After I had lunch yesterday, I took a look at Flight Aware to see what was coming into Detroit Metro Airport. If there was anything interesting, I would head over there. As it turned out, there were a few interesting flights coming in. Well interesting planes anyway.
First up was a Delta Airlines 767-400 coming in from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Amsterdam serves as the main hub for one of Northwest Airline's former partners KLM, as a result it serves as a European hub for Delta Airlines.
The airport itself has a pretty interesting history. The name is derived from Fort Schiphol which was part of Amsterdam's defense works. Before 1852, the Haarlemmereer polder in which the airport lies was a large lake with some shallow areas. The English translation of Schiphol is literally "Ship Grave". It was believed that there were many ships that sank in the lake. It turns out that wasn't true. Another close phrase refers to the low lying lands where wood for shipbuilding was obtained.
The airport itself opened in September 1916 as a military base. Fokker Aircraft Company opened a factory nearby in 1919. Civilian aircraft started using the airport in 1920.
By 1940, the airport had 4 asphalt runways at 45 degree angles to each other. They were all 1,020 meters or less. Later that year, it was captured by the Germany military and by the end of World War II, it was completely destroyed by either sabotage by the Germans or Allied bombers. The airport was restored quickly at the end of the war and the first plane landed there in July of 1945. The new terminal building was completed in 1949 and it was decided that Schiphol would be the main airport of the Netherlands. Over the years, the airport has been improved.
One of the main aircraft that brought me out was seeing that there was at least one 757 landing. This particular one has the tail number of N555NW which I guess makes it the Triple Nickel plane.
This particular plane was arriving from Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta.
I love this plane from all angles.
I'm not sure where this plane was coming from, but I love the Frontier livery.
This Airbus A330 was coming in from Chubu Airport in Nagoya, Japan.
This United Airbus A319 was coming in from Denver.
A Southwest 737 coming from Chicago Midway Airport. Chicago Midway started in 1923 as the Chicago Air Park. It was a 320 acre plot with one cinder runway. In 1926, it was leased by the city and renamed Chicago Municipal Airport. By 1928, it was expanded to 4 runways. In 1949, it was renamed after the Battle of Midway. Because of it's location, it was running out of space and many airlines started to use the nearby O'Hare Airport instead. In 1967, the airport was completely reconstructed which allowed jets to use it, although it is a very interesting airport to land at.
And this United 737 came in from Chicago's other airport.
This Delta 717 was coming in from Palm Beach.
I think this 757-300 was coming in from Minneapolis. I don't get to see this version of the 757 that often.
It was a beautiful day for planewatching.
I love the stretched look.
I was about to leave after the last 757 until I saw that the Air France A340 was coming in. I would have to say this is probably my favorite Airbus.
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