KPIT Spotting

[bakejobb_23]

Hello all,

This thread will be where I post photos of random aviation related stuff revolving around Pittsburghs International Airport. Ive recently aquired a friends Canon 7D mkii and have begun learning how to take photos with it. I’d hope my skills increases over time as I learn proper settings and continue to develop good spots for the right angles. Enjoy the stream of photos as they come!

Here are the first few from my first day out with the camera:









I have more from my first day to go through, including a UPS MD11, so stay tuned. I am also back out here today to grab more enjoy!

 

[bakejobb_23]

AA3248 PHL-PIT A321


SY3020 AFW-PIT 737-800
These flights are for PrimeAir but operated by Sun Country Airlines!


AA3020 ORD-PIT
A legacy US Airways/America West A319


G6122 POB-PIT A319
Possibly a deportation flight…still on the ground as i’m writing this so not 100% sure


AA1749 CLT-PIT 737-800


WN4271 RSW-PIT 737-700 Colorado One



ASA412 SEA-PIT 737 Max 9
This one is a brand new plane being delivered to Alaska Airlines just this past month!

 

[bakejobb_23]

BA171 LHR-PIT 787-9



AA1868 DFW-PIT
Another legacy US Airways/America West bird


Two more of ASA412



JB2185 BOS-PIT E190
Will soon be a rare sight as these get retired. Will be replaced by A220s as some flights have already started that process. We get a 50/50 mix of each type right now give or take.



Enjoy!

 

[bakejobb_23]

A very stormy day today here in pittsburgh A great day treating my exposure skills fogging from dark clouds to bright sunny skies multiple times over the short few hours I was around











Enjoy!

 

[bakejobb_23]

Plus! some extras from the previous day as well. Runway ops were the opposite way i’m used to and I don’t have a ton of experience spotting on that end of the field so I took the opportunity to try a bunch of different spots to experiment.

 

[Charter]

Belle. What about Icelandar B737 MAX? Seasonal or scheduled?

 

[bakejobb_23]

Belle. What about Icelandar B737 MAX? Seasonal or scheduled?

Year round! We get their Max 8s 5-6 times a week. Scheduled arrival is always around 7:30pm so you always get great sunset lighting on it!

Here at PIT we have BA and IcelandAir only for internationals (not including Air Canada that parks on the domestic side generally). Hoping we get someone like Condor back here someday (they left a short couple years ago)

 

[bakejobb_23]

Huge storm yesterday caused a lot of holding patterns for a good hour or so. I was hoping for some dark clouds in the background once the rain stopped but instead we get the clear blue skies instead. enjoy!

The daily BA 787 right as the sun goes down



This 767 was a swap out from the normal MD11 we usually get. UPS 763s aren’t super uncommon here but they are at this time of day for sure



Way too exposed unfortunately but had to include the skittles 320


This JetBlue E190 was released by GeminiJets in 1:400 in the last few months…a model I have and will do comparison shots someday


Garden Air LLC Falcon 7X


A Southern Airways Express (SurfAir) Cessna Grand Caravan. It’s a brand new plane delivered in June of last year. I had the privilege of flying this fran around Christmas time this past year.


This photo was taken on my phone the day I rode it back a few months ago. New plane smell and all, even a few power ports and very comfy interior! (The rest of the fleet are all 90s/early 2000s at best aged aircraft so this is a bit rare)

 

[LeoMuse747]

Nice pics! I had the pleasure of flying on a Grand Caravan EX a couple of years ago, it was really great!

 

[bakejobb_23]

Nice pics! I had the pleasure of flying on a Grand Caravan EX a couple of years ago, it was really great!

Not the smoothest ride for sure but for the same cost as driving myself across the state of PA, this is a fun adventure I never mind taking. Will be using them in the future for sure! For reference, the total cost to drive across Pennsylvania (to/from Pittsburgh/Philly) is about 125 one way (!) all said and done with the tolls…not including car gas/possible meals during the trip. My round trip tickets from Pittsburgh to Lancaster (near-ish philly, closer to end destination anyways lol), was only 125usd total. Completely worth it for the Avgeek in me.

As for the Caravans, I can see why larger people wouldn’t like them, and on my single round trip journey, i’ve already seen multiple people kicked off for weight imbalance issues and of course any bad weather and you’re delayed, if not, straight up cancelled. Those seem to be the only downsides. However, if you’re aware and know what’s going on (perhaps through trial and error) you’ll be okay and have a great rare trip.

 

[Phantom]

Here at PIT we have BA and IcelandAir only for internationals (not including Air Canada that parks on the domestic side generally). Hoping we get someone like Condor back here someday (they left a short couple years ago)

Wow, I thought there's still a regular service to FRA at least. I just learned that this is history (I remember US 767s at FRA)

 

[bakejobb_23]

Wow, I thought there's still a regular service to FRA at least. I just learned that this is history (I remember US 767s at FRA)

US did offer a bunch of intl service during the hub era of course. I couldn’t name them all as that was just before my time. Condor would be the only other carrier to offer service like that out of PIT, albeit for a good chunk of years until covid maybe (or 2018 time I can’t recall). We had WOW for a few years on A321s and now Icelandair like I mentioned. There were talks of Aer Lingus for a while but they’ve kinda fizzled recently, who knows. I hope we get more Intl attraction eventually though, I’d love to spot more fun stuff than a bunch of Southwest 737s and Delta CRJ9s lol

 

[bakejobb_23]

Finally got around to editing my Thursday outing. That day there were lots of pockets of heavy thunderstorms that would last for about 10-15 minutes and get right back to blue skies. It looks bizarre but beautiful the way half my view was dark clouds and the other half was sunny blue skies. The farther away each approach shot was, the darker the clouds got as storms were west to east and runways were flowing into the west. enjoy!

two of my new favorites since i’ve started:




Sunlight kissing the top of this breeze nicely:


During one of the lighter rain storms from my car (and a sketchy quickly opened window lol) If you zoom in enough you can see the rain falling around the aircraft just a bit:


A storm about to hit the airfield as this 319 comes in:


This poor flight left PIT amid the weather for PHL, did a couple loops around the middle of the state, and came back here an hour and 45 minutes after departure. I hope they eventually made it across…might have just been better to drive at that point…


the flightradar24 info:


Another MD11 switchout:


“Anyone holding want to be the guinea pig for a visual approach” -atc right after a storm passed:

 

[UALFan1994]

Finally got around to editing my Thursday outing. That day there were lots of pockets of heavy thunderstorms that would last for about 10-15 minutes and get right back to blue skies. It looks bizarre but beautiful the way half my view was dark clouds and the other half was sunny blue skies. The farther away each approach shot was, the darker the clouds got as storms were west to east and runways were flowing into the west. enjoy!

two of my new favorites since i’ve started:
View attachment 46176

View attachment 46172

Sunlight kissing the top of this breeze nicely:
View attachment 46174

During one of the lighter rain storms from my car (and a sketchy quickly opened window lol) If you zoom in enough you can see the rain falling around the aircraft just a bit:
View attachment 46173

A storm about to hit the airfield as this 319 comes in:
View attachment 46178

This poor flight left PIT amid the weather for PHL, did a couple loops around the middle of the state, and came back here an hour and 45 minutes after departure. I hope they eventually made it across…might have just been better to drive at that point…
View attachment 46175

the flightradar24 info:
View attachment 46190

Another MD11 switchout:
View attachment 46179

“Anyone holding want to be the guinea pig for a visual approach” -atc right after a storm passed:
View attachment 46180

Great photos. They really got me thinking what I'd do to relive seeing some of the more nostalgic airlines such as US Airways or Northwest planes grace the sky again. I'd cry tears of joy.

 

[400Yinzer]

US did offer a bunch of intl service during the hub era of course. I couldn’t name them all as that was just before my time. Condor would be the only other carrier to offer service like that out of PIT, albeit for a good chunk of years until covid maybe (or 2018 time I can’t recall). We had WOW for a few years on A321s and now Icelandair like I mentioned. There were talks of Aer Lingus for a while but they’ve kinda fizzled recently, who knows. I hope we get more Intl attraction eventually though, I’d love to spot more fun stuff than a bunch of Southwest 737s and Delta CRJ9s lol

US offered 767 and later A330 service to LGW, FRA, and CDG. Those were the only Europe services. I believe I heard on A.net that more destinations were rumored but never came to fruition. There’s some good shots on A.net of these flights at the gate at PIT. Also a YouTube video floating around from the late 90s that I remember has a final boarding call announcement for the US flight to CDG - pretty amazing piece of history!

 

[MIAv8Diecast]

Year round! We get their Max 8s 5-6 times a week. Scheduled arrival is always around 7:30pm so you always get great sunset lighting on it!

Here at PIT we have BA and IcelandAir only for internationals (not including Air Canada that parks on the domestic side generally). Hoping we get someone like Condor back here someday (they left a short couple years ago)

PIT has all year KEF flights???? Crazy because DTW only gets seasonal Iceland Air flying in the spring-fall.

 

[bakejobb_23]

US offered 767 and later A330 service to LGW, FRA, and CDG. Those were the only Europe services. I believe I heard on A.net that more destinations were rumored but never came to fruition. There’s some good shots on A.net of these flights at the gate at PIT. Also a YouTube video floating around from the late 90s that I remember has a final boarding call announcement for the US flight to CDG - pretty amazing piece of history!

Thanks! I’ve definitely scrolled all those photos on A.net before but it’s been a minute. I’d probably appreciate them that bit more after finishing that section of Terminal C now. I’ve never super deep dived youtube to see what’s on there though, mostly have watched trip reports of stuff between 2015-now. I miss those 90s flying vibes though. I’m always envious of those who got to fly/ experience airports pre 9/11.

 

[bakejobb_23]

PIT has all year KEF flights???? Crazy because DTW only gets seasonal Iceland Air flying in the spring-fall.

mmmm maybe not year round but most of the year for sure. We didn’t have them around the early early spring but it was like 2-3 months off only. But since they started here a couple years ago they’ve been super consistent. I think their load factors have been fairly positive as well. I don’t think we would ever get to a second daily flight but I hope they stick around long term. I love their colors around here…

 

[bakejobb_23]

Great photos. They really got me thinking what I'd do to relive seeing some of the more nostalgic airlines such as US Airways or Northwest planes grace the sky again. I'd cry tears of joy.

If I had a time machine I’d go back to the late 90s/early 2000s and take my DSLR with me…i’d have such a great catalog of everything US at the time, even if it was only for a couple days.

 

[MIAv8Diecast]

mmmm maybe not year round but most of the year for sure. We didn’t have them around the early early spring but it was like 2-3 months off only. But since they started here a couple years ago they’ve been super consistent. I think their load factors have been fairly positive as well. I don’t think we would ever get to a second daily flight but I hope they stick around long term. I love their colors around here…

DTW has one daily departure to KEF on Iceland Air @ 20:30 with the 737MAX and one daily departure on Delta @ 20:30 with the 757-200. They race each other every night