Photo of the Day 25th September 2023

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Side view of a twin engined jet airliner taxiing from right to left and slightly towards the camera. The planes body is an unfortunate shade of brown, with "I (heart) Cook's Club" titles on the forward fuselage, with a large yellow and orange heart shape in place of the word. The rear fuselage and tail are dark grey, with a diagonal yellow band running around the fuselage. The engine pods are the same bright yellow. In the background, several planes can be seen clustered under the left wing, while several tall cranes soar into the glorious blue sky above the left wing.
G-TCDV, Airbus A321-211, Thomas Cook, in their “I 💛 Cook’s Club” colours, taxiing on to Runway 23L at Manchester Airport, 14th May 2018.

Rear view of a twin engined amphibious jet aircraft parked on a concrete hardstanding, facing away from the camera and slightly to the right. The plane is mostly grey, with a blue and white stripe running along the body. A similar stripe runs slong the engine pods, which are mounted on tall pylons above the root of the high-mounted wing. The tail has a blue chevron pointing to the left, and a large Russian flag (equal white, blue, and red horizontal bars). There is a door open in the nose, with a couple of people standing on the ground, looking up and in. In the background, a grey plane with a red star on the tail can be seen on the left, with a large single engined yellow biplane is flying past. The sky is a bright but hazy grey.
Red 378, Beriev A42 Albatross, at Fairford International Air Tattoo, 25th September 1996.
This was it’s first visit to IAT, and many spotters were waxing lyrical over this being its first visit to the UK.
I just had to point out it had been going to a small show just outside of Manchester every year since 1993…

 

Side view of a World War 2-era twin engined bomber aircraft taxiing from left to right on a runway. The plane is painted dark brown, almost black, with a yellow, blue, white, and red roundel on the rear fuselage, with the letters "WM" on one side, and "Z" on the other. The serial "Z5722" is under the horizontal tailplane , right at the back, in red. The tail has a blue, white, and red fin flash in the middle. On the top of the fuselage, there is a rotating machine gun turret, just above the letter "Z". In the foreground, a white banner with blue "Daily Express" titles is supported by metal posts, surrounded by green grass. In the background, athe tail of a yellow helicopter can be seen on the left of the frame, with grass and trees leading off into the distance, slowly vanishing in ot haze, under a hazy grey sky.
Z5722/G-BPIV, Bristol Blenheim Mk. IVF, Royal Air Force, taxiing in after performing its display routine at Woodford Air Show, some time in the 1990s.

 

Side view of a twin engined jet airliner taxiing from left to right, and slightly away from the camera. The plane is mostly white, with with very pale blue "sabena" billboard-style titles along the length of the fuselage, with smaller, darker blue titles on the upper forward fuselage. On the tail is a dark blue sircle with wavy pale blue lines over the top, bisected by a long, thin, stylised letter "s". The registration "OO-SDP" is on the rear fuselagein black, while the engine pods have both the EU flag (dark blue field with a ring of golden, 5 pointed stars), and the Belgian flag (equal black, yellow, and red vertical bars.) There is a blinking red beacon light on the top of the fuselage that is shining brightly. In the background is a circular terminal building on the left of the frame, with the tail of a white plane behind it, while the forward fuselage of another plane is just sneaking in to view on the right. In the distance, light aircraft and bizjets can be seen parked on the far side of the runway, with buildings and trees beyond them vanishing into haze, under a bright yet hazy sky.
OO-SDP, Boeing 737-229C(A), Sabena, at Geneva Cointrin, either 1993 or 1996.

 

Side view of a World War 2-era light/utility aircraft taxiing from right to left at a grass airfield. The plane has a brown and olive-green camouflage scheme, with yellow undersides, and "D-Day Stripes" (white and black bands around the rear fuselage, and around the wings). There are blue, white, and red roundels under the outer wings, with another on the rear fuselage, partially hidden by the wing, this time outlined in yellow. The serial RG333 is also visible on the rear fuselage. The plane has 3 tails - one at the end of the fuselage, the others at each end of the tail-plane. The outer tails have a red, white, and blue fin flash on the front of both the inner and outer surfaces, while the one in the middle has what appears to be a Union Flag, but without the red diagonal cross of Northern Ireland - there are also 4 small gold stars beneath the flag. The engine cowling has a small erd shield outlined in yellow, with a blue crossin the middle, with overlaid crossed yelow swords. There is also a small white patch underneath the front of the cockpit canopy, with diagonal blue, red, and orange stripes, overlaid with the word "Total", indicating one of the planes sponsors. In the background, trees and bushes mark the airfield perimeter, with the sky being a variable grey.
RG333/G-AIEK, MIles M.38 Messenger 2A, in Royal Air Force D-Day colours, taxiing out to the runway during the annual Manchester Barton air show, some time in the 1990s.
This isn’t the actual RG333, which was written off in a crash bin 1945, but just painted to resemble the personal aircraft of Field Marshal Montgomery.