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| By Mark Nankivil |
A recent holiday visitor to the TacAir ramp at Spirit of St. Louis Airport was
this Boeing 727-225, N724CK, built in 1971 and operated by Kalitta Charters. It
had dropped into KSUS delivering cargo and spent a few extra days on the ramp
prior to being photographed. With 727s becoming something of a rare breed
nowadays, it was nice to see this classic on the ramp.
Kalitta Charters (
http://www.kalittacharters.com/ ) operates a varied
fleet of aircraft on cargo, passenger and medical flights. At present, their cargo
fleet consists of 6 727-200Fs and two DC-9s (a Series 15F and a Series 32F) used
for contract and ad-hoc flights. Kalitta Charters also operates a fleet of
freight configured Learjets of various types along with Falcon 20s. Their
passenger side of the business uses various models of the Learjet plus the
Falcon 20 and Beechcraft King Air 200. If you need something a wee bit bigger,
there's always Kalitta Air (http://www.kalittaair.com/) which operates various
freight versions of the Boeing 747.
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| By Fred Harl |
What is a sporting event (or in this case an aero-sport extravaganza) without the eye in the sky Goodyear Blimp? Not to worry - the "Spirit of Goodyear" GZ-20A was over the field for a few days, giving rides to a select few winners of the sweepstakes held during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2012. The "Spirit of Goodyear" is named in honor of the employees of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and was christened in 2000 by astronaut the late Sally Ride. The blimp carries the EagleVision lighting system that provides high-resolution displays. It is noticeably smaller than the Farmer's Insurance Zeppelin dirigible that was flying at last year's AirVenture, but no less iconic. Here are some views of the Goodyear blimp as it flew over the tower area near the end of its visit:
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| By Fred Harl |
More U.S. Navy aircraft could be found at Phillips 66 Plaza, and this sharp Grumman E-2C Hawkeye from Reserve Squadron VAW-77 based at NAS Atlanta, GA taxied up to the P-3C and the KC-135 already on the ramp. VAW-77 "Nightwolves" is the only dedicated counter-narcotics squadron, patrolling the Caribbean Sea in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard. The light gray paint scheme is in contrast to the darker shades of gray sported by the other nearby aircraft. Here is a close-up walkaround of the Hawkeye:
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| By Fred Harl |
Part of the large U.S. Navy presence at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2012 was this relatively unmarked P-3C Orion b/n 158918 from NAS Whidbey Island, WA. Located in the Phillips 66 Plaza along with other multi-engine aircraft, this P-3C remained as unassuming as its mission: long-range anti-submarine patrol. Like the Prowler and other aircraft of its generation, the P-3C will eventually be replaced by a current production type (in this case the Boeing P-8A Poseidon) and will make fewer appearances at aviation events. For now, though, here are some views of the P-3C:
