Stop the presses!!!!

After one of the worst summers for photography, it appears as though the weather is turning - I was able to actually get out to Ft Lauderdale today - pictures to follow - but - I can't wait for the fall/winter season to start!!  The blog will hopefully be alive!!!

Lots of time behind the camera lens coming - I hope!!!

A picture not aviation related

South Florida weather has basically - sucked - for the last few weeks - very very few chances to get to photography anything aviation related.  But - sometimes the weather does play into our hands photographically - and - on Sunday it did.  My son came running into the living room - to tell me about this spectacular sunset outside.  That is was - a mixture of all colors and hues.  I loved it so much, I sent it to a local TV station and it was shown on the late news.

So - some time was spent behind the camera lens at least....

Fort Lauderdale Airport Landmark Demolished

For anyone that has visited Fort Lauderdale, be it by air, sea or land, the sight of the smoke stacks at the Florida Power & Light (FPL) plant at Port Everglades is usual.  The 4 smoke stacks and their accompanying blue boiler building have been part of the horizon for more than 40 years, the original construction of the plant happening in the 1960s.  FPL announced several months ago that it planned to demolish the plant in order make way for a new greener and fuel efficient plant.  Tuesday July 16, 2013 was the designated date and 6:45am was the designated time – have the plant imploded before the rush of the day started.  At precisely 6:45am on a cloudy day, with all air and land traffic halted around the area, the first of the powerful explosions sounded and the plant began to fall – the blue boiler buildings first followed by the 4 stacks.  In just over 40 seconds, the plant was razed to the ground – that familiar sight on the horizon used for navigating in and around Fort Lauderdale gone forever.

 The final standing of the complete plant

The boiler buildings begin to fall

The boiler buildings falling

One of the many powerful explosions brings down the boiler building

The blue boiler buildings are gone

The first stack falls

The second stack falls

The third stack falls

The fourth and final stack falls

The plant is demolished

It's a pity that it was cloudy when it happened - but - lucky that it was a little cloudy - a couple of hours later, we got lots more rain and darker clouds!

Some more time spent behind the camera lens.

Valle Grand Canyon Airport (40G) - What a surprise!!!

On a recent trip to Nevada and Arizona with the family, we were heading towards the Grand Canyon when we happened on this airfield and took a couple of minutes to have a look at the aircraft on view outside Planes of Fame.  I was surprised to see these few outside - would love to explore this the next time we are in the area - but - the Lockheed Constellation L-1049 info states it's in flyable condition - I'd love to take a ride on that!!!  But - here are the few I managed to shoot in the few minutes we stopped there.

 What a great surprise this was!!

Dragging out some old prints.....

Weather in South Florida has been, to put it mild, not good!  I would make that comment a lot stronger but then I would lose a lot of readers!!!    So, I decided to go back to some old prints that I had scanned a few years ago when I was cleaning out some closets.  I thought I'd post the ones I could find.  These were all taken in the mid to late 90's.

 Even though SAA had some planes in the new color scheme, a few of the old B747-200 Super B's had the old colors.  This one smoking on runway 3L.

I flew on one of these Emirates A310's from Johannesburg to Dubai and back for a business trip.  Going north to Dubai was in business class was amazing.  A couple of good old 727's in the background.

SAA leased a pair of B767-200s at the time - both pictured here - one in the old color scheme and the other pure white.  They did trips to and from African states.

The classiest SAA plane of the time - Ndizane was painted in this color scheme for the South African team to fly to the Atlanta Olympics.  Apparently when she arrived in Atlanta to bring the South African Olympic team, there were lots and lots of comments!

Hopefully, the weather will improve a little over the next few weeks to be able to get some shots of Fort Lauderdale or Miami.  There has been a very sexy Etihad Crystal Cargo B747-8F floating around Miami in the past couple of days - maybe I can catch that - or at least one of the Cathay Cargo B748's - I still have not got one...

I can't even say more time spent behind that camera lens!! :(

A Happy Memorial Day

To all the veterans and currently serving servicemen - thank you for your service that allows us to keep our freedom!

The rest of the blog is a little slow at the moment - the rainy season seems to have hit Florida and not a lot is going on at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport.  I need to try and find some filler posts to do over the next couple of weeks.....so - watch this space....

Sweet dreams are made of this......

Have you ever looked at something, or walked through somewhere, or just stood in the middle of something and said to yourself, "What I would give to _______".  I had that very fortunate experience recently.  I was very lucky to be able to take a tour of a stunning Boeing 737-7BC(BBJ) registered N164RJ - this stunning bird that makes her home (when she is in town) at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport.

From the minute you enter the cabin, you know you are in a place of pure pleasure - as someone described her - an apartment in the sky.  All the amenities are there to be able to support that - bathroom with shower, bedroom, satellite access for communications, wireless internet throughout the aircraft, television, full gallery (kitchen), she is able to provide the best to her occupants.  Here are some of the highlights (note - there are some areas I will not photograph out of respect to the owners)..

The office area  that contains the fax machine, the desk, the working area.

The meeting area, combined with dining area, complete with full boardroom table/dining room table.

The living area, relaxation area.

The living area, relaxation area. 

The living area, relaxation area.

Then of course, for the crew, there is the office area, cold and dark at the moment, waiting for her next trip.

And, finally, the means for getting from place to place - part 1 of 2.  

Yes, I would give a whole whole lot to be able to take a trip on such a lovely apartment in the sky, but, as this post is titled, sweet dreams are made of N164RJ, I mean this.....

Some more time spent behind the camera lens....