Missing Scottsdale Aircraft Found

An Evektor-Aerotechnik SportStar went missing after taking off from Scottsdale Airport yesterday afternoon. The pilot was able to contact the pilot of another aircraft in the area to relay the mayday information to ATC. Fortunately, after a six hour search, the aircraft and people aboard were found alive and well.

The news reports didn't list a tail number, but I happen to have photos of the aircraft that I assume was involved. I would be surprised if there were multiple Evektor-Aerotechnik aircraft in the Scottsdale area.

*UPDATE* - I was able to listen to the archives of my KSDL tower feed on LiveATC.net. It appears N636EV actually departed Scottsdale Airport at 3:30pm local time, not 4:30pm as reported. There wasn't much else of note in the conversations between ATC and the relay pilot an hour later. The pilot of the downed SportStar was able to get a cell phone number to ATC at Scottsdale and most of the information was relayed via telephone.

Pictured below is N636EV in the pattern at KSDL earlier this year. Here is a link to the article on azcentral.com.

Evektor SportStar (N636EV)

Pima Air & Space Museum

Douglas C-124C Globemaster II

They call Phoenix the "Valley of the Sun" for a reason. It's HOT! Toni and I planned to beat the heat this weekend with a day trip to San Diego. Unfortunately, the flights filled up the night before and we wouldn't have been able to make it out. So, what better way to get out of the 114 degree heat than to travel down to Tucson and walk around a bunch of metal planes in the desert!?! After all, it's only 105 down there!

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Happy Birthday Toni!

I have to say, I'm quite the lucky man. Little did I know when starting my job at US Airways almost three years ago, that I would find the woman of my dreams just a few cubicles away. We immediately became friends, and the more time we spent together, the more I realized we were perfect for each other.

Toni is an aviation geek just like me! I'm pretty sure she has more aviation related memorabilia than I do. We even had a Christmas tree this year that was dedicated soley to airplanes! She also has her pilot's license like me. It's awesome to have a sidekick when I go out plane spotting who enjoys it as much as I do.

Toni is extremely talented. In fact, all the aircraft photos in this very blog post were taken and edited by her! With an iPhone no less! Now that's talent! When she's not chasing aircraft with me, she is coming up with all sorts of amazing artistic projects. She runs a creative blog and shop called
Green Horned Unicorn, and has even had some of her projects published in craft magazines! I'm so proud of her.

Toni is a truly incredible person, and my best friend. I love her more each day and am so lucky to be able to share my passion for aviation with her. Happy Birthday, my love!

  

Cactus Fly-In 2011 © Green Horned Unicorn

Plane Spotting at KSDL - 5.29.11

NetJets Inc. Falcon 2000 inbound from San Jose Int'l

Today wasn't the best day for plane spotting at Scottsdale Airport. There was very little corporate jet traffic, most likely due to the Memorial Day extended holiday weekend. However, I was able to meet up with a great group of guys from PHXspotters.com! Jason Bong and crew were out on a spotting tour of the Valley and I was able to catch them at Scottsdale for an impromptu introduction. I am relatively new to the aviation photography "scene", but this group of gentlemen were very welcoming and it felt like I was spending the afternoon spotting with some old friends.

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The Air Fair Returns To Scottsdale Airport

Me at the Scottsdale Air Fair early '90sThis fall marks the return of my favorite event at Scottsdale Airport, the Scottsdale Air Fair! The Air Fair brings back lots of memories for me as a youngster. It was the first aircraft related event I ever attended. My parents used to bring me to see all of the awesome military and other unique flying machines that would gather at KSDL in the spring, or fall.

Kimberly Hundley, editor at the Scottsdale Airpark News, was nice enough to tip me off to the return of the Air Fair. The last time the Air Fair took place was 2000. The 2001 event was canceled in the wake of September 11th, after a 15 year run beginning in 1985. The Air Fair tried to make a comeback in 2008, but at the height of the recession, was canceled just weeks prior to the event.

Needless to say, I am very excited to attend this year. I always enjoyed the atmosphere at my favorite airport during the Air Fair, and look forward to seeing which aircraft grace the tarmac for the event's return.

To read more about the return of the Scottsdale Air Fair, check out the azcentral article here.