Some Time at the Aluminum Aviary

 Like I said in my other post, I decided to head to the aluminum aviary.  The aluminum aviary is my name for the airport.  The birds are aluminum there.  I saw that there would be a decent variety while I was there.  The sun was out and that was a plus.

First up was the A340 belonging to Lufthansa.

Apparently, this is the last time I will be seeing this plane coming into Detroit.

They are going to replace it with a 787 which is okay buy I still like the plane.

Especially since I don't get to see many four engine planes anymore.

This particular one was coming in from Frankfurt.

An A319 belonging to Delta coming in from Reagan National Airport in Washington DC.

Another plane that is probably not long for this world.

A 717 comes in from Charlotte.

It was followed by a CRJ-900 from Norfolk.

Love this plane.

This was coming in from Richmond.

Another one of the heavies.  If I had gotten here earlier, I could have seen a few more.

This A330 was coming in from Frankfurt as well.  Must have taken off at about the same time as the A340.

An E175 coming in from Columbus.

Followed by an A320 from Boston.

One of my favorite shots from this particular spot.

It was a 737 belonging to Alaska Airlines coming in from Seattle.

An A320neo belonging to Spirit coming in from Fort Lauderdale.

This one was kind of a surprise.

It was an Embrear Phenom.  Not sure where it was coming from as its origin was blocked.

Another shot through the Golden Arches.

Another Spirit A320neo.

This one was coming in from Cancun.

Liked the beacon shot.

A 737 coming in from Atlanta.  This one has the signature of the Delta CEO on it.

Another plane that I was waiting for.

My favorite, the Boeing 757.

This particular one was coming in from the World of the Mouse.

Not sure how much longer this one will be flying.

One more shot, since its my favorite.

And an A320 to wrap up the day.  This one was coming in from Dallas.

Catching a Cool Sight

 So last Sunday, I had to go to my cousin's daughter's (so I guess my cousin), birthday party.  Before heading over there, I heard that the Goodyear blimp was leaving Ypsilanti.  I decided to head over to Willow Run to catch it.  I wasn't sure if I would or not but I was happy when I saw it.

I can't really call it a blimp as it is actually a Zeppelin.  Goodyear's current three blimps were built by the Zeppelin company.  While it is not the same company that built the Hindenburg, it is descended from it.

In 2011, Goodyear confirmed that they wanted to replace their blimps with Zeppelins.

The first one was called Wingfoot One and it was stationed in Popano Beach, Florida.  It was delivered in 2014.

The second one was called Wingfoot Two and it was stationed in Carson City, California.  It was delivered in 2016.

The third one was called Wingfoot Three (this one) and is stationed in Suffield Township, Ohio.  It was delivered in 2018.

The Zeppelin is crewed by two and can carry 12 passengers.  It can fly at a maximum speed of 77 miles per hour.  It can get up to 8,500 feet.  It has a range of 559 miles.

This is a Bombardier Phenom taking off.

Goodyear does not allow the public to ride on the Zeppelins.  It only allows members of the press and people related to the company.  Apparently, they have a contest for their stores on occasion.

As I was waiting for the Zeppelin to take off, Hairless Joe took.  I wish I had my longer lens but this wasn't too bad blown up.

A beam shot.

And then I caught a Sirrus SR22.

And then the blimp was starting to take off.  They could tilt the front propellers to help with liftoff.

It was amazing how effortlessly it lifted into the air.  I suspect the helium had something to do with that.

These look so cool in flight.  And given that there are only 28 of them in the world, that makes it doubly so.

I'm not sure these would have been viable even if the Hindenburg hadn't blown up.  Helium is getting rarer and more expensive to acquire.  There are only a handful of qualified blimp pilots in the United States.

The gondola.  I would imagine it is more spacious than it looks.

I had too much lens on my camera.

She starts to head towards Akron.

One more shot before moving on.