Story and Photos provided by: Jared Romanowicz

Ft. Huachuca is located about 15 miles north of the U.S. / Mexico border at the base of the Huachuca Mountains.  It was originally established to secure the border with Mexico back in 1877, and now is one of the busiest transient Army Installations in the country.  Its major tenants include NETCOM (9^th Signal Command) and the United States Army Intelligence Center.  It is also home to numerous other intelligence, radio, and electronics agencies and it also served as an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle, although it was never used for that purpose.

I have been flying in and out of the airport for about 4 months now and it has been quite the experience.  It does get quiet during the winter months, but not a day goes by that I don’t hear the rumble of some Allison T56 or PT-6 turboprops, or the roar of some General Electric F110 or TF34 jet engines.  I have also had the pleasure of being able to spot many business jets, general aviation aircraft, medical helicopters, and U.S. Customs aircraft and helicopters.  I was also able to spend some time on the ramp during the annual Young Eagles event as well.  On a daily basis, the airport isn’t all that busy, however, if you spend enough time here like I have then you are able to spot a great variety of military, commercial, and general aviation aircraft.  Here is a list of most of the military aircraft I have been able to spot at this little known joint use airport.

-          General Dynamics F-16 (both B and C models)

-          Fairchild Republic A-10

-          Beechcraft RC-12D

-          General Atomics MQ-1C

-          Lockheed C-130

-          Boeing KC-135

-          Lockheed C-5

-          de havilland DHC-7

-          Fairchild C-26

On any given day, I can almost guarantee that you will see A-10’s, F-16’s, RC-12D’s (think King Air with a bunch of antennae) and MQ-1C Gray Eagle’s (UAV’s).  The RC-12D’s and MQ-1C’s are based on field, while the A-10’s and F-16’s fly in mainly from Davis Monthan Air Force Base and Tucson International Airport.  If your lucky, you might catch some of the other less frequent military visitors.  I have also been able to see some charter flights operated by Delta Airlines and Omni Air which have included A320’s, Boeing 757’s, 767’s, and 777’s.  Please keep in mind, this was over a 4 month period, so don’t expect to see all of these aircraft if you’re going to come down for a day trip.  Also, as with any military airfield, don’t expect to see any of these aircraft operating on the weekend.

There are pro’s and con’s to the airport layout here.  The main 12,000 foot runway is 8-26 and the civilian ramp is located on the north side of the airport.  This provides you with an amazing background with the Huachuca Mountains directly behind the aircraft, however, everything will be backlit in Fall, Winter, and Spring which makes Summer the only season where you can get well lit aircraft.  The main parking lot in front of the terminal will provide you with plenty of viewing opportunities for aircraft taking off or performing low passes, but will be restricted for aircraft rolling on the runway due to the uphill gradient and some tall grass and bushes.  You can shoot through the fence from here, or a 4’ to 6’ ladder would be enough to get un-obstructed views.  Approach shots can be taken from the intersection of the highway and the terminal access road and are mostly un-obstructed.  I currently only have a 250mm lens that I make work, but a 400mm lens would be ideal for all the locations around the field.  The airport is under heavily surveillance as you would expect, but if you stick to the civilian side you should not have an issue.  I have not been questioned a single time here, although I have a badge and civilian ramp access.  I would recommend checking in with the airport manager inside the terminal before taking photo’s just so they are aware of your presence and what you are doing.  They are very kind here and should be very helpful. 

Finally, for those of you that are interested in nature/landscape photography, there is an area of the Coronado National Forest just 15 minutes south at the base of Miller Peak and the Huachuca Mountains, Kartchner Caverns State Park is about 20 minutes north in between the cities of Sierra Vista and Benson, and for some old west history the town of Tombstone is just a 25-30 minute drive east.

You will see I have done a couple of shots in black and white, and silhouetted some aircraft against the bright sky.  The Delta Airlines picture is nowhere near perfect, but I included it because it gives you a good idea of the background, the backlighting in winter, and the obstructions to aircraft rolling on the runway.  If there is one good thing about being down here while the light is not ideal, it has made me become a little more creative with some of my shots.

Airport Watch First class 2012

A project that started well over a year ago has finally been completed. With the first class to graduate the Phoenix Neighborhood Patrol program (PNP). The Airport Watch first class members include, Jason Bong, Felipe Garcia, Billy Ellison (Wild Bill), Peter Nickerson, Ron McLellan, and Saurabh Patel. Airport Watch AZ has already logged in over 100 hours since the class has been active.

Some information about how the process got started. Just over a year ago, I received some information pertaining to other Airport Watch Programs globally. There were only two Airport Watch Programs in North America, which include Chicago (ORD), Minneapolis St-Paul (MSP) and “coming soon” Phoenix (PHX). There were countless meetings with the Phoenix Police Department Aviation Bureau that included meetings with TSA, and Phoenix Operations.  So after our many meetings, we were one step closer and decided that we would start our first class with 5-10 members. Since this was a new program, we wanted to make sure we had all our items in line. With a smaller group it makes it easier to work out all the bugs that we expect to happen.

There has been some miscommunication in the “Spotter community” or Aviation Photographers about our program. “We don’t want to pay to play”. That can’t be farther from the truth. We have waived all membership fees and our intent is not to make spotting at PHX impossible for any photographer or tail spotter. We are actually making is better for Aviation Photographers.  I am sure that our readers have at one time been approached by some agency at PHX whether it is TSA, Operations, or Phoenix Police department. And we all have felt the effects post 9/11. With all the Anti-photo airports, Phoenix is one of the friendliest. When I am approached by one of the agencies, it feels great to show my Airport Watch badge and know that I am helping protect our great airport.  We are already out there, so why not contribute to help preserve our “Friendliest Airport” status. We are already planning our next class. We are also working on a cleaning day out at 40^th Street spotting location. We have been notified that local businesses are being vocal with the trash and debris that is left after someone is done spotting.

Airport Watch has been in contact with a local business to see about getting some portable restrooms placed out at the 40^th Street spotting location. Airport Watch is not just open to PHXSpotters members, it is open to all local photographers who are willing to give back to the community. Interested photographers who would like more information about our program can go to www.AirportWatchPHX.com and take the next step by filling out a Member application.

When I heard of this event earlier last week, I knew I had to make space for it in the calendar. I couldn’t really pass up an opportunity to go to a small fly-in not too far away from me, especially after missing several Coolidge fly-ins. As I started digging through, I realized this was a pretty cool opportunity.

As I found out once I got there, Pleasant Valley makes Coolidge look like Schipol. The pavement ends at the access road (at least on one of the sides). There are four runways, according to Google Maps only one of them is paved and marked.

The airport is home to a gliding school that seems to be the only permanent user. A couple of Piper Pawnees and a Luscombe live there. The amount of brush inside the airfield, and the buildings, reminiscent of a 1900s movie make me feel like I’m somewhere in the Mexican Altiplano. The only fuel truck is an old GMC 4000 which was probably made well before the 70s.

But back to the Fly-in.

I arrived there just past 8, which was the start time. I didn’t read the directions and ended up driving to the south side, which houses the gliding school. This proved to be great to catch the arrivals, however, the brush made it impossible to catch the planes as they landed.

After most of the planes had arrived, I headed over to the north side  to take more pictures, and some more planes kept on arriving and a few more left. Of all of them, two seemed to be magnets for crowds: a CubCrafters Carbon Cub SS and a SCAN Type 30.

The Carbon Cub is, as the names says, a replica of a Piper Cub made using Carbon Fiber, which shaves off about 250 pounds, and it’s also certified as an LSA. The basic tubular structure is made from steel and everything else, down to the interior trim and the prop spinner are made from CF.

The SCAN Type 30 is a Grumman G-44 Widgeon built in France under license by the Societe de Construction Aero-Navale (SCAN), and only 41 of those were built. Eventually I had a 30 sec window to take photos of those without the crowds.

Some of the other planes were like old friends to me, I had already seen several at one or two other fly-ins, and you could overhear that most conversations talked about other great local airports, the upcoming Cactus fly-in and the traditional Coolidge fly-in/breakfast. People chatted with the pilots and made comments about some of the planes that were there. While the original flyer said there was going to be a small acrobatic demonstration (which supposedly included Tim Webber), I overheard someone talking on a cellphone that the FAA had heard about it and said that it sounded kinda like an airshow, and they didn’t have the permits for it. I later heard from somebody else the same thing, apparently this was known by several people.

Another notable plane was a Quest Kodiak sales demo. If you haven’t seen a Kodiak the best way to describe it is as a Cessna 208 that has been shortened, or as a Cessna-shaped Pilatus PC-12 that can be offroaded. That’s what it really is, a small utility plane. There was no carpet, only plastic, and the seats seemed to be easily removable. This was the first plane to leave, and the pilot got it off the ground in no time, thanks to the great power of the PT6 turboprop.

Unfortunately, shortly after the Quest  left they switched runways to the cross runway, and it was getting hot, with the conditions against me, I headed to In-N-Out and then to Deer Valley. I later spotted some of the same planes as they came back to DVT.

At last, the photos, including the obligatory prop-spinner portrait

Well, almost 2 months late, but better late than never. Unfortunately my plans to write a bunch of articles and reports while I was vacationing in Mexico quickly fell apart due to the not-so-great 2MBPS connection at my parents’.

So last year for Thanksgiving break I planned a trip with some friends. While I insisted on going only to Vegas, one of my friends insisted to visit other places too, so we only had 2 days at LAS. Given that they are rarely up before 9 on non school days, I took this as an opportunity for early morning spotting. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too good on my previous visit to Vegas, in addition to not having too much spare time.

The only location I tried was the viewing area on Sunset Rd. This is a small parking lot on Sunset Rd, just east of Escondido Rd (if you’re traveling from the strip, it’s quite far away), this location offers great opportunities for aircraft on 25L, and some on 25R (usually dependent on heat haze). If you’re trying to get a break from Southwest’s and US Airways’ duopoly at PHX, this is not quite the place to go, as there are quite a bit of Southwest operations on those runways, but, you can enjoy other airlines such as Spirit, Allegiant, Virgin America, etc. This isn’t the place to get side shots of  757-300s, unless you have a really wide lens, or unless they’re taking off on 25R.

There are a few restrictions regarding this spot, including

-You need a vehicle or a ladder to clear the fence

-No vehicles or equipment allowed within 6 ft of the fence

-Lot closed between 0000 and 0500 (I think those are the right hours)

Needless to say, the location has more pros than cons.

All the photos were taken with a Canon 7D and a 70-200 F4L USM with a 1.4x TC. The TC wasn’t really needed but I was too lazy to remove it. Unless you want extreme closeups or planes too far away, 200mm is about right for 25R ops and 140ish for 25L.

• This is a huge garage; you can go to any level to get uncluttered shots from either side north/south/east/west. It is a good location to get close-up shots of aircraft taxiing to the gates you can also get shots of aircraft lining up on 25R or landing on 25L. You can also get aircraft touching down on 26 with the Papago Mountains in the backdrop which is a signature shot from Phoenix.

• Terminal 4: Southwest, US Airways, Air Canada, AeroMexico and British Airways.

• From the east side, you can catch aircraft taxiing on taxiway Romeo to depart on rwy25R. Shots are well lit from noon to sunset here.

• From the west side, you can catch aircraft taxiing on taxiways Sierra/Tango with the PHX tower in the background. Shots are well lit from morning to noon here.

• With the construction of the new Air Train bridges, the southwest gates have become obstructed.
• All of the parking garages have a fee of $4 per hour

Sample Images:

T4 North:

T4 South:

T4 East:

 T4 West:

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It is with great pleasure, that I get to announce that Dave Budd has been selected for our spotlight photographer for the month of January 2012.

I remember the first time I got to meet Dave. We were all out at an Chino Air show and Joe Kates came up to me and said “Bong, I want to introduce you to someone.” “This guy is one of the best P-38 pilots and I think I can get him to give you a ride” Are you kidding me? After listening to him talk in some strange British accent. “Hello my name is Budd, Dave Budd”. My mouth dropped and Joe and Dave just busted up laughing. Since I did not know what Dave looked like. I had only heard his voice on the phone.

When I began helping out with Phxspotters, Dave has always had an open door policy. If there was something that I wanted to change I just had to ask and Dave would make it happen. He turned my ideas into reality. He has helped me transform PhxSpotters into one of the top Aviation Spotters websites. He has always been there for me and my dreams. I can’t even count how many times that I have called Dave at 2am with some brain buster idea. And it is done the next day.

Thank you Dave!

While Standing in line waiting to clear the TSA security checkpoint. I overhear a little boy talking to his mom about going to see the “Fishy Plane”. After clearing the  checkpoint, I started thinking about the difference between US Airways and Southwest Airlines and their Special Themed liveries. Being a employee of US Airways, they will always have a special place in my heart. In  my own personal opinion, I believe Southwest Airlines has the best overall paint schemes on a number of their aircraft. Although most of their paint schemes are State related. Southwest Airlines has several special schemes to commemorate their destinations, anniversary`s and various other events. Southwest also has several that have nose art.

Arizona One, California One, Florida One, Illinois One, Lone Star One, Maryland One, Metallic Gold One, Nevada One, New Mexico One, Shamu, Spirit One, Triple Crown One, Bags Fly free,Maryland One, Slam Dunk One

US Airways also has some great themed aircraft. They have top notch NFL teams on a couple of their Airbus 319′s. They also have Arizona and Nevada state themed 319′s but instead of painting the entire aircraft. The logo was painted on just the tail of the Airbus 319.

NFL Teams:Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers

State themed: Arizona One, Nevada One

US Airways also has some really nice Retro Themed Air Bus Aircraft.

Photos are provided by the following members of PHXSpotters

Peter Nickerson, Jason Bong, Peter Van Dyke, Felipe Garcia, Kyle Boyd, Saurabh Patel, Tim LaBranche

On December 12, 2011 in Hamburg, Germany US Airways took delivery of the 7,000th Airbus aircraft ever built – an A321-231, serial number 4957.  The aircraft wore test registration D-AZAE, and flew home to Phoenix Sky Harbor via Bangor and Pittsburgh on December 13, 2011 as AWE 9254.  US Airways is the largest operator of Airbus aircraft in the world, with 242 Airbus aircraft currently active in the fleet, and another 91 on order.  The new A321 is seen here departing Phoenix Sky Harbor on December 16, 2011.

Photos and Story provided by:Peter Nickerson

Video provided by: Jamie Hines of www.jamiehinesphoto.com