Day In The Life

This post is going to be a day in the life of me while I am at work flying. I'm really not trying to be narcissistic, but I did not have a lot of shooting this week and I took these four images on the same day.

This first one was of the Hawker 800XP while sitting on the ramp in Vero Beach Florida waiting for our passengers to arrive. I removed the registration numbers just in case the company has a problem with the picture on the net even though you can go to Airliners.net to see the aircraft. But they didn't get it from me.

Here is yours truly in the front office. When we have two captains fly together we usually swap seats each day and the day before I was in the other seat. We were running along the east coast well clear of a bunch of weather approaching from the west. It was really a beautiful flight.

The northeast to Florida airspace is very busy and a few years ago the FAA expanded the usability of airspace by reducing the vertical separation of aircraft. In years past at altitudes above 29,000 feet, aircraft were separated by 2,000 feet. Now it has been reduced to 1,000 feet which is the same as the other altitudes. This was made possible due to the increased accuracy of todays avionics.

What does that mean to the crews. We get a much closer look at traffic as the pass by. Here a Southwest 737 is going the opposite direction. Closure rate is over 1000 miles per hour so the chance of capturing a real stellar image is very slim. This one is even blurred a bit. This was with the Canon G9 with the ND filter turned on, and shooting at f/5.6 and 1/160 second.

Finally this last image really does not belong in this series. In the eleven and a half years I have been flying for this company, only twice has this happened. Normally we end up getting on an airliner and making at least one if not two connections to get to where we need to be. So we count it a very nice treat when the company has an aircraft going to the same destination as some dead heading pilots. In this case four of us road in the opulent comfort which our aircraft owners treat themselves to. This is an interior shot of a Falcon 2000.

This was a very light day but it was a day in my life anyway. Hope you enjoyed it.

Cya... Doug 

New Banner Look

Hey all,

I have been working on a new banner for our web presence. I got my mug and tagline off and replaced it with what you see here. After all what is more appropriate for a photo site than a lens. A nice L series lens at that.

This new banner will be up on the peekfoto site soon and is already up on our SmugMug site. We had the old one up for a little over a year and making thing looking different is always a good thing on the web. One thing that I do not plan on changing is the website layout. It drives me nuts when I go to a site I have been using (bill pay sites) and nothing is in the same place.

So there it is, a new face.

Take care all... Doug

Bonus Saturday Blog

I can say unequivocally this blog contains the most images that I have put in one blog posting. That being said I will jump right in. The day finds me in Houston TX at the Double Tree hotel and it is 4:30 AM when the alarm goes off. I had a five o'clock show but without an airplane I figured it would be a show at the hotel and I would be able to sleep in after I checked in. Welllll... That was not to be the case. I was about to catch up on the crew that left me in New Your at the beginning of the tour. Thursday was spent getting from Fort Myers to Houston via Miami. That was not fun at all. Miami has to be one of the worst airports to go through. Everyone says Atlanta is but Miami simply does not make any sense. When the bus driver tells the passengers not to believe the signs because they are not accurate, there's going to be problems.

START OF THE DAY

I did manage to get to the gate in time for my long flight form Houston (IAH) to Corpus Christi Texas. Obvious I had time to spare as the airplane was not even there yet.

The flight was uneventful until we got to CPR when I went to get the rental car. The AVIS lady did not know if I would be able to drop off a car in Falfurrias. In fact she had not a clue where it was.

ON THE ROAD

I have Google Maps on my work Blackberry so I was all set for my road trip. A quick shot out of town and pick up 77 South and head on down and take a right on 285 and ride that into Falfurrias.

Running down 77 there was a section that went straight and the rest of the road split to the east. Feeling adventuresome I took the road less traveled which ended up going into Kingville TX where there is a Naval Air Station. There are also some very run down areas of town. The photo at right is a prime example.

NOWHEREVILLE TEXAS

In Michigan it is generally accepted to run 5-7 mph over the speed limit (of course I always keep it right on the limit... Ok!) but down in Texas it is a little different. They have one driving speed of 75-80 and it doesn't seem to matter if the speed limit is 55 or 65, they just fly!

Somehow I do not equate south Texas with palm trees but sure enough there they were, smack dab in the median of the highway.

I was not quite sure when I had to turn  except that it was on 285. I was just wondering how well that would be marked out in the middle of Nowhere Texas.

It would not be long before I found out.

TURN NOW

Of course, hang a right at the Shrimp truck and take that into Falfurrias. No problem. Actually there was a sign for the road, it was just being obscured by Mr. Shrimp.

It was still a little early for shrimp for me so I kept on going... And going.

Back on the speed thing. Two lane road... 70 mph for a speed limit seamed a bit odd. I liked it but it was just a little odd. That puts a head-on closure speed of 140 mph. Ok, Everybody dies, game over!

FALFURRIAS

I have been working at my present employer for almost eleven years and have never been to Falfurrias. I had alway heard stories on what a place it is. I gotta tell ya! It can be another eleven years before I get back here. But I thought I would document the occasion for posterity.

So you say... Where in the world is Falfurrias anyhow. I am way ahead of you! Below is a map of lower Texas and as you can see it is not too far from the Rio Grande and points south.

DOWNTOWN

Actually the main street in Falfurrias is not too bad but when I saw the Chamber of Commerse I had to pause in thought, then take a shot.

I really like the colors with the matching black bars on the door. The say everything is bigger in Texas so black bars must suffice at the screen door.

THE AIRPORT

The airport has a rather long access road to get to the fixed base operators building. In this case I think using the ter "shed" works to discribe the facility.

When I pulled up there were some people out on the porch and one guy doing his John Denver impersonation with his guitar.

OLD IS OLD

There were actually a couple of hangars on the airport that I would say were fifteen to twenty years old. I must say the folks were very friendly and helpful.

These old building have so much history and character in them that I had to photograph them. They are pretty much right out of the camera. This one to the right needed to correct the perspective as I was taking the beacon.

Here is the continuation of that set of hangars. I probably could have pulled more light out of the shadows in the hangar. As I was shooting the G9, I generally do not do that too often it gets a little noisy at times.

But way cool just the same.

Hey! That kind of covers what I did yesterday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and hopefully they will get me home today (very wishful thinking) so I can dig into that fine fine camera waiting for my.

Cya... Doug

Getting Back To Work

First off, I apologize for the quality of the image below but I absolutely abhor the use of the average camera phone. This Blackberry image included. I have not any experience with the iPhone camera but from what I understand it is much better than average.

Anyhow Monday was spent living the statement "If you have time to spare... Go by air!" I departed Grand Rapids MI for a short hop to Detroit MI and then on to Le Garbage NY. Oops... Guess I have referred to that sewer for so many years that it is habit. I mean La Guardia NY. With the ten minute sprint to my connection in Detroit, I spent four and a half hours sitting on an airliner getting to New York. It is unfortunate Detroit's big three demonstrated poor judgement in one of the biggest PR blunders this century. Corporate aircraft really can be justified as a business tool but I must agree that three men did not need to arrive on three different aircraft when asking for a handout from the tax payer. Give them a big Duh!

The really good thing is that when I checked in online with Northwest Airlines I was greeted with a "Would you like a complimentary upgrade to first class with you Elite Status?" Complementary, Oh yea baby, You becha! Hence the image is from seat 1B, Ahhhh!

Hey I'll check back tomorrow!

Cya... Doug