Good-bye for Skymark A330s/スカイマークのA330機が運航停止に

According to some Japanese media, Skymark Airlines stop operating all its own Airbus a330-300s from February 1. The airline already applied the civil rehabilitation proceedings for the Tokyo District Court on January 28, and have decided to discontinue using the A330s. The main reasons they have some problems, such as lack of the mechanic training for Airbus certification and will be delayed the renovation plan for starting in-flight Wi-fi service etc. As a result, they cannot expand more destinations as they planned. Currently, the company have six fleets of the aircraft and start flying in June 2014. 
メディアの報道によるとスカイマークは2月1日からエアバスa330-300機を全機運航停止するようです。同社は去る1月28日に東京地裁へ民事再生法適用を申請し同型機の運航停止を決めたようです。主な理由としては同型機認定の整備士育成の遅れやWi-fiサービス開始に伴う改修遅れなどによる就航地数拡大が予定通り進まなかったことなどが挙げられます。同社は現在同型機を6機保有し2014年6月から東京羽田ー福岡線に、8月から羽田ー札幌（新千歳）線にそれぞれ就航しています。

A day at Fukuoka Airport, part 3/福岡空港で一日撮影（その3）

After taking pictures of arriving planes, I went back to the usual place, near Rwy 34R. I was keep going to take pictures of planes takeoff and landing until 5 pm.
到着機撮影後いつもの場所である滑走路34R付近に戻って5時ごろまで離着陸する飛行機を撮影しました。

First, I'm uploading a Korean Air A330-200 plane. This is flight KE790 to Seoul. It was taking off at 3:45 pm.
まず最初に大韓航空のA330-200機をUPします。当機はソウル行きKE790便で午後3時45分に離陸しました。

3 minutes after, a Philippine Airlines flight PR425 to Manila was taking off.
3分後にフィリピン航空のPR425便マニラ行きが離陸。

A Jin Air plane was taking off at 3:52 pm.
午後3時52分にジンエアーの飛行機が離陸。

I was also taken a picture of Air China A321 plane takeoff. It was a blur, so I had tried to fix it on my Photoshop. But I couldn't do it anymore. I deleted it from my picture after all.
中国国際航空A321機の離陸する写真も撮ったのですが写りがぼやけていてフォトショップでしてもうまく修正できないので結局マイピクチャーから削除してしまいました。

At 4:34 pm, an Asiana Airlines flight OZ134 from Seoul was landing and taxi. As opposed to a morning flight, OZ sent the A330s for flight of the day.
午後4時34分：アシアナ航空のソウル発OZ134便の着陸およびタキシング。この日は午前便とは反対にA330機で飛来していました。

A Dragon Air flight KA381 to Hong Kong was taking off at 4:41 pm.
午後4時41分にドラゴン航空のKA381便香港行きが離陸。

After a few minutes, a China Airlines flight CI116 from Taipei was landing and taxi. The aircraft registration number B-18806 was used for flight of the day. It puts up a large sticker of The Official Airline for Climate Monitoring at the rear of the plane.
数分後にチャイナエアライン（中華航空）の台北発CI116便が着陸しました。機体番号はB-18806で後部に"The Official Airlines for Climate Monitoring"のステッカーが貼ってあります。

It's the last photo taken on the day. The plane was stopped at Gate 56, the right end of the international gates. It made a row of two Asian carriers, the one and the Asiana one when taking pictures.
この日最後に撮影した写真です。当機は右端のゲートである56番にスポットイン。お隣のアシアナ機と並んで止まっているところが見れてラッキーでした。

A day at Fukuoka Airport, part 2/福岡空港で一日撮影（その2）

After having lunch, I have continued to take pictures of planes, so I moved to the another place near Rwy 16R. Here is the popular spot for plane enthusiasts. You can see incoming planes up close except for the day a wind blowing to the north.
昼食後飛行機ファンたちの撮影の名所である滑走路16R近くで撮影しました。北風が吹いている日を除きここから着陸するので到着する飛行機を間近に見ることができます。

I want to keep uploading my taking pictures of planes from here.
ここで撮影した飛行機を引き続きUPしていきたいと思います。

A China Eastern Airlines flight MU535 from Beijing via Qingdao was landing at 2:04 pm. Unlike the plane seen in the morning, it was coming to the old livery.
午後2時04分に中国東方航空の北京発青島経由MU535便が着陸。午前中見た飛行機とは違って旧塗装でした。

Waiting about 30 minutes, a Korean Air flight KE789 from Seoul was landing. KE sent the A330-200s for flight of the day.
30分ほど経ってから大韓航空のソウル発KE789便が着陸。この日はA330-200機で飛来していました。

3 minutes after, a Philippine Airlines flight PR426 from Manila was landing.
3分後フィリピン航空のマニラ発PR426便が着陸。

A Jin Air flight from Seoul was landing at 2:47 pm. The budget airline began operating to their Fukuoka route from last December.
午後2時47分にジンエアーのソウル発の便が着陸。LCCである同社は昨年12月から福岡線を就航しました。

An Air Busan plane was coming in 10 minutes later. This is flight BX146 from Busan. It was started from 26 October 2014.
10分後エアプサンの飛行機がやってきました。当時間帯のフライトは昨年10月26日から増便されたBX146便です。

A Dragon Air flight KA380 from Hong Kong was landing at 3:01 pm. Aircraft registration number B-HLI was used for flight of the day. Presently, the airline is flying the A330-300s to 4 flights per week, on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. It's much better than before this route was exclusively used for the A320-200s on a daily basis.
午後3時01分にドラゴン航空の香港発KA380便が着陸。機体番号はB-HLIでした。現在同社はA330-300機を水曜、木曜、土曜、日曜の週4便投入しサービス向上を図っています。

The last one is an Air China flight CA915 from Shanghai. It was landing at 3:04 pm, 3 minutes after the Dragon Air flight was touched down.
最後に中国国際航空の上海発CA915便をUPします。当機はドラゴン航空の3分後である午後3時04分に着陸しています。

Then I went back to the usual place, near Rwy 34R. I was keep going to take pictures of planes takeoff until 5 pm.
その後いつもの撮影場所である滑走路34R付近に戻って5時ごろまで離陸する飛行機を撮影しました。

To be continued..
続く..

A day at Fukuoka Airport, part 1/福岡空港で一日撮影（その1）

Yesterday, I went to the airport to take pictures of planes. It was a perfect sunny day, so was the best condition for taking pictures. I was taking many pictures of planes all day. What planes did I see? I saw two Boeing 777-300ERs of Cathay Pacific and Korean Air in the morning, and Jin Air, Korea's low-cost carrier, was flying to Fukuoka from last December and China Airlines A340-300s in the afternoon.
昨日国際線の飛行機を撮影しに行きました。天気は快晴で撮影には絶好のコンディションとなりました。朝から見たいものが多くて午前中にはキャセイと大韓2機のB777-300ER機が、午後には韓国のLCCで就航して間もないジンエアーやチャイナエアライン（中華航空）のA340-300機などが見れました。

Let's start uploading.
それではアップロードを始めます。

The first one is a China Eastern Airlines flight MU532 to Shanghai taken at 10:04 am. The A320 plane was repainted with a new livery adopted in 2014.
最初に午前10時04分に撮影した中国東方航空の上海行きMU532便をUPします。当A320機は2014年に採用した新塗装となっていました。

A Cathay Pacific flight CX511 to Hong Kong via Taipei was taking off at 10:21 am. Aircraft registration number B-KPR was used for flight of the day. They sent the 77Ws to Fukuoka for a long time, since last March.
午前10時21分にキャセイパシフィック航空の台北経由香港行きCX511便が離陸。機体番号はB-KPRでした。同社の77W機が福岡に飛来したのは昨年3月以来久々です。

3 minutes after, an All Nippon Airways flight NH248 to Tokyo Haneda was taking off. This flight was used for the state of the art Boeing aircraft, the 787-9 start flying in last August.
3分後全日空の東京羽田行きのNH248便が離陸。当便は昨年8月に就航開始したばかりの最新鋭B787-9機が入っていました。

A Korean Air flight KE788 to Seoul was taking off at 10:49 am. Aircraft registration number HL7783 was used for flight of the day. KE has both type of B773s, the original one and its stretch version, the -300ERs. It's the latter one, therefore I was so lucky to see two 77Ws at the same time.
午前10時49分に大韓航空のソウル行きKE788便が離陸。機体番号はHL7783でした。KEのB773機は初期の-300とストレッチバージョンの-300ER両方の機種を保有していますが、当機は-300ERなので同じ時間帯に2機見れてラッキーでした。

An Asiana Airlines flight OZ131 to Seoul was taking off at 11:38 am. The morning flight is usually used to A330s or B777s. However, it is excepted to be few passengers on Sundays during the wintertime so that they made aircraft changes to Airbus a 321-200s.
午前11時38分にアシアナ航空のソウル行きOZ131便が離陸。この時期だと日曜日の午前便は利用客が少ないせいかいつものA330/B777ではなくA321機に変更しているようです。

To be continued..
続く..

Planes on a United Airlines Guam - Fukuoka route/ユナイテッド航空グアムー福岡線の使用機材

Today, I'll talk about planes of a United Airlines that are used on their Guam - Fukuoka route.
今日はユナイテッド航空のグアムー福岡線の使用機材について述べます。

Summary/あらすじ
The airline is operated on their Fukuoka route to 1 flight per day from the former Continental Airlines era. The two companies merged together, and it has became the newly born United Airlines in 2012. After that the new company has taken over all operations of the route, such as planes, bookings, cabin crews etc.
UAの福岡線は合併前のコンチネンタル航空時代から1日1便運航していて2012年の統合完了後機材、予約、機内乗務員などすべての運航面を引き継いでいます。

Equipments/運航機材
This route is exclusively used for the Boeing 737-700s (see the photos) on a daily basis. It's slightly smaller of its fuselage than the -800s and -900s. In the highest seasons, however, will be used for the -800s on their route.
当路線はB737機を使用していて通常は胴体のやや小さい-700型機（写真）を用いていますがお正月やGWなどの多客期には-800機も飛来しているようです。

N13720, a Star Alliance special livery./スターアライアンス特別塗装機であるN13720。

Plane spotting on 22 January 2015/2015年1月22日の飛行機ウオッチング

Yesterday, I went to the airport to take some pictures of international planes. It was a terrible day for rain. But my mind is still wanted to take pictures of some planes, such as Cathay Pacific A340-300s and EVA Air A330-200s, so I had decided to go there.
昨日国際線の飛行機を撮影しに行きました。時折強い雨が降るあいにくの天気でしたが、キャセイのA340-300機やエバーのA330-200機を撮りたかったので決行しました。

Let's start uploading.
それではアップロードを始めます。

The first one is a Cathay Pacific flight CX511 to Hong Kong via Taipei. Aircraft registration number B-HXB was used for flight of the day. Through I had already taken pictures of its 343s twice which are taken in August 2012 and July 2013, but it's the first time to take a look the plane closely.
まず最初にキャセイパシフィック航空の台北経由香港行きCX511便をUPします。機体番号はB-HXBでした。同社の343機は2012年8月と2013年7月の2回撮影したのですが間近で見たのは初めてです。

The runway for international flights was temporarily closed because of the heavy rain, therefore all the flights were moved to the domestic side.
大雨による国際線滑走路一時閉鎖に伴いすべての便は国内線側に移動していました。

A China Airlines plane was taking off during taxi.
タキシング中にチャイナエアライン（中華航空）の飛行機が離陸。

The plane was taking off at 10:26 am local time.
飛行機は午前10時26分に離陸。

10 minutes after, a Jetstar Asia Airways flight 3K510 to Singapore via Bangkok was taking off.
10分後ジェットスター・アジア航空のバンコク経由シンガポール行き3K510便が離陸。

At 10:41 am, Two national flag carriers of Korea met each other: During a Korean Air plane taxi and takeoff, an Asiana Airlines plane was just touched down. Both are to/from Seoul.
午前10時41分に大韓航空のソウル行きKE788便がタキシングおよび離陸中にアシアナ航空のソウル発OZ132便がちょうど着陸。

At 11:07 am, during another Korean Air plane to Busan and a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) E-767 plane taxi and takeoff, an EVA Air plane from Taipei was just touched down.
午前11時07分に大韓航空の釜山行きKE784便と航空自衛隊E-767機のタキシングおよび離陸中にエバー航空の台北発BR106便がちょうど着陸。

The rain stopped after a while.
しばらくして雨が止みました。

At 11:48 am, two planes of the Asiana Airlines group moved along on side runway.  An Air Busan plane was kept up with an Asiana Airlines plane to Seoul.
午前11時48分：アシアナ航空のソウル行きOZ131便の後にエアプサンの釜山行きBX141便がついて行っていました。

After a few minutes, three Asian carriers met each other. It's unusual scene, a Thai Airways B787-8 plane was ready for takeoff and the above-mentioned two Asiana group planes were waiting for takeoff. Why? The international runway was reopened due to the heavy rainfall in the morning.
数分後タイ航空のB787-8機と上記のアシアナ航空グループの2機がお互いに顔を合わせる珍しい場面がありました。この日の朝は大雨だったせいか一時的に国際線滑走路を閉鎖していたようです。

The last one is an EVA Air flight BR105 to Taipei. Aircraft registration number B-16308 was used for flight of the day. Besides, making an aircraft change from A333s of Kitty Jets to a normal livery of A332s was done for this day.
最後にエバー航空の台北行きBR105便をUPします。機体番号はB-16308でした。この日の同便は333のキティジェットから332の通常塗装機に機材変更されています。

The plane was taking off at 12:18 pm local time.
飛行機は午後12時18分に離陸。

Visiting the site of Kosuge Ship Repair Dock, Nagasaki

We went to the site of Kosuge Ship Repair Dock (小菅修船場跡) on 13 January. It is located in Kosugemachi, on the south of the city of Nagasaki. The most part of this area facing the inlet sea, called Nagasaki Bay is occupied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 

Completed in 1868, this is the first Western-style dock in Japan. It has been planned to built by Thomas Blake Glover, a Scottish merchant and two Satsuma clan warriors, Kiyokado Komatsu and Godai Tomoatsu. It is a consist of three parts, a gridiron deck, a brick machine room, and a hoist which is made by the UK. It is has been popular in the name of abacus dock from the appearance of the ruins.

In 1969, it has been designated as a national historic site by the government. In addition, the monuments were submitted jointly for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List on the tentative list of the Modern Industrial Heritage Sites in Kyushu and Yamaguchi in 2009.

Strolling around Hasami's pottery village, part 2: Visiting to Ceremics Park Hasami

Going back to the town, we visited to Ceramics Park Hasami (波佐見焼き物公園). Here, you'll see pottery of the world from Korea, China, Britain, Turkey etc. There also have a water park you can enjoy a ball games there, and a museum next to the park.

Let's start uploading.

This is a typical Jingdezhen style Chinese kiln, it has used to be there around 10th century. Look at the picture. The huge firewood kiln with one burnt spot. It is a type of horizontal flame chamber, and is basically similar to the brick chamber kiln. However, it was built on the level ground. Using a large amount of firewood, it will be made white porcelain, dyed and colored glaze vessels etc.. in a short time, within 24 hours. Even now, it is still used to bake pottery in few places of Jingdezhen.  

An open bottle flame rising kiln, a coal kiln that has been used in Stoke-on-Trent, known for its pottery manufacturing in the UK, since the mid 18th century. It has been made a brick hut covered with a bottle shaped Japanese wine (=sake) on the outside of the kiln. This is the unusual type of kiln, working with charcoal throw inside. It is symbolized as in the beginning of pottery craft has been industrialized at that time.

Next right to the Chinese kiln, there is a climbing firewood kiln. It has been introduced from China through the Korean Peninsular in the 16th century. In continuous kiln that climbed the slope, a type of throwing fires in each room. It will become a horizontal flame to the entire kiln, therefore it will make the thermal efficient. Famous pottery places nearby Hasami, such as Karatsu and Arita, was also baked its pottery products at the same way. This is one of the historic kiln both in Saga and Nagasaki prefectures, it became a main distributor of the local pottery in Hizen district for a long time until at the beginning of the Showa era around 1930.

A dragon/sneak shaped kiln, so-called Ryugama (龍窯), is a long horizontal flame kiln using the slope on a hillside. It has been used in the ancient China, from the Spring period about 3000 years ago. It has also been improved greatly. It has only one room, but there is many holes on the both side of kiln that is thrown firewood into it. At first, burn firewood from an opening fireplace at the bottom. When the temperature rises, throw firewood from the both hole to bake pottery clay in oven. It will be more cost effective because it is burning firewood around the vessels. In China and Thailand, it is burnt pottery crafts such as big water turtles at a huge kiln, more than 50 meters long.

This is a type of flame rising kiln for burning black bricks. It is used various places in China, e.g. the Great Wall, towers, walls, temples and so on. The making of bricks are very unique: It will continue to burn about 5 to 7 days. Once it becomes at a temperature of 900c, stop the fire and firmly closed into the kiln. Then put water contentiously into the kiln, and make it more stronger. The type of kiln is a little different by region, but the one moved from the suburbs of Tianjin, and it has been restored.

The last one is a yellow colored kiln stoke hole. By using the mountain slope, and digging a hole to a kiln. It is seen in China and the Korean Peninsula which arrived at Japan around the 5th century. It has been mainly used until around the 13th century. The earthen ware, to be found from the tomb, was burned in this hole kiln. The horizontal kiln was used for firewood so that it becomes more stronger. It will also be at a high temperature of 1200c.