The Wandering Disciple

  As our flight heads westbound across the Gulf of Mexico, the sunshine rises to the east and appears to be chasing the aircraft.  We departed the airport in Tampa predawn at 6:30am and the sun met us mid-Gulf roughly around New Orleans area.   This Southwest flight kicked off our 2024 Spring Break vacation to Texas.  During the next week we will be exploring San Antonio and Austin.  Be sure to check back here regularly as we will have lots of new pictures from our Lone Star State adventures. Taken: March 16, 2024 at Gulf of Mexico 

San Antonio Texas:  We got up at zero dark thirty to kick off our Spring Break vacation to Texas.  For this week long vacation we will be departing Tampa International Airport and visiting San Antonio and Austin.  This trip marks our first trip to Texas as well as our farthest west adventure so far. Our trip got started early with a trip north to Tampa and our 6:30 flight on Southwest Airlines.  We were flying on Southwest Flight 1226 non-stop to Austin.  We got to the airport early and breezed through TSA screening.  While we waited for our flight to board, we ate breakfast at Burger 21 on Airside C. We boarded our 5-year old Boeing 737-800 for our on-time departure west to Texas.  The early morning pre-dawn flight had the sunrise chasing us across the Gulf of Mexico.  The flight to Austin was smooth until we reach east Texas and strong cold front.  The turbulence was fun and despite almost zero visibility we landed safely at Austin-Bergstr...

What a better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than spreading a little LUV at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.  Today marked the debut of Southwest Airlines service at SRQ. The LUV airlines will connect Sarasota with four cities initially and expanding to eight in the coming weeks.  Pictured here is the inaugural arrival, Southwest Flight 5353 arriving from Baltimore.  (Photo: February 14, 2021)

  A quad of Southwest jets shine during the Golden Hour at Tampa International Airport.  TPA is a focus city for Southwest Airlines with a heavy presence of the colorful LUV birds.  From Tampa, Southwest connects travelers with over forty destinations.  In fact Southwest is the busiest air carrier at Tampa, serving almost 7 million passengers a year.  (Photo: January 23, 2021)

 Flying high above the clouds, this Southwest Airlines flight crosses the Gulf of Mexico on a sunrise flight from Tampa to New Orleans.  Southwest Airlines is the busiest carrier to Tampa International Airport, operating just over 30% of the flights through TPA.  Southwest connects Tampa to over forty domestic destinations.  (Photo: November 20, 2007)

Putting the "Southwest" in Southwest Florida International Airport as one Southwest flight holds short of the runway while another one lands at the airport.  Southwest Airlines is the second busiest airlines at RSW, accounting for a little of 18% of the flights.  From Fort Myers, Southwest connects travelers to about twenty destinations across the country.  (Photo: August 12, 2020)

The colors of the Maryland flag touchdown on Runway 6 at Southwest Florida International Airport. Painted in tribute to the state of Maryland, Southwest's Maryland One was unveiled in 2005 to honor the airline's partnership with the state and more importantly Baltimore/Washington International Airport. BWI is a major hub for Southwest with over 16 million passengers a year flying on Southwest into or out of Baltimore. (Photo: December 12, 2019)

Tampa, Florida: On the way home from the zoo, I took a look at Flightradar24 and saw that the More to Love livery from Alaska Air was due into Tampa International within the hour so we decided to make a stop on the way home. During the hour waiting for it, I managed to shoot 27 aircraft with 21 of them being new to me. Included in today’s aircraft photographed are: HB-JHQ – Airbus A330 (Edelweiss Air)  N18NY – Gulfstream V  N197PQ – Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-900 (Endeavor Air) #  N211WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N231JB – Embraer 190 (JetBlue Airways)  N247WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N344AG – Saab 340 (Silver Airways)  N455WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N493AS – Boeing 737-900 (Alaska Airlines/More to Love)  N520JB – Airbus A320 (JetBlue Airways) #  N550FX – Bombardier Challenger 300 (FlexJet)  N554NW – Boeing 757-200 (Delta Air Lines)  N648NK – Airbus A320 (Spirit Airlin...

Tampa, Florida:    While in the bay area today, we made a brief stop at Tampa International Airport.  Runway 19 was in use so I took a spot on the north side of the short term parking garage.  We were not there long but still managed to get nine new aircraft photographed in less than a half an hour.  Included in the group was an Embraer from Contour Airlines, my first for this airline.  Here is a look of what was seen during today's visit: C-GBHR – Airbus A319 (Air Canada Rouge)  N200WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines) #  N283WN – Beoing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines) #  N350AG – Saab 340 (Silver Airways)  N410UP – Boeing 757-200 (UPS)  N431UA – Airbus A320 (United Airlines)  N564WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N630JB – Airbus A320 (JetBlue Airways)  N724SW – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N751CX – Boeing 757-200 (Air Transport International)  N761RR – Boeing 737-700 (South...

Fort Myers, Florida: While in Fort Myers, I had a little bit of daylight left so I decided to check FlightRadar24.com and see what activity was occurring at Southwest Florida International Airport.  To my surprise there were two aircraft that I wanted to photograph.  First was Illinois One, a special livery aircraft operated by Southwest.  Second was Eurowings, a German-based A330 that always seems to come late when I am in the area.  So I headed to the observation area off Air Cargo Road and photographed the departure of Illinois One.  Then I re-positioned myself to the old terminal parking lot to get a photo of the arrival of Eurowings.  In a matter of a few minutes I got both aircraft and a few bonus ones before having to hit the road.  Here is a look of what I saw today: Airbus 320 - N690NK Boeing 737-700 - N918WN Airbus A320 - N622NK Raytheon Hawker 1000 - N207TT Airbus A330 - OO-SFB

Tampa, Florida:    Took a morning trip to the zoo and traffic worked in my favor for once so I was able to squeeze in a little plane watching action at Tampa International Airport before the zoo opened.  For a busy airport, Tampa is very easy to watch at as the parking garage sits between both runway.  Today Runway 1 was in action so I parked on the south side of the 8th floor of the parking garage and watched a few planes come in.  Since its the holiday season, I got to watch a little cargo action today.  Here is a look at what I saw today: Boeing 737-800 - N17245 Boeing 767-300 - N331AZ Dassault Falcon 2000 - N25KZ Saab 340 - N435XJ Airbus A321 - N167US Boeing 737-700 - N448WN Boeing 737-800 - N940NN Airbus A321 - N708FR Saab 340 - N341AG Boeing 737-700 - N283WN Boeing 737-700 - N941WN Boeing 767-300 - N149FE Frontier Airlines - N317FR

Fort Myers, Florida: On a trip to Fort Myers, I managed to squeeze in some planespotting time at Southwest Florida International Airport. Here at RSW, there is an official observation area located along the north side of the airfield off of Air Cargo Lane. From here you have a view of the runway area, which is a single runway making it easy for spotting. Today Runway 6 was active, making for landing traffic in front of the observation area. Here is a look at what aircraft arrived or departed during my time at the airport: Boeing 717-200 - N893AT Airbus A320 - N329FR Embraer Legacy 6000 - N600LP Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200 - N155MW Beechcraft Beechjet - N61GB Airbus A319 - N808AW Airbus A320 - N422UA Boeing 757-200 - N690DL Airbus A320 - JetBlue N643JB Airbus A320 - N402UA Embraer 190 - N296JB Boeing 757-200 - N696DL Airbus A319 - N831AW Boeing 737-800 - N970NN Boeing 767-300 - C-GHPE ...

Orlando, Florida: On a recent trip to Disney, I was able to get away to Orlando International Airport for some plane watching before heading to the parks. The winds favored Ruway 18 as the active runway.  This is one of my favorite traffic patterns since it allows for viewing from the pier on the lake at Airport Lakes Park.  Here you can watch planes and wildlife at the same time while enjoying the shade by the lake.  It was a slow morning by Orlando standards but here is a list of what I saw today: Boeing 757-200 - N676DL Airbus A321 - N197UW Boeing 737-800 - N8312C Boeing 737-700 - N570WN Boeing 737-700 - N428WN Boeing 737-900 - N39415