Miami International Airport tagged posts

After taking in a TICO warbird air show one March in the mid-1980s, I got the chance to tag along with a few friends and spend an hour or two around the cargo and maintenance sides of the Miami International Airport in Florida. There were scores of DC-8s and B-707s being maintained, and more than a handful of propliners still in use as freighters. One of the NOAA WP-3Ds was undergoing an in-depth maintenance check too. Some of the DC-6s and DC-7s looked like they were on their last legs, while others were still going strong. There were Convairs, a pair of Boeing C-97s, a few DC-4s and the odd Lockheed L-188 Electra. Airlift International had a pair of Fokker F-27s on their ramp, one was an ex-Bolivian Air Force airframe.

I was surprised to see a lack of Lockheed Constellations on my Monda...

I tagged along with a few friends who’d set up a quick tour of the cargo and maintenance areas at Miami International Airport in 1992. The weather was balmy, with showers and thunderstorms expected later in the day. Luckily, we were able to fit in the visit before it rained…  There was a great collection of jet freighters and (now-) classic airliners receiving maintenance that day, here are some of the turbine-powered aircraft I saw. Please bear in mind that these were taken twenty-five years ago (that’s a quarter century of flight), mainly on Kodak Ektar 100 film, and then scanned into digital photo files. Looking at the jets in use back then, and looking at today’s choices of photographic media, I can honestly say, my, how times have changed!

Coming up… Part 2 will contain glorious...

The fourth and final location in our series on Southern Florida spotting isn’t found at the airport itself, rather it is next to it. The multi-story Miami Airport Hilton Hotel is located on Blue Lagoon Drive, which is on the South side of the airport. The guest rooms that face the airport have Open Air Balconies that give you an unbelievable view of the airport and runways.