Bon Voyage B-1 Bomber

Bob and I spent a lovely hour yesterday afternoon sitting in the shade in front of our home, watching birds and waiting for the B-1 Bomber to take to the skies from nearby Long Beach Airport. Bob had his camera at the ready.

It was easy to tell when the jet began its take-off roll.

It was LOUD.

Soon the war bird rose siftly over the trees:

It made a graceful arc over our back yard:

...and flew off into the wild blue yonder:

See the KCAL 9 video here.

It was a rare sight indeed.

What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon!

Air Force One At Long Beach Airport

Air Force One landed at Long Beach Airport this afternoon.

I missed it.

I was at APU teaching.

At least one family member got up close and personal with the president's ride however.

My brother Ken, Executive Assistant to the Airport Director, was thrilled to stand on the tarmac next to this impressive plane:

Meanwhile, Bob and I settle for a view of the Sikorskys thundering directly over our home as they shuttle their important passenger around the Southland.

Long Beach Airport: the airport of presidents!

It's a great place...and an interesting neighbor.

Antonov Adventure Pictures

I've posted more pictures from our Antonov adventure on my flickr photostream.

Click here to be transported to them at once.

Antonov AN-124-100 Up Close

My brother Ken is the Long Beach Airport Secretary, a job he enjoys very much.

Bob and I had been looking forward to a tour of the airport for some time.

Little did we know what a rare and spectacular treat was in store for us.

Until today, this was the closest Bob and I had been to an Antonov AN-124-100. I snapped this picture as we cruised out of San Diego:

Thanks to Ken, we got a lot closer today.

The Antonov AN-124-100 made a quick stop at the airport yesterday and was due to depart this morning.

We were privileged to get an up close look at this massive transport plane shortly before take off.

According to the Voga-Dnepr Group website, "The Antonov AN-124-100 Ruslan aircraft form the backbone of Volga-Dnepr's fleet. Owing to its unique technical performance, the AN-124-100 is the unrivaled leader of the outsize and 'super heavy' air cargo transportation sector."

"The overall size and volume of the aircraft's cargo compartment, its cargo capacity and flight range, enables the AN-124 to provide the perfect solution for Volga-Dnepr's customers' transportation challenges and allows the airline to carry up to 120 tonnes as a single unit."

"The 24-wheel undercarriage of the Ruslan enables the nose section of the aircraft to “kneel down” as required to facilitate loading and off-loading operations. It also allows the aircraft to operate to a wider variety of airports and airfields with different types of runway surfaces."

The CSULB Pyramid is visible just below the tail in this picture.

We all took advantage of this amazing photo op:

Bob snaps away:

Check us out!

This is so cool!

We changed our position to the other side of the runway for the take off:

We're moving into our new position:

This was a fantastic view point:

Hearing protection was advisable:

The big plane makes its move:

Check out the dust cloud those powerful jet engines kicked up:



Ready for take off!

There she goes:



What an amazing opportunity.

It pays to know people in high places!

B-1B Fly By

The phone rang at 8:30 this morning. My brother Ken is the Airport Secretary at Long Beach Airport. He was delivering a heads up: a B-1B bomber was on the taxi way preparing for take-off.

Photo: Ken Mason


According to LBReport.com "Boeing has been performing maintenance on the aircraft at its [Long Beach] C-17 facilities."

Long Beach Airport Public Affairs stated, "Boeing has advised that a U.S. Air Force B-1 Bomber will depart from Long Beach Airport on Friday, January 18th. This aircraft arrived in October and has been undergoing maintenance.

Please note, this aircraft must deploy its afterburners upon take off and will be louder than the typical airplane departure."

I immediately grabbed my camera and went outside for a front row view. My landlord, curious as to why I was standing in the front yard in my bath robe with my camera, came out to await the fly by. It turns out that his wife actually works manufacturing B-1B parts and his late father developed a metal still used in aircraft manufacturing.

My brother called back just after 9am and said, "I hope you're not outside freezing. It's powered up but just sitting on the taxi way. Oh, it just got cleared for take-off!"

And take off it did! It rose effortlessly into the clear morning sky, thundering away into the blue, looking close enough to touch.

Bob got off this shot from the back yard:

Oh and me? Ummm...my camera battery died.

It would have been great video...