What an Afternoon....Plane Spotting

[HPNFlyGirl]

All I have to say is WOW!!!!

I have my brother to thank for this. He flew in from LGA this afternoon and I went to take pictures of his plane landing, not to see him in person.

While I was driving out to my favorite picture taking spot I saw this HUGE tail of an aircraft. It turned out to be an Antonov 124. I took a picture or two then went plane spotting.

My brothers plane arrived. I called him to welcome him home and to see if he needed a ride but his friends (also coming from LGA) had waited around for him.

When I was waiting on a few planes I called my friend to see if he wanted to come out and take pictures of the airplanes. He came out about an hour later. (I'm bummed. He has gotten more flight time than me lately.)

We hung out at the GA terminal for a bit. Then we drove over to the Antonov so I could show him what a really big plane looked like. When we arrived, there were lots and lots of people hanging out at the gate taking pictures. We joined in. Too bad the sun was in the "wrong" spot. It was at a level where most of your pictures were going to have the sun in the background and it be very bright. (You will see in the picture I took.) Then the pilots started the engines and we watched it taxi for a little ways...then we went to the observation deck (which was PACKED!!!!) and we saw it take off. WHAT AN AMAZING THING TO WATCH!!!!!

Then my friend and I saw the sunset.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hpnflygirl

More pics coming soon.

What a WONDERFUL day.

 

[Shipoke]

Well Brook ,Thanks for sharing.
Dave G

 

[Teller1900]

That's really cool! One of those 124s comes into ORF every month or two to haul stuff for Blackwater. It's neat to see it sitting over on the cargo ramp. It makes FedEx's 3 story sort facility look tiny! For that matter, it makes FedEx's 727s look tiny.

The one that was here last month left its signature on the runway, though, in the form of a bit number 11 that streatches from the top of the aiming point markers to about 3,500 feet down the runway. The tower guys said their brakes locked, or were locked, when the landed. Oops.

 

[ausrere]

Very Cool Brook!

I got to see one of those up close once at the airshow at Alliance in Fort Worth. They brought it in with a contingent of Russian fighters that were touring the US. It was a very cool show. The Antonov sure dwarfed anything else on the tarmac that day. It's amazing something that big can fly.

 

[flyersfan31]

I saw one eat a Sikorsky SkyCrane in Medford OR. Pretty darn cool. Mammoth aircraft.