Christmas season brings a variety of air freighters that are not often seen at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Here's another selection of photos of airliners at Sky Harbor, taken on December 23, 2010.

A number of airlines use novelty paint schemes on their airplanes to attract extra attention. The most recent additions to this page were taken at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on December 23, 2010.

On Wednesday, December 15, 2010, the 310th Fighter Squadron Top Hats at L:uke Air Force Base sent an unusually large number of its General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons aloft at the same time for the Cactus Starfighter training exercise. A Boeing KC-135R of the 97th Air Mobility Wing based at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma and four McDonnell-Douglas F-15C Eagle aggressors of the 57th Wing based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada staged out of Luke in support of the operation. Marine Corps Northrop F-5E Tiger aggressors from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, a Boeing E-8 joint surveillance target attack radar system aircraft from Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, a Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft from Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and a Boeing RC-135 Stratotanker rivet joint aircraft from Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska also participated in the exercise.

US Air Force fighter pilots have been training in General Dynamic F-16 Fighting Falcons at Luke Air Force Base since 1983. Luke is home to the 56th Fighter Wing. Elements of the 56th Fighter Wing include the 62nd Fighter Squadron Spike, 308th Fighter Squadron Emerald Knights, 309th Fighter Squadron Wild Ducks, and 310th Fighter Squadron Top Hats. Pilots of the Taiwanese Air Force 21st Fighter Squadron GamblersGamblers and the Singapore Air Force 425th Fighter Squadron Black Widows also train at Luke.

Here's another selection of photos of airliners at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, taken on December 2, 2010.

Pictures of Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress N9323Z Sentimental Journey taken over the last three decades. This display has been updated with photos of Sentimental Journey at Deer Valley Airport on November 14 and 15, 2010.

Click on any picture below to link to the related display.

Three World War II bombers flown by the Commemorative Air Force arrived at Deer Valley Airport on Sunday November 14. Two North American P-51D Mustangs, a Supermarine Spitfire replica, and a Ryan PT-22 trainer also visited Deer Valley on Sunday. The public can buy rides aboard North American B-25J Mitchell Maid in the Shade N125AZ, Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Sentimental Journey N9323Z, and Boeing B-29 Superfortress Fifi N529B through Wednesday.

On Monday, Navember 15, Fifi made one revenue flight in the morning.

Fifi is scheduled to make one revenue flight at noon on Tuesday. It is scheduled to make another revenue flight at 8:00 AM on Wednesday and then to depart for Texas that morning.

The Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force hosted the third annual Gathering of Legends at Falcon Field on Saturday, November 13. The keynote speaker was Air Force Colonel Roger Parrish, a veteran of 133 missions over Viet Nam in Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs and McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs. Following the keynote address, the public got the opportunity to meet about forty veteran airmen from World War II, the Korean War, the Viet Nam War, and Desert Storm. The veterans included two Tuskeegee Airmen and four WW-II aces.

Here's another selection of photos of airliners at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, taken on November 10, 2010.

Honeywell operates Boeing 757-225 N757HW as an engine testbed at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. I photographed another of its test flights on Wednesday, Niovember 10.

On the first Saturday of every month (except June, July, August and September), Coolidge Aviation, LLC sponsors a fly-in. Breakfast is served by the Coolidge Lion’s Club in front of the main hangar at the airport.

Hawkins & Powers of Greybull, Wyoming maintained five Privateer tankers in airworthy condition until 2002. Tragically, tanker #123 shed a wing and crashed near Estes Park, Colorado on July 18, 2002, killing its crew of two. This page has been updated with photos of P4Y-2 Privateer N2871G at Casa Grande, Arizona on October 23 and November 6, 2010.

My latest Arizona Gigapans illustrate tornado damage in the Coconino National Forest above the Mogollon Rim..

On October 21, I toured the Mogollon Rim near Payson, Arizona to photograph the fall colors. I followed the Rim Road and other forest roads from Woods Canyon Lake to Highway 87 north of Strawberry. The weather was overcast and it rained intermittently. I returned to the Coconino Forest above the Mogollon Rim on Thursday, November 4 to photograph more fall color.

As I was exploring forest roads above the Mogollon Rim on Thursday, October 21, I found an area where many of the trees had been broken off or knocked over. I returned to the Coconino Forest above the Mogollon Rim on Thursday, November 4 to photograph more of the tornado damage.

If a tornado rips down hundreds of trees in the forest, but there is nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?

A number of airlines use novelty paint schemes on their airplanes to attract extra attention. The most recent additions to this page are US AIrways A319-132 N822AW Nevada and US Airways A319-132 N838AW America West legacy at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on October 26, 2010.

Hawkins & Powers of Greybull, Wyoming maintained five Privateer tankers in airworthy condition until 2002. Tragically, tanker #123 shed a wing and crashed near Estes Park, Colorado on July 18, 2002, killing its crew of two. This page has been updated with photos of P4Y-2 Privateer N2871G at Casa Grande, Arizona on October 23, 2010.

Pictures of Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress N9323Z Sentimental Journey taken over the last three decades. This display has been updated with p[hotos of Sentimental Journey at the Copperstate Fly-in at Casa Grande Airport on October 23, 2010.

Most of the air traffic at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport is single aisle twinjets of US Airways and Southwest Airlines. Exceptions include British Airways 747-436s and Fedex DC-10s. The pictures below were taken on the afternoon of October 26, 2010

Since its first event in 1973, the Copperstate Fly-In has been bringing together aviation enthusiasts in the southwest United States.

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On October 21, I toured the Mogollon Rim near Payson, Arizona to photograph the fall colors. I followed the Rim Road and other forest roads from Woods Canyon Lake to Highway 87 north of Strawberry. The weather was overcast and it rained intermittently.

As I was exploring forest roads above the Mogollon Rim on Thursday, October 21, I found an area where many of the trees had been broken off or knocked over.

I use the interval timer in my digital camera to speed up the action in time lapse movies like this one:

Cumulus Buildup Over San Francisco Peaks Time Lapse, October 16, 2010

Cumulus clouds build up over the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff as the day heats up. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 150.

I visited the south rim of the Grand Canyon on September 24. The next day I visited the north rim of the Grand Canyon. On my way back to Flagstaff, I drove along the Vermilion Cliffs and crossed Marble Canyon on the Navajo Bridge.

My latest Arizona Gigapan is an overlook of the Bright Angel Trail and Indian Gardens from the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

Tonto Natural Bridge is the largest travertine bridge in the United States. It is located north of Payson off Highway 87.

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress N390TH Liberty Belle visited the Deer Valley Airport in northwest Phoenix over the weekend of September 11 - 12. Rides aboard Liberty Belle could be purchsed for $430. It will appear at the National Air Races at Reno over the weekend of September 18 - 19.

I recently visited Flagstaff and did some sight-seeing. I shot panoramas at Meteor Crater, Walnut Canyon National Monument and Grand Falls on the Little Colorado River. I shot a time lapse movie showing two days of monsoon weather.

My latest Arizona Gigapans are of Meteor Crater and Grand Falls on the Little Colorado River.

I use the interval timer in my digital camera to speed up the action in time lapse movies like this one:

Two days of monsoon weather over Flagstaff, Arizona on August 28 and 29, 2010. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 150.

The third Boeing 747-8 prototype N50217 returned to Mesa Gateway Airport for hot weather testing on Saturday, August 28, 2010. It made one test flight on Wednesday, September 1 and departed for Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, California on Thursday, September 2. The 747-8 is the largest airplane made in the United States.

On Sunday August 8, I took a day trip up to Payson and the Mogollon Rim, where I visited Willow Springs Lake. I shot panoramas and a time lapse movie of the lake.

In late June I visited Flagstaff. The Schultz Fire had started several days earlier and burned much of the east side of San Francisco Peaks. I explored the forest roads leading south to overlooks of the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon and the Red Rock Secret Wilderness.

The Planes of Fame East Museum at Valle-Williams Airport, Arizona hosted a fly-in on Saturday, June 26, 2010. The rural setting allowed the airplanes to make lower and closer passes than they do at most airshows. Several familiar airplanes from the Planes of Fame Museum at Chinio were flown over the course of the day. Many of the attendees bought rides aboard the P-51D Mustang, P-40N Warhawk, P-38J Lightning, and Ford Trimotor.

The third Boeing 747-8 prototype N50217 arrived at Mesa Gateway Airport for hot weather testing on Monday, June 21, 2010. The 747-8 is the largest airplane made in the United States.

Boeing 787-8 N7874 arrived at Mesa Gateway Airport for hot weather testing on Saturday, May 22, 2010, an ironically cool day in Arizona. This marked the first visit of a 787 to Arizona. It did not reach the minimum test temperature of 83 degrees, so the 787 did not perform the hot weather test on Sunday, May 23.

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photograph.

The Planes of Fame Airshow at Chino filled the day with nearly continuous action and a bewildering variety of airplane types. The acts presented were: P-51 Mustang Missing Man Formation, Silver Wings Wing Walker, Rob Harrison's Tumbling Bear, Navy Flybys, Northrop N9M Flying Wing, Clay Lacy Learjet Aerobatic Performance, Army Air Corps Flybys, The Horsemen  - P-51 Mustang Aerobatics, Air Racing Flybys, Korean Air War, F-16 Demonstration, USAF Heritage Flight, Brian Sanders Sea Fury Aerobatics, P-51 Mustangs, and a USAF C-17 Globemaster III Demo Flight.

Th airshow featured a huge variety of vintage warbirds.  Warbirds flown included fifteen North American P-51 Mustangs, a North American A-36A Apache, two Grumman F6F Hellcats, two Grumman F8F Bearcats, two Lockheed P-38 Lightnings, two Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, two Hawker Sea Furies, a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, a Mitsubishi A6M "Zero", a Douglas SBD Dauntless, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, two North American B-25 Mitchells, a Douglas A-1 Skyraider, a General Motors TBM Avenger, a Fairey Firefly, a Yakovlev Yak-3U, a replica Supermarine Spitfire, a North American F-86 Sabre, a Lockheed (Canadair) T-33 Shooting Star, a Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-15, a North American SNJ Texan, a North American T-28 Trojan, and the Northrop N9M-B Flying Wing.

Flying Displays , page 1: P-51 Mustang Missing Man Formation, Silver Wings Wing Walker, Rob Harrison's Tumbling Bear, Navy Flybys, Northrop N9M Flying Wing, Clay Lacy Learjet Aerobatic Performance

Flying Displays , page 2: Army Air Corps Flybys, The Horsemen  - P-51 Mustang Aerobatics, Air Racing Flybys, Korean Air War

Static Displays: Over seventy vintage airplanes were displayed at the Planes of Fame Airshow at Chino over the weekend of May 15 - 16s. A Focke Wulf FW-190 was a highlight of the static displays. The static displays featured two Grumman F8F Bearcats, a General Motors TBM Avenger, three Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, two North American B-25 Mitchells, a Mitsubishi A6M "Zero", nineteen North American P-51 Mustangs, a North American A-36A Apache, and a host of other. There were six Mustangs, a Mitchell, and a Corsair that I hadn't seen before.

Just some of the airplanes that were flown at the Planes of Fame Airshow.

When I was young, observing the progress of the construction of Claude Bell's dinosaurs at Cabazon was a highlight of family trips between Phoenix and southern California. On a recent trip through the area, I stopped at Cabazon to photograph the dinosaurs and have breakfast at the Wheel Inn. It's a classic diner, the sort of place that Large Marge would drop you off at.

The Grand Canyon Railway at Williams, Arizona commemorated National Train Day with a series of short Cataract Creek Rambler excursions pulled by their Baldwin Mikado 2-8-2 #4960 steam locomotive on May 8 and 9, 2010.

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photograph.

My latest Arizona Gigapans are of ancient pueblos at the Casa Grande Ruins, Montezuma's Castle and Montezuma's Well.

You can buy framed prints oand greeting cards of this photograph.

Honeywell operates Boeing 757-225 N757HW as an engine testbed at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. I photographed another of its test flights on Saturday, May 1.

The Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is located near the town of Coolidge, Arizona. The big house was constructed of caliche mud by the Hohokam people in the 1200s and 1300s. A culture of communal irrigation fed agriculture propsered in the area for many decades. The compound was abandoned for inknown reasons before the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s. The descendents of the Hohokam may be the Tohono O'odham people.

The Salt River flows down from Roosevelt Lake through a series of reservoirs to and through the city of Phoenix. It is running very high this spring. I am processing three Gigapan panoramas taken along the river that will be added to this display soon.

The Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour: Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, N93012 Nine-O-Nine, North American TP-51C-10 Mustang NL251MX Betty Jane and Consolidated B-24J Liberator N224J Witchcraft arrived at the Mesa Gateway Airport on Wednesday, April 217, 2010 and departed for Marana Regional Airport on Friday, April 23. The warbirds made a number of revenue generating flights, taking aviation enthusiasts aloft for about a half hour. These pictures were taken on Friday, April 23.

Ocotillo, Creosote, and Brittlebush are in bloom near Desert Center, California

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photo.

I camped out in the Saline Valley photographing airplanes in the wild in April. Camp was buzzed by several F/A-18 Hornets including one destined for delivery to the Australian Air Force. Two Boeing 747 testbeds flew overhead and three Cessnas paid a visit to the Chicken Strip.

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photo.

I spent five days camping in the Saline Valley in April 2010. Lows were in the 40s, the highs were in the eighties. The sky was mostly cloudless. The wind was fairly calm until the last two nights.

Page 1: Driving into the valley

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photo.

Page 2: Campout

I visited the Pima Air and Space Museum on March 29, 2010 to shoot more photos and Gigapan panoramas of their recently restored B-36J.

I was recently invited to be interviewed for Talk the Talk with 1stAngel Arts Magazine in the UK.

Honeywell operates Boeing 757-225 N757HW as an engine testbed at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. It made a flight on March 26, 2010. It was conducting a production acceptance test of an HTF7000 (AS907-1-1A) turbofan engine for the Bombardier Challenger 300 business jet.

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photograph.

My latest Arizona Gigapans are of Saguaro National Park in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains, east of Tucson.

You can buy framed prints oand greeting cards of this photograph.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base hosted Aerospace and AZ Days over the weekend of March 20-21, 2010. On Saturday, the day started chilly, but temperatures rose to the high 70s by late afternoon. A crowd of hundreds of thousands were treated to a wide variety of aerial demonstrations featuring a Search and Rescue demonstration, a Customs Agency smuggling interdiction, a performance by a Super Hornet from Naval Air Station Lemoore, the Patriots Jet Demonstration Team, a demonstration by a Globemaster III from Altus Air Force Base, flyovers by a U-2S from Beale Air Force Base, parachutists of the Wings of Blue team from the Air Force Academy, flybys by a Flying Fortress and Mustang, aerobatics by Ed Hammill in a Pitts S-2C, an Air Force Heritage Flight composed of a Skyraider and a Thunderbolt I, and concluded with the USAF Thunderbirds.

I shot three new air and space Giagan pnoramas of convair B-36J 52-22827 at the Pima Air and Space Museum on March 17 and march 29.

Many of the photographs that appear on the displays of Air-and-Space.com are are now available as rolled prints, framed prints, gallery wrapped canvas prints, and greeting cards. Check out my gallery of airplane phtograaphs.

Whereever you see a picture like this one:

You can buy framed prints or greeting cards of this photograph.

Click on it to link to the order page for that photograph.

Select from thousands of frames, mats, and wrap combinations and receive your fine art prints within one week!

Greeting cards are 5 inches by 7 inches and can be imprinted with your message.

If you are interested in acquiring prints of any of my photos that you see displayed on Air-and-Space.com, I encourage you to contact me, and I will add it to the selections available at Fine Art America.

North American P-51D Mustang N514NH Su Su crashed at the Chandler Stellar Airpark in Arizona at about 1:20 PM MST on Thursday, March 11, 2010, killing its pilot, Nazzi Hirani. It carried cosntruction number 124-44706. It served the Army Air Corps as 44-84850 and it wore that tail number when it crashed. Stephen Johnson and Vanpac Carriers of Oakland, California recovered it from Indonesia in 1978. John MacGuire of El Paso, Texas acquired it in January 1982, registered it as N87JB, restored it as 484850, and named it Ghost Rider. It joind the collection of the War Eagle Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico in 1988. Former Apollo astronaut Frank Borman and Picacho Aviation of Las Cruces, New Mexico took charge of it on August 10, 1994. Borman registered it as N15FS in August 1995 and named it Su Su. Stan Musick of Brownfield, Texas bought it in 1996 and sold it to Bill Freeman of Wilmington, Delaware in 1999. W.H. Freeman Aviation of Wilmington, Delaware registered it as N151BF on June 18, 1999. Anderson Aviation Incorporated of Point Vedra Beach, Florida registered it as N850AH on March 6, 2000. Its registration changed to N151TH on August 28, 2004. It has been registered to Hirani Oil Arizona LLC since June 22, 2007.

On my way to Mojave Plane Crazy Saturday, I stopped off at the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark at Palmdale Plant 42 and shot a pair of Gigapan panoramas.

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photograph.

Hans Lauridsen is assembling a collection of vintage airplanes at the Buckeye Municipal Airport in Arizona. There are plans to build a 30,000 square foot hangar to house the collection.

You can buy framed prints and greeting cardds of this photograph.

The Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress mothership 52-0008 has been placed on display outside the north gate of Edwards Air Force Base, off Highway 58 between Mojave and Boron. It is accessible to the public. There is a turn around just before the security post and a parking area adjacent to the NB-52B.

You can buy framed prints and greeting cardds of this photograph.

The Mojave Airport hosted another Plane Crazy Saturday fly-in on February 20, 2010. The day was marked by a cold wind that drove the memorabilia vendors into the hall next to the Voyager Restaurant inside the administration building.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya departed from Houston Bush Internatinoal Airport for Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport in Zanderij, Suriname as ADB2770 at 8:47 PM MST on February 12.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya departed from Las Americas International Airport for Houston Bush Internatinoal Airport as ADB210F at 4:30 PM GMT on February 11. It arrived at Houston at 2:39 PM CST.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya departed from Miami International Airport for Las Americas International Airport (MDSD) at 4:35 AM EST on February 11. It is on its way to Haiti with earthquake disaster relief equipment.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya departed Fairbanks, Alaska for Miami International Airport at 12:57 AM AST as ADB2710. It arrived at Miami at 1:09 PM EST.

The An-225 landed at Fairbanks, Alaska from New Tokyo International as Antonov Design Bureau flight 2710at 10:16 AM AST on February 9.

After a recent winter storm, I drove east out of Scottsdale to Four Peaks in the Tonto National Forest.

Honeywell operates Boeiung 757-225 N757HW as an engine testbed at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. It made a flight lasting 2 hours and 44 minutes on February 1, 2010.

I have started a new series of Arizona Gigapans.

I recently toured the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, Arizona on an overcast day. A Coati Mundi was munching berries in a tree along the trail.

Twelve of my Gigapan panoramas are on display at the Antelope Valley Allied Arts Cedar Center Gallery in Lancaster until February 21. The gallery is located at the intersection of Lancaster Boulevard and Cedar Avenue, across from the library.

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New Display Archives

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