Dulles: 6/8/12-The Grand Finale (Image Heavy)

Hello All,

Yesterday, I spent my final day up at Washington Dulles International before I move out West. It was an incredibly long day from start to finish, some 19 hours + by our count, but probably my most successful trip to IAD ever.


The Morning was incredibly quiet, and that is even by Dulles' standards. The Colgan Dash 8's always seem to taxi well short of me, so catching one going by was a treat.

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Fed Ex's A310 did not seem to have brake issues this time, and made it to the cargo ramp without fanfare

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First time getting a good catch of a Saab 340 with Continental titles. Not sure what he was doing, as he didn't seem to fly anywhere, only taxied around for a bit...

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UAL was kind enough to supply the only widebody passenger action that morning

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Fitting that I should again see an MD-10F from the same place I first shot one

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Sadly the 757-300 did not make an appearance this time

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A friend of mine had never been to the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center adjacent to the Airport, so he tagged along to check out the various displays. While in the Museum, I discovered on Flightaware that Lufthansa 418 was being operated by a 747-400 instead of the new 747-8i, and I was quite disappointed, to put it mildly. Nonetheless, we shot arriving European heavies.

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No A333 for KLM today, sadly

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Lufthansa 418 Heavy checked in with the tower on final for 1R, and he definitely looked too long to be a 747-400. Sure enough, Lufthansa was kind enough to send me the jet I drove up to see: D-ABYA "Brandenburg".

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And right behind him came the "unusual" visitor from Leipzig Halle International Airport.

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And a closeup of the engines/nose

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I love the An-124 shots! great catch!

After Volga Dnepr (Who we are pretty sure the Tower addressed as "Volga Death Star") we met up with a fellow photographer and good friend of mine to shoot European Departures.

Air France kindly obliged me by resuming daily service to IAD with the A380.

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As usual, the United 767 pilots put on a good show for us.

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Scandinavian must have known that my last shots of this bird didn't come out very well, as they sent it for me to shoot again.

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I am not sure how this is possible, but in 8 visits to Dulles since this time last year, I have seen only 2 different 767s, with OH-LAE here being seen no fewer than 6 of those times. We are becoming good friends, what can I say?

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KLM just wouldn't bank this time around, and gave me the straightout, sadly.

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This scheme is getting harder to find on a widebody anymore, and to think I used to hate it!

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The United 777 pilots seem to know how to show off their aircraft the best around IAD.

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A different Saudia 777 for once!

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Shamrock didn't do the expedited climb this time, allowing me a somewhat better view for a change.

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The loudest plane of the day!

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Another Tulip Triple Seven that hasn't been Uni-Conned yet

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Usually, that would have been the end of the day. The other heavies would depart Runway 30, and I would be left high and dry as they took off into the setting sun. However, somebody at Dulles Ops was looking out for me yesterday, and treated me to three departures that I had never seen, 2 of whom almost always use runway 30 exclusively, back to back to back.

I nearly did back flips when I saw this gal turn towards 1R instead of 30 as she pushed back

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I had never caught the Virgin A346 at IAD before, and she always takes 30 for her departure, so this was a total shock to see.

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And British wound the evening to a close. It was only on the way home that it hit me that the last aircraft I would photograph at Dulles was the same Airline, Flight, and aircraft type that had brought me to Dulles my first time back in 2010. I do appreciate Symmetry.

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I hope you all have enjoyed! I have loved living close enough to my first big international airport to make it up there every month or so, and look forward to new adventures out West. I will, however, miss what has come to be my favorite big airport to shoot at.


Cheers!


Nick

Thank you, Sergio! She was a very lucky catch for sure.

Solid set.

Very impressive work, Nick !

Excellent set Nick!!

Nice work Nick. Good Luck out west.

Thank you all! I will confess that I found the whole thing to be a bit bittersweet. Dulles was the first airport I ever really shot airliners at, so to be leaving it is somewhat sad.


Maybe I'll make it back up to the NYC area before I leave, for a real East Coast aviation send off.

Excellent set Nick! All the best to you out west.

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Originally Posted by NickPeterman

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At JFK, it sounds like an F-15 taking off, no kidding!

GREAT set Nick, very nice...

Mark, Manny, thank you both!

Manny- You are absolutely right. Neither of the guys I was shooting with was familiar at all with airliners, and when I heard Songbird on the scanner "I remarked, prepare to be blown away by just how much noise this little guy can make". When he popped up over the building, they had their doubts based on his size, but soon were drowned out by that sweet 737-200 sound :wink:

Had no idea you were moving man- school? good luck to you, that 732 was quite a parting gift, keep in touch

Thank you William, I most definitely will! And yes, it is school that is taking me to Texas.

Nick,

Excellent shots. I particularly like your photo of the Austrian 767 (and the one from last month too!) The winglets make the 767 a photogenic bird.

As for the COLGAN saab, I'll bet money that was a maintenance taxi. COLGAN has a mx hanger on the north side of the field next to 19C/1C. Frequently, they'll come out to run up the engines, test brakes, etc. But nice catch with those Continental Titles. Certainly something that won't be around too much longer.

Couple of questions:

I'm assuming the majority of these photos were taken from the daily parking garages? The one next to Cargo Facilities in the morning and the center garage for the 1R departures? It's been ages since I've shot from the garages at IAD and always had HeatHAZE in my photos. (And that was in the mornings/evenings... not MID DAY like so many artard spotters)

Have you ever captured any 1R turn to 30 approaches? One of these days I'm hoping to be at IAD when those ops are present. Wasn't sure if you knew a good place to camp out and grab those without trees getting in the way. -- Related Question: How has MWAA been treating spotters at Dulles since you've been shooting there? I got harassed a few times near the Smithsonian Parking Lot. Never was approached on the garages though.

General Question for the more adventurous spotters at IAD -- Has Anyone ever ventured to the western side of IAD to the fields behinds the woods just adjacent to runway 10 threshold? When the heavies go off 30 and turn northbound, I can imagine the bank action would be nice. I've looked at the sunlight-track for that location, and it doesn't look like it'd ever be like HOBE, but with some dramatic clouds near sunset, i'm sure you could bag a really nice silhouette shot. I don't think there are any gates keeping people from venturing back there, but it probably is private property... the kind of private property where you might find a toothless hick with a shotgun greeting you.

Nways, nice shots Nick. Good luck out west.

1R circle to 30 approach captured in February
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damn trees


Saab 340 wearing United words
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These shots are awesome. I especially love the Shamrock shot. That's frameable! Nice work!

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ave you ever captured any 1R turn to 30 approaches? One of these days I'm hoping to be at IAD when those ops are present. Wasn't sure if you knew a good place to camp out and grab those without trees getting in the way. -- Related Question: How has MWAA been treating spotters at Dulles since you've been shooting there? I got harassed a few times near the Smithsonian Parking Lot. Never was approached on the garages though.

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Yes, walk out past the toll booths (keep in mind that's completely legal) and go anywhere under the 1R approach. I like walking down to the fence next to all the trees and road to the control tower. You'll need a longer lens (300mm at least), but the shots turn out great:

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The MWAA and Washbalt spotters group have a great relationship, and I have never been bothered. Just call ops and no security will bother you at all. Last time I talked to ops they actually told me which runway to go to for the 748i landing. The airport has been great to us lately!

Quote:

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General Question for the more adventurous spotters at IAD -- Has Anyone ever ventured to the western side of IAD to the fields behinds the woods just adjacent to runway 10 threshold? When the heavies go off 30 and turn northbound, I can imagine the bank action would be nice. I've looked at the sunlight-track for that location, and it doesn't look like it'd ever be like HOBE, but with some dramatic clouds near sunset, i'm sure you could bag a really nice silhouette shot. I don't think there are any gates keeping people from venturing back there, but it probably is private property... the kind of private property where you might find a toothless hick with a shotgun greeting you.

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I wouldn't do it......

Image heavy=great thread! Awesome shots Nick!

Skyteam, Nexpos, and capt, thank you all! Of all my sets of civil aviation photography, this is the most pleased that I have ever been with the finished product. Definitely feel like I've come a LONG way from when I started a few years ago.