I went (with the Missus at my side) to Richmond International Airport looking to get a shot of an airliner. Now that travel is ramping back up (at least it is here in the US) I figured there would be some good shots. What I got was multiple opportunities to shoot a C-130 Hercules!
This "Herky Bird" is from Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 53 (VR-53), the "Capital Express", based at Naval Air Facility Washington. NAF Washington is part of the Joint Base Andrews complex in Washington, DC.
The plane was "shooting touch-and-goes" - making a standard approach, landing but not stopping, and taking off again. It is easier for them to fly 90 miles south to practice at Richmond than it would be to deal with the super-crowded airspace in DC.
After I got the picture of the Hercules on final approach, we drove around the airport's perimeter to the other end of Runway 16 to catch it on its next take-off. It gave me a good shot of it heading out over the trees and under the clouds.
You are amazing. How do you know all that aeronautical info? I am making my first trip from RIC in 18 months when I head up to Boston to visit family. That is an easy short flight so hopefully there will be no complications.
@allie912 I've been around aircraft my entire life. My Dad was a tail gunner on a B-17 during WWII then became a private pilot afterwards. I don't have a ton of the info I post here in my head. For these shots I knew it's a Hercules and was able to decipher the plane's markings (VR-53). I looked up the rest.
I hope you have a good flight!