PHL, Christmas Eve and Cargo Crazy! [Image Heavy]

[Kiffy]

I was finally able to get to PHL for the cargo rush, during the final push before Christmas.

ABX587 from Cincinnati arriving 20 minutes before sunrise.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/11539301853_0f62570103_c.jpg

UPS1194 arriving from UPS's Worldport, Louisville.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3726/11539202094_a858472e93_c.jpg

While she still wears Star Alliance titles, AWE1744 arriving from CLT.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3769/11539165675_0731a50535_c.jpg

FDX1439 arriving from FedEx's super hub, Memphis at sunrise however there was a large layer of clouds sitting near the horizon.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5507/11539302713_6d7abe5d5e_c.jpg

Another UPS SDF arrival, flight 237.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3698/11539165685_a166829ae4_c.jpg

The daily flight from England inbound.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7348/11539294776_8b091b58cd_c.jpg

Daily flight from Germany landing on runway 27R with the sun slightly peaking out of the clouds.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7423/11539203814_220330fe80_c.jpg

Then "Yay", the sun was finally out in all its glory.
Flight 203 on short final.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7365/11539304503_0a0884a6f2_c.jpg

The daily flight from Indianapolis inbound for Cargo City.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7291/11539304723_2b0e5645f5_c.jpg

UPS9746 from Dulles gleaming on approach.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5499/11539167925_a51f2333c5_c.jpg

FDX1780 from Stewart Int'l.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7328/11539304423_1caa009e33_c.jpg

After the FedEx 310 I had an overly exciting race to catch the highlight of the day.
GTI2195 operating for UPS departing runway 27L for Louisville. It's always great to see a 747 at PHL!
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2808/11539297076_1a767de8ca_c.jpg

I stayed with the departures long enough to catch FDX3620 departing for IND.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2842/11539305853_a9716d2fb1_c.jpg

Then I hurried back to the arrivals to catch UPS218 from France.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3819/11539297746_85190fe9bd_c.jpg

Then it was back to departures, just in time to catch one of the other Star Alliance jets departing to the Bahamas.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5473/11539206064_73228ba7f7_c.jpg

A hawk stopped by for a quick look.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/11539169045_e5d8b77fde_c.jpg

FDX851 headed for MEM.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5477/11539169815_5e9e5a695c_c.jpg

UPS2116 from JFK decending for runway 27R above a group of UPS 767 and 757 tails.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7411/11539306523_7b41125141_c.jpg

UPS237 seen here climbing-out between two over-flights.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5503/11539207654_ec8ca359dd_c.jpg

And back to the arrivals for a small parade of UPS 757s.
UPS9616 from New Hampshire, already its 2nd rotation into PHL that morning.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7421/11539306983_182a009a5e_c.jpg

UPS9702 arriving from Norfolk flashing its strobe.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3691/11539307173_db71498175_c.jpg

Another usual night-owl on final for runway 27L.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2807/11539300406_dc1b2214b0_c.jpg

Then back to departures.
UPS3612 en-route to O'Hare.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2831/11539171145_3907e380a6_c.jpg

At around 11:30am the UPS hub sprang a leak and dozens if not a hundred UPS/Ryder/Penske/U-Haul trucks came pouring out in all directions.
I had no idea UPS had so many different types of trucks!
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2853/11539309003_56299e46f5_c.jpg

Back to the arrivals for UPS2930 from Dulles.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7289/11539301196_dd3566d7d0_c.jpg

Then back to departures.
By about 1pm a thick layer of clouds started to move in...

UPS3136 departing for Albany, NY.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7367/11539300786_b83554b8da_c.jpg

An increasingly common winglet-ed 767 departing runway 27L as flight 3326 to Orlando.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/11539293576_218444386c_c.jpg

UPS3020 headed to Boston.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5545/11539172535_3fb77ebe3a_c.jpg

UPS204 continuing on its way to Louisville.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3816/11539172445_2531999011_c.jpg

With the clouds overwhelming the sky I decided to head home.

On my way I spotted this little jewel hiding behind the Atlantic Aviation hanger.
N148TW, a rare Dassault Falcon 20C.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/11539300446_02dfd05a7d_c.jpg

Merry Christmas!
Hope you enjoyed,

[Gintaras B.]

Very nice...and photo of RTH too...

[megatop412]

Hey man, very nice job! Glad someone could cover PHL's cargo rush this year, I wasn't able to but it looks like you caught some nice planes. The Atlas is a great shot, and the shot of all the UPS trucks reminds me of the scene in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory lol!

Hey did you manage to get that Centurion Cargo 744 that came in a couple times?

[Kiffy]

Thanks guys!


Hey did you manage to get that Centurion Cargo 744 that came in a couple times?
Yes and no.
I was pretty excited to see that the Centenarian 747 was operating into PHL but last week when it was coming in everyday and there were blue skies of course I couldn't get to the airport. Then when I was finally free on Sunday the weather was awful and she didn't come in. On Christmas Eve FlightAware wasn't tracking her for some reason and she arrived about 30 minutes after I left!

So all I'm left with are these pictures taken from my house:

KYE2222 ONT-PHL
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7410/11575586434_7558b7f222.jpg

KYE2930 PHL-ONT
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3775/11575466173_18f354e543.jpg

[Aviation.High.Guy]

Awesome shots! Feel like I died and went to Cargo heaven. :tongue:

[Gintaras B.]

Looked at photos once again - it made me drool :smile:

UPS - 2nd largest airline(if I'm right) and I don't have even single shot of an UPS aircraft - what a shame....:confused:

[GY757]

Nice set

[NIKV69]

All that UPS and they still didn't get all the packages delivered on time? LOL. Nice shots. Seen that Falcon at ADS it's classic like most of their aircraft.

[Mateo]

Love seeing a huge logistics operation in action. The UPS fleet is somewhere around 237, which makes them larger than JetBlue, but not as large as Fedex (which is in the mid 300s). Unfortunately, they're not all that photogenic since they collect all the packages in the evening, fly from the outstation to the hub in the early overnight, do the sort at the hub, and then fly from the hub back to the outstation in the late overnight. There are a handful of daytime flights (like the Fedex DC10 that arrives Newark mid-afternoon), but most flying is during the dark.