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Fun w/Digital M Images

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D&A

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Where was that picture taken, and roughly what compass heading is the plane flying? I ask because there is a really serious area in which flight is prohibited from the Lincoln Memorial to the other side of the Capitol. Small planes that get lost around there are escorted to a safe landing somewhere by F-16s and interrogated at length. Washington National lands planes on the 10 and 190 degree headings, but this plane looks like he just flew over the Monument.

scott
Hi Scott,

Good to hear from you. I am fairly familiar with the flight restrictions you mentioned, especially the scrambling of the Air Force escorting of smaller private aircraft that venture into the no fly zone between the monuments, the Capital and the White house. Beyond me how a few managed to land their private small aircrafts on the White House lawn.

The approaching flight path (pictured) that day (as it is on many days) was such that commercial airlines approach National Airport from the west and make a fairly abrupt right turn just south of (a ways in front of) the Washington monument, which can seen in the distance. It at that point, the airline quickly loses altitude as it approaches the runway, which is just in front of the line of sight of that jet. Within 20-30 seconds, he was on the ground. Sometimes during busy arrival times, jets follow this approach route every 90-120 seconds, one after the other.

Alternatively when winds prevail from the opposite direction, incoming flights approach from a very different direction, approaching the airport from the south (as they fly into a landing pattern heading north). In the 1st case described (approaching from the west), pilots altitude is so low over that open space park (shown) which in summer months is extremely crowded with those having picnics, cyclists and tourists, the pilots and/or supporting crew and passengers wave out to bystanders.

Takeoffs for a given day are in the exact opposite direction of that days approaching flights. I mention this as one tragic day, an Air Florida flight in 1982 when the pilot apparently didn't go back to the gate for more de-icing (he said it was a losing battle)...and didn't even turn on his de-icers, quickly lost altitude immediately after taking off in snow/ice storm conditions and crashed into the bridge over the Potomac River, which shown in the rear portion of my image. Many lives were unfortunately lost that day.

On a happier note, passengers who are lucky enough sitting on the left side of the aircraft when it approaches from the west and makes that abrupt right hand turn towards the south as it quickly loses altitude for preparation for landing, have a spectacular view of the entire Wash. D.C. historic area, especially at dusk. It's quite a visual.

Dave (D&A)
 
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scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Ah, I didn't realize that KDCA is due south of the Washington Monument. You must have been in the park on the Virginia side just to the north of the field. Here's what this looks like to the pilots:

Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 11.39.23 PM (2) by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

The center, reddest area is forbidden from the ground to 18,000 feet unless you are on a cleared IFR flight plan, and the two outlined areas (circle is the Naval Observatory, the other is the monuments, White House and Capitol buildings) are prohibited, period. The airliner has probably had its wheels down since the Key Bridge. Look at the twisty route they have to follow (that is the dashed line on the approach plate on the right).
 

D&A

Well-known member
Wow, fascinating detail Scott, thanks! Looking it over as I speak. Their windy path as illustrated in your diagram, appears far more extreme to the naked eye as the aircraft approaches. Yes, you are correct, the park is on the Virginia side of the Potomac and although appears to be sparsely populated in posted images, can often be extremely crowded in the warm weather.

Here are a some non adjusted "outtake" images, strictly posted for illustrative (non artistic) purposes. All images taken with a Leica M9 or M-E.

One of the images shows an aircraft that is in the process of his final right hand bank, in order to line up with the runway and quickly descend in altitude.

Another image shows an aircraft that has already passed overhead and is about to touch down on the runway. What isn't shown is the airports terminals off to the right in that image.

To those viewing these images, keep in mind, many were taken with a 28mm 35mm and a 50mm....so that's how close the aircraft pass overhead and these aren't even close the lowest (haven't pulled those out).

Dave (D&A)
 

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scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Sightseeing on the way into Washington -- sit on the East side!

Here's a slightly clearer view of the course and minimum altitudes on visual approaches to Washington National:

Screen Shot 2019-03-05 at 9.29.19 AM (2) by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

You can read the altitudes from the plates: at least 1800' at the Chain Bridge, 1500' alongside Georgetown reservoir, 900' at the Key Bridge -- that's not a particularly fast rate of descent, and I assume that pilots maintaining a stabilized approach will smooth these out a bit. Notice that to line up straight in for runway 19, the airlines must leave the river just before the Rochambeau Bridge and cut across your park area. East side passengers, when the wind is from the north and approaches are from the south, might get to see the Naval Research Labs and Andrews AFB a mile or two before touchdown. And things get really crazy once the plane is on the ground... It's as crowded as the map makes it look.

Before 2001, people like me, in planes with one engine and a propeller in front, could come in to DCA with little fuss. Now Frederick, MD is probably the easiest stop.
 
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AlanS

Well-known member
Two miles from Beddgelert, Cymru ...

From Google maps: I stood somewhere down there.
Hi Korp, this was taken in the mid '80s across the river from where you took your shot. The forground rocks are gone now after some re-work of the road boundry! There is a lot of distortion of the river width due to severe back tilt on my 4x5 view camera and 90mm lens.


 

D&A

Well-known member
>>>>>"Sightseeing on the way into Washington -- sit on the East side!"<<<<

Precisely! Sitting on the left (east) side of the aircraft when it uses the River Visual Runway 19, the views on a clear day can be quite spectacular...many of the monuments along the Potomac, the historic Nat'l mall, the Capital can be seen...especially when awash in "end of day" lighting at dusk.


>>>>"Here's a slightly clearer view of the course and minimum altitudes on visual approaches to Washington National"<<<<

Great charts Scott, which illustrates things more clearly. To the naked eye, the decent using River Visual Runway 19 seems abrupt and a bit steep (as shown in some of my posted images) if compared to commercial aircraft approaching DCA using Mt Vernon Visual RWY1 (which is 180 degrees opposite the previous approach). Here the aircraft appear to make a more controlled (straight) gradual decent over a greater distance as it flies over historic Alexandria Va. on its final approach.

Yes things do get crazy at peak times. Wow, you flew into DCA? Impressive! I assume those were the days when small private aircraft mingled with large commercial airlines at DCA. Times have changed. Now as you say, Fredrick Md., seems to be the preferred airport for smaller single engine aircraft flying into the general area although it's quite a distance away. It's also where I believe the Airforce forces wayward aircraft entering restricted airspace to land. We hear about these stories every once in a while. There is now a closer regional airport in Manassas Va.

Noted on one of your charts is the Rochambeau Bridge (known as the 14th Street Bridge), just north of the airport runway. This is where the unfortunate departure tragedy took place on that snow/ice storm day, which I described in my previous posting.

Anyhow, I apologize to all for hijacking this lovely image thread (Digital M images). Its easy to get off on somewhat unrelated tangents.

Dave (D&A)
 
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Knorp

Well-known member
Hi Korp, this was taken in the mid '80s across the river from where you took your shot. The forground rocks are gone now after some re-work of the road boundry! There is a lot of distortion of the river width due to severe back tilt on my 4x5 view camera and 90mm lens.


Thanks, AlaS. I don't recognise it, but I'll take your word for it ... :)

Kind regards.
 

AlanS

Well-known member
No you wouldn't, even I had trouble trying to find the right spot when I went back to re-shoot the scene with more water in the river. Used to spend a lot of time in Wales Rock climbing and doing photography in the 70's and 80's :D
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I had the Leica M-D fitted with Summilux 35mm v2 (circa 1972) with me on my bicycle ride this morning. I made four exposures with it, mostly near wide open. One caught my eye when I got home and looked at them:


Leica M-D typ 262 + Summilux 35mm f/1.4 v2 (1972)
ISO 320 @ f/1.4 @ 1/30

The only processing beyond LR's default rendering I did on the original DNG was to crop it and add the border effect and framing. It just amazes me how beautifully this ancient lens renders. There is a sharpness and a softness to it that works so well.

enjoy,
G
 

scho

Well-known member
A few walkabout shots with the Leica M (262) + 7Artisans 28/1.4

Spring cleanup and playground restoration.



The skunk cabbage slowly emerging in the wetland adjacent to the park and Cayuga Lake.



Tree and vines



and one more tree/vines shot (click image for full size original)

 
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