I’ve finally managed to assemble the entire fleet of airplanes I flew during my trip to Thailand. Here are some pictures, for anyone who’s interested:

Here’s an overview of the fleet. There’s an Eva Air B747-400, Airbus A330-200, and B777-300ER, an Emirates 777-300, and an Alaska Airlines 737-900.

A closeup of the Alaska 737-900. Alaska was the official launch customer for this latest version of the venerable 737. This was my first flight on a B737-900, and I flew this bird from SEA-LAX.

Eva’s new and immaculate B777-300ER. Those engines are huge and they’re specatular (and also the most powerful turbofans in the world). This was my first flight on a B777-300ER; I flew this bird from BKK-TPE.

My (and Eva’s) first A330-200. I’m not a huge fan of Airbus, but the A330-200 had quite a few creature comforts that I’ll admit Boeing’s planes seem to lack. I flew this bird from TPE-BKK.

No Asian airline is complete without a 747 for transoceanic routes. To prove it is a -400, you can make out a winglet just above the vertical stabilizer. I flew this bird from LAX-TPE and TPE-SEA.

This was my first flight on Emirates, and its high marks for service are truly well-deserved. As an added bonus, it was the first time I’d flown on a B777-300. I flew this bird from BKK-HKG.

Yeah, this is probably my favorite model in my collection right now (although I do have rarer and more expensive ones…)

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http://www.gorbico.com/images/IFUA747big.jpg

Despite the three-digit price tag, this one will be hard to pass up…

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Apparently a number of experienced, career pilots are mistaking a taxiway at Sea-tac for an actual runway.

For the record, no United pilots have ever landed on the taxiway. Clearly United’s special place in my heart is well-deserved.

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No, not one of my predetermined pump-up songs for Nationals last week (which of course, I forgot to bring with me).

I love aviation. I love airplanes, and I love flying. I do as much as I can to immerse myself in this wonderful hobbyist world: I collect diecast airline models, books, and posters. There’s always been something missing, however; actually trying my hand at flying.

That changed a week ago, after I installed Microsoft Flight Simulator, purchased a new video card, and a joystick. I’m now desperately trying to learn the intricacies of straight and level flight, trimming, climbs and descents, and, of course, looking spiffy in my uber-cool pilot sunglasses. My ultimate goal is to reach a level of proficiency where I feel comfortable enough to join up with the gang at United Virtual (my favorite airline, no less) and fly some Saturday scrambles.

Wish me luck!

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Happy Fourth of July weekend everyone. Non-Americans visiting this site; sorry, it’s just another run of the mill weekend.

As of 5 minutes ago, I officially (well, most likely) finished my source & cite check duties for my first article as R&T editor. It was quite a process; I ended up doing a lot more work than I thought I’d have to. I ended up tracking down quite a few specific pinpoint cites in dozens of cases, and adding parallel citations to just about all of the cites. Definitely time consuming. But it’s over!

My model aircraft collection seems to be reaching a plateau. I’ve collected 35 pieces of 1:400 UAL planes. There are a few pieces here and there that I’d “like” to collect, but nothing major. Of course, the manufacturers continue to tease us with pictures of new releases, so that should permit the UAL collection to grow, albeit at a snail’s pace. Wonder what airline I’ll move on to next… or if I even should!

For those of you who are interested, you can view the various models I have here (sorry, no pics, it’s just a forum).

Also, I recently completed United’s DC-8 line. It’s sweet. Have a look:

Incidentally, some of may have noticed that comments are no longer enabled for unregistered users. I turned them off because frankly, the comment spam was becoming unbearable, even with mt-blacklist. Plus, since I practically never get any comments, I figured this wouldn’t really piss anyone off too much. Anyway, that’s that.

IT’S BBQ TIME!

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