BWI: 6/15/13-DC-8 at Long Last

Hello All,

Been a while since I've had any photos to share here, so I figured I was do a spotting outing. After years of failed attempts, and in light of the rather imminent retirement of ATI's DC-8s, which are now the last left in commercial service here in the US, I decided that I was due for a final attempt to catch the DC-8, a type that I had honestly never seen in person, static or flying. After some consultations with the Washbalt spotting group, getting up at 4AM, a trek through some nasty, thorny, wet, spider infested woods, and some lingering in places I would not choose to linger in ever again, the mission was an unmitigated success.

First, some of the other BWI regulars, and my first WN 738

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7351/9...49b3bc55_b.jpg



http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3774/9...4e9fe2bd_o.jpg



and my 2nd WN 738!

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3688/9...5c70f0ff_o.jpg



Okay, WN 737s get boring really fast...

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5348/9...2550b034_b.jpg



http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3754/9...794b6956_b.jpg



http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3797/9...bd912d20_b.jpg



And now, for the star of the show

The moment I first saw a DC-8

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2808/9...76890519_b.jpg


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7358/9...49731019_b.jpg


http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2882/9...9828c8b3_b.jpg


And the moment I last saw a DC-8

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3723/9...0e912ea8_b.jpg



Hope you enjoyed, and beg pardon if they are slightly over-exposed. I have been up for almost 20 hours and need sleep, and edit poorly when fatigued.


Cheers!

Nick

Very nice, Nick! After all that, it's good that you remembered to remove the lens cap when the DC-8 came in... :biggrin:

With how sick I have been lately, and how long it'd been since I shot, I am glad I remembered that the lens faces the plane :biggrin:

Thanks Moose!

Hey, what does "No CF Card" mean?

:confused:

Nice catch,I would love to catch a DC-8 again.

Doug

Thanks Doug, I wish they were still more prevalent than they are. I believe the worldwide fleet is in the single digits by now, or at least very close to it, sadly.

Nice catch. The weather is perfect, too.

Nice photos !!! Where did you end up shooting from in the morning?

Great shots Nick. That DC-8 brings back some great memories. I bet she sounded as great as she looks.

Thanks all, and Don, she certainly did sound awesome.

Joe, I was in the general vicinity of the Arundel Golf Park, but as I couldn't get any good vantage points from within it, I dd a little hiking to find an angle that I liked.


Nick

You caught the Combi! Bravo Nick. I've been tracking that bast*rd for a while now to try to catch her going in/out of WRI, saw it was coming in last Friday but with only 18 mins to spare and a 40 minute drive it wasn't happening

Thanks William! Get out there soon, she goes away real fast. She flies into and out of WRI every week, so get 'er done!

Very nice! You could have seen my dad. Since the Southwest and Airtran merger he switched over and is now a 737 Co-Pilot based in Baltimore!

The one time I was able to get one of the ATI DC8's he was a tad to far away for a good pic, lol.

http://mgwsy.smugmug.com/Airplanes/M...2810%29-X2.jpg

Thank you both! It seems like the era of the DC-8 has finally ended. This weeks flights have been operated by the new 757 Combi's