First Concert Photography

After my first calculus exam, I went home and passed out after work. Around 8 PM, a friend called to remind me of a rock band that is playing in Melbourne. I wasn't awake at that point, so I groggily grabbed Mito and took off.

I was reminded once again why I do not like bars: I went home smelling of cigarettes in my clothes, hair and everywhere. There was a pregnant lady sitting at the corner of the bar smoking. I have not the word to say.

The concert itself was decent...the guitarists are phenomenal but the lead singer could not stay in tune. So instead I focussed on the lighting against the band members and the audience. The music played, and I snapped away...

I was honestly surprised that a few shots came out pretty well. I am still new to using ISO levels higher than 400 (on the Panasonic Mito, that was a death wish), but the bassist above came out well enough out of the memory card that other than a light sharpening, I didn't feel the need to post-process him any further.

Abstract (and an update)

An Update

A few of you were wondering whether I am alive or not. Rest assured...I am, but in a half-dead state and will remain so for the next six weeks.

All I can say is that taking an accelerated Calculus III class during the summer and working a full-time job on two projects that have deadlines around the same time really kills your sleep.

Spotter's Log: Orlando-Sanford International Airport

Can someone explain to me:

• Why is this airport is BUSIER than Tallahassee Regional (TLH), the capital of Florida?
• Why there are wide-body aircrafts landing/taking off from this airport?
• Why are there flights arrive from all over Europe landing at SFB as well as MCO?
• Why I have never heard of these airlines before?

I'm very confused: SFB is literally 30 miles from MCO...isn't that competition? I understand SFB, like MLB, is a flight training airport, but still...wide-bodies?

Well anyway, on to spotting...

The runway we spotted from is an east/west runway, so lighting was a little tricky. Most airports I've been to (JFK, TPA, MCO) have runways that run north/south, so the best lighting angle can be determined by the time of the day. After listening to KSFB, today's runway for takeoffs/landing is 9L/R (9R for small commuter planes).

Piper, Cessna, Piper...HOLY !@#*!!!?

Boeing 747-344
Airline: Untitled (Air Atlanta Icelandic)
Tail No.: TF-ARU
Runway: 9L

I have no idea why this 747 landed in Sanford, but it caught me by surprise. I was paying close attention to the A330 behind the barbwire fence when May yelled at me to look behind. Before I knew it, the screeching sound of P&W engines sneaked up behind me and I couldn't frame the shot properly. When she flew over me, I realized that I need to bring a pair of earplugs for my next trip.

Tanker competition, in one airline

Some of you might know that US Air Force is currently holding a competition to replace their aging KC-135 tankers. The contenders are: Boeing, with their 767, and Northrop Grumman/EADS North America, with the A330. So imaging a slight smirk on my face when I saw both aircrafts, same airline, one after another, lining up on the runway.

Airbus A330-243
Airline: MyTravel Airways
Tail No.: G-MLJL
Runway: 9L

Boeing 767-31K/ER
Airline: MyTravel Airways
Tail No.: G-DAJC
Runway: 9L

A Subliminal Smile ;)

And finally, a farewell...

Boeing 767-304/ER
Airline: Britannia Airways
Tail No.: G-OBYI
Runway: 9L

Times Are Tough: Hire A Pilot...

ON EBAY!!! (link)

You are bidding on unlimited use of a male pilot (27) for one year

Spotter's Log: TPA "Fishing Hole"

U.S. Airways
Model: Airbus 319-112
Tail No.: N745VJ

Introduction

It's weird how spontaneity can take you to some of the most interesting places.

One of my friends from college recently moved to Sanford, Fl, approximately 30 miles from Orlando. May was a photography major back at Florida State. I visited her once while she was living in Taiwan.

She recently acquired a Canon EOS 30D DSLR from craigslist, and we decided that whenever there is a chance, we would go do photo shoots together on the weekends. It is nice to travel and take pictures with friends. This past weekend a lot of spontaneous things happened. On Saturday we went to Downtown Disney and practised night photography.

On Sunday after having dim sum with a few friends, she asked me where we should go and what to do for a photo shoot. I casually mentioned a spot called the "fishing hole" near Tampa International Airport (remember that Tampa is about 70 miles away from Orlando) where one of the spotters A.net recommended to get great landing photos. At the time, I had never been to this special place. So far I've been planespotting alone and without any success, so I didn't expect her reaction: "Alright! Let's go!"

Model: Boeing 737-7H4
Tail No.: N265WN

Fishing Near The Runway

We had to loop around TPA's terminal twice because we missed the first turn, and when we saw a wide emergency lane we pulled in. On the side of the Memorial Highway, we found this secluded area on the side of an active highway with a river flowing into Tampa Bay. When we backed into this little opening, we saw several people sitting there, fishing at the river.

Just across the river are the localizers and low flying planes on final approach. It was the most surreal and eerie thing I had ever seen. I called one of my friends in Melbourne to check the weather forecast for Tampa. He said that Tampa will just miss a really horrible rainstorm that was pummeling Orlando at the time. While the sun shone on my back, I could see this looming dark clouds in front of me, and it stayed that way for several hours.

One of the fishermen offered us some water to drink, and we stayed there until we ran out of space on our memory cards, taking photos of planes and this one enormous catfish that one of them caught at the end of the trip. I left Tampa completely elated. I really want to go back. It is a beautiful, peaceful place in the middle of the rush of human existence, where the fishermen watched the day go by between the fast moving cars and gliding aircrafts.

The Catch...

AirTran - Boeing 717!

Model: Boeing 717-231
Tail No.: N919AT

(Uni)TED

Model: Airbus A320-232
Tail No.: N401UA

Frontier Airlines - Racoon!

Model: Airbus A319-111
Tail No.: N923FR

JetBLOO! - Idlewild Blue

Model: Airbus A320-232
Tail No.: N606JB

Southwest Airlines - California One Scheme

Model: Boeing 737-3H4
Tail No.: N609SW

Finally, A380 is going to Taiwan!

From FlightGlobal, Airbus is planning on showcasing the A380 to India and to Japan, but most significantly (at least for me) to Taiwan. Article link here.


India is one of the up and coming hottest country for aviation industry, and I am really glad that Airbus is doing several stops in India for marketing. However, I am happier for the fact that the plane is going to Taiwan.

Folks, this is why I am excited about the A380 and why no one else except the trans-Pacific travelers understand where I am coming from.

The routes across the Pacific to asian countries are almost always PACKED, each 747-400 carries a full-load of passengers. It only gets worse during the holiday seasons when we go to visit our relatives outside of the US. The best price I've seen to Taiwan is around 800 USD. In a worst case scenario, I had to pay over 1600 USD for a flight to Taiwan from MCO (mostly due to the fact that I bought the tickets fairly late, because I couldn't afford it earlier until I had been working a few months).

Most fuel efficient sub-sonic flight occurs at around mach 0.85 to 0.86. So for now, it will always take 12-14 hours to travel across the ocean. As a coach class flyer, I would LOVE to have a quieter plane, a little bit more leg room and a nice spacious walkaround area, and on top of that, cheaper fares.

The asian market is one of the best resources for the A380. I have always said this and I'm sticking to it. The only reason why so few of the asian airlines have ordered the plane is because they are very cautious. I know that China Airlines and EVA Air are very curious about the plane, but will not make such a huge gamble until the A380 has proven herself in other parts of the world.

Taiwan was not pleased initially for Airbus skipping out on them and going straight to mainland for the publicity (I even have the Airways Magazine article to prove their unhappiness). I hope that this tour will quell some ill opinion on the A380 and the future improve air travel for Pacific flyers all around the world.

A380: Safety Evac Video Released (and more)

News from the aviation trenches.

On 26 March of 2006, Airbus conducted a full-scale evacuation test on the A380 in Hamburg, Germany, with a full staff of flight attendants, pilots, and a large number of passengers. For the first time the video footage of that test was released, and it shows that the A380 can fully evacuate all the people onboard with only half of its escape slides working, in complete darkness, in less than 90 seconds (in this case, they completed the test in 78 seconds with 853 passengers and 18 cabin crew members).

A380 Evacuation Test, narration in German

There are two articles from FlightGlobal detailing the process, and it will give you an idea just how specifics the requirements are just to run the tests as close to real life situation as possible.

Report link here. First hand account from one of the test passengers link here.

Delta is out!

As in bankruptcy!!! Finally, one of the largest airlines in the world is out of Chapter 11, and will start trading publically under DAL on 3 May 2007. Good job, Delta, looking forward to seeing your fleet in the new Delta livery!