time has now come for Biman to equip itself with the very latest in new aircraft and technology.

Kevin Steele

MD & CEO

I took this from Biman's website.

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wow! can't wait to see more photos from you guys! MW rocks! this time don have to worry about all these lamp polls for 32L shots. :D

keep the ball rolling

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Meanwhile when the guys are performing their testing...

 

Team Satellite too has checked-in after collecting the magic pass and have our theme park wristband on.

IMG-20131206-WA0011_zpsf5f53553.jpg

 

The DC10 will be parking at C4 as requested..... so we hop on the CIMB train over to the satellite...

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Since we know our gate, and our target is delayed for 40mins... our team decided to chillax at the coffee joint... and our friend went briefly into the slumber-land...

IMG-20131206-WA0015_zps26c4ca83.jpg

 

to be continued....

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While my colleague was snoring at the terminal, we were busy 'testing'...... :pardon:

 

6Dec2013_ACH_2a.jpg

 

 

6Dec2013_ACH_3a.jpg

 

 

6Dec2013_ACH_1a.jpg

 

 

With attractive pricing, lots of MH's passengers defect and fly with this one for the European run. After all, its One World maaa........

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During our meeting with MAB, we are told "ONLY TO SHOOT" BIMAN. We are "NOT ALLOWED" to shoot other airlines. So what do we do about that? We just oblige and shoot "BIMANs" la :db: :db: :db:

 

This "BIMAN" (FedEx) A300 is a real work horse and is dire need of new paint.

FedExA300_zpsbeca6500.jpg

 

Without wasting too much time, we quickly took out our gear at the substation to get "BIMAN" test shots. Our first subject "BIMAN" (Emirates) 77W.

K77W_zps2a44a22c.jpg

 

Although we don't get street 'tiangs', we do get bigger and fatter tiangs to be in our way. This "BIMAN" (US Air Force) C17 caught us by surprise. Got to know form MAB patrollater that this C17 was rejected to land in SIN earlier.

 

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Still have to avoid tiangs

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Also more tiangs.

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After going through the tiang hassle, this is the reward.

C17Smoke_zps7e7df941.jpg

 

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Test shot,test shot...!!!

 

Retro livery

 

RetroDSC_6922_zps3df2a626.jpg

 

Old livery

 

MWOldDSC_6546_zps7d2b9f48.jpg

 

New livery

 

MWNewDSC_6590_zps915f6345.jpg

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Team Satellite too has checked-in after collecting the magic pass .....

Am I right in reading that magic pass has validity till Sep 2014 ?

I hope you refused to return it after your assignment :D

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Well since others have show their's test shots, its time for me to show mine.....

 

We have already have EK, 3K, QR, FX and US Airforce.... Spotting in KLIA is incomplete without ..... YES! the red army! :acute:

 

9M-XXA

 

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9M-AHU

 

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9M-AQH

 

 

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more to come.... stay tunes!

Edited by Wong Hock Peng

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The "Oh Tahi Banyak Tajam" (s#1t Sharp) Moment!

One Point for Canon

Grp1_zps98037e7c.jpg

 

One point for Nikon

Grp2_zps192cc09f.jpg

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