Last night, I got word that the space shuttle Discovery was going to fly from Edwards Air Force Base in California and stop in to Amarillo, Texas, where I live. I got up and went with a group of friends to the airport to catch a glimpse of the space shuttle piggybacking atop a modified 747.

We were not disappointed. It's incredible. Because we work at the newspaper, we tagged along with a photographer and were given a little closer access to the plane/shuttle. No, we didn't get anywhere near it while it was refueling, but it did taxi by us maybe 50 feet away. That was amazing.

I brought my Fujifilm FinePix F650 and an old Pentax Spotmatic II film SLR. I'm going to get the film developed tomorrow. If those shots turned out, I'll scan them and add them to this thread.

But enough of my excitement. You're here for photos.


This is the lead plane. It landed about 15 minutes before the piggyback.


The tail of the lead plane.




A bunch of people came out of it.


One fuel truck.


Ahhh! There it is!

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ThrillNetwork editor emeritus
Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
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It nears the end of the runway.


NASA folks, though not the people who just returned from space.


It waited on a dog leg on the end of the runway. After this, we hopped in a car and drove along the road to get a closer view.


Hundreds of people showed up to see it. The last time the shuttle was here was two years ago.






A bad picture of the film camera I was using.


As the 747 gets ready to leave, the emergency vehicles leave.


The lead plane takes off for Fort Worth, Texas.


We were practically next to the taxiway as the 747 passed us to get to the end of the runway and take off.

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ThrillNetwork editor emeritus
Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
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And here's crazy old me with the shuttle in the background.

The end! Unless my film pictures turned out any good. I had a 400 mm lens, so I'll upload those if they worked.

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ThrillNetwork editor emeritus
Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
Raptor ride count - 1,146.

That's real pimp. The best I saw was just a NASA Lego set box.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

Cool pics! I used to have a model of the shuttle including the piggyback plane it would rest on.

It's amazing all the damage you can see on the side of the shuttle.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

Those are great pics. You know - those heat shield tiles are made right here in Toledo! Too bad they use "foreign" glue to paste them on, otherwise they'd stick (like they're supposed to).

I didn't know those tiles were made in Toledo.

So how bad did you injure your ears with the loud jet noise of the 747? You got a lot closer to a 747 that I'll ever will, unless I fly on one.

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^ Johns Manville makes the tiles at their plant on the Maumee River.

I can imagine Jimmy would have those giant headphones. The 747 has been spiraling more into retirement like BBW.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

Those are some amazing pictures, especially the close up ones. Crazy how beat up and run down the shuttle looks yet it still goes into space.

Hopefully I can see one of them launch before retirement.

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The user formerly known as WildeFyre
UOIT Mechanical Engineering Student

^ I got to see the shuttle lift-off in 1991. It was great! (although I understand that the Apollo Saturn 5 rockets made 100% more noise than the shuttles engines)

The Boeing 777s are even louder, especially when their engines are just being started up and during takeoff/landing. He seemed far enough out of the way where noise wasn't too bad. Standing directly in front of the aircraft without ear protection is a lot worse; the ears are at risk of bleeding. A simple ear plug (fits in your pocket) made of foam can go a long way in noise reduction.

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator (Originally known as Hurricane)

It's time to play some DEFENSE!

I'm cringing at the thought of the frequencies. I don't bother with concerts yet with ear gear.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

What is your noise reduction rating for your ear muffs, Jimmy? Our ear plugs in the factory are between 33 and 35.

The closest I've been to a 747 was at Toledo Express, but it was taxiing, and I was on a side road, technically off property.

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Fantastic Photos. thanks for sharing them with us. The Space Shuttle is one thing I have never seen. Living on Hanscom AFB I have seen a number of plains Including Air force one a few times.

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Michael C

At an airshow I was working they had a c-130 hercules land and taxi past where my stand was. That was the loudest thing I ever heard. You could scream at the person next to you and they couldn't hear you...

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