Cactus Wings Aircraft Report
28Mar-2003

News items
==========
* Antonov An-225 UR-82060 [101] arrived at Williams Gateway Airport on
26Mar-2003 to deliver a 285,000 lb power transformer. It departed at 1830hrs
on 27Mar-2003 for IAH. Photos of the event posted at:

http://www.cactuswings.com/photos/0303-an225/an225-0303.html

* B727-227 N422BN [20735], ex N728AA, was parked at Phoenix (Swift ramp) on
27Mar-2003. It has a dark blue c/s similar to the Braniff "Ultra" look of the
early 1980s. The operator of this aircraft (and 7 other ex-AA aircraft,
including N423BN/ex N731AA) is a new sports charter company based at San
Bernandino, CA (SBD). Photo posted on Cactus Wings.

* Air Atlanta Iceland have taken delivery of two B757s that were painted &
overhauled at Marana. TF-ARD [22211] arrived MZJ on 02Nov-2002 and departed
to the UK on 16Mar-2003. TF-ARE [22611] arrived MZJ on 10Dec-2002 and
departed to the UK on 26Mar-2003. Both are wearing a basic Excel Airways c/s
with Air Atlanta Iceland titles.

* Some Mesa Air news - Leased three ex-Kendell CRJ200s (7401/7405/7422) from
Australian banks. Plans in mid-2003 to begin twice-daily Ontario, CA-Lake
Havasu, AZ (Beech 1900).

* Timco, the maintenance & repair organization that operate at Goodyear,
received a FAA Class IV Repair Station Certificate today. The full news story
is at:

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-28-2003/0001915996&EDATE

* Qantas B747-400 VH-OJB ferried ARA-LAX on 27Mar-2003 as QFA6024, returning
to service after being repainted from the 'Wunala Dreaming' special color
scheme back into the standard color scheme.

Movements noted
===============
22Mar
N216AP B72S GYR-PHX

23Mar
N216AP B72S PHX-MIA

24Mar
N185AW B732 MZJ-MEX
N277CH B737 MZJ-PAE
ACA7056 B762 YYZ-MHV .. C-GAVF
USA9299 B733 PIT-MHV

25Mar
UAL9891 B732 VCV-OPF .. N991UA

26Mar
ABD38P B757 MZJ-BGR .. TF-ARE
ADB6284 A225 YMX-IWA .. UR-82060
NAC930 B727 TUS-BFI .. N930FT

27Mar
N283AU B732 MHV-TUS
N253AU B732 MHV-TUS
N743SA B747 ROW-MZJ
N864AA B72S DAL-GYR
N902FJ CRJ9 PHX-MTJ
CHQ9428 SF34 LAA-VCV
SAS9143 DC-9 MCI-ROW
USA9299 B733 PIT-MHV

28Mar
AMW4134 Be1 LIT-ROW
KHA808 B72F IAH-ROW*
VRG9940 B767 MIA-GYR
USA9299 B733 MHV-PHX-PIT*

* flightplanned only

As always, tie-ups would be appreciated!

Cactus Wings Live: Rebels with a Clue ... the Numbers

I had a business trip to the Tucson area, and took the
opportunity to check the surrounding airfields with Kevin. Below are the
notes...

26Mar-2003

Eloy, AZ
========
All at Skydive Arizona-
N101UV Skyvan parked
N128WJ DHC6 active
N204BD DHC6 hangared
N86584 DC-3 stored, engines open

Marana, AZ
==========
Stopped briefly on the south farm track just to check the status
of N747BC. This B744 is still parked on the flightline, in full
Khalifa/Air Algerie colors, similar to the B777s.

Avra Valley, AZ
===============
(N105CF) L1649 bare metal, no markings
N494TW L749 'MATS'
+ the other DC-4s, P-2s, Be18s, etc.

Tucson Ryan, AZ
===============
N406WA DC-4 Ardco
N460WA DC-4 Ardco
N49451 DC-4 faded UsAF c/s, wfu
N9015Q DC-4 Ardco

Tucson Int'l, AZ
================
N330E SH330 parked
N17773 B72S basic exec ramp
N930FT B72F Northern Air Cargo, departed
P4-MED L10 Flying Hospital, parked

Of interest at Hamilton's-
CS-TMZ B733 Aviation Partners Boeing, with winglets
LV-WSU B732 a/w, stored
N233TM B732 Casino Exp 'Red Lion' c/s, in hangar
3D-NEG L10 Northeast full c/s
+ others on Cactus Wings

National Aviation scrapyard
===========================
N880PA B707 fslg only - full Pan American markings!
EI-BED B747 nose section only (this was b/u at MZJ in 1994!)
+ too many other bits to mention.