Michigan Exposures: Chasing Another Whale

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Chasing Another Whale

Ever since I caught the 787 at O'Hare Airport, I wanted to catch another. Sadly, it seems that there is only one airline that comes to Detroit that flies the 787 to Detroit and that is Royal Jordanian. They don't come to Detroit every day and I decided to look up when they do come here. I found that they were flying here this morning and since I had the day off, I decided to make a brief stop at the airport. It was an early arrival though, so I had to get up earlier than normal to make sure I caught it.

As I got to the roof of the parking structure at McNamara, I saw that there was one of the Fed Ex planes waiting for take off. This was kind of a bonus for me since I don't get to see these all that often.

I think it was one of there DC-10's but it could be an MD-11. I'm not 100% sure how to tell the two apart.

It was 100% cool though.

One more shot of it.

As I was waiting, a Delta 737 decided to take off.

It wasn't too long for the aircraft I was waiting for to appear. That being the 787 that belongs to Royal Jordanian Airlines. This particular aircraft left from Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan. It was built in 1983 in response to their other airport not being able to fulfill their needs. It was named after the third wife of King Hussein of Jordan. She would serve as his Queen until her death in a helicopter crash in 1977.

For some reason, the 787 reminds me of a bird in flight. It might be the way the wings curl up or the nose of the aircraft. It is a beautiful aircraft (but still not quite as nice as the 757).

The plane comes in for a landing.

Royal Jordanian Airlines was founded in 1963 as the flag carrier for Jordan. They have 500 flights per week and serves all over the world. I believe there are flights to Detroit every other day but I'm not 100% certain on that.