LivewireExpress flight 3117 is a four hour flight that starts off at Buyant-Ukhaa International in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and finishes at Chek Lap Kok International in Hong Kong. Initially, I was planning on taking only a few snapshots, but the flight turned out to be full of visual marvels and, by the end, I had taken a staggering 99 photos! Below are 20 of my favorites.
Starting off in Mongolia, the biggest aircraft in the LivewireExpress fleet, an Antonov AN-124 known as N238LE, is ready for loading. We'll be carrying a whopping 277,192 pounds of cargo on this flight!
This is just after takeoff from runway 32. The AN-124 is a handful during takeoff and climb. She's unforgiving of mistakes, but careful watch of one's instruments will provide a safe and enjoyable flight.
The flight level for this flight is FL270. Here we are still climbing as we approach the border into China.
Once at cruise altitude, the clouds rolled in below.
By now we are over the Chinese midlands. Making one of a number of graceful course adjustments.
As we approach withing 150 nautical miles of Hong Kong, we begin our descent.
As we do so, the sun begins to set, making possible a number of breathtaking photographic opportunities.
The sun is now low enough to reflect directly off the underside of our wings.
We are following the coast and frequenty cross out over water and back again over land.
Nearing the airport, we begin our approach.
As we continue our descent, we find ourselves in rain, but with good visibility nonetheless.
As we descend to our final approach altitude of 1,700 ft. MSL, we are treated to some lovely visuals by both land...
...and sea.
Finally, we make our final course adjustment to line up on the localizer.
Just moments before landing on runway 7L, we're just a tad left of the centerline but still well within the safe boundaries of our large-footed lady.
And we settle onto the runway at Chek Lap Kok.
Contacting ground, they seem unwilling to clear us to the cargo ramp. But we know where it is and feel confident no one will wish to get in our way.
The rain comes and goes during taxi.
But, fortunately, it lets up before off-loading the cargo. Thanks to the efficiency of the ground crew, we offloaded all the cargo in what seemed a matter of moments.
I hope you all enjoyed.
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