DFW | October 2010 | Founders' Plaza | I'm alive dammit.....

It's been a while since I posted to the blog, it's been a busy summer what with the flock of Chicklets off school and we also welcomed the arrival of Chicklet 004 as well. I do have a mountain of DFW area spotting shots from earlier this year and the last few weeks to sort through and post to this blog, though, so stay tuned. About 2 weekends ago had the rare chance for me to go out to Founders' Plaza around sunset. Most of the time that I can go spotting it's usually in the mornings or mid-afternoons, so getting a chance to head out and shoot in the evening light is always a nice change of pace.

One of American's 767-300ERs heads out from line maintenance at the west hangars for International Terminal D. You hardly see American's jets now taxi out back to the terminals from maintenance work under their own power now. Nearly all the time, they use these tugs that pick up the nose gear and take it away. You can see the slight nose up stance when these tugs are being used. In this shot, they're holding short of 18R while an American MD-80 rolls out with its thrust reversers deployed.

This particular 767 is N386AA, a 767-323(ER) built and delivered to American in May 1994. Not sure how many 767-300s are left that haven't been retrofitted with the blended winglets, but as the 763s with the blended winglets are becoming more common at DFW, the numbers of unmodified 763s have to be shrinking quickly.

MD-80s are so synonymous with DFW I usually don't shoot pictures of them unless they have non-standard tail numbers which usually clues me in that they're ex-TWA birds. This MD-80 sailing in over the numbers on 18R is N9621A which is an MD-83 that was built and delivered to TWA in June 1998 and is now part of American's fleet post-merger.

In the background a British Airways 777-200ER is heading out to go to the east side for departure. I couldn't make out the tail number, but it's one of several British Airways 777s that have "KEEPING THE FLAG FLYING" titles on the aft fuselage in reference to dealing with the crew strikes of recent at the airline.
 

I was hoping to catch the Lufthansa Cargo MD-11F evening arrival, but a UPS MD-11F will do nicely in exchange! There was a time before 9/11 that Japan Air Lines operated passenger MD-11 services to DFW and it's a bit nostalgic when an arriving UPS MD-11F happens to be an ex-JAL bird like N273UP happens to be. This aircraft was built and delivered to JAL back in June 1994 and was operated in passenger configuration. JAL's MD-11s were known as "J-Birds" and each plane was named for a species of bird native to Japan. This aircraft, when it was JA8583 with the airline, was named "Golden Eagle". A bit appropriate given the golden light of this particular evening at DFW.

In 2002 it was sold to UPS where it was converted to freighter configuration by STAS-Singapore at Paya Lebar Airport (that was Singapore's old international airport before Changi opened). As a side note, I've noticed in the last several months that the GE-powered UPS MD-11Fs are less common at DFW now- it's now almost always a PW-powered MD-11F. I assume that might be for maintenance reasons. Last year there were several occasions where GE-powered MD-11Fs of the airline were down for maintenance and sat on the UPS ramp until fixed. 

This particular MD-11F was using the call sign "UPS 2752 Heavy".
 

Here UPS 2752 Heavy does something that the Dallas Cowboys can't quite do- make a touchdown in DFW. (*rimshot*) You can see that the centerline main hasn't touched down just yet.
 

"UPS 2752 Heavy, turn right on Taxiway C and contact UPS Ramp." In the distance you can see Alaska Airlines' 737-800 with the special lei markings on the tail for their Hawaii services. Not from DFW. Obviously.

I could never get sick of trijets of any sort. Even though the MD-11 has a checkered history, it's still a sharp looking aircraft.

Close up of the front office on UPS 2752 Heavy as it passes another UPS MD-11F and an A300-600F. The room and visibility from the cockpit of the DC-10/MD-11 probably have to be some of the best of any jetliner.

Enjoy!

DFW | Passenger 747s returning to Dallas/Fort Worth...

Andrea Ahles of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram posted this to the Sky Talk blog this morning:

Jumbo jets return to D/FW

For the first time in several years, plane spotters will be able to watch passenger Boeing 747s land at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.

British Airways announced that it will use the 747 on its daily London Heathrow-DFW route starting on December 1. Coupled with Korean Air's decision to switch from a 777 to 747 in the fall on its Seoul-DFW route, plane spotters will have fun looking for the sky blue Korean Air and white BA jumbo jets on their arrival.

According to Greg Gayden, who runs DFWTower.com, BA used the 747 on its DFW route for about 10 days in January. Prior to that, the last time D/FW airport had 747 passenger service was when Korean Air had the jumbo jet on its Seoul route for six weeks in 2005.

DFW | January 2010 | East Side & West Cargo | Some over there, some over here...

These shots were from 21 January:

North winds don't usually make for good spotting days at DFW Founders' Plaza, but in the mid-afternoon if you catch it right and the spotting gods are on your side you can catch neat things like this North American 767-300ER departing on a military charter using the radio call sign "Reach". Usually the afternoon North American military charter departs from the east side of DFW and too far away from Founders' Plaza. This particularly cold, but sunny day in January, the spotting gods decided to reward my persistence. This particular aircraft, N767NA, is a 767-324ER, was built in January 1996 and was part of Continental's order for 767-300s that they ended up not taking up (they have only used 767-200s and 767-400s as a result) and was passed on to leasing giant GECAS, who in turn leased it out to Ansett Australia where it flew in the Sydney 2000 Olympics Torch color scheme before getting passed on to North American where it has flown predominantly military trooping charters ever since.

Next departure in GTFO day at DFW was this UPS 767-300F. This particular aircraft, N330UP, is a 767-34AF(ER), built and delivered in July 1999 to UPS.

And some love for the MD-11 crowd out there, this brisk afternoon in January was topped off with the usual UPS MD-11F departure. This particular Eleven is N277UP, built in May 1995 for Japan Air Lines in passenger configuration and was picked up by UPS and converted by STAS at Paya Lebar in Singapore in October 2004 when JAL phased out their MD-11s. Seeing an ex-JAL MD-11 here at DFW is a bit nostalgiac, there was time before 9/11 that JAL's MD-11s were regulars, arriving around noon time, usually overflying my office as I was headed out to lunch.

This next group of shots were from 25 January:

I had been trying for what seems like forever to get a good shot of the KLM A330-200 departure for Amsterdam and with this particular day having north winds, it would be my best shot from my usual spotting location north of Carpenter Freeway on the east side even though the aircraft would probably backlit. I hate taking backlit shots in the late afternoon, but I figured it was as good as any time to try and figure out how to do it right. Here she it outbound and contacting Departure. PH-AOK is an A330-203 built and delivered to KLM in April 2007 and was christened "Radhuspladsen-Kobenhavn".

Tight shot on the business end of the KLM A330-200. What, the cockpit? The engines? Aren't those GE CF6-80C2s nice looking? Oh, right. What was the question again? Does anyone know what the red rectangle marking is just behind the leading edge slats outboard of the engines? I'm assuming that's the refueling panel?

The best use of the Ubiquitous-80s at DFW are to try new and interesting artistic things and experiment with camera settings. Unless it's got a non-standard American tail number which means it's probably ex-TWA and I'll shoot a picture of it. To get this shot of a departing MD-80 and the sun and high clouds, I had to shoot at ISO 200, f/11, and 1/4000 sec.

American's 737-800s are starting to get ubiquitous to me, but not as much as the MD-80s. This is N925AN, a 737-823 built and delivered to American Airlines in December 1999.

I then went over to the West Cargo area to see if there was anything interesting going on before heading home for the day. Caught this shot of a departing American MD-80 with the bright greent tail of EVA Air Cargo's MD-11F parked at one of the West Cargo aprons. This particular MD-11F, B-16108, was built and delivered to EVA Air Cargo as a freighter in October 1997.

I tried to get closer and shoot through the fence on this Omni Air International 767-300 that was parked by one of the cargo buildings, but I was getting the rabid stinkeye from the security in the area (they weren't DFW Airport Police), I decided to back off and shoot out the window on my way outta there. Omni is now flying military charters and it looks like this aircraft was getting some attention before moving over to Terminal B across the west parallels. N351AX was built in May 1995 for AWAS and was leased out to Alitalia. It looks like AWAS planned to sell it to the Italian charter airline Blue Panorama but that deal got cancelled and it instead got picked up by Omni Air International.

DFW | January 2010 | Founders' Plaza | Storm Front

This was back on 28 January. Bizzaro day that was pretty much the only spring-like day for most of the winter. There were some rain showers from earlier in the day but a squall line from a frontal boundary was fast approaching and I thought it'd make an ominous backdrop for a panoramic shot of the UPS ramp.

Believe it or not this was about 3pm in the afternoon when the UPS flights all start heading out. There are usually two A300-600Fs off to the right of that Boeing 767-300F, but they'd already headed out and the MD-11F is being pushed back. Right after that MD-11F taxied out, a torrential downpour with tons of lightning stopped airport and ramp operations temporarily, but one of the 757 freighters still managed to taxi out.

Tripod mounted set of three shots were taken for this panorama- f/5.6, 1/100 sec at ISO 800. Click the image to view in a larger format.

DFW | March 2010 | Overheard

I was out at Founders' Plaza recently (and I should point out the sun canopies are back up, hooray) and overhead the following on the West Approach frequencies:

Approach: American 2436, maintain your current heading and speed but I'll have you turn south of NETEE over the lake for visual approach to One-Eight Right for noise abatement.
American 2436: Current heading and speed, turn south of NETEE and we'll wake up the fish, American 2436.
Approach: (chuckle) After doing that, contact Tower 124.15........

In an ILS approach, most of the flights bound for 18R turn onto the glideslope north of NETEE- I live in Flower Mound on the north side of Grapevine Lake and see them all the time turning from base to final. On bad weather days/IMC, they'll often intercept the glideslope much further north, sometimes as far north as YOHAN just south of Lake Lewisville.

DFW | February 2010 | Founders' Plaza | What the hell is ALL this white stuff?

Spot in VFR? Check.
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.

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!