Wishing you all a peaceful and healthy 2022!
Taken December 30, 2021
Happy New Year: Double Underscore
Tag Archives: Airplane
Birds of the Mechanical Kind
There are 41 massive C-17 airplanes stationed at Joint Base Charleston which sits just across the Ashley River from Magnolia Plantation, where I take many of my photos. I’ve seen them coming and going many times, sometimes singly and sometimes in groups.
A few weeks ago when I was on the dike three of them flew in together and circled around a few times before landing.
Circling is a long process for these giants, and they give the illusion of being awfully close together.
It was five minutes from the time I first spotted them until they dipped below the trees to the runway.
From Boeing’s website, the C-17:
Wingspan to Winglet Tip 169.8 ft (51.74 m)
Length 174 ft (53.04 m)
Height at Tail 55.1 ft (16.79 m)
Compare to a Boeing 737
Wingspan 117 ft 5 in (35.8 m)
Length 110 ft 4 in (33.6 m)
Height 41 ft 3 in (12.5 m)
All Lined Up
Four seater Piper landing on Marine Huey Rotor… or not.
Photographed at Atlantic Aviation, Charleston, SC while touring the B-29 FIFI.
B-29 Superfortress FIFI
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress saw active military duty from 1944 through the late 1950s. “FIFI” was acquired by the Commemorative Air Force in the early 1970s and after extensive restoration travels across the US for air events and to share a piece of history.
FIFI flew into Charleston, SC this week where she is on display for tours and rides are available for the brave. I’ll be staying on the ground!
The most well known B-29s were the ones outfitted to drop atomic bombs at the end of World War II, including the Enola Gay.
The size of this airplane’s parts is impressive. I was standing fully upright below one of the propellers for this shot:
After several days of rain we were also treated to some blue sky today, adding to the B-29’s presentation. You can see the feet of folks waiting their turn to climb up into the cockpit area in the shot below.
“The CAF was founded to acquire, restore and preserve in flying condition a complete collection of combat aircraft which were flown by all military services of the United States, and selected aircraft of other nations, for the education and enjoyment of present and future generations of Americans.”