ALB 11/27/2010

[gonzalu]

Made the trip up to my sister's this year for Thanksgiving (we alternate years) and decided it was time to pop the cherry at KALB. My sister has lived in Albany and/or near it for the last 20 years or so and I have never spotted nor taken pictures there. Closest I came was while at a birthday party at a place near runway 1. Anyway, I can;t imagine what I have missed the last twnty years. It is not as exciting as LGA or JFK or EWR of course but it has a sort of nice flow of traffic and one can get lucky with an odd KC-10 or C-130 or 767 cargo as I have been told by my brother in law. Of course Air Force One landed here too which makes for nice interesting ideas of a 747 taking off on RWY 28

Anyhow, 28 has to be the sweetest place to shot from rwy 10. I don't know any other airport in the US with this sort of photo op... (but then again I am not the best judge LOL)

The weather was weird. really Sunny for like 20 minutes after I got there and then it covered up and it actually snowed hard enough, two planes had to abort a landing and go to RWY 19 for an ILS approach. So I did not get much good quality light.

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My D2Xs often misses focus at extreme distances at full magnification. Both these shots are front focused just a bit so not sharp at all





UPS 757 from CT and FedEx 727 regulars. I don;t think they move much





see what I meant about the light?





This Colgan Air was stuck at the end of 28 ready to takeoff for over 30 minutes and was told by ATC that EWR was closed due to high winds? It was odd but they did not return to the gate.





















Accidentally got the Stop Sign to land on the wheel!



...and some other shots from the entrance of the Army National Guard Unit there...

[seahawks7757]

Tempt that third WN shot on A.Net. It is sweet!

[gonzalu]

Thaks Brandon... just wish the light wasn't so dull :-(

[SmAlbany]

Nice shots! It was nice that they were using rwy 28 for you. My favorite in winter light. I've never been able to get the 'straight at you' off of 28 from the hockey rink parking lot to work for me. Always blurry - probably too much heat haze over that distance. You did well with those shots!

[Zee71]

Nice series and a different perspective. I wish we could get stuff like this at JFK or LGA.

[gonzalu]

Yeah, nothing like a runway coming right at you!

Daniel, Hockey Rink Parking Lot? Hmmm.. I was basically diodging traffic right there on the "grassy" pull off... LOL. Got a few nasty selections of middle fingers. Got lucky Sheriff dd not spot [me] have to see that parking you're talking about. And yes, heat haze probably ruined it for me too... the focus was just way off, or heat distorted. I feel my AF is focusing in front of the target... but then again, the Latham tank looks sharp... probably heat compression.

[SmAlbany]

Yeah, nothing like a runway coming right at you!

Daniel, Hockey Rink Parking Lot? Hmmm.. I was basically diodging traffic right there on the "grassy" pull off... LOL. Got a few nasty selections of middle fingers. Got lucky Sheriff dd not spot [me] have to see that parking you're talking about.

If you take a left at the first light south of where you were in the grass, go toward the terminal. First left is (i believe it's called Hockey Lane or something like that) the one that takes you to the hockey rink. Better to park there than pull off into the grass off of Albany-Shaker Road. Gives you just about the same view if a bit off-center from the runway.

[gonzalu]

BTW Daniel, shooting through the gap in the fence is FOR PROs only! I do NOT count lol... man that's hard. The 70-200mm f/2.8 barely fits and then you have very little motion left to right... panning is well, tough... For taxiing, you have to be quick.

I also learned the hard way to stand waay back from the gates, like at the entrance to the turnabout/dead end... this gives a litttle more reach OVER the fence. But man, it is hard to get them landing. That fence is BIG.

Also the spot where Old Niskayuna meets up with Sicker on the north side of 28, is a great vantage point, the road is low and the fence is low relative to the runway. Although in sunny days the light is in your face, it can work on overcast days...

[gonzalu]

Hey!! I see it now... that looks GOOD ENOUGH to me, if at least not to get shackled by Sheriff! :-)

I can always walk to the spot in-line with the RWY. All they can do then is shake me off... if I am in my car, they can ticket me for lots of moving and non moving violations, impound car etc

[heeshung]

The lighting on 65CE is great! Were they doing multiple landings?

The FedEx and UPS come in early morning, before 7AM, and depart at night, around 10-11PM.

[Spunker]

Wow Manny these are not dull at all I think the colors pop on the aircraft. I love the WN takeoff and the ExpressJet Embraer. Great set!

[gonzalu]

Thanks Gene... the light was not great and I am only happy for me that I got ANY images. It was more of a scouting session anyway. I had strict instructions from the wife "not to get lost" like I normally do.

Mark, the CE was probably a rich dude because he kept going and coming ... but not long enough to be ferrying passengers for real. Unless it is a shuttle to Schenectady

[lijk604]

Great set Manny! Like Dan already mentioned, getting Rwy 28 action this time if year is pure gold. First time I've seen an ExpressJet in UAX colors...I like it.

[TSGSpotting]

CT as in Connecticut?

[jerslice]

Loving the runway shots