A Rare Aviation Treat

Word spread quickly through the local aviation spotting community - a 707 was en route to Kennedy Airport. And not just any 707, but an Iranian government 707, something that hasn't been seen locally in years. Regardless of your views on world politics, this was BIG!

Phone calls and text messages flew back and forth - what time is it due in? What runway will they use? Will the sun stay out? Arrival estimates kept changing, but finally, at 6:30pm, the telltale smoke trails appeared on approach.





Not everyone was so excited...


Well, no, not really - that's Gordon, out spotting with his son, part of the crowd of more than a dozen spotters who captured the arrival. By the time the 707 arrived, he was up and shooting with the rest of us. 2010 is not even half over, but this may be the catch of the year!

NorEastCon 2010

Aside from photography, one of my other favorite pass-times is plastic model building. Not that I've built much in recent years, but I remain active in my local model club, the Long Island Scale Model Society. LISMS has been active since 1972, and I've been a member for 30 years now.

Our annual show, RepLIcon, is held each year in March, but this year, we were honored to host NorEastCon, the annual Northeast regional convention of IPMS/USA. We were doubly honored - the American Airpower Museum allowed us to host the show at the museum - a first in NorEastCon history! Seeing hundreds of models on display in an historic hangar filled with WWII vintage aircraft and other displays was special.



Visitors were treated to the sight (and sound) of a P-47 Thunderbolt starting up and taking off...


More than 500 models were on display during the show:






The judges faced a difficult time picking winners amongst all the quality workmanship on display.




Model builders love to get an upclose look at all the little details...




It was long months of preparation, and long hours of work at the museum, but in the end, we had one of the best received and most successful shows in our history. Thanks to all our visitors, vendors, contest entrants, club members, and especially everyone at the American Airpower Museum!

The Tugboat Graveyard

On the shores of Staten Island, old, derelict ships lay rusting and decaying, succumbing to the ravages of time and tide. It has been called the "Tug Boat Graveyard" - part salvage yard, part junk yard. Retired tug boats, ferries, fire boats and other vessels await their fate. Some are cut up by salvage crews, some simply rust away and sink into the water.

Easter in the Park

After a little morning fog burned off, Easter Sunday turned out to be the perfect day for a little walk in the park. I started out at Gantry State Park in Long Island City, overlooking Manhattan.



One of the gantry cranes that gives the park its name. They were used to load and unload barges that moved train cars across the East River onto Long Island.


From there, it was in to Central Park. With warm, sunny weather on a holiday afternoon, it seemed like half of New York was in the park.


The street (park?) musicians were out in full force.


This little guy showed off impressive hand-eye coordination.


And we were even treated to some classical music.


NYPD responding in Central Park? Detectives Briscoe and Greene can't be far behind!

Boys and Their Toys

Some may say it's just guys playing with kids' toys, but the quality of craftsmanship on display at the MosquitoCon plastic model show would belie that. This annual show is sponsored by our neighboring chapter to the west, New Jersey IPMS. In nearly two decades, the show has grown to some 400 models on display, and a room full of vendors selling all manner of modeling paraphernalia. Another fine job by Big Bill and his club members!







The contest judges hard at work.

Signs of Spring

Finally on Thursday, the rains stopped, and the sun came out. It wasn't a perfect sunset, there were too many clouds for that, but what we were treated to was some beautiful color in those clouds, and that merited a run up to Bayville to enjoy it. And in the spirit of Census Day, I counted two people walking along the beach...



More warm weather on Friday had one thinking thoughts of Spring. This guy got his big, bad Chevy out for a little exercise. Don't worry, he wasn't really doing 95 mph through Glen Cove (not that you could get that kind of speed out of a Chevy anyway...) It's just a little fun with Photoshop.

Happy Census Day!

Did you return your Census form yet? April 1 is designated "Census Day". This is the official reference date used by the US Census Bureau to determine the count of the nation's population. Census information is used to apportion Congressional districts, and to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds annually. Your information is confidential, and 10 minutes is all you need to complete the form and drop it in the mail.