Sunday, October 14, 2012

Hawaiian Airlines DC-9-51 spends her retirement years at at Honolulu International Airport

 
I was in Hawaii recently and meet with HNL Rarebirds blog editor Ivan Nishimura who was very kind to show me around the westside of Honolulu International Airport (HNL/PHNL) where there are lots of classic aircraft to be seen and photographed. I can't thank Ivan enough for his kindness.
 
I will be sharing my photos with you in my future posts and sure hope you enjoy them as much as I did spotting and photographing these lovely classic aircraft. I will of course post photos of my favorite aircraft operating in the Hawaiian Islands the McDonnell Douglas MD-95 better known as the Boeing 717-200.  
 
One of the biggest surprises for me, was finding this McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 late of Hawaiian Airlines. I had no idea that the carrier had donated this aircraft to local trade school Pacific Aerospace Training Center in 2003 which is associated with Honolulu Community College and the University of Hawaii. She wears no registration just her old fleet no. "69" on the nose gear door and has been re-named "Keahole" and sports the trade schools name.
 
 
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 (47763/879) N699HA/69 "Maile" was delivered new to Hawaiian Airlines on July 11, 1978 and spent her entire career with the carrier until her retirement in in January 2002.
 
(Photo by Michael Carter)


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