Shuttle Enterprise to New York April 23rd, 2012

[DustinF]

If the most recent information is correct, the shuttle and ferry landing on 31L - can anyone tell me what we can identify as the landing path? Sorry Im a newb - just trying to figure out where to be and how to get there for some photos around JFK and I was wondering if it would land coming from the west or east and how did that line up with some of the photos I saw with the NYC skyline in the background when taxi-ing...

thanks for any information... I'll be out there and am willing to share some gear if anyone needs it. I'll be traveling with a 600 and 300 and teleconvertors.

[Chris S]

So the current JFK ATIS says winds 190 @ 7, visibility 10 Miles, few clouds at 4,500, broken at 10,000 and 25,000 and the radar looks clear up the coast between DC and JFK. Tell me again why the flight was postponed? Lewis Black was right - Meteorologist is the Greek word for liar.

Yeah, the weather conditions this morning are probably better than what we'll have for Friday
At this point, they might as well wait until Monday because the weather looks PERFECT then !!

[steve1840]

If the most recent information is correct, the shuttle and ferry landing on 31L - can anyone tell me what we can identify as the landing path? Sorry Im a newb - just trying to figure out where to be and how to get there for some photos around JFK and I was wondering if it would land coming from the west or east and how did that line up with some of the photos I saw with the NYC skyline in the background when taxi-ing...

thanks for any information... I'll be out there and am willing to share some gear if anyone needs it. I'll be traveling with a 600 and 300 and teleconvertors.

The shots you have seen on here of aircraft taxiing with the NYC skyline in the backgroud are of planes waiting to take off on 4L. Unfortunately these kinds of backgrounds will not be able to be gotten of the shuttle/sca combo landing on 31L. As for the approach path into 31L, look for Inwood Park or Bayswater State Park on google maps as those will be your best bets for photo ops of her on approach.

[DustinF]

The shots you have seen on here of aircraft taxiing with the NYC skyline in the backgroud are of planes waiting to take off on 4L. Unfortunately these kinds of backgrounds will not be able to be gotten of the shuttle/sca combo landing on 31L. As for the approach path into 31L, look for Inwood Park or Bayswater State Park on google maps as those will be your best bets for photo ops of her on approach.

Thanks Steve - appreciate the information... I've been looking at the Spotting Map/Guide and can see the bays water. I've also been looking to see what area's in NJ on the Piers might give me a NYC Background or Liberty Background with its path, if, it indeed does all of the loop that has been noted on the NYC Aviation Page...

It's a risk, go to the AirPort and get the shot that almost everyone will get or go to the pier and not get anything...

decisions decisions...

[steve1840]

dustin, as far as finding a pier on the NJ side to shoot from, you will most likely end up with an extremely backlit shot as at that time of the day, the sun will be shining directly in your face from the NJ side of the river.

[DustinF]

dustin, as far as finding a pier on the NJ side to shoot from, you will most likely end up with an extremely backlit shot as at that time of the day, the sun will be shining directly in your face from the NJ side of the river.

Thanks Steve, I was thinking of shooting from the pier, facing north towards the statue of liberty, I thought it would be over head or at least more from the east before noon. I'll have to see... I figured I would at least grab a shot of it coming down the river towards the liberty and then as it passes across it.

I was really thinking that the sun wouldn;t be in my face... I have to re-think this...

[Perriwen]

Wrong, the Enterprise is NOT A MODEL....it was a space shuttle like the others. It was desinged for testing and Operation. it did all the landing testing and also was going to get a real heat shield and put into space. The ejection system for the pilots was one of the reasons why it was not converted. It had a full flightdeck, full controls and was missing engines and tiles ONLY.

"The design of OV-101 was not the same as that planned for OV-102, the first flight model; the tail was constructed differently, and it did not have the interfaces to mount OMS pods. A large number of subsystems—ranging from main engines to radar equipment—were not installed on this vehicle, but the capacity to add them in the future was retained. Instead of a thermal protection system, its surface was primarily covered with simulated tiles made from polyurethanefoam."

Let's be fair, it was a space shuttle PROTOTYPE, not a bonafied space shuttle like all the others because it is NOT like all the others. It had a somewhat different design and never shuttled anything to space. It was as much a space shuttle as the YF-22 is a current in-service F-22. Just because it was going to be turned INTO a real shuttle someday doesn't mean it currently IS a real shuttle.

In other words, it provided the baseline FOR the space shuttle, but it in itself is not the final product. It's a, so to speak, pre-space shuttle.

[moose135]

QFT...

[Vidiot]

I was really thinking that the sun wouldn;t be in my face... I have to re-think this...

SunCalc can be your friend: http://www.suncalc.net/#/40.6896,-74...12.04.27/10:30

[DustinF]

SunCalc can be your friend: http://www.suncalc.net/#/40.6896,-74...12.04.27/10:30

Thanks, my head just exploded... I read it 4x - still cannot figure out what the deal is.

[Speedbird1]

True. The Enterprise is more than a model yet she's not a true Orbiter either. Could she be called a prototype Orbiter? She's not exactly an Orbiter which could fly into Space. How is she designated so not to confuse her with Orbiters such as Discovery?

[Speedbird1]

Disappointed schoolkids here at the Intrepid. They visited today and would have been treated to the thrill of a Shuttle Fly-by. I wonder if they knew it had been canceled? The weather here is partly sunny, breezy from the south and good visibility.

[Derf]

I had taken the day off at work so I am hanging at JFK with Steve Furst when all of a sudden we here the shuttle carrier keys up!!! She did all the flybys and parked by the south end of the field. I thought she was due in Friday?!?!?


Grabbing some popcorn...shhhh

[moose135]

You should have added some lightning - that would have made this an epic shot!

[Perriwen]

True. The Enterprise is more than a model yet she's not a true Orbiter either. Could she be called a prototype Orbiter? She's not exactly an Orbiter which could fly into Space. How is she designated so not to confuse her with Orbiters such as Discovery?

That's the interesting thing about the shuttles. They all have official OV designations regardless if they flew at all or not. For example, OV-098 is on the record as a shuttle, but it was a mock up that never left the ground. Similarly, even the wooden simulator used to train the astronauts is on the record as shuttle OV-095. So, the designations and what you call them means little in terms to what they actually are.