Sad Aviation News Out Of Long Beach Today: Qatar Air Force Received The Last EVER Boeing Built, Douglas Designed, C-17. Indeed The End Of An Era.

Shot location: LGB (Photo courtesy of Eric Alford)

It's Black Friday. Here's A Killer Deal For Everyone To Enjoy.

Shot location: LAX (Photo courtesy of Andrew)

Happy Thanksgiving, And Blessings To All, From The Staff At Totally Jacked Up Aircraft Photos. As For The Turkey, If You Don't Like Breasts, Have A "Leg," On Us.

Boeing 767 drumstick, anyone?

Shot location: LAX (Photo courtesy of Henry's Dad)

With Thanksgiving Around The Corner, Why Have Turkey When You Can Have A "Meatball."

Shot location: NJK (Photo courtesy of Captain Carter)

Twofer Tuesday: Air India "Night Moves."

Shot location: SJC (Photos courtesy of Wardski)

Before Every Boeing 737 Flies Out Of Renton, They All Slither In On Their Bellies.

Shot location: Thompson Falls, Montana

A Long Time Ago, On An Airport Ramp, Far, Far Away... Episode II: The Birthday Maintenance Selfie.

Another night on the ramp at ONT, with N319TZ to keep me company.

Yes, today is the official birthday of the Founder of Totally Jacked Up Aircraft Photos.  Boy, did that year go fast!

To sum it all up, though I do not have all that many hours on my body, I do have a whole lot of cycles, have had a crap-load of fun, and met many great people throughout aviation, so to quote Robert Frost, "And that has made all the difference."  

Truth be told, even though there is one more year on my tired airframe, and I'm one step closer to the scrapper's torch, hopefully the wackiness of this whole bit will continue on for a very, very long time.

Come along for the ride, as it is only going to get a whole lot more interesting here at Totally Jacked Up Aircraft Photos.

Regards,

Darryl Bustamante

Friday Night Video's: "Just How Tight Was That Blue Angels Formation?" "Well, It Was Tighter Than A Fishes Asshole, And Those Are Watertight."

Video Location: NAS Chase Field

Sex + Gulfstream + Cool Paint Job = "Sexyjet" N888XY.

We've seen some pretty interesting paint jobs from time-to-time amongst the almost endless sea of Bizjet White, but this bird, N888XY, pretty much takes the cake, and is, well, sexy.

Video courtesy of Duncan Aviation.

The Eclectic Side Of Totally Jacked Up Aircraft Photos.

Shot location: Near LAS (Photo courtesy of Joe "The G" Walker)

In Reality Everyday Is Veterans Day.

Shot location: MHR (Photo courtesy of Commander John Flores, Retired)

A Long Time Ago, In A Hanger Far, Far Away…

Episode I: The Maintenance Selfie

Friend, aviation engineer extraordinaire, and my former boss when we did contract maintenance for American Trans Air (ATA) at ONT, here is Brandon giving a big, fat turbofan some lovin'.

He used to work with Continental, but now he is onto bigger and better gigs.

In aviation, you will not meet a finer person.

Shot location: LAX

With Veterans Day Around The Corner, A Salute To The United States Military, And Fond Remembrance Of An Old Friend.

From the Maintenance Files: An ETOPS Check on N319TZ at ONT.

It seems a thousand lifetimes ago it now, however, it is all still quite clear in memory.  Yes, those were the whacky, fun times of contract FAR Part 121 maintenance on the American Trans Air (ATA) rocket sleds.  God rest their souls, as the demise of ATA was like losing an old friend.

From the nights (and occasional days) out on the ramp, Gate 408 was our home in the heat, the cold, the lack of sleep, bad coffee, the road trips over to KRIV, the clapped out Cheech & Chong maintenance van, quirky airport police, to the shack for an office, and, we would not have traded it all for anything.

The bulk of those wonderful times were spent wrenching on Boeing 737-800's, then earning their keep plowing the ONT-HNL route.  Those "Baby-Boeings" were well-worn by the time we got our hands on them, but they were excellently maintained, and dang reliable.  Their crews were among the nicest folks to us, as Maintenance usually does not get any accolades, but the ATA peeps never forgot us.  From their professionalism, to their kindness, to even leaving us fresh crew meals, as they knew we lived off shop coffee and vending machines for subsistence, they always remembered us.

While most of the work was on the aforementioned 737's, we did occasionally get to put a wrench to the ATA 757-200’s and 757-300's, plus the remarkable Lockheed L-1011’s.  While the 737's were all doing commercial work, the 757's and Tri-Stars we saw were doing military transport charters, mostly for the United States Marine Corps.  That was fun, because we got to go over to March Air Force Reserve Base to meet them, and truth be told, the U.S. Military personnel were the finest, and most courteous, people to work with.

Yes, those were some fun times, indeed.

And, there are still plenty more tales to tell.  Stay tuned.

The Old Delayed Action, Wait Till Their Too Far Away, Shutter Technique. It Works, Everytime.

Shot location: LAX (Photo courtesy of Michael Breckshot)

ONT POM8 301° 14000 MSL SULZU 047° → DAG

From The "It Had To Happen Sooner Or Later" Department: The Emirates A380, With Jetpack Equipped Yves Rossy & Company, Formation Flight.

Auto Focus Gone Wild!

Shot location: LAX (Photo courtesy of CaptainVector)