Plane Spotting at KAUS

by "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
Published 03/21/2017 at 14:16

Tags: planelopnik
STARS: 4

I tend to grumble about the change to DST, but one of the benefits is an extra hour of early morning sunlight at the airport (though I had to cope with some early morning low fog that blocked my sunlight). With that in mind, I headed down to Austin-Bergstrom yesterday to engage in a little plane spotting and early morning cigar smoking. Here are the highlights.

Canon 50D, Tamron 70-200 f/2.8

Replies (22)

"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
03/21/2017 at 14:22, STARS: 0

Wow, an Embraer Phenom...I didn ’ t even know that existed. Or maybe I ’ ve seen them, but wrote them off as a Lear 45/55/etc. Cool variety of liveries you get there. KBHM only gets almost entirely SWA, AA and DL, for the most part, plus a lot of FedEx and UPS — no Frontier, JetBlue, Allegiant, etc.

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/21/2017 at 14:31, STARS: 0

Here’s a LearJet for comparison. Note the lack of a bulge at the wing root and the tip tanks. But, not all LearJets have tip tanks. The second photo shows a LearJet 45, with winglets. Note, though, how much more tapered the tail is, as well as the pronounced tail strakes. They do bear a striking resemblance, though. Only so many ways to skin a cat.

"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
03/21/2017 at 14:44, STARS: 1

Yep, the 45 is pretty similar (especially when compared to other bizjets, like Citations, Falcons, etc). My dad did a lot of business with smaller Embraer planes in the 80s and 90s and many of them started out almost as re-engineered first-world planes, sometimes even by people who had built other aircraft under contract. It was never as obnoxious as what China does today — more “boostrappy learning,” less outright copying. Brazil’s aviation industry has come a long, long way.

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/21/2017 at 14:45, STARS: 1

Brazil’s aviation industry has come a long, long way.

It’s amazing what government subsidies can do (I’m looking at you , Airbus).

"Hammerdown" (hammerdown32)
03/21/2017 at 14:47, STARS: 0

I half expected to see one of 3M’s Gulfstreams in this series. From what I hear (I’m an employee) they run back and forth between Austin and the Twin Cities on a fairly regular basis.

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/21/2017 at 14:51, STARS: 0

I may well have photographed them on other days without realizing it. I tend not to pay attention to the owners of the planes, since they are usually owned by leasing companies, which gives no clue as to who is on board.

"Hammerdown" (hammerdown32)
03/21/2017 at 14:55, STARS: 0

Makes sense. You’ll know them if you see them. All are Gulfstreams. All tail numbers end in “3M.” In a world where lots of companies are ditching their jets or going to leasing companies, they still have a hanger in St. Paul and 5 planes they own.

"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
03/21/2017 at 15:01, STARS: 0

Soon all Airbus aircraft will be 350s

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/21/2017 at 15:04, STARS: 0

I went back through some older shoots and didn’t see any. But I’ll keep my eyes open.

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/21/2017 at 15:06, STARS: 1

Soon all Airbus aircraft will be 350s

FTFY

"Hammerdown" (hammerdown32)
03/21/2017 at 15:08, STARS: 0

Very cool! Great shots BTW.

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/21/2017 at 15:28, STARS: 0

Thanks!

"GE90man" (ge90man)
03/21/2017 at 17:36, STARS: 0

i haven’t been plane spotting in so long, it hurts

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/21/2017 at 17:47, STARS: 0

Get out there, man! It helps that I’m a stay home dad.

"GE90man" (ge90man)
03/21/2017 at 17:53, STARS: 0

in the past, I most usually spotted JFK departures flying over my house, and occasionally took a trip to the airport to plane spot. after I moved further away, planes don’t fly over as frequently and I rarely have the chance or time to go to the airport now :\

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/21/2017 at 18:05, STARS: 1

Whenever we travel to Dallas, I make a point of going to Founder’s Plaza. It’s a purpose built observation site on the northwest corner of the airport. You get a pretty steady diet of AA, but it’s also near the freight terminal, so you get the occasional heavies.

"GE90man" (ge90man)
03/21/2017 at 18:11, STARS: 0

here’s a few from before i moved. the landing ones are all airport spots from either the top of car parks or costco. the takeoff ones are from my old backyard. as for the watermarks, welcome to the insta life

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/21/2017 at 18:14, STARS: 1

That’s what I miss about being near a large int’l airport. We just don’t get the different nationalities here. It’s like going bird watching and seeing nothing but mourning doves and house sparrows. Good stuff.

"Averyrm - GTI YUP" (averyrm)
03/21/2017 at 18:54, STARS: 0

The first one is a Challenger 650. Lucky catch, there are less than 50 in the world right now. (Newest model in the Challenger line)

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/22/2017 at 09:17, STARS: 0

Really? Everything I found points to it being a 600. If it is a 650, that would be neat.

http://www.regosearch.com/aircraft/ca/GZUM

"Averyrm - GTI YUP" (averyrm)
03/22/2017 at 17:45, STARS: 1

Yup, the CL-600-2B16 is common for the 601, 604, 605, and 650. The Challenger 650 began production in 2015. Since the date of manufacture is 2016 (Plus the serial number is after 6050), that makes it a 650.

Bonus info: the type rating for the 604, 605, and 650 is the same.

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/22/2017 at 17:50, STARS: 0

Well, there you go. Thanks!