I finally snagged me a Pelican

[gonzalu]

A white one that is ;-)

If any of you have heard me in the past few months, I have been after a good in-flight image of a Cargoitalia MD-11(F) and all I had were either tail shot

http://pictures.mannyphoto.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-12232010/DSC9646-Edit/1136959710_R7wcZ-L.jpg

or long distance taxiing shot which was blurred and in bad weather...

http://pictures.mannyphoto.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-12232010/DSC9602/1136959659_xWiPF-L.jpg

Twice I missed it coming on 31R while at HoBe and then leaving on 31L while I was at Panera :-( More recently last week I got to JFK late and then set up in the wrong spot with the wrong lens. This shot is the only FULL airframe and it is through the trees

http://pictures.mannyphoto.com/Airplanes/Spotting/JFK-01-17-2011/MAG43771024/1160173773_jBToW-L.jpg

In any case, today I had plenty of time as she was late and I timed the runway changes properly and caught it leaving on 31L from HoBe.

Thanks to JFK ATC and the weather gods... and I guess Flightaware ... this hobby is soo much fun. As Mark "heeshung" puts it, if it were easy, the hobby would not be as much fun. I had a false sense of security when I caught the Etihad F1 without much trying and it has not come in since...

http://manny.smugmug.com/photos/1166879269_Vos94-O.jpg

One of my favorite airliners is the L-1011 TriStar and since it is so close, the MD-11 is my second fave. 747s and A340s and even A380s are beautiful but there is something about an engine sticking through a critical control surface that gets me excited :cool:

[Roush6NY]

That is a sweet looking bird ! Great catch bud

[gonzalu]

Thanks Kaz... and a bit rare :-) Now for the Finnair and Saudi Cargo MD-11(F)'s

[JDANDO]

Nice, I hear you about the three holers. I managed to get the KLM MD-11 this weekend. The light was fair, but I think I will have something worthwhile when I get home.

[gonzalu]

What is amazing to me is how the MD-11/DC-10 was not that successful as an Airliner but wildly so as a cargo plane. Wonder why...

[Lrusso]

What is amazing to me is how the MD-11/DC-10 was not that successful as an Airliner but wildly so as a cargo plane. Wonder why...

From what I've always heard its a combination of 3 things!

1. Three engines just consumes an amount of fuel that its really only going to be profitable in Cargo Ops!

2. When Boeing merged with MD the competing plane was the 767F which has slightly less range and MTOW.

3. (THIS IS SKEPTICAL) The MD-11 suffers from stability problems on final due to flight control problems that have since been fixed by Boeing but also abnormally AFT center of gravity. Some claim that made operators weary of flying pax on it. (I dunno)
------
Things might have been different if MD had merged with Airbus or had been able to stick it out alone.

[Zee71]

Congrats!!! I got to catch me one of those pelican's!!! ACARS did me in yesterday (Sunday afternoon). I was hoping for Air One to come in, but a regular Alitalia A330 showed up instead. Oh well.........spotters luck wasn't on my side.