KTUS-12/19/2014: From Ten to Eleven with an L1011

Hello Guys,

Just one shot from me tonight. Decided to spend the holidays in Phoenix this year, which necessitated a drive from Dallas to Arizona, a 1,110 mile trek. We opted to overnight in Tucson, ostensibly to allow a visit to Pima today, but I confess I had ulterior motives. 2 years back I missed a chance to stop at TUS while doing this exact same road trip, where I had in mind a singular photo of an aircraft type I had never seen before. While I struck out then due to a decision to press on to PHX, I was determined to make it work this time. And what a doozy it was. Beyond pitch black, leaning a tripod against a fence at full height, hooking an old kit lense under barbed-wire in case something went wrong and the whole assemblage took a spill. I thought we were gonna be run off 20 seconds after getting there when a cop rolled up. He surprisingly seemed to understand what I was after, and told us to have a good night. And after 16 hours, 1,000 miles, an hour of trial and error, and 4 seconds with the shutter open, I finally bagged the only American widebody family I had never shot.

P4-MED, Formerly with PSA, and now a stationary resident of Tucson International Airport

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8603/...217d4ec9_b.jpgIMG_5227 by Nicholas Peterman, on Flickr


What can I say? Christmas came oh-so early for me this year.

Cheers!

Nick

Fantastic shot, Nick! And well earned!

Fantastic shot, what a catch!

And speaking of aircraft that were backed by televangelists, this one is linked to another one.

Outstanding catch!

That is a great catch.

Doug

Nice too see it still there!! Last time in Tucson was 2 years ago when I was "stranded" there for 4 extra days during Sandy while visiting my son at U of A. Took a ride to TUS each sunny and lovely day :cool: and saw different aircraft everyday including the F-16s of the 162 Air Group doing numerous touch and goes and a few 747s. Never was hassled by anyone and lots of good spotting locations on both sides of the airport!! Pima and the ride to Davis-Monthan I did a few years previous!!

Thank you guys! Gerard, the airport seemed great. Sadly I was only there by night, but I ran into some cops who were 100% ok with me taking photos at 10PM in a dark corner of the airport with a tripod leaned on their fence... it was great!

Man, that'd be the catch of the year for me!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jerslice

Man, that'd be the catch of the year for me!

---

When I first saw it sitting there I was like Holy crap this is awesome!! Doesnt look like it would take much to get her up up and away again does it? :cool:

This was the highlight of the year for sure. Or maaaaybe a co-highlight with the Cathay Pacific 747-400 at HKG just because that has been my favorite Airliner since forever. It is a shame how ready to go she looks, given that she has sat for 13 years and will likely sit until someone realizes there are some future cans sitting there. I was glad to see the engine cover on the port engine blew off since 2013, as it makes for a nice photo.

You really lucked out with the lighting as well...did you pop a flash for this? That backlighting could've killed this shot, nicely done man

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by megatop412

You really lucked out with the lighting as well...did you pop a flash for this? That backlighting could've killed this shot, nicely done man

---

No flash for this, William! It would have cast chain-link shadows on the jet for one, plus I lack the gear for such an attempt. I cannot overstate how dark this area was, Hah! I actually used car highbeams, 2 handheld flashlights, and cellphone flashlights to get enough light to focus by.... then opened the shutter for 5 minutes and prayed. All with the camera over the height of my head on a tripod leaning precariously through barbed wire. I will confess it took me a long while to get it right.... much to the chagrin of my father who had driven for over 12 hours that day :D