Gallery Update: Chasin' Jets at Idaho Falls

I returned to Idaho Falls for the first time in a year to get some planespotting in; the weather was great and it was technically the first day of spring so I figured today was a good day as any. I wanted to photograph some commercial flights with my new camera and in addition to the general aviation traffic flying around, I got quite a few good shots; they include two SkyWest regional jets, a Metroliner flying for Ameriflight (Metroliners are an uncommon sight for me), a few business jets, and of course one of Allegiant Air's Mad Dogs. With all the air traffic I saw, it made for one of the best days of spotting I've ever had at Idaho Falls. These are my first commercial aviation photos taken with my new camera but I have decided that Allegiant Air is the bane of my aviation photography passion! I say that because they don't fly daily due to their business model, which makes them harder to chase and sometimes, they're late! And unfortunately for me, that was the case; Allegiant Flight 190 from Phoenix-Mesa didn't arrive into Idaho Falls until about 4:30 PM. But then I waited around for another two hours to catch the same MD-80 departing on the outbound leg as Flight 191! But my patience paid off and I finally got what I consider to be my best shots of an Allegiant MD-80 (compared to some of my photos from last year). Here is the link:

Idaho Falls (IDA) 8

Preview:

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Bombardier CL-600-2D24 CRJ-900 NextGen (N822SK) departing Idaho Falls bound for Salt Lake City. On occasion, CRJ-900s are used on the IDA-SLC route to provide First Class service in Idaho Falls.

I almost missed this one! Cessna 525A Citation CJ2 (N96NA) rocketing out of IDA. After clearing the runway threshold, the aircraft made a rather steep climbing left turn.

Here's N96NA in its climbing left turn!

Gulfstream Aerospace G-V (N50KC) departing IDA.

Allegiant Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (N883GA) clearing the active runway after arrival into IDA as Flight 190. I would rather not have a shot with out that chainlink fence; at least I got a clear shot of the aircraft though. And I waited two hours after this plane arrived to get the unobstructed shot when it departed!

FedEx Feeder Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N991FE) departing IDA for a cargo run.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-440 (N8884E) departing for Salt Lake City. This is a former Pinnacle Airlines regional jet that flew under Northwest Airline's NWA Airlink brand. When I looked up this tail number, I learned that this is a specially-configured CRJ-200 regional jet much to my surprise. The CRJ-440 is certified for up to 44 seats in the passenger cabin with closets in the front part of the cabin; the reason the CRJ-440 was designed for fewer seats is so it could meet their major airline contract "scope clause" which restricts major airlines' connection carriers from operating equipment carrying 50 or more passengers to guard against usurpation of Air Line Pilots Association and Allied Pilots Association pilots' union contract.

Ameriflight Fairchild SA-227AC Metro III (N838AF) departing IDA for Salt Lake City on a cargo run. Metroliners have become a rare sight lately now that many regional airlines no longer operate them for passenger service; airlines like SkyWest and Horizon used to operate these planes back in the day!

And finally, the shot I waited all afternoon to get: Allegiant Air's MD-83 (N883GA) departing IDA as Flight 191 for Phoenix-Mesa.