A short working trip to Washington / New York - with aircraft spotting of course...

[Kwek 0]

A couple of weeks back I made a short working trip to Washington DC for the ATCA Conference. I routed via New York/JFK via Frankfurt for the outbound leg and transferred to American Airways flight to DC.

 

I took the A-Train round the airport for a tour as I had a good 5 hours to burnt. All hope of good spotting from the terminals were dashed as the weather was sucky.

 

I ended up at the end of the line at Howard Beach Station, not knowing that I will eventually return to the same station almost a week later (that's another story). But it was certainly worth the effort move around and see a few terminals. Some terminals were indeed modern and impressive.

 

Nice design for the A-Train stations, I subsequently learnt that it required a hugh amount of money to put this train system in place. It looks very practical, linking the terminals and the long-term parking areas.

 

Welcome to New York....yeah right, just after I got my first taste of "pasar malam" as I checked in for the AA flight.

 

I was dismayed to learn that there was to be another 45 minute delay......so I went around taking some more photos. Couldn't resist the AA B757 with winglets. I had to keep my camera eventually when some security guy said "Put it away, no photos".. I thought this was the land of the free.....ha.

 

The flight eventually pushed-back almost 1.5 hours late. After we were taxiing, the pilot announced that our number was 15 in sequence....... My fellow companions fell asleep when the aircraft taxiied out. When they awoke, the aircraft had yet to reach the end of the take-off queue - haha. We eventually landed more than 2 hours behind schedule when we reached Washington DC - my first taste of the famed US air traffic delays.

[Kwek 0]

No time to waste.....early next morning I did a brisk walking tour of the city. The the main objective was of course the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

 

The Right Stuff greeted the visitors at the entrance!

 

The Wright brothers got it right!

 

Plenty of stuff to keep me busy. I overrun my alloted time for the visit by more than 2 hours.....

 

This is relatively new here - Space Ship One!

 

 

 

[Kwek 0]

If the NASM at Washington DC was heaven, then I don't have the words to describe the Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center - America's Hanger...........

 

Just some of the wonderful exhibits...

 

SR-71 Blackbird!

 

The exhibits weren't the only attraction. The Donald D Engen Tower at 164 feet provided an excellent vantage point for spotting!!!

 

Let the spotting session begin!!!

 

U N I T E D

 

Old colours....

 

New colours....

 

Old bird......

 

The feeders...

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2007 by Kwek

[Kwek 0]

Delta

 

Jet Blue......(which I will have an overdose of at JFK later.....)

 

US Airways feeders...

 

Ted

 

Jazz

 

Austrian

 

And all these traffic in about half an hour....what a blast!

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

You sure did have a blast didn't you

Awesome stuff !

[Pieter C. 5]

WOW, Kwek !!!

 

Excellent shots of the 'regulars' at DCA !!!

 

Did you visit IAD also ?

 

Hope to see more shots here of your US stint

[TK 0]

I was waiting for this Kwek...

Thanks, nice to see some shots from you.

[Jonathan Kong 0]

Ah wek ah... where are those banking shots that u mentioned to me :pardon:

[Kwek 0]

Pieter,

 

The spotting shots were from IAD. The Udvar-Hazy Centre is located near Dulles - a USD$65 taxi ride away from DC...ouch.

More shots from DCA at the next update.....courtesy of a flight delay.

 

And Jon, the banking shots from JFK would be the following installment.....hehe....and a little surprise.

 

Cheers!

Kwek

 

 

 

WOW, Kwek !!!

 

Excellent shots of the 'regulars' at DCA !!!

 

Did you visit IAD also ?

 

Hope to see more shots here of your US stint

 

[Ian Lim 0]

nice nice, kwek

[Norman 1]

Wow.... nice... nice...

Good working trip...wasn't it?

(Aahhh... I missed the government job already... )

 

Awaiting further 'surprise' installments

 

[Mushrif A 3]

Pieter,

 

The spotting shots were from IAD. The Udvar-Hazy Centre is located near Dulles - a USD$65 taxi ride away from DC...ouch.

More shots from DCA at the next update.....courtesy of a flight delay.

 

And Jon, the banking shots from JFK would be the following installment.....hehe....and a little surprise.

 

Cheers!

Kwek

 

You could have used the cheaper bus-shuttle service linking the A&S museum in downtown and the UH Centre at Chantilly.

 

[Kwek 0]

Yes, we were screwed royally by the Marine marathon which affected the VRTA shuttle. After waiting for more than an hour, we decided to go the taxi route rather then wait...... time is indeed money in a foreign land.

 

On the way back, we took the 50 cents VRTA transit shuttle from the museum to Dulles Airport. The intention was to connect to the bus 5A back to Rosslyn metro stop. Again the bus schedule was completely wrecked by the marathon. The hugh queue actually pressured the driver who was intend to go off-duty at Dulles to drive the bus back to Washington DC. After some frantic phone calls, he relented and waived the USD$3 bus for all. People power USA style!

 

 

You could have used the cheaper bus-shuttle service linking the A&S museum in downtown and the UH Centre at Chantilly.

 

[Benny Zheng 0]

Looks like a trip worth while Kwek! When i was in LAX in 2005, no one stop me from taking photos. Maybe things have changed?

[Raj Changela 0]

Looks like a trip worth while Kwek! When i was in LAX in 2005, no one stop me from taking photos. Maybe things have changed?

 

There is a difference of day and night between LAX and NY Airports. Things are always same after 9/11. I go to LA and never get questioned(however the police always visits by), while going to JFK/EWR/LGA I expect atleast one visit by the authorities during the day and get questioned about taking photos of the planes!

 

Kwek amazing pics from our backyard... now I have to take a trip down to DC in next few months!

[T Azahan 1]

kwek,

 

working trip is only 'on paper'. but ultimate purpose is 'spotting'. yeah!!! heheheheheh. some more laaa wei....

[Kevin Teh 0]

fuah Kwek, powerful shots! Working Spotting Trip is best lar... ha ha ha

[Simon 3]

Nice coverage there, thanks Kwek.

[Kwek 0]

More pictures from the Steven Hazy Center - the highlight of my visit to Washington.

 

A view of the SR-71's sleek profile and shock cone, but her POB is 2!

 

This one carried more!! Imagine her breaking the sound barrier!

 

A look at her intakes and undercart.

 

Slick!

 

A closer look from the top....with a very nice tail to the left of the picture.

 

Nice glass!

 

 

Edited November 16, 2007 by Kwek

[Chaity 1]

Thanks for the special coverage of the concorde. She sure is a sleek looking bird !

[Kwek 0]

Some more pics from Steven Udar-Hazy Center.

 

Boeing 367-80 was the prototype for the Boeing's first jetliner, the B707. Her first flight was on 15 Jul 1954.

 

Pratt and Whitney .....dependable engines - that's what the sticker said.

 

Much earlier on Boeing had the Stratoliner, a decendent of the B-17 bomber which retained the wings, tails and engines of the famous bomber.

Incidently this aircraft type was the first airliner with a pressurized fuselage.

 

The most infamous bomber was the B-29, in particularly Enola Gay for dropping the first atomic bomb. Hiroshima was the unfortunate city. I'm not defending or agreeing with the need for the use of such a destruction weapon that was carried by this particular aircraft but without this mission the United States and her allies would have to stage an invasion of mainland Japan. Just imagine the casulties and suffering that a prolonged war would have brought......

 

Often performing the role of a bomber escort, this P-38 has a well earned rest under the wings of the B-29 bomber.

 

This one-way ticket single-turn bomber came too little too late to have an impact on WWII.

 

Kittyhawk (not this particular marking) was a famous mount for the Flying Tigers - American Volunteer Group - fighting for KMT China in the mainland against the Japanese invaders.

Edited November 16, 2007 by Kwek

[Naim 6]

Nice pics, Kwek. Compare with my pics a couple of yrs' back, see this thread:

 

http://www.malaysianwings.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7034

 

Also the Enola Gay thread:

 

http://www.malaysianwings.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7049

 

 

 

 

[Kwek 0]

After the work week is over, it's time to leave Washington for New York, from which I was to transit to join the SQ EWR/SIN flight.Ronald Reagan Airport is where I begin my journey home. Having seen the interesting traffic passing by the Washington Monument everyday on the famous Visual River Approach on Runway 19 (my hotel was only 2 blocks away), I was dying to go get some pictures. In the end I ran out of time to spot at the famous Gravelly Point - (hey that gives me a reason to come back again). But thanks to guides on the Net provided by the Washington Baltimore Spotters on their website, I knew that I could do some last minute spotting at the terminal building before departure.Here's my short session at DCA, aided by a flight delay of almost 1 hour which was gratefully accepted gratefully....hehe

 

This is the view from the public area btween Terminal B and C.

 

As I got into the airside, the view is even better.....and thanks for the great light...

First of two Canadians...Air Canada

 

....Jazz

 

Midwest - note the bucket kicking in!

 

Frontier - very nice!

 

A couple of retro colors by US Air...

 

....Smiling PSA

 

Let's have some rotations....AA baby Boeing!

I got into Washington on one of these...

 

One of the larger aircraft at DCA...

 

US Air Express

 

United Classic

 

Air Tran

Edited November 17, 2007 by Kwek

[Kwek 0]

Some more....

 

Delta Connection

 

Delta Shuttle

 

US Airways.......Capitol Hill in the background

 

Northwest requested for the same...

 

Small Northwest in new colors

 

Big Nothwest in new colors

 

AA with buckets activated

 

Air Alaska.....ah it reminded me of the cold in Washington during this time of the year....

 

With these pictures, I was happy to leave Washington for Newark where Raj C, who drove all the way from Connecticut, is waiting for me to help me maximise my extended transit time there.

 

Phew, past the half-way mark for the editing. Next installment JFK!

Edited November 17, 2007 by Kwek

[Kevin Teh 0]

nice shots from DCA, especially the northwest with the US Capitol insight ! Can't wait for the next installment on JFK!!