[Note: The trigger for this post (and this a/c) are bits of my (recent) news readings about SAS and WestJet...]
Here is an almost forgotten, and never been popular, but hard-working 737 variant that has been always of special interest to me... (only 69 units of the -600 were built as opposed to 1,128 -700s and 4,989 -800s), I am fond of this one, and surely that's also true for a few others here. The -600 was a significant plane in the 737 NG evolution sequence. Calling "-300/-400/-500" the "Classic" and calling "-600 through -900" the "NG", the (demarcating and special) position of the -600 variant, in the 737-family tree, is indeed significant. -600 is the very first (and smallest) model of the iconic 737 NG series. Here is bit of an anomaly, though...the first 737 NG to "roll out" of the assembly was however not the -600, but the -700 which was also the one to be introduced first into service, not surprisingly, with Southwest Airlines (see e.g., a recent post of (beautiful) Classic One Southwest 737 images), and of course, the -700 is seen plenty around here lately...🙂...BTW, Southwest operated numerous -500, but, on the record, did not operate any -600, though the -600 was meant to be the replacement for the -500. In fact, Southwest entirely bypassed the -600, and directly moved on to the -700, and beyond.

If you like "stocky" and "stubby" twinjets (I do...🙂...btw A318 is another classic example of it, which I'm also fond of...), the -600 would fit the bill perfectly. With identical fuselage width and height as -700, the -600 is 8 ft shorter in length, making it (visually) look even stubbier (see shots below) than the -700. It's to be noted that due to low sales volume, the 737-600 is the only 737 NG to never get an option for winglet upgrades. Here is another notable fact about the -600, it has the longest and best-in-class "range" of all the 737 NG a/c, beating out the (ever-popular) likes of -700/-800. The -600 is also the 737 that had introduced the incredibly successful (and extremely reliable) CFM56-7 series engines, touted as the world's best-selling a/c engine, that would become the standard for all 737 NG, from the (French American) joint-venture engine-maker that, at one point, had come to within two weeks of being dissolved out of existence...! And now, CFM's (most advanced) LEAP engines are powering A320neo and B737 Max. When we see the peculiar (and distinctive) flat-bottomed (hamster-pouch) shape of the 737 engine nacelles (see shots below), we've to thank the ingenuity of the CFM engineers for the design. 

The 69 examples of the 737-600 aircraft (quietly and inconspicuously) have toiled hard for years, playing crucial roles for the airlines they operate for, and many examples even continue their service into today. The two airlines that know the 736 most intimately are SAS and WestJet (the latter being the subject airline of my choice for this post, and the last carrier to take delivery of a 736). SAS was the launch customer for the 736 and operated 30 out of the 69 736s. Canadian carrier, WestJet, has 13 in its fleet, which, I noted, today, to have been retired (or/and stored) through the pandemic. So, with this iconic 737 NG, almost (or soon to be) disappearing from the real skies, if you're looking for glimpses of it flying, below virtual shots are now your best shot...🙂...

For this post, I've mimicked a RW flightplan I picked up today from FlightAware, between my two favorite airports (KSEA/Seattle->CYVR/Vancouver). Obviously, for this (short) ~120 nm flight distance, there is no 737 deployed in RW. The (FlightAware) flight, shown completed today, has a (Horizon Air) de Havilland Dash 8-400 departing SEA at 2:12pm PDT and landing in YVR at 2:56pm PDT, with a filed Cruise Altitude of 14,000 ft. My 736, here, lifts off KSEA Rwy 34R, and under the effortless guidance of its LNAV/VNAV modes (compared to my recent handful tryst with the VOR-based 727 navigation...🙂...), first tracks direct to PAE VOR, reaching (T/C) 14,000 ft just before this navaid, and, then, later on, I noticed that initial descent was (dutifully and automatically) begun ~70 nms away from CYVR, per the pre-set VNAV profile (please see en-route [VC] images, below). The touchdown is into ILS Rwy 26L of CYVR (see landing shots).

Hope you enjoy this sample of images, from my virtual world, of this unique 737 NG variant, that's, first of all, not often seen, around here, and moreover, in RW, has been always overshadowed by its more illustrious (and more ubiquitous) 737 NG sisters. With the two major carriers (SAS/WestJet) apparently having no plans for its re-deployment, it will be probably soon gone from the RW skies, but who knows...after all, the a/c has been a solid and proven performer...in its own right...for the select-few owners...!

Thanks for your interest...!! And good flying...with your own (favorite) variant of the 737 NG...!

Very nice set of shots as usual! 😉 

Top class shots mate !! .

Beautiful set of shots, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

Alaska, johnb, pmplayer and others:

Many thanks...!!

Great screenies of this rare beauty, one of my favorites too, btw. The good thing is, she will in the not so distant future grace the MSFS skies too 🙂