The General Airplane Thread

[kolio]

Where is this? Memphis?

St. Louis Lambert International Airport

To think of it as a tiered system; Memphis is a hub location, and Lambert is a ramp location. Freight from hubs (Memphis) go to ramps, to then be distributed to stations. Each location freight gets to, it's sorted and transported to another location. From ramps, freight generally get sorted into tractor trailers and taken to stations. At a station, packages are sorted to a couriers truck to be sent to it's final destination.

This is what I've gathered anyhow, with the short time I've been with the company. Funny thing, I work at a station, not the ramp. I was at the ramp today for classes. I also go to ramp in the mornings sometimes to help sort. Which means I grab the packages for my station when they come down the conveyor belt and take them back to the station with me.

 

[LNSE492]

Some recent photos.

Dubai Air Wing B747-400:

Spitfire Mk.Vc:

Westland Wessex HU.5:

Folland Gnat T.1:

Maximus Air Cargo An-124:

FedEx MD-11F:

USAF F-15C Eagle:

US Navy EP-3E Aries II:

Qatar Air Force F-15QA:

 

[wfooshee]

This year's Blue Angels Homecoming show was moved to Pensacola Beach, as the Air Station is still closed to the public because of COVID. So, a crowded beach instead of a crowded base. Absolutely logical.

Anyway, I went on Friday, couldn't make the Saturday show. Weather was high overcast, and this time of year, viewers on the beach are looking pretty much straight into the sun most of the day, which was only 40 degrees or so off the horizon. Saturday's weather was clear, but lower humidity for even less vapor. I didn't get as much vapor as I'd hoped for on Friday, even, and jets with no vapor make "uninteresting" pictures.

The Coast Guard started things off with a rescue demonstration

We got three passes by a flight of SIX Stearmans! They're not fast, so the three passes took about 20 minutes!!!

We got an F-22 demo. This aircraft is one of my local Tyndall AFB aircraft, flown by the demo team's pilot, Major Joshua "Cabo" Gunderson. The demonstration wasn't finalized into the schedule until just a few days before the show!

I got a lucky POOF! as he pulled up from the high-speed flat pass.

We also got an F-35 demo! Also not on the schedule until just a few days before the show! F-35C, the Navy's version.

Warbirds, just two this year. A Kate torpedo bomber, and a P-51 Mustang

The Aeroshell team with their AT-6 Texans. These are not fast, but they sound wonderful, with those supersonic propeller tips making that loud buzz!

Aerobatic masters Rob Holland and Skip Stewart were there. I have no pictures of Rob Holland as he flew while I was on a food search. Still pictures don't do justice to the crazy stupid things he does with an airplane, anyway! Here's Skip Stewart in his Pitts biplane in a low, slow, knife-edge.

He was low enough that he had to climb to clear the pier as he came into the show line.

My first look at the new Fat Albert, now a C-130J Super Hercules

And the Blues themselves. My first time seeing them in the Super Hornets.

Did I mention we were looking into the sun?

On up, one down

Two up, two down!

I got a few well-timed crossover shots

And a little vapor on the exit, sometimes!

The sneak pass, 720mph at 50 feet, leaving a wake on the water!

Passing directly in front. If you look carefully down where the vapor cone is at the water, you can actually see the shock wave distorting the view of the water beyond! I've never gotten this before!

This is a blowup of that part of the frame.

Pulling up to clear the pier, still leaving a wake

This has a very cool set of vortices under the fuselage. Those are also visible in the shock-wave picture above.

And if one sneak pass hasn't caused all the pregnant women to go into labor, #6 follows immediately from directly behind

Got another lucky POOF! of vapor from his pull-up

Did I mention the sun? I'm pretty sure I did...

The weather's trying to clear as the afternoon progresses

 

[wfooshee]

This is not my video, but I'm posting it here, as it's from the same show I photographed. Video belongs to Youtuber AviationFreak#1. Go to about 55 seconds in to start, and you'll see #5's pass immediately followed by #6. You'll also see how quickly that vapor poof happens that I was lucky enough to capture!

 

[Gotbeefboy564]

Got to see my first Honda jet at a local airport where my brother works at.

 

[Brett]

Not many updates here in some time. On my way home from work a few weeks ago, I watched eight Apache helicopters fly into the local airport. Unfortunately, the pictures I grabbed of them are not great.

I also watched a V-22 Osprey fly into the same airport yesterday. While they were flying over the building I work in, the downwash was something else. We get some Blackhawks and some occasional Chinooks in the area. The Ospreys is a different animal with downwash. When they were first approaching I looked out my window to try and see anything. I did not see anything, but I did see the windows on building next to ours vibrating significantly.

 

[W3H5]

I watched eight Apache helicopters fly into the local airport.

I bet that sounded cool as balls.

I love it when the military helis fly over my neighbourhood at low level on manoeuvres. My litttle girl freaks out and we run outside to wave at them.

 

[Brett]

On my way home today, I noticed a couple CH-53E helicopters. I only snapped a picture of one of them though.

 

[Joey D]

Does anyone spend a bunch of time on trackers like FlightRadar24 or ADS-B Exchange? I have it up pretty much all day and it's fun just to take a look at various areas to see what's going on, it's been especially interesting since the war in Ukraine too. One of the cooler spots I've seen recently popped up today over Lincoln, NE. It's a Boeing E-4, which is sort of the US's version of the doomsday plane and can act as a mobile command post. What really drew me to it though was the call sign, which is ORDER66. I can only assume that the USAF is hunting Jedis.

 

[Gotbeefboy564]

Saw 4 A110s today at the Grand Rapids airport they flew in from Maryland. It was sunny and in the 90s too.

 

[wfooshee]

Maryland Air National Guard? (The flag and MD on the tail...)

 

[Gotbeefboy564]

Maryland Air National Guard? (The flag and MD on the tail...)

My brother said they came from Maryland to refuel that’s all I know idk if it’s for training or they’re going to a air show somewhere.

 

[Swagger897]

Does anyone spend a bunch of time on trackers like FlightRadar24 or ADS-B Exchange? I have it up pretty much all day and it's fun just to take a look at various areas to see what's going on, it's been especially interesting since the war in Ukraine too. One of the cooler spots I've seen recently popped up today over Lincoln, NE. It's a Boeing E-4, which is sort of the US's version of the doomsday plane and can act as a mobile command post. What really drew me to it though was the call sign, which is ORDER66. I can only assume that the USAF is hunting Jedis.

View attachment 1148268

All the time when at work to figure out where my plane is that I'm supposed to work on for that night when it isn't at the hangar. FR24 is a little bit easier to work than adsb exchange but both have their pros. I notice that a lot more military aircraft appear on adsb exchange than FR24, but I can enter in one of our tail numbers on FR24 and hit zoom to map if it's on a live flight. Just easy to use really.

 

[ScottPuss20]

Moorabbin Air Museum

 

[RACECAR]

Well, this is one hell of a tail registration:

Nothing to be nervous about here...

 

[wfooshee]

I was able to go to the Friday event. Found a good place right on the water, and although I had an umbrella for shade, the kind folks behind me let me slide back under their gazebo. There were only two of them and they had plenty of room, and I very much appreciated that! I had plenty of water in a cooler, but I still had issues when leaving; climbing off the beach afterwards got me overheated, so I sat in the burger place under a ceiling fan with a towel and some ice water, soaking the towel and putting it over my head for a while.

I was a gorgeous clear day, but very hot, mid-90s.

Show started with a couple of amphibians, an Icon A5, which is brand new, and a Grumman Widgeon from the 40s. I think the Icon is trailerable. It has retractable tricycle gear and folding wings.

The Coast Guard did a rescue swimmer demonstration. I set the shutter down to 1/60 to get rotor blur.

I forgot to speed my shutter up after the helicopter, so I had almost nothing useful from the aerobatic performers that followed. They actually tumble fast enough to ruin shots at 1/60th... I'm amazed I even got these!
I saw Kevin Coleman in the Extra 300 SHP, Ken Reider and Adam Baker from the Redline Aerobatic Team, Skip Stuart in his biplane Prometheus, then Patty Wagstaff, and finally Gary Ward in the MX2.

Kevin Colemans' entrance

The Redline pair

Gary Ward's amazing nose-up hard bank flat pass

They had a half-hour break and let people back into the water for a while, then Fat Albert arrived. (I still haven't moved my shutter speed up properly... about 30 shots with only 4 keepers!)

Then the Blues! (Jets are at 1/1000th!)

Heat haze!

Sneak pass! I was zoomed in too tight to get the wake on the water, which makes me very angry with myself...

Apparently I was right at show center!

This may be he best crossing shot I've ever gotten

And their finale fan break

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'm off to the Royal International Air Tattoo tomorrow, used to go years ago, but this is the first time I'll ever have been with a half decent camera...

... I reckon my photos will still suck

 

[wfooshee]

At an air show at Edwards AFB this past October 20th, they actually demonstrated sonic booms! From the video's description:

Sonic booms shake Edwards AFB during the 2022 Aerospace Valley Airshow and STEM Expo! This is the only airshow in North America to feature real sonic booms. Each day, a US Air Force F-22 Raptor opened the show with a sonic boom at altitude, then later in the afternoon a NASA F-15 Eagle and F-18 Hornet performed booms of their own. The F-18 performed a "low boom" profile which is designed to greatly reduce the impact of the boom on observers below. This is a precursor to the X-59 QueSST which will pioneer research in 'quiet boom' techniques with the goal of making supersonic travel commonplace.

 

[wfooshee]

Annual trip to Pensacola NAS for the Blue Angels end-of-season homecoming show.

Clear skies, not enough humidity for serious vapor, but I got the occasional lucky poof.

F-35C (Navy version, with arresting hook and beefier landing gear) in a minimum-radius turn, and its high-speed pass.

Tailhook Legacy Flight: Two F-35Cs and an F4U Corsair

There is a Russian airplane called the YAK-55, built for international unlimited aerobatic competition, and these guys had a thought about putting a pair of them together, just because, and suspending a jet engine under the center wing section, just because. It's the only 3-engine airplane in the world certified for unlimited aerobatics. Pilot gets weird loadings, not being centered in the airplane. They call it the YAK-110, which is not an official YAK designation of course, it's just 55 plus 55.

#3's canopy is ideally 18 inches under #1's wingtip, and #4 flies similarly on #2. #2 offsets a bit to the right to give the formation better perspective from the ground. That makes #4 appear to be in line with #1, where if he actually were in line, he would appear well left of him from the ground.

To show speed contol and slower handling characteristics, the diamond does a "dirty" loop, gear and hooks extended. They are the only jet team in the world that does this.

There is a point in the show where the diamond formation is exiting to the right and the narrator says you should watch them as they set up to return to show center for their next maneuver. Meanwhile #5 is screaming in from the left at 50 feet and 720 miles per hour! I see 5 or 6 people in this crowd shot that know what's coming.

I got a lucky vapor poof as he passed directly ahead, for a print-and-hang keeper

Because one heart attack isn't enough, #6 follows with his own sneak, from behind the crowd, into a hard climb.

The diamond does a looping turn, entering from straight ahead and ending up coming down the show line from the right, and then they make this sharp break, with #1 pulling up hard, 2 and 3 going to each side, and #4 continuing straight and flat, but inverting.

The delta (all 6 aircraft) comes in from the right and pulls up into a loop. On the down vertical of the loop, they break to 6 different directions.

Each aircraft levels out, runs outbound about 3 miles, and does a half Cuban-8 to return to show center, where all 6 planes cross paths, six different directions, each going about 450 miles per hour.

 

[Dan]

I got a lucky vapor poof as he passed directly ahead, for a print-and-hang keeper

That shot is unbelievable.

You should really consider watermarking these photos so people won’t steal your work.

 

[Populuxe]

The final 747 has rolled off the line after 54 years and 1574 aircraft built. The funny thing is I'm old enough to remember when the first 747 flew. My dad was a Boeing employee, and living near Seattle, the home of Boeing, it was a big deal.

 

[Venom800tt]

The 747 is such a majestic aircraft. Also one of the longest production runs for a commercial airframe, as only the 737 has had a longer run.

 

[Barra333]

Saw a comment saying it was in production for 47% of the history of aviation.
Awesome plane, but obviously well past it's use by date for passenger service. Going to be seeing these cargo ones kicking on for a long time to come though.

 

[Populuxe]

When Boeing was designing the 747, they really thought it was just a stopgap design and it was going to be replaced by supersonic transports. Boeing hired plenty of engineers to work on their SST program, but when the first energy crisis hit in the early '70s, the SST program was cancelled and thousands of Boeing employees were laid off. It was a rough time in the Pacific NW with so many people laid off at once.

I recall my dad, who was a cost analyst at Boeing, was actively looking for a new job just in case he was let go, even though he wasn't in the SST program. I asked my mom why he was looking for a new job and she said that Boeing had lost the SST contract. I was a little too young to really understand. I thought they had literally lost it, like someone dropped it behind a desk and they couldn't find it. Fortunately, my dad was transferred to the Hydrofoil division. He really enjoyed that, even got to do some travelling to Hawaii and other places where the Hydrofoil saw service. He finally retired from Boeing in about '98 I think it was.

Getting back to the 747, because they thought the 747 would be replaced by the SST in a few years, they designed it from the beginning to be offered in a cargo configuration. That's why it has the raised cockpit, to make room for a front opening door. Ironically, even though the SST was cancelled almost 50 years ago, the cargo version of the 747 did outlast the passenger version.

 

[ScottPuss20]

When Boeing was designing the 747, they really thought it was just a stopgap design and it was going to be replaced by supersonic transports. Boeing hired plenty of engineers to work on their SST program, but when the first energy crisis hit in the early '70s, the SST program was cancelled and thousands of Boeing employees were laid off. It was a rough time in the Pacific NW with so many people laid off at once.

I recall my dad, who was a cost analyst at Boeing, was actively looking for a new job just in case he was let go, even though he wasn't in the SST program. I asked my mom why he was looking for a new job and she said that Boeing had lost the SST contract. I was a little too young to really understand. I thought they had literally lost it, like someone dropped it behind a desk and they couldn't find it. Fortunately, my dad was transferred to the Hydrofoil division. He really enjoyed that, even got to do some travelling to Hawaii and other places where the Hydrofoil saw service. He finally retired from Boeing in about '98 I think it was.

Getting back to the 747, because they thought the 747 would be replaced by the SST in a few years, they designed it from the beginning to be offered in a cargo configuration. That's why it has the raised cockpit, to make room for a front opening door. Ironically, even though the SST was cancelled almost 50 years ago, the cargo version of the 747 did outlast the passenger version.

Yes, the 747 was planned for obsolescence because Boeing (and many other manufacturers for that matter) believed that super-sonic transport was the future... How wrong they were.

 

[Populuxe]

Yes, the 747 was planned for obsolescence because Boeing (and many other manufacturers for that matter) believed that super-sonic transport was the future... How wrong they were.

Just like the B-52 wasn’t designed to be a 100-year airframe, and yet here we are.

 

[RACECAR]

Well, this is one hell of a tail registration:

View attachment 1168271
Nothing to be nervous about here...

I might have found one just as interesting:

Assuming these aren't randomly generated, someone is having abit too much fun with these tail numbers.

 

[ScottPuss20]

 

[RACECAR]

Think I have only briefly mentioned this but here is the Airport I live not too far from (In fact, I walked by it all the time on my daily afternoon walks)

Usually, it's the small private jets and countless turbo prop stuff (Pipers and Cessnas mostly, can't go one day without seeing at least one). But every once in a while, something like THIS shows up:

I was fortunate enough to see this exact plane earlier this year with those exact same Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines (which surprised me as I was under the impression those got phased out after the introduction of the CFM56-3 turbofans). Last time I saw this plane with these engines was 1992 at Dallas Lovefield (Unsurprisingly in Southwest colors) so it was cool to see, and hear, it again for the first time as it powered up and took off.

 

[Populuxe]

Is that a 737-100? I had no idea there were any operational -100s left.