LGA Saturday 6-7 Runway 22 Departures !

[Delta777LR]

Here are the rest of my pictures from yesterday like I promised










Enjoy the rest!!

[lijk604]

Time to clean the sensor...nice shots though.

[Matt Molnar]

Today had a few surprises and I am not talking aircraft. Around 1445 they found what might be a buckle in the concrete on 22, caused by the heat, the Port sent out and engioneer to investigate and operations ground to halt, thankfully for only a few minutes.

Ahh, I was wondering what was up...

I know the airlines are having a hard time, but I wasn't expecting to see a Chevy Suburban doing a take off roll. :)

Didn't look like they examined it very closely, they couldn't have been out there more than 2 minutes, didn't even notice anyone get out of their car. All four vehicles pulled onto the north end of the runway around 2:50, then it looked like three of them pulled to the side and the fourth, seen coming at me above, sped down to the south end and off the very last taxiway. A couple minutes later a Midwest 717 departed, and they kept up until about 3:15.

Somehow I managed a few decent shots despite the magnificent heat haze:


Uhh, might be time to stow the reversers and not suck a bunch of dirt into the engines there, captain.

[Delta777LR]

NIce stuff Gothamspotter, I must have just missed you there because I left there around 12:15PM but I did see Ron pop by while I was taking pictures and he gave me a ride to the M60 bus stop around the other side of the GCP.

[Matt Molnar]

Yeah, I got there around 2:15 I guess, which is late for ideal light at Planeview, but I experimented a bit and got a few decent liftoff shots. The heat haze didn't help my cause, but I stayed until they started departing 13 around 3:30 I guess.

[Delta777LR]

I figured that, because I also got word that they reopened rwy 13-31 again

[LGA777]

Nice shots gentlemen. To answer Phil D's earlier question the reason Runway 22 is so weight restricted is as follows. Runways 4, 13, and 31 all have water at the ends, and a fair amount of room for a very heavy aircraft making a slow climb after a departure using almost the entire runway to get airbourne and climb safetly away from the airport. Runway 22 has at the immediate end of the runway first a service road, then an uphill slope of grass followed by the Grand Central Parkway. Anotherwords if you are ready to become airbourne at the very end of the other 3 runways you "might" make it. The same scenerio on 22 would make what happened to Taca in Hondourous last week look like a walk on the beach by comparision. This is why many of the older more weight restricted prone aircraft like the 733,734,M80,DC9,727 are significantly restricted on 22, especially in 90 plus degree heat and humidity.

Hope this helps ?

LGA777