Plane Spotting

You can add aviation spotter/writer to my long list of topics that I write about. I spent four hours around PDX (Portland International Airport) today waiting to see a rare plane take flight. I was waiting to see a special Boeing 747. Its called the DreamLifter. The special 747 was created to bring in the parts needed for Boeing's new airplane, the 787 DreamLiner. Only a small fleet of DreamLifters are in service. The plane was at Evergreen Aviation at PDX for some testing. Evergreen employs the pilots that fly the giant plane. I got out to the airport around 1pm and just looked around for a good spot to watch the plane. I was very aware of the weather and I didn't want the wind to change at the last minute. If it did, I was going to be on the tail side of the plane and that wouldn't be good. I was lucky in the end as the wind stayed out of the west and the planes were taking off toward Portland/Vancouver. I decided about 2:30 to take a risk and just camp at the end of the runway. I ran into a grandfather and grandson who told me that they had been there since 12:30pm. We talked about airplanes and airports that we have flown in to and how we liked and disliked certain air carriers and the planes they fly. It was a very fun time. 3pm was the time that Evergreen told us that the plane would take off. 3pm came and went. Nothing yet. Sitting some 300 yards away, the plane just sat there. A door just behind the nose of the plane was still open, and we just waited for it to close. Finally about 3:45pm the door was shut. I turned on the scanner and heard that they were going to push the plane back so it would stay out of the way. I was wondering how long that would take.
A few minutes later, the tower cleared the DreamLifter to taxi to the run way. The plane gracefully moved between hangars and headed for the the taxiway. It made it to the end and over the scanner, we heard the air traffic controllers give the clearance for take off. Slowly the jumbo jet made its way down Runway 28L (28 Left). Slowly the Boeing Jet climbed skyward. The plane turned over so lightly to the right , just passing me to my left. It climbed into the cloudy sky and headed north. It was well worth the hours I spent just waiting and watching. I've always loved watching planes at the airport, and I think I've caught the bug again !

Here is the video I shot of the Boeing 747 DreamLifter Taking Off !