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.

A Brief Stop at the Airport

 I had a little loll in the practice yesterday.  I saw that there was a 757 coming in, so I headed over there to catch it.

First up was Bombardier Challenger business jet.

This particular plane was coming in from White Plains, NY.

A 737 coming in from Salt Lake City.

A Spirit Airlines A321 coming in from Fort Lauderdale, FL.

A CRJ-900 coming in from O'Hare Airport in Chicago, IL.

And the 757 that I was waiting for.

This was coming in from Las Vegas, NV.

It was pretty cool to see.

One more shot before heading back to the air show practice.

A Stop at Gerald R. Ford International Airport

 On the way over to Grand Haven, my mom saw some F/A-18s flying over Grand Rapids.   I saw a post in the Planespotting group that they were there.  Later, I found out that they were there for a funeral.  I figured they would have landed, so I stopped at the airport on the way back.

I stopped at the spotters park on the other side of the airport.  It gives a great view of the planes.  This A320 is getting ready to go to Atlanta in the morning.

Two of the F/A-18 Hornets that I saw.  I wish I could have caught them flying but this isn't a bad view.

A Fed Ex 757 at the cargo terminal.

The little plane is a Bombardier Challenger.  The bigger plane is an Embrear.

The other two F/A-18 Hornets.

A more overall view of the airport.

Just before I left this plane came in.

It was a CRJ-700 belonging to American Express coming in from Philadelphia.

About to land.

A puff of smoke as it touches down.

One more shot before heading home.

So my whirlwind day is bookended by two different airports at almost opposite ends of the state.  I was able to see something unique at both airports so that was pretty cool.  The only problem is that it made for a long day.

Another Night at the Aluminum Aviary

 So I headed to the airport last night.

I started up in the parking deck.  There were a couple of flights from the west that I wanted to catch.  I missed the first.  The 757 was taxiing as I got to my parking spot.  This plane was a surprise.

It is a Bombardier Challenger.  Since private jets have their information mostly blocked, I couldn't tell where this one came from.

It was followed by a CRJ-900 from Columbus.

Smoking the mains.

And it slows down.

I just posted this picture because it was passing the UPS A300 and MD-11.  I don't usually get pictures of those as they usually come to Detroit in the dead of night.

A Cessna Citation coming in for a landing.

The other plane that I was waiting for.

This 757 was coming in from Tampa.

Unfortunately, I couldn't catch the shot with the tires smoking because they are doing construction on the inner runway and this blocking some shots of the other runway.

It passes by.

It makes the turn to enter the taxiiway.  Unfortunately, it swings around too fast and it was hard to get a front shot.

It heads for the taxiiway to the terminal.

I kind of liked the hint of the Detroit skyline in the background.

One more because I like the gravel piles in the background too.

An A321 coming in from Phoenix.

And one coming in from San Diego.

It was followed by a 737 from Denver.

And a CRJ-900 from Cincinnati.

An American Airlines 737 from Dallas.

Followed by an A321 from Los Angeles.  Before COVID, this would have been a 757.

A CRJ-200 from Iron Mountain.

An Embrear 175 from Indianapolis.

This 757 was landing on the other runway but fortunately I have the room to blow up pictures.  It was arriving from Fort Lauderdale.

Another angle of that plane.

An Embrear 175 from Louisville.

And a 737 from Las Vegas.

It was followed by a 737 from Seattle.

A Spirit Airlines A319 from Dallas.  This used to be one of their digital livery planes.  I actually liked that livery better but I can understand why they want their planes to look the same.

 I finished my evening with a Southwest 737 arriving from Nashville.  I wanted to catch the Fed Ex MD-11 but that was delayed considerably.  It was still a pretty good night.