I grabbed these shots from my bedroom window. Sadly, the sky was heavily overcast - the sun shines from the right angle to illuminate aircraft taking off or landing this way at this time of day.
Below: Air Force Two, a converted Boeing 757. Last time I saw a US Presidential flight taking off over Jeziorki, George W. Bush and his entourage also flew in two planes, though Air Force Two back then was an elderly Boeing 707.
While I was uploading these pics, Eddie came charging in excitedly, telling me to grab my camera and come outside. It was a Lockheed C5A Galaxy - a huge transport plane that was flying in to pick up Obama's bits and pieces (the stuff that two large planes couldn't carry). I rushed out with camera - but sadly the memory card was in the computer so I missed the shot. So here's another photo of the same C5A, over the fence at Okęcie (photo from Lotnictwo.net.pl)
However, as I was writing these words I heard yet another unfamiliar
sound above our house - and indeed, a C-17 Globemaster III flew by. And
then, just minutes later - to cap it all! (what a day for spotters!)
the Polish Air Force's remaining Tu-154 followed on (below). A rare sight these
days.
Supplementary: 'Air Force One' and 'Air Force Two' are often-misused terms; officially, 'Air Force One' is the name used for the aircraft currently flying the president, and Air Force Two for the aircraft currently flying the vice-president. As Joe Biden was not in Poland, the C-32 (military VIP version of the Boeing 757) shown above was not actually call-signed Air Force Two on the day.
This time two years ago:
Some anniversaries missed
This time three years ago:
Hissing of the summer lawns
1 comment:
Nicely captured Michael given the weather conditions today. If I had deboarded the train on Friday evening at Jeziorki instead of Zalesie Górna, I would have seen him land. I actually carried my 20D and 100-400mm lens into work just in case the timing was right.
This afternoon I drove to the Krakowska side of the airport and was able to get close to the airport border fence, but the police presence was clear. It seems to have been a busy afternoon for Okęcie! I also hadn't realised that Air Force Two always trailed the President. Is this purely entourage? I assume Secret Service personnel given the space available on Air Force One for other staff?
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