Welcome back to Friday Photos! It’s hard to believe that it’s been two weeks since a group of 30 to 40 planespotters gathered in Los Angeles for our annual meetup. Here are some of the many wonderful shots from the weekend:
Senior Editor Ben Granucci took a fantastic road trip through the desert to the north and west of Los Angeles. At the gate to Edwards Air Force Base, he found the sole surviving YC-15. Intended as a replacement for the venerable C-130, it eventually became the basis for the C-17.
Also found on the road trip, this time at Mojave Air and Space Port, was one of only 2 Convair 990s on public display. Look for more details of the trip and how you can follow the route soon.
A highlight of the weekend for many people were the flights made by Voodoo One, Raytheon’s fighter avionics testbed.
Though it only has favorable light for less than an hour each day this time of year, the location along Westchester Parkway again proved to be a favorite of spotters.
Although the area near In-N-Out on Sepulveda Blvd suffers from similar lighting constraints this time of year, the ability to get directly underneath the aircraft allows for some less common angles.
While there seemed to be fewer Alaska Airlines special liveries this year, the few that did make an appearance did not disappoint.
Frontier Airlines brought several A320NEO aircraft to LAX during the meetup, including at least a couple of appearances by Wiley the Buffalo.
It isn’t terribly hard to figure out what brand this boldly painted Bombardier Global Express belongs to.
Another wonderful evening catch from along Westchester Parkway.
While American Airlines has yet to send a 787 to the NY area, they are fairly common at LAX in both the -8 and -9 variants.
One great use of the Westchester Parkway spot is to practice panning technique.
LAX is one of the four destinations in the United States served by XL Airways France.
Though we didn’t know it at the time, this would prove to be the final Air Berlin arrival at LAX. The bankrupt airline has been rapidly shedding routes in advance of a complete shutdown planned for the middle of this month.
As a reminder, if you attended this year’s meetup you have until October 15th to submit your photos for our first Photo Hangar Photo Contest. We have some great prizes available including a Breitling prize pack and a 1:200 Kalitta Air 747 model. The rules can be found here. And if you didn’t attend, we still want to see your photos, so make sure you are uploading them to the Photo Hangar.
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