After a quick breakfast we headed off to the airport again where we would meet up with Andrew. After hanging around the garages we decided to head off and see what shooting in the approach would bring us. After shooting mostly US carriers we suddenly heard a Championair flight being cleared for the approach on the parallel runway so there was no other option then to head that way. We didn't even think about letting a 727 go without haunting it down.

And sure enough, it was a 727 on approach. It was to see this very rare bird (at least for us Europeans). After that we got lunch and decided to head back to the parking garage. About three decks from the top we saw the 727 starting up so Andrew hit the gas and got us to the top level in no-time. After an FBI-style car exit (a picture says a thousand words, and we didn't get the picture....) we were just in time to shoot the 727 during taxi. Not long after this we said goodbye to Andrew as well, though he might come during the evening the following day.

After hanging around for more nightshots (including the beautiful Saab 340 in Colgan colors) we decided that a 13hr spotting day was enough and we went back to the hotel. For some odd reason getting asleep was hardly a problem......

On our last full day in Houston it was clear we asked too much of the weather gods the last days as we had another overcast day. As the previous two days were great it wasn't that bad. We shot some more Continental aircraft (you'd almost start to think we're at their hub) together with Nathan Zalcman who unfortunately could only come for a few hours.

In the evening we met up with Andrew and his son again, shooting mainly from the D/E garage as we wanted to catch the Aeromexico 737-700. After a lot of waiting it finally pushed back giving us the much welcomed opportunity to shoot the new colours! After that we continued with some more shooting making this a great end to a great trip. The short trip to the hotel was a quick one and after saying the final goodbyes we went to sleep.

The last day was absolute crap so the only shot we got was from the World/Sonair MD-11. The flight home was an excellent ending of this wonderful trip.

After seeing dozens of great shots from this airport I started look into the possibilities of a visit. With the help of local Nathan Zalcman I soon found out that photography at this airport is fairly easy and the authorities have a fairly relaxed attitude towards spotters. With winter/early spring being the ideal timeframe to visit a short trip was decided on just after Christmas.

KLM normally has two flights to Houston, KL661/662 (daily) operated by a 747-400 Combi and KL663/664 (6x weekly) operated by a Privateair 737BBJ in an all business class layout. The latter however was not operating during the holidays due to low demand. This meant that I 'had' to fly the 747, not exactly punishment.

A week before Christmas my dad decided to join me so it would be the two of us heading to the Lone Star state. Weather was looking good with sun for most the stay and temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees centigrade (it is supposed to be mid-winter!). I got in contact with Andrew Compolo as well who agreed to meet up!

After a great 10 hour flight we touched down in sunny Houston. Immigration was a breeze and after dropping off the bags in the hotel we headed back out to IAH where we met up with Andrew and his girlfriend. After a few hours we decided to get something to eat, which was kind of a shock! There was only 1 (yes one!) landside bar which offered food in the terminal. After getting something to eat I did some night shooting (which I came for) and around 9PM we went back to the hotel.