DFW | January 2010 | Founders' Plaza | It's IMC below 1000' AGL......

Last Wednesday we had a bit of a temperature inversion that had a thick layer of ground fog about a 1000 feet or so thick but VMC conditions above that point. With the rising sun, it made for some unusual shooting conditions at Founders' Plaza that I thought might be fun.

It was too foggy to get a good shot of the registration numbers for either of these two birds. As an American MD-80 lands on 18R, an Airborne Express 767-200F with a yellow rudder from the DHL livery starts its takeoff run on 18L.

Beacon flash! As the sun starts rising, it started to give a slight orange hue to the fog. There were higher clouds that occasionally would cover the sun and give you more of the bluish-depressed look. Here a United A320 gets into position from the NW hold pad onto 18L for departure. This particular United Airbus, N429UA, was built and delivered to United back in May 1995.

The humid air provided an opportunity to try and photograph the low pressure condensation clouds that form over the wings on landing aircraft. As non-standard American tail numbers always get my attention, I had to shoot this MD-80- this is N9426T, an MD-83 built and delivered originally in September 1998 to Trans World Airlines and now flying with American post-merger/acquisition/Borg assimilation of TWA.

"EVA 692 Heavy, cleared to land Runway One-Eight Right, RVR more than six-thousand feet......"

This EVA Air Cargo 747-400BDSF (Bedek Division Special Freighter) came in from Seattle.

This particular aircraft, B-16402, was originally built and delivered to EVA Air of Taiwan as a passenger 747-400. Between June and November 2007 she was converted to freighter configuration by IAI Bedek Division in Tel Aviv.

Note the vortex highlighted by the condensation cloud coming off the mid-wing area! First time I've managed to catch that. Cool. It only shows up as the 747s are making their flare as the angle of attack on the wings increases.

The fog got a bit thicker as the sun got higher in the early morning sky. I can't make out the tail number on this American 737-800 that was asked by DFW West Tower to "position and hold on 18L".

"American 176 Heavy cleared to land One-Eight Right, RVR more than six-thousand feet...." Arriving right on the dot at 830am is American's regular Boeing 777-200ER service, Flight 176, from New Tokyo Narita International (RJAA).

On short final, N793AN shows off it's low pressure condensation cloud. It's actually much more impressive further back from short final, there have been days so humid the 777's condensation cloud will look like a waterfall spilling back off the lowered flaps. This particular 777 was built and delivered to American in September 2000.

At this point in the morning they closed 18L for departures and moved the next bank of departures to 18R (and closer to Founders' Plaza). Operating as Skywest 4745, N821SK takes up position on 18R to await departure clearance. This particular CRJ-900 in Skywest's 35th Anniversary livery was built and delivered to Skywest in April 2007 and has been operating under the Delta Connection banner since then.

You'd think crappy vision conditions like this would dissuade most photographers, but this guy was one of three of us spotting that morning in the muck. He had the biggest glass on hand, though. That's one of the great things about coming out to Founders' Plaza as a planespotter and photographer. I've met plenty of like-minded folks out there who enjoy spotting and photography as much as I do.

DFW | January 2010 | Founders' Plaza | A few more from the first spotting day of the new year....

Here's a little different format, panoramic but not multiple shots stitched but rather the quick and dirty way, crop to panoramic. This is N262AA, an MD-82 built and delivered to American Airlines in March 1985.

N384AA takes position on 18L and awaits departure clearance from the tower. This Boeing 767-300ER was built and delivered to American in August 1993.

You don't usually see an A300 freighter parked in this particular spot at the UPS ramp, much less still unbuttoned. This is N162UP, an A300F-600R built and delivered to UPS in December 2004

Last of this set, this is N759AN headed to the American line maintenance hangars on the west side. Built and delivered to American in November 2001, this Boeing 777-200ER got its special Susan G. Komen breast cancer awareness livery in October 2008.

DFW | January 2010 | Founders' Plaza | The first spotting session of the year....

These were shots I took on January 2nd. We happened to be out on errands on the Fort Worth side of the Metroplex and we were on our next to last stop of the day, the last stop being over in the Valley Ranch area on the Dallas side of things. The missus noticed the kids getting restless in the back and she suggested (yes, she actually DID suggest this) "Hey got your camera? Let's go hang out at Founders' Plaza and give the kids a chance to run around and burn off some energy."

That's called a keeper, boys. ;)

Just missed this one, it had just landed when we pulled into Founders' Plaza and oh it would have been so sweet to catch this on short final to 18R. Oh well, just gives me another excuse to head out there that I can add to my 50-page list of reasons to hang out at an airport.......Sometimes this flight is a 767-300 also in Omni Air colors but whether it's a DC-10 or a 767-300, it's on a military trooping charter.

Every single time I've seen Lufthansa's regular A340 flight subbed with an A330 I'm either in the area without a camera or not able to get to DFW. Until now. And it has the NERVE to go taxi to the east side for departure. I think my list of reasons to hang out at the airport just hit 51 pages.

This is one American Eagle ERJ-145 blue tail I haven't caught until now, N606AE is an ex-American Connection bird that flew for Trans States as N819HK, hence the blue tail logo. It was built and delivered to Trans States in June 1998.

Not my best shot, but I had to include this for two reasons. One, I caught the beacon flash on it, and secondly, it's tail number- N666A. Not just a non-standard American tail number, but one not for the superstitious out there. It's always flown for American under this tail number, it was built and delivered to the American back in April 1992.

Four more shots to come, but those will be presented a bit differently from my usual....stay tuned!

DFW | January 2010 | Founders' Plaza | Shooting in the suck.....

This set of shots was from a decidedly murky IFR day- about 2 mile visibility with 500' ceilings. But that never stops me from doin' some spottin'. Rain. Shine. IFR. VFR. TSTRM. I'm there, boys.

Heading out from West Cargo bound for Brussels is this Sinapore Airlines Cargo 747-400F with the radio call sign "Sing Cargo 7978 Heavy" and heading to Brussels. The droop of the wings is indicative of the big fuel load for the flight out.

This particular aircraft was built and delivered to Singapore Airlines in August 2003. Here she's turned from Taxiway C onto Taxiway Z to take the Zulu Bridge over to the east side for departure.

Now here's something you don't see very often- this American MD-83 is backtracking up 18R to do a 180 at the end for departure. Apparently this particular morning they were using 18L for arrivals and 18R for departures, the reverse of the normal mode of operation.

"American 1288, do a one-eighty at the end of One-Eight-Right and position and hold for departure...American 1288, cleared for takeoff One-Eight-Right, RNAV to BPARK...."

This particular MD-83 is ex-TWA. N9681B was built and delivered to TWA in November 1999, one of the last to join TWA before it was acquired by American Airlines.

It's unusual (at DFW, at least) to see a UPS MD-11F this dirty. Those aren't smudges or shadows, that's grime. Now *that* is more becoming of a pimp-slapped freighter flying rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong!

This particular MD-11F was built originally in passenger configuration in September 1993 for Japan Air Lines and flew as JA8580 and was converted in Singapore to freighter configuration for UPS later on.

"United 723, cleared for intersection takeoff from Yankee to One-Eight Left, RNAV to BPARK...."

This A320, N478UA, was built and delivered to United in June 2001 and flew for several years in Ted colors before the operation was folded back into United's mainline. As I was leaving Founders' Plaza, a Beech King Air in FAA colors came in low on approach to 18R (the only approach to 18R in the time I was there), stayed about 100' above the runway and never landed. That explained why the operations on the 18s were reversed- the ILS on 18R was probably getting flight checked by a callibration flight.

DFW | January 2010 | Founders' Plaza | It was *so* cold.......

Had an hour to kill this afternoon between kids' activities and decided to swing by Founders' Plaza despite the fact that it was 26 degrees with a brisk north wind that had the wind chill down in the single digits. So the operative word here is to sit in a very warm car and only hop out for shots you *really* want. I wasn't expecting anything interesting, but the chilly weather we've had lent itself to a scene you don't really see much of at DFW.......

Deicing! Doesn't happen much in these parts and I wasn't expecting to see it, but lo and behold, there you have it. The afternoon MD-11F departure gets a hose down. Funny thing is that this particular MD-11F, N276UP, was originally built in March 1996 as a passenger MD-11 for Japan Air Lines and flew as JA8588. JAL called their MD-11s "J Birds" and each one had a different species of bird on the winglet, this one was a white-tailed eagle. Way back then, JAL's MD-11s were regulars at DFW and just maybe this is one that's come on back. Ahhhh, nostalgia. I was usually out on my lunch break when JAL's MD-11s arrived back then.




Here the other side of the aircraft gets treated. The poor guy had a difficult time getting the #2 intake as he was positioned in front of it and had to spray into the blustery north winds. I'm surprised he tried as much as he did before repositioning upwind from the tail section.

When they started the #3 engine, this enormous cloud of white smoke poured out of the engine. Not unusual if the engine has cold soaked (I think this aircraft had arrived the night before and there was some freezing rain last night, hence the need for deicing to get rid of the accumulated ice), but it's usually not cold enough here to see this happen a lot. I think it actually has to be a lot colder to see some flames shoot out, but not sure.

Start up of the #1 engine then resulted in more white smoke. Didn't seem as thick and heavy as it did for the #3 engine, don't know if the engine bleed air maybe pre-warmed this engine a bit?

And finally the #2 engine was started with all the white smoke that comes with a cold-soaked engine start.

This particular aircraft, N276UP, was converted to freighter configuration in August 2004 by Singapore Aerospace at Peya Lebar Airport for UPS.