Planewatching at Metro Airport

There are a couple of people that post pictures of planes from Metro Airport and I wondered where they take those pictures from.  So I decided to do a search on "Detroit planewatching" and I found a few places where people do it from.  The first place I visited was a little spot on Wick Road.  It looks like it was going to be a road at one time but they never finished it.  I didn't see any no parking or trespassing signs there, so I stopped.

 It wasn't too long before I was treated to this Canadair Regional Jet.  I'm not sure on the model but I've flown on these a few times and they are too bad.  These were developed from a design by Bill Lear in 1976 and have since replaced many of the propellor aircraft that were used by regional airliners in the day.  They have a cruising speed of 424 knots.  This particular aircraft is operated by Delta.

 Over on the further runway, I saw an Airbus A340 operated by Lufthansa.  The A340 first flew in 1991 and is mostly used by European carriers.  It has a cruising speed of around 540 miles per hour.

 Another regional jet.

 This is an Airbus A319 or 320.  This particular aircraft was designed to go up against the Boeing 737.

I think this is a Regional Jet operated by American Airlines.

 I want to say that this an MD-90.  It was originally designed by the Douglas Aircraft company and designated as the DC-9.  When Douglas was bought by McDonnell, the DC-9's became the MD-80's and this particular aircraft is an improvement of that design.  It first flew in 1993.

 This is a Boeing 717 which originally developed by the McDonnell Aircraft company as the MD-95.  It is another growth of the DC-9 family.  The name was changed when Boeing merged with McDonnell-Douglas.

 A robin by the spot where I was plane watching from.

 One of my favorite commercial aircraft is the Boeing 757.  I just like how graceful it looks.

 This is an Embrear design.  Embrear is a company that operates out of Brazil.

 An MD-90 coming in for a landing.

 This is a Short 360 and is operated by a private airplane company.  The Short Company is a British company and this plane was developed in the 80's.  These used to be a fairly common sight at airports until they were replaced by the smaller commuter jets.

 A Delta 737 preparing to take off.

 And it rolls into its takeoff.

 A Regional Jet taking off.

 A 757 coming in for a landing.

 It's amazing how graceful these big aircraft look when they are coming in for a landing.

 Touchdown.

And another Embrear coming in for a landing.

An Afternoon in Deshler

After Eastern beat Toledo on Monday night, I decided to take a half day today on the off chance that Eastern beat Akron yesterday and I could go to a basketball game tonight.  Well that didn't happen.  Eastern put up a pretty good fight and led most of the game but at the end they couldn't handle Akron.  Oh well.  There is a bit of talent on Eastern's team that is hopefully returning next year.

So after spending the morning at work, I decided to head down to Deshler after my safety meeting.  It was a nice enough day and I hate to waste a vacation day, even if it is a half day.

 There aren't as many trains that pass by Deshler as there are in Fostoria but I like the views better.  The fact that there aren't any fences helps because it gives you unimpeded views of the trains.

 I try not to stray too close to the tracks because I don't want them to have to put fences in.

 The lighting was just about perfect for catching the westbound trains but then again, that's all I caught today.

 Another train passes the tower there.

 I don't normally post pictures of train graffiti but there were a couple of good examples.

 This train made the transition from being a westbound to a southbound train.  It was carrying a variety of cars

 The light was even better for this view.

 I don't normally like views from the back, but I did like this one with the Deshler tower and the old B&O signal lights.

 This is nice to know.

 It's amazing how beat up some train cars get.  But then again, I think this one pretty much just handles scrap metal.

 The train raccoon.

 Depending on what agricultural product this car carries, it could become beer.

 Another westbound train.

This particular one was carrying coal.  I suspect it is bound for Gary.

Walking Around Ypsilanti

I was going to go to the gym tonight but it was too nice of a night to walk around inside, so I decided to head down to Depot Town and take a walk through there.

 First I took a shot of the Hudson in the Car Museum.

 It was about Wolverine time, so I took a picture of the depot.

 It wasn't long before the Wolverine appeared.

 I kind of liked the orange of the sunset in the reflections.

 And it wasn't long before it passed.

 I kind of like the colors in this set of buildings.

Then I decided to walk through Frog Island Park to Michigan Avenue.  I liked the way the sky looked, so I took a picture.

As it was, I ended up walking a couple of miles.  It felt nice.

Mid-American Conference - Round One

So tonight was the first game of the MAC Tournament for Eastern Michigan.  They were ranked as the number 8 seed in the MAC, which meant they got to face Number 9 Toledo at home.  I was a little nervous as they just played Toledo on Friday and even though they beat them, it's a whole other game in the playoffs.  As always, I'm just going to post my favorite picture from the game.  If you want other game shots, go to Eagle Totem.

 A shot of the Eastern flag outside of the Convocation Center.

 I also caught part of the women's game.  They beat Kent State and will get a chance to play Ball State in their Round 2.

 James Thompson IV dunks during the warmup session.

 I kind of liked this sign.

 Tim Bond after a dunk.

 Swoop during the halftime.

 Rob Murphy high fives the team with seconds remaining on the clock.  They would win 69-60.

 A celebration with the student section.

A fairly candid shot of James Thompson after the game.

Lazy Sundays and the Wolverine

I had plans to do something today but I looked at the weather and saw that it was going to be kind of a blah day.  So in the effort of doing at least something, I decided to go take pictures of the Wolverine...again.  That pretty much confirmed my opinion that it was a pretty blah day.

 I decided for a slightly different spot this time.  Almost across from the station because it gave me an angle as the train enters Depot Town.  I also wanted to get some of the track work out of the picture.

 Despite the number of times that I've seen it, it is still impressive to watch a train moving by at around 50 miles per hour.

 An almost nice shot with the depot.

 I think a better shot with the depot.  I kind of wish I could crop the tracks at the bottom out.

 The train appears massive as it is about to pass by.

Not as much snow kicking up as yesterday though.

Stabbing Eastward

So I finished part of my shopping and saw that it was about time for the Eastbound Wolverine to appear.  For that I decided to head over to Gallup Park.

 It's always nice to catch shots from here.  It's even nicer when there is snow on the ground.  There was also snow on the trees.

 I kind of like the curve of the tracks as it leads towards the picture.

 A little bit of snow kicking up.

 A closer shot of the train.

And the trailing locomotive.