Unplanned photos are the best

My major project at work is starting to wrap up - so I have some more free time to get out and take pictures. There were rumors of a unique plane coming through Phoenix on the 2nd, so I took the day off to take pictures at the airport.

The rumored plane didn't show - but I stuck around to see what else went on during a weekday (since normally only get out to the airport on weekends or in the evening).

I was rewarded almost immediately when one of the Air National Guard KC-135's took off - right past my vantage point in the Terminal garage. [click any of the pictures below to see the image at full size].



Then I caught the daily Hawaiian Airlines flight to Honolulu (this is the 2nd largest passenger airplane that regularly operates in and out of Sky Harbor).



But the airplane I was the happiest to see flying - was the Honeywell 757 Engine Test bed. It took off and flew racetrack patterns for a couple of hours before returning to Phoenix.



I had gotten fleeting pictures of this plane before - but never its right hand side - where the extra test engine is mounted. The slideshow includes some of these older pictures - as well as pictures of the Boeing coming back into its parking place (directly off the runway).



Definitely a great way to spend a day taking pictures.

Special Chartered Aircraft in Phoenix

Phoenix Sky Harbor airport is a hub for US Airways (after its purchase by America West) and Southwest Airlines. Because those are the primary users of the airport - the majority of the aircraft that go in are Boeing 737's and Airbus A318/A319/A321's. So aside from the daily British Airways flight from London (a Boeing 747), or the UPS or FedEx cargo planes (767 and MD-11 respectively), the opportunities to plane watch get pretty boring pretty quickly.

A friend found out that an Air China Boeing 747 was going to be coming into Phoenix over the Labor Day weekend. It was going to arrive on Sunday, fly up and back to the Grand Canyon on Monday, and then depart on Tuesday. So trying to capture a picture of this jumbo coming in and out of Phoenix, became a 'Photocall' for the aviation photography group I am part of.

The embedded link below goes to a slideshow of my pictures from both the arrival on Sunday and then the departure up to the Grand Canyon on Sunday (more details below the slideshow link).



During a pre-arrival drive through of the airport - it looked like it was going to be something more than just a normal charter. A reception tent was set-up out on the ramp - and the Police were out and just waiting.

Then there was the flight path this plane had been taking. It started in Beijing - and flew to Toronto (fuel stop), and then on to Havana (Cuba). From there it went to Nassau (Bahamas) for three days before flying to Phoenix.

One of the other photographers finally found a story on-line about this trip - on a Chinese web site (local press didn't have a clue). It was the Chinese equivalent to the US Speaker of the House - on a fact finding tour of the Americas.

Which would explain the next stop the plane made after leaving Phoenix - Andrews Air Force Base, outside of Washington, DC. [for those of you who don't know - Andrews Air Force Base is the home to another rather famous Boeing 747 - Air Force One].