Falcon Field (MSC, KFFZ, FFZ)

[Joe Copalman]

I live two minutes away and I haven't seen it.  I did hear something with a big ploppy recip engine on Monday, but I just assumed it was the CAF's SNJ.  Word is that he's planning on making some of the Coolidge Fly-Ins this winter.  Looking forward to that.

Any idea what the current status of Ho-Hun is?  I saw her fly at Falcon about six months ago, but haven't seen her since.

[Joe Copalman]

Another shot of MitS's departure last week.

[Warbird Keith]

I live two minutes away and I haven't seen it.  I did hear something with a big ploppy recip engine on Monday, but I just assumed it was the CAF's SNJ.  Word is that he's planning on making some of the Coolidge Fly-Ins this winter.  Looking forward to that.

Any idea what the current status of Ho-Hun is?  I saw her fly at Falcon about six months ago, but haven't seen her since.

I'm hoping to run in to Bill Hane  this Week @ Reno! He's usually there, I will find out for you!

[Warbird Keith]

Oh yeah, Nice B-25 shot!

[Joe Copalman]

One of those too-close-with-too-big-a-lens shots that was more or less an afterthought on this approach, but I really like the reflection of the orange groves on the bottoms of the engine cowlings.  So here it is:

[Joe Copalman]

Caught this 135 doing some funky hover-land-unload sandbags-hover-land-unload test routine this evening. 

[Jay Beckman]

Light Meter in that guys hand?

[Joe Copalman]

Light Meter in that guys hand?

I don't think so.  Maybe some decibel-meter or something?  Had two guys on the ground - one in front of the aircraft, the other to port.  They both had these little handheld devices that they would hold up high and look at while facing away from the aircraft.  The aircraft would hover for a minute or two, land, then these two guys would run toward it and help the co-pilot unload what looked like sandbags from the rear compartment, they'd close it up, the two ground dudes would re-man their posts, and the whole sequence would start over.  They were obviously trying to measure something at different weight levels, but I have no idea what.  Regardless, it was nice to catch something different.

[Chris Kennedy]

The helicopter is owned by Air Methods, which is the largest medical helicopter operator in the country. It has an Experimental classification (as marked), so they must use it exclusively for testing.

[Joe Copalman]

[Joe Copalman]

Finally caught Phoenix PD's PC-12 this evening.  That metallic finish looks awesome at sunset.

[Joe Copalman]

Another day, another PC-12:

[Ramp Rat]

So what are the best places to spot from at Falcon? I've done all of my flight training out of falcon and am quite familiar with the field itself, but I can't seem to think of any decent vantage points off the top of my head.

I'm at FFZ on a weekly basis (non-photographic purposes), so I'll be giving it a go sometime soon.

[Joe Copalman]

One of two Turbo Commanders that have been operating out of Falcon Field this week doing aerial survey work.

[Joe Copalman]

Been after this shot for a while.  Almost didn't happen today, but they flipped runways shortly after the B-17 went out, so BOOYAH!