Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

mjrap · Jun 19, 2004, 02:47 PM

I currently live in Reno and yesterday President Bush made a campaign stop here.

Once I had a rough idea of when he'd arrive by reading the paper, I just stood outside in a parking lot of my work where planes make their approach to the airport and waited.

There was a lot of security. Besides the usual multitude of local police cars, a police helicopter patrolled the approach for hours before Air Force One came through.

But the coolest part preceding actually seeing Air Force One and the thing that tipped us that the President was soon to follow was the sight and booming sound of an F-16 zipping high through the air, clearing the way for Air Force One.

The photos you see here, http://homepage.mac.com/mjrap/AirFor...toAlbum11.html
pretty much tell the story of the fly over.

I wanted to enjoy the sight of the shiny beautiful 747 as it slowly floated by with my own eyes, but ended up watching most of it through the viewfinder of my Digital Rebel.

I hope everyone enjoys the pics.
Mike

spatterson · Jun 19, 2004, 02:49 PM

Originally posted by mjrap:
I currently live in Reno and yesterday President Bush made a campaign stop here.

Sweet pics! Hey I'm moving to Reno next week.

MaxPower2k3 · Jun 19, 2004, 03:27 PM

that's cool. I saw it parked in Newark Airport as I was driving by a few years ago.

misc · Jun 19, 2004, 04:02 PM

Great shots. What kinda lens do you have?

scaught · Jun 19, 2004, 04:12 PM

Originally posted by spatterson:
Sweet pics! Hey I'm moving to Reno next week.

ive got 2 words for you my friend.

super burrito. burritos as big as your head. piles of nacho goodness a foot high. mind you, theres better mexican food in reno. just not as cheap and insanely portioned.

(i lived in reno for 8 months)

awcopus · Jun 19, 2004, 04:31 PM

Originally posted by mjrap:
I currently live in Reno and yesterday President Bush made a campaign stop here.

Once I had a rough idea of when he'd arrive by reading the paper, I just stood outside in a parking lot of my work where planes make their approach to the airport and waited.

There was a lot of security. Besides the usual multitude of local police cars, a police helicopter patrolled the approach for hours before Air Force One came through.

But the coolest part preceding actually seeing Air Force One and the thing that tipped us that the President was soon to follow was the sight and booming sound of an F-16 zipping high through the air, clearing the way for Air Force One.

The photos you see here, http://homepage.mac.com/mjrap/AirFor...toAlbum11.html
pretty much tell the story of the fly over.

I wanted to enjoy the sight of the shiny beautiful 747 as it slowly floated by with my own eyes, but ended up watching most of it through the viewfinder of my Digital Rebel.

I hope everyone enjoys the pics.
Mike

Great pictures, mjrap. You had one pass to get it, and you got it! </applause>

spatterson · Jun 19, 2004, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by scaught:
ive got 2 words for you my friend.

super burrito. burritos as big as your head. piles of nacho goodness a foot high. mind you, theres better mexican food in reno. just not as cheap and insanely portioned.

(i lived in reno for 8 months)

Hehe, yeah its good there, I lived there for 18yrs before moving to Germany, and then Atlanta.

mjrap, do you remember when the concord visited Reno? it was about 10 years ago

mjrap · Jun 19, 2004, 10:42 PM

Misc: I was using the stock 18-55mm lens that came in the Digital Rebel Kit. The shots were a little wide, but I used iPhoto to zoom in on Air Force One before publishing to my .mac site.

SPatterson: I do recall hearing about a Concorde visit to Reno, but has it already been ten years since that happened?! Would have been great to get a shot of the Concorde since it's nothing but a museum relic now.

As far as Mexican food in Reno, I'm partial to Jimboy's Tacos. Yes it's a funny name, but the food is yummy. Sacramento Magazine recently voted them "Best Taco" and I love 'em.

Anyway, thanks for the kudos on my pics. I just hope 300 or more hits per day doesn't take down my .mac site.

Mike

zachs · Jun 20, 2004, 08:42 PM

Sweet pics. I saw Air Force One when Bush flew into New York after 9/11 (9/14?), but I wasn't able to get any shots.

soul searching · Jun 20, 2004, 09:05 PM

Nice pictures.

And since everyone is sharing, I saw Air Force One in a movie once. It was pretty neat.

ink · Jun 20, 2004, 09:12 PM

Good shots! I had some problems shooting at an airshow last weekend (Hill AFB in Salt Lake), but I got some good shots of an F-16 and a P-51 flying together. I was just using the naked lense on the Canon G2 for it, though.

Gonna be going to Reno in the fall; what's "must see" there?

mac-at-kearsarge · Jun 20, 2004, 09:48 PM

AWSOME PICS!

You should submit them here: http://www.airliners.net and http://www.jetphotos.net .

SeSawaya · Jun 20, 2004, 09:48 PM

Reno: 911

awesome show!

Capt Shane · Jun 20, 2004, 10:02 PM

Great PIcs but It kinda makes me uneasy about how close you can get to it when it is landing or taking off... I mean I am sure they have anti-missle/rocket equiptment on board. Just kinda scary but what can you do about it I guess you can;t clear a neighborhoob for the Prez... or can you?

nredman · Jun 20, 2004, 10:06 PM

cool. thanks for sharing

zachs · Jun 20, 2004, 10:08 PM

Originally posted by Capt Shane:
Great PIcs but It kinda makes me uneasy about how close you can get to it when it is landing or taking off... I mean I am sure they have anti-missle/rocket equiptment on board. Just kinda scary but what can you do about it I guess you can;t clear a neighborhoob for the Prez... or can you?

Well, protesters are placed in "First Amendment Zones" away from the President, so they do clear it somewhat.

Anyway, he said there were a bunch of cops around...so it's not like you could fire something at it or anything. I'd say it's pretty safe.

spatterson · Jun 20, 2004, 10:16 PM

Originally posted by SeSawaya:
Reno: 911

awesome show!

Its freaking funny, but really has nothing to do with reno.

SeSawaya · Jun 20, 2004, 11:40 PM

Originally posted by spatterson:
Its freaking funny, but really has nothing to do with reno.

your kiding?

spatterson · Jun 20, 2004, 11:44 PM

Originally posted by SeSawaya:
your kiding?

I always though it was funny that in the show there are plam trees and there really are no palm trees in Reno. Reno 911 might be representive of Sun Valley, but not Reno.

dcmacdaddy · Jun 21, 2004, 12:11 AM

Originally posted by Capt Shane:
Great Pics but It kinda makes me uneasy about how close you can get to it when it is landing or taking off... I mean I am sure they have anti-missle/rocket equiptment on board. Just kinda scary but what can you do about it I guess you can't clear a neighborhoob for the Prez... or can you?

I would assume the jet, and the helicopter (Marine One) the President travels in is "hardened" just like the limo he travels in.
I highly doubt any kind of small arms fire could even remotely hurt Air Force One and if you were just hanging out on the ground
with a large shoulder-fired missile or RPG someone would notice. I hope.

I've read that a 747 modded to be Air Force One is capable of much greater aeronautical maneuvers than a typical 747. One of the major newsweeklies had an article on the President's travels immediately after the attacks of September 11th and I remember reading an article where it was reported that as soon as the President was on board Air Force One (leaving Florida) the plane began taxiing--not waiting for everyone to get seated and settled--and then when the plane took off it flew almost straight up to get to a safe altitude as quick as possible. Someone on-board was quoted as saying the pilots "stood the plane on it's tail". (That phrase just stuck with me and I think that's why I remember this story.)