Monday, June 28, 2010

PBI is becoming a Volga-Dnepr hot spot.....

After having an Ilyushin IT-76 in Palm Beach International a couple of weeks ago, I was very surprised when I drove past the airport on Saturday morning to see the distant shape of an Antonov An-124. Later on in the day, I had the opportunity to go up to the airport to get a shot of it. It was in the same position at Signature that the IL-76 was, but this time, it's a much larger aircraft and I couldn't get a decent enough spot to get a full shot of it. As far as I know, it's still at PBI, so who knows if I might be able to get a departure shot of it when it leaves, but in the meantime, getting this shot is better than nothing.....



I'm in the process of moving to Ft Lauderdale from West Palm Beach, so there might not be a posting for a little while - however, being a lot closer to Ft Lauderdale, Opa-Locka and Miami might be bringing a little more to the postings soon....

A little more time behind the camera lens....

Thursday, June 24, 2010

A quick post.......

Weather in South Florida, as I think I might have mentioned, has been terrible of late - stormy, hot as heck, heat haze all over the pictures - it's been downright nasty. However, the last few weeks have started to bring one hybrid scheme into Ft Lauderdale that I have been trying to catch ever since I saw the pictures from others - Aires Columbia has a couple of Boeing 737-700's that are in Globespan hybrid colors. I've seen them from a distance a couple of times, but never up close. The other day, I was heading to Ft Lauderdale to try and catch it - when I saw it on approach while I was close to the airport. I knew I would get a touchdown shot, but knowing where it parks, I headed for the east side of the airport and down a little side road, I caught it approaching to the terminal. The light just happened to be good at that point...it was another stormy day, but another of the wanted pictures taken from the list....



There are some good shooting opportunities coming in the next month or so - can't share them at the moment, but, as soon as I can post the results.....I will....

A little more time spent behind the camera lens....

Friday, June 11, 2010

Tis a rare thing.....at Palm Beach

I got home from work early this afternoon to a message from a friend of mine telling me about an Ilyushin IL-76 at Palm Beach International. Russian jets are pretty rare at Palm Beach International, although I have on one other occasion seen an Antonov AN-124 arrive (in the dark of night - so no decent shot could be had). Although the original source said it would leave either Saturday or Sunday, and I will be watching the flight trackers to see if I can get a departure shot, I could not resist jumping in the car quickly to try and get a shot of it while I could. The result is shown below, and I'm glad I got to get this, my first shot of an Ilyushin.



Every time I got to the airport to get some shots, or just to see what is around, I always see this glorious Boeing 727-31 sitting on the ramp blocked either by another plane, a hangar or cars, or anything! While I was on my way home from shooting the Ilyushin, I couldn't resist passing by her to see if she was open - and - to my shock and horror - there she stood in the open - I couldn't resist getting to the shot. To the best of my knowledge, she is owned by billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein and just seems to sit on the ramp at Palm Beach International all the time - I haven't seen her move in months. Would be nice to catch a take off shot of this beauty sometime though...



Some more (but not a whole lot unfortunately) time spent behind the camera lens