Spot in 110 degree temps and get sunburned? Check.
Spot in single digit windchills? Check.
Spot in IFR? Check.
Spot in a thunderstorm? Check.
Spot in a snowstorm? Dammit, did that on the day of DFW's epic 12 inch snowstorm, too. 'Cause that's how I roll.
It started snowing at 0300 local time that day and it wasn't too bad in the morning as I took the kids to school. And of course, I was going to swing by Founders' Plaza at DFW on the way back home as I figured it might make for an interesting exercise in photography as I've found it's in the crummy weather conditions that push me to really experiment with different combinations of settings. So I spent about an hour to catch some morning action on the west side of DFW from Founders' before I had to cash in my chips and bail as the snow got heavier and visibilities dropped as heavy snow AND fog set in.
This was the METAR when I got there:
KDFW 111353Z 12006KT 3/4SM R17C/6000VP6000FT -SN BR OVC003 00/M01 A3009
Obligatory shot of the UPS ramp, this was around 0800. The MD-11F arrived the previous night and doesn't head out until later in the afternoon, but two A300-600Fs were being loaded up and prepared for departure.
It looked like they were about 1/2 of the way through loading this Airbus freighter. Notice how the snow has melted on the top of the fuselage where the aircraft structure is under the skin. I'm assuming that's from conductive heating from the interior? Couldn't make out the tail number, snow was covering that part of the fuselage.
There was a lot of activity on the Ameriflight/Martinaire ramp that's just to the west of the UPS ramp. Decing. This was the first of the planes out of the ramp, an Ameriflight Beech C99. This particular bird, N223BH, was built back in 1981 and has been in service with Ameriflight since June 1992. The orange staining is the deicing fluid.
"American 632, cleared to land One-Eight Right RVR five-thousand, braking action fair to good."
This particular MD-82, N489AA, was built and delivered to American back in January 1989 when I still sported a Flock of Seagulls haircut. In addition to the snow falling, fog was beginning to set in and the condensation clouds on the wings of the arriving flights began to get more prominent.
"American 2407, position and hold One-Eight Left, be ready to go when I call you back. Amflight 1722, hold short on Whiskey Golf for One-Eight Left."
This shows how challenging the visibility was with the snowfall. That Ameriflight Beech 99 was the one I posted above, N223BH. The American 737-800 was headed to Los Angeles and the Ameriflight Beech 99 was headed to Amarillo.
Here's something not often seen from Founders' Plaza- three cargo turboprops just sitting at the Taxiway C and Taxiway Y intersection. Two Ameriflight Swearingen Metroliners and a single Martinaire Cessna Caravan. I'm assuming they were waiting on their IFR clearance? Only one of the Metroliners made it out, though.
The snow started getting heavier when this other Martinaire Cessna 208B Caravan headed out. This particular aircraft, N4591B, was built and delivered to Martinaire in July 2004.
Hot on the heels of that Martinaire Caravan was this Ameriflight Beech C99- N228BH was built in 1986 and has been with Ameriflight since March 2004. Seeing the Metroliners and Beech 99s was quite nostalgiac for me, I grew up in Western Kansas and as a kid in the mid-1970s, Air Midwest's Metroliners and Beech 99s were our airport's "heavy metal".
One of DFW's heavy fire trucks heads out on an emergency call while an American MD-80 gets into position for departure off 18L.
By this point the weather was really starting to go south. No wind, thank God, but the snow was getting heavier and the RVRs were dropping below 3000 feet. These three guys elected to call it a day and head back to the ramp- a Martinaire Cessna Caravan, an Ameriflight Swearingen Metroliner, and bringing up the rear of the conga line was an Ameriflight Beech 1900C. Not sure where the 1900C came from, it might have been already out waiting for departure when I got to Founders' Plaza. Two of these guys were in that group I pictured above that were waiting at a taxiway intersection.
You can see the snow accumulation on this Ameriflight Metroliner. Perhaps that was why they headed back, to get another deicing application? This particular bird, N428MA, was built back in 1986 and has been flying with Ameriflight since March 1998.
Shooting was getting hard by this point. This Ameriflight Beech 1900C, N331AF, was built in 1985 and has been flying with Ameriflight since January 1996.
I was getting ready to pack it up and head home as I was cold and a bit soaked when I heard on my scanner "EVA 696 Heavy maintain 3000 to YOHAN and get established on the localizer for ILS One-Eight Right, you're following an MD-80." Well, okay, what's a few more minutes? Here she is breaking out of the overcast on short final.
EVA696 was coming in from Anchorage and the pilots were probably thinking "Dammit, the weather was waaaaay nicer in Alaska than here!" This particular EVA Air Cargo bird, tail number B-16401, was built and delivered to EVA Air as a passenger 747-400 back in October 1992. Between November 2007 and June 2008 she was laid up at IAI's Bedek Division in Tel Aviv being converted to freighter configuration as a 747-400(BDSF)- Bedek Division Special Freighter.
And here she is just about to come over the threshold of 18R (the line of green lights on the lower right of the picture). The condensation cloud over the wings completely obscured the mid-fuselage and "EVA" titles.
Lest you think me nuts for spotting in this weather, I wasn't the only spotter out there this morning. I present a fellow airport nerd and photographer.
Oh, and for good measure, our very own mascot Spotting Grackle was there, too. He ain't afraid of some pissant snowflakes. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna get shown up by Spotting Grackle.
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