Plane Spotting

[rbsanford]

I'm surprised there wasn't already a topic about this, since it's in the realm of trucks and trains, and we already have a railfanning topic (if we already do have a thread for this, my mistake, I must have not searched for the right keywords somehow).

I wanted to kick this off because I saw Air Force One today, which I've wanted to see my whole life! It's also the first time I've seen a 747 in flight and up close.

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I wasn't expecting to see it (I forgot Biden was coming to Superior), so I just used my phone camera, which meant the pictures didn't turn out all that great, but it's better than no Air Force One!

[SirVirgoTheMess]

Nice catch!

[LondonLad]

Nice! I also am a bit of a Aviation guy myself, so i'll contribute a bit to thread with some recent pics too.

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[SirVirgoTheMess]

Nice ones! @LondonLad

[rbsanford]

Here's another surprise catch: a C-5 Galaxy!

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After the Battle of Antonov Airport, when the reigning champion An-225 Mriya was tragically destroyed, the Galaxy is now the longest and heaviest transport aircraft in the world. It's comparable to the Antonov An-124 Ruslan, one of which has also made an unexpected visit to Duluth in the past. Although the airport here is very small, it used to be a maintenance center for Northwest Airlines, and so has a runway long enough to allow large aircraft, originally intended for the fleet's 747s. The largest plane you'll regularly see around here, though, is the C-130 Hercules; a few are based here with the Air National Guard.

This is actually the second Galaxy I've seen; the first was at Boeing Field in Seattle, as seen below with an even even lower-res phone camera:

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Now for some higher-quality images, taken last summer during the air show:

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[SirVirgoTheMess]

Nice catches @rbsanford!

[apollos]

The photos are really great, thank you for sharing.

[LondonLad]

A few recent shots featuring our resident MC-130J's, F15-E's, F35-A's and a visiting RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) C-17 Globemaster. The 'Strix92' you see in the watermarks is just a name I use for my aviation shots. Enjoy!

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[SirVirgoTheMess]

Nice photos of some great planes @LondonLad

[LondonLad]

I may or may not taken a few more shots since... happy airshow season!

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