Good Morning, Oppo

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 09/14/2020 at 09:05 • Filed to: good morning oppo

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How about a little plane spotting?

I haven’t been down to the airport in more than a year. And now that I have more time, they’re doing a major repair job on the shorter runway next to the observation lot, and the runway is closed through the end of October.

The man standing on that 1932 Ford Model B is none other than Bill Larkins, one of the greatest aviation photographers of all time. He served as a pilot and photographer in WWII, then spent three more years in the Air National Guard. He has taken more photographs of aircraft than probably anybody else in the world, and his remarkable collection is available for all to see on his Flickr site. Over the years of writing about airplanes, I have come across his name countless times. At first, I thought there was no way one man could have taken all of these photos, it must be from some guy who collected them. Nope. Larkins took them all. I consider him to be the patron saint of plane spotters everywhere.

pip bip - choose Corrour > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 09:08

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good morning

ttyymmnn > pip bip - choose Corrour 09/14/2020 at 09:10

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Good night!

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 09:15

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Good morning! I was quite surprised to spot a biplane in the Baton Rouge area Saturday morning. I wish I’d had the big camera to take a better picture.

At that height, it’s not likely the flight originated at BTR or KREG. I’m too close to both of them to make climbing to that altitude reasonable. I can only assume he was passing through.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 09:16

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I just put up something interesting which may or may not have appeared during the last P-47 love-fest.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 09:19

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Best airshow I ever attended as a young lad was at Bergstrom AFB, back in the day. That is all.

Carry on.

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 09/14/2020 at 09:19

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There’s a guy with some sort of biplane here in Austin who gives tours over the city. I see him regularly when I go down for ASO. I think it would be pretty cool.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/14/2020 at 09:19

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I just commented on the thing you just put up. Did I miss the last P-47 love fest?

ttyymmnn > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 09/14/2020 at 09:22

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That circular building is still there. They turned it into a hotel when the city took over the base. The airport was still at its original location when we first moved here. The planes would land low over I-35 (the short street lights are still there), and F-16s were a common sight at Bergstrom. But the Mueller Airport was a dump. 

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 09:24

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I think there was a single post, but with lots of replies. Don’t really recall, would have been a couple week back. Unsure, going off memory.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 09:30

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Yes, yes it was.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 09:33

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Luxury condos, anyone?

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 09:37

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I took this fellow’s picture at KDWH. I was told he’s in his 80s and flies aerobatics regularly.

ttyymmnn > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 09/14/2020 at 09:37

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Pretty sure the tower is still there. It’s been a couple of years, but it was still standing with a fence and lots of trash around it. Not sure what the city planned to do with it. It’s not exactly an architecturally significant piece. And it’s really pretty short. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 09:41

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It’s an Insta darling.  I think they preserved it for “significance” reasons.  I thought the surrounding areas was slated for “park” but I haven’t been over there in a long time.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 09/14/2020 at 11:39

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I can see that door being a problem. 

ttyymmnn > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 09/14/2020 at 13:04

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At least as of last year, the tower was still there. I found this article with photos both inside and outside the tower.

ttyymmnn > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 09/14/2020 at 13:04

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Watch that first step. It’s a doozy.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 09/14/2020 at 23:40

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Unrelated, but “what they did with Stapleton and what they did with El Toro” both seem like wasted opportunities...

Driving around the grounds of Stapleton today just depresses me intensely.