Ian Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Apr 29, 2025
I bicycled to Portland Int'l Airport #KPDX for a closer view of this unpainted Boeing 737 MAX8. Coming from Renton WA #KRNT where the 737 final assembly line is, I suspect this was the very first flight of this aircraft, known as the "B1" flight since it's the first flight done by Boeing test pilots. (A later pre-delivery flight with customer test pilots is called the "C1" flight.) Boeing has a paint hangar in Portland so some new planes fly here on B1 to get painted. #aviation #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Apr 29, 2025

Sometimes a perceptive #avgeek can tell which airline an unpainted new plane will be going to. The rudder gets installed already with final paint because the paint hangar can't get inside the mechanism with out disassembling it, which they don't want to do. Unless it's a special livery, this looks to me like it's going to Singapore Airlines.

Credit to @JetTip for the first hint that a Boeing-owned plane might be on the way to Portland from Renton, which I inferred as possibly new. #aviation

Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Apr 29, 2025
Also on today's bike ride, after not getting to an ideal spot in time for the green/unpainted 737MAX (and just getting some still shots from the bike path), I was in place at the airport for the British Airways 787-10 which arrived soon afterward. #aviation #avgeek #Portland #KPDX #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋
While bicycling around Portland Int'l Airport #KPDX, I explored bike-accessible locations to get pictures of planes. As expected, there's limited parking near the airport. So some spots need a bike to get to. These views are along the Columbia River (other side of the levee from Runway 28R/10L), at the end of 28R/10L and in the Cascade Station shopping center between the short final for both 28R & 28L. #aviation #avgeek #cycling #Portland #KPDX #PNW
Apr 29, 2025 at 3:18amWeb
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 3, 2025
Today I spotted a brand new Boeing 737 MAX8 arriving from Renton #KRNT on its B1 flight (first flight of the aircraft from the factory with Boeing test pilots) at Portland Int'l Airport #KPDX Runway 28L. As it went by I saw United globe livery on the already-painted rudder. So after this plane gets out of Boeing's Portland paint hangar, United test pilots will probably fly it on its 2nd flight. Assuming tests pass, United will pay for it & take delivery. #aviation #avgeek #business #travel #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 3, 2025
Before a plane arrives in Portland, there are hints an #avgeek can use to anticipate if it's probably a brand new green plane... Boeing-owned, coming from an airport with a Boeing factory, either Everett Paine Field #KPAE (777 & 767, soon Max10) or Renton Municipal Airport #KRNT (737). Then the flight path can be a big hint that the test pilots are putting a never-before-flown aircraft through the "test card" checklist. So it isn't exactly a direct route. 😀 #aviation #avgeek #business #travel
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 3, 2025
Boeing sends new planes for painting in Portland as extra capacity beyond what their paint hangars in the Seattle area can handle. At Everett #KPAE they can paint new 777s & 767s (and formerly 747s) on field before first flight. As needed, some fly unpainted to PDX for painting. And new 737s fly out of Renton #KRNT either to Boeing Field #KBFI in Seattle or to Portland #KPDX for paint. #aviation #avgeek #business #travel #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 4, 2025
I made an edit a couple posts back in this thread, about hints a plane coming to Portland might be a brand-new green plane. Really, the first hint is "Boeing-owned". You can start checking the other factors after that gets your attention. It flies with a Boeing callsign for testing and painting until the purchase is completed later at a Boeing delivery center in Seattle #KBFI, Everett #KPAE or Charleston #KCHS. #aviation #avgeek #business #travel
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 13, 2025
Today I drove to PDX Airport #KPDX and got pictures of what I think is the same 737 MAX8 that arrived unpainted on the 3rd, now out of the paint hangar and departing with its United paint. It flew as a Boeing-owned plane to Boeing Field in Seattle, where presumably the purchase by United will be completed and they'll take delivery there. #aviation #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 13, 2025
Coincidentally the next plane to land on Portland Runway 28L after the newly-painted plane's departure was another green 737 MAX8 on its first flight arriving for paint. The painted rudder looks to me like this one will be going to Singapore Airlines. #aviation #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 14, 2025
Clarification: it was a coincidence that a brand new green plane was the next to land after the newly-painted plane took off. However, it was not at all a coincidence that I was there to catch it. That was the plane I drove to the airport to get pictures of. #aviation #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 22, 2025
The latest brand new Boeing plane to arrive in Portland #KPDX for painting isn't obvious to me (from the painted rudder and winglets) which airline it will go to. Perhaps it's a non-standard "special livery". This is a 737 MAX8 whose first flight was cancelled 2 days in a row before flying from the Renton #KRNT factory today . #aviation #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 22, 2025
Here's a closer look with a screenshot, cropped and slightly sharpened, for a view of the painted rudder and winglets to figure out who's the customer for this Boeing 737 MAX8. (edit: the top stripes on the tail look like Norwegian Air Shuttle. But the winglets would be a new style for them.) #KPDX #aviation #avgeek #travel
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 22, 2025
I think this is rare for Portland, but not unheard of - a second brand new green Boeing in one day, on its first flight coming for paint. (The Boeing paint hangar in Portland has capacity for 2 planes at a time.) This time it's a 737 MAX9. The painted rudder looks to me like it's going to Aeroméxico. This morning I drove to the airport; this time I took my bicycle and got it from a spot where there's no public parking available. #KPDX #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 22, 2025
30 minutes after the green MAX9 arrival, there was a bonus #avgeek sighting. I got cell phone video of a Cathay Pacific Cargo Boeing 747-8F landing on Runway 10R. In those 30 minutes, winds turned around the runway directions and I didn't have time to bicycle around to the other side of the airport. In the background are trusses of the I-5 Interstate Bridge between Portland OR and Vancouver WA, and to the right of it are high-rise buildings in downtown Vancouver WA. #aviation #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 22, 2025
Another video from this afternoon's bike ride to PDX. This shows Alaska Airlines 198, a Boeing 737 MAX9, arriving from Anchorage, Alaska on Portland Runway 28L. Both Anchorage and Portland are hubs for Alaska Airlines. #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jun 1, 2025
Here's today's game of "Name that livery", which we all try to figure out the customer based on a painted rudder on an otherwise-unpainted plane. This is a Boeing 737 MAX8. It landed at Portland #KPDX Runway 28L since that's closest to the Boeing paint hangar. This one appears to me to be for SCAT Airlines of Kazakhstan. We'll know for sure if someone catches it on the way out of painting in some days. #aviation #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jun 1, 2025
Video of this afternoon's green/unpainted Boeing 737 MAX8 arrival at Portland Airport #KPDX Runway 28L for painting. When we see these, it's usually the first-ever flight of that aircraft out of the Renton WA factory. The painted rudder leads me to think this is going to SCAT Airlines of Kazakhstan. #aviation #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jun 4, 2025
Another brand-new green Boeing 737 MAX8 was flown to Portland #KPDX for painting this afternoon on its first flight out of the Renton #KRNT factory. Based on the painted rudder, this one appears to me to be going to Malaysia Airlines. I didn't have as good a vantage point since the wind & weather turned the runways around. It landed on Runway 10R. #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jun 4, 2025
Video of the landing this afternoon of a new unpainted Boeing 737 MAX8 on Runway 10R at Portland Int'l Airport #KPDX on its way to the Boeing paint hangar. #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jun 12, 2025
A new Boeing 737 MAX8 departed from the Boeing paint hangar at Portland Int'l Airport #KPDX today. The customer is SCAT Airlines of Kazakhstan, which we wouldn't normally see at PDX. I think this is the same one I posted pics + video arriving unpainted on May 31. At this point the plane is still owned by Boeing. It departed for Boeing Field in Seattle where the purchase and customer delivery will presumably occur. https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE156/history/20250612/1645Z/KPDX/KBFI #aviation #travel #business #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jun 12, 2025
Video: takeoff of newly-painted Boeing 737 MAX8 of SCAT Airlines (Kazakhstan) on Runway 28L at Portland Int'l Airport #KPDX heading to Boeing Field #KBFI in Seattle for customer delivery. Also continued the video pan to show an IcelandAir 757 in its overnight parking spot awaiting this afternoon's scheduled return flight to Reykjavik. #aviation #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jun 19, 2025
Video: a brand-new unpainted Boeing 737 MAX8 arrived at Portland Int'l Airport #KPDX on its first flight out of the Renton factory today. It was coming to Boeing's PDX paint hangar. Based on the painted rudder and winglets, I couldn't immediately tell which airline is the customer for this plane. It could be a custom livery, leasing company or private buyer. #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jun 19, 2025
Here's a cropped frame-grab from my video of the brand-new unpainted Boeing 737 MAX8 which arrived at Portland Int'l Airport #KPDX today. I didn't find an obvious match for which airline it's going to, based on the painted rudder and winglets. #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadAI6YR BenMay 14, 2025
@ikluft Interesting on the tail needing to be painted first!
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 14, 2025
@ai6yr Yeah that was something I learned at the Aviation Geek Fest tours of the Boeing Everett Factory about 15 years ago. (Boeing did the VIP tour for avgeeks, a factory-floor tour usually only given to airline customers, in anticipation of the company centennial in 2016, and then until 2018.) Though the public tours (on an observation deck) tell everyone about that too. Planes visible in the assembly line are green with painted rudder. The guides use the rudders to tell who the customer is.
Show threadAI6YR BenMay 14, 2025
@ikluft Sounds like a fun tour!
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 14, 2025
@ai6yr It certainly was. I hope they do those again some day. @AirlineReporter has articles on each one because they did the avgeek community outreach part of organizing AGF. Future of Flight Museum (under previous management) in Everett and Museum of Flight in Seattle hosted the gatherings and Boeing hosted the factory tours. In later years a second day was added with tours of Renton, which does not have a public tour. https://www.airlinereporter.com/tag/aviation-geek-fest/
Aviation Geek Fest : AirlineReporter

A Place to Share Your Passion for Airlines. Home of the AvGeek!

Show threadManc AvGeek - See new accountMay 14, 2025
@ikluft @ai6yr @AirlineReporter I managed to get a tour of my local British Aerospace factory many years ago - possibly 1986, it was organised for school students who wanted to get into the industry.
(My high school was just a couple of miles from the factory).
Fuselage barrels for the 146 were produced at Chadderton (North Manchester), before being moved by rail to Hatfield (London), although several years later production was moved to Woodford (South Manchester), and it took every bit of self control to listen to our guide rather than logging details of every barrel.
Show threadsimonbpMay 13, 2025

@ikluft Just having the rudder painted makes it look like a RAF fin flash.

Is it just easier to paint the rudder and then mask off the hinges?

Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 13, 2025

@simonbp The tour guides at the Everett factory public tour tell guests the reason. I first heard it at the Aviation Geek Fest tour on the factory floor.

The two reasons they paint the rudder first are to get the exact weight of the paint and they don't want to disassemble the rudder (or anything) at the paint shop to get at its hard-to-reach surfaces.

Show threadJL Johnson May 14, 2025
@ikluft as best I know I’ve never caught a greenie in flight. Im so happy for you…. And a little jealous
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 14, 2025
@User47 I had seen the green planes on occasion from the house when I wasn't even looking for them. But trying to get enough advance warning to get a camera out, or better get to the airport with a camera, was elusive. I couldn't check flights online at the right time. The secret formula to catching 'em in flight is to live near an airport with a paint hangar, and subscribe to @JetTip alerts. Now in a few weeks I've spotted as many on purpose as I had previously spotted unaware in the past year.
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋May 14, 2025
@User47 @JetTip With this new experience, let me know next time you're coming to Portland and I'll see if I can help you catch a green plane in flight. It seems a bit irregular since there are 2 paint hangars. But roughly 10% chance any given day.