Phoenix area spotting trip (Image Heavy!)

This weekend I took a short trip out to Phoenix to meet up with some of the PHXSpotters. I flew out Friday and then took the redeye back at 12:20a sunday morning. So after a few hours of spotting Friday, a full saturday of spotting, 5 hours of jumbled sleep in cramped airplane seats and watching the super bowl....I have gotten a few photos edited for your enjoyment.

Leading up to my trip I spent a lot of time on google maps looking for some gems in the area around Phoenix, and found a few. As soon as I got my rental on Friday I drove out to Mesa Falcon Field (KFFZ) to see if either of the two C-54s I saw on google maps were still there. Well, I arrived to find that only one was still there. Surprisingly the FBO allowed me to go out and photograph it unsupervised.

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A shot inside their hangar
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After leaving the FBO, I drove down the street to see if the recycling yard was open. They were closed so I pulled up to the wall and climbed on top of the rental for this shot of some S-2 Trackers and what appears to be a Catalina in the background:
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After leaving Mesa-Falcon my next stop was Mesa-Gateway to get an Allegiant to add to my collection. Well, all I can say is that I got my Allegiant finally and much more than I expected. When I was about 10 mins away from the field, I saw two black T-38s take off in tandem and was a little disappointed, but I got treated to a lot better stuff when I got there.....

These are there for temporary storage.
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Didn't think I was going to get a shot of this as it was parked out of reach of the camera. Then, next thing I knew it was climbing out overhead.
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The real treat from KIWA
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Finally got my Allegiant
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Then I spent all day at Phoenix on Saturday, where I me t up with some of the PHXSpotters group. One of the guys from the guys from group is a local small freight pilot. He knew I was out early and told me he was going out on a flight and that he would keep his plane low on departure. I asked him to do a small favor for me (thought you guys would get a kick out of it). Click the photo to view full size and check the right side cockpit window.....
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Swift 767
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A few more...

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And some low-light panning...
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Cathay Hong Kong Trader 747-8F overhead
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steve, great shots.

Nice set! Esp. like the two US Airways.

Doug

Sweet work, Steve! The last time I was at PHX, I was still shooting slides...need to get back out there.

Excellent work.... Love the FedEx night capture.

Wow, great stuff Steve!

Steve...........awesome series! You definitely hit the jackpot with your trip to PHX. The light looks fantastic.

Steve, terrific work! It is almost like you are a whole new photographer, wow! The quality on these is superb. Thanks for sharing... and congrats on the harriers, loved those the most :cool:

Ooh, looks like you also caught B-LJA.

Beautiful shots Steve, bravo!
Gene

Awesome Awesome work my friend !!!! Some great catches and shots, I am really glad this weekend worked out well for ya !

Glad to see my hometown treated you well! I would highly recommend KPHX in the winter time to anyone! Glad you got to see my two favorite America West aircraft. Unless I'm mistaken, some of those S-2s may be going on to the Brazilian Navy after refurb.


Nice set all around!




Nick

wow...what a nice bunch of pix.... the c-54 is sweet and the AV-8 with this background is great !

Thanks for sharing

Steve, Excellent stuff..... great lighting and great subject matter.....


Rich B

Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing!

Wow Great Shots!!!

I was in Phoenix Jan 26-29th, just missed you by a week!

I did some spotting but nothing like yours!

Alex

Steve! You're a madman! Totally awesome. Looks like one of the Grummans that used to belong to Chalks before they got their ops certificate revoked after their crash.

And that first Harrier shot should be sold as a poster

Thank you so much for the compliments guys! You have no idea how much they mean to me. I told myself I am taking my photography very seriously this year and to see the comments that you guys have replied with makes me feel that I am accomplishing what I wanted to this year.

@Manny - You are too kind sir! Not to take away from what anyone else said, but your comment definitely stands out for me. Especially since when I left for PHX, I told myself that this is where I start to get serious.

Here are a few more shots for you guys to enjoy. This first group is from MEsa-Falcon Field again. I saw a two Lockheed PV-2 Harpoons sitting behind a fence. I was about to knock on the door of a business that was next to them to find out who owned them when a gentleman stepped outside to leave. I asked him if he knew about the Lockheeds on the other side of the building and if the business he came from owned them. He told me yes and that if I wanted to take a few pictures that I could follow behind him in my vehicle and drive out to them. The gentleman's name was Bob and he said it was my lucky day because he just happened to be the owner of the plane. I walked around it with him and snapped what pictures I could (given the amount of space I had) while he told me about the plane and what he was doing to it.

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The markings B L K on the side were chosen by Bob when he painted the aircraft. The letters stand for the first initial of his name, his wife's name, and his oldest daughter's name.
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This was the second Harpoon which is owned by someone else.
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And a few more from PHX. Not only was I able to get both the AZ and NV state flag schemes for USAirways......I was able to get them in the same frame.
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A little Mad dog wing flex on departure
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Another night shot
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Outstanding work, Steve! Really first rate!

Steve, these are just completely over the top! I gotta figure out how to get out there, I didn't realize there was a good vantage point for night work there. Way to go!

Stev you dog, you deserve it! WELL DONE!! I mean, you even added more insult to injury by posting even more great stuff... I mean lighting, exposure, clarity... WTF? Where was this photographer hiding? LOL. As has been said; First Rate!

Moose, John......Thank you very much! John - At PHX, both T3 and T4 garages are great places to do night time photographs. T4 can be a little tricky and you'll get a lot of shots from behind unless you go for shots while they are at the gate. If you move to the south side of T4 garage you can get shots if you time it right of planes waiting to taxi onto 25R. At T3, you can get the AA planes that are put on hardstand over night. And if you have a long lens and a steady tripod, you can even try for a shot of the ANG KC135s parked south of the runways. I tried, but there was too much distance for my cheap tripod.

Manny - I definitely appreciate your very very very kind words. As for where this has been hiding......I have had many photographers on here that are better than I give me some very good advice since joining the forum. I combined all those lessons with the desire to take this VERY seriously this year and kick it up a notch. I look forward to keep on learning from everybody on here and keep the quality going in a positive direction. Again, a VERY VERY big THANK YOU!

dude.....i don't even know where to begin...this is just eye candy to the max...i can't believe the catches and the phenomenal light, not to mention you got all of these in a couple short days. Just don't tell me you got the Honeywell test-bed 757 while you were there...I'd cry.

Access was phenomenal, and the catches are freaking sensational!!!!

Thanks very much Mike. Couple short days?? Try day-and-a-half. Actually day and three hours. Lol. All the PHX shots were in one day. The other shots were friday afternoon after I arrived and before heading to dinner and the hotel.

Oh, forgot about this one. Thought we were going to get front row seats for a missed approach, but we were wrong. This guy was set down with less than 4700' of runway left.

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Loving this batch even more man ! Again congrats on these shots .. Great job

Just found a shot of the 700oth Airbus

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Awesome sets!! Phoenix is a target right environment. Makes me really look forward to my spring break trip in a month.

FANTASTIC!!!!
The shots you can under the desert sun with it's bright light tend to turn out good...actually FANTASTIC.
The American MD-80 shot must be my favorite, and the Southwest night shot is also stunning!
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Great Set Steve!