OLD CONTINENTAL B737 in MEXICO

A week ago during my trip to Mexico City, (MEX), we noticed an old Continental B737 that had been apparently purchased by someone in Mexico. The paint job was horrible, and the plane just seemed to be wanting someone to care for it. It's sad to see a plane I used to fly looking like it did. Unfortunately, there' plenty more where that one came from. I've seen B-727's in Roswell, NM (my hometown!) that I used to fly all over Europe, being chopped up and sold as scrap. It leaves a sick feeling in my stomach to see these reliable planes put down. But life goes on..................

9/11 SUPPORT AIRCRAFT

Finally home for a few days................so I'll post some of the things I've encountered over the past few weeks. On 9-12, I was departing Newark (EWR), and noticed a few F-16's on standby in case anything "fishy" was spotted flying around NYC on 9-11. At least we're paying attention to the threat for a change. I think it'd take a minute or so for these bad boys to get to NYC from Newark. At least it's nice to see our military protecting us in THIS country instead of 10,000 miles away over a desert. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

INTERESTING CLOUD FORMATION

Last week while flying to Bermuda, I noticed a "strange" looking cloud. This single cloud literally spanned hundreds of miles, but looked like a rope from our altitude. It extended as far as you could see on both sides of the plane. This shot was taken the day after hurricane Earl passed along the eastern seaboard. Interesting cloud to say the least. Been out flying the past week and heading out again today after one day of R and R. Vacation next week, so I'll post when I get back.

THUNDERSTORM OVER CUBA

Well, I've been flying a lot lately and haven't had time to update my blog. Home for one day, and then back up to Newark again for a few more days, so here's an update for you. My last trip was to Panama City, Panama (PTY). On the way back to Newark, we flew over Cuba and saw some incredible thunderstorms. Here's a shot of one that has a downpour in progress. It's not often we see thunderstorms this intense, but when we do, I try to have my camera ready.

HOUSTON INTERCONTINENTAL from the AIR

Airports just seem to keep getting bigger and bigger. The amount of real estate they take up is immense. What seems to be incredible is that when we change planes on a 45 minute turn, we usually end up having to go (walk) from one end of the terminal to the other. You can see from this photo of Houston Intercontinental Airport, that we have a LONG walk ahead of us. What's even more incredible is the number of pilots we have that are out of shape in spite of these long brisk walks...........;-) Maybe they should call them "workout ports" since we do see a lot of crew members and passengers running to their gates............ (Can you spot the KLM B747 in the picture????) Click on the photo to enlarge it.