Wheels Up

Wheels up

Nothing too special today. Just a shot of a flight taking off from Washington National Airport one bright morning.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Take Off Sequence

My apologies: I'm pulling from the archives again today as I didn't make it outside yesterday and I'm not posting another picture of the cat. I may be desperate, but I'm not that desperate! This is a sequence of photos I took a few week's ago at Gravelly Point just north of Washington National Airport (DCA). I managed to get off five shots of the same plane taking off.





Happy Tuesday, everyone. Thanks for stopping by!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 07/08

DCA

Washington National Airport: The departure level.
(Click on image to enlarge.)

Washington, D.C., is accessible via air from three airports: Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD) in Loundon County, Virginia; Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia; and Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) near Baltimore, Maryland. The closest of the three is National Airport, just across the Potomac River and about six miles from downtown. The other two are each nearly 30 miles from Washington. Today's photos are from DCA.

L: View of DCA's air traffic control tower from the arrivals deck. R: Heading into the clouds.
(Click on images to enlarge.)

Opened in June 1941, DCA is home to 12 carriers providing service to 74 domestic destinations and connections to several international airports within the U.S. There are no direct international flights from DCA. In 2007, 18.7 million passengers traveled through DCA. It is the third busiest airport in the D.C. Metropolitan area.

View of Runway 19 looking south from Gravelly Point.

After Sept. 11, DCA was the last airport in the nation to reopen and for a time there was some discussion that it might never reopen given its proximity to the capital city. Fortunately, reason prevailed in the former of senators and congressional representatives who use the airport for its convenience and easy access. Located at the north end of the airport is a park called Gravelly Point. It is here that you can find people parking their cars or unloading a picnic basket and enjoying the sights and sounds of planes taking off and landing.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 6/08