Returning from my brief but exciting first trip to Cuba, my Delta flight to Charlotte departed from Atlanta (ATL) Concourse B. I had a window seat and noticed that almost every aircraft at the B gates was a T-tail, either a MD 80, 88, or 90, or a Boeing 717, or a CRJ 700 or 900.
The flight was departing at sunset so the light was great for pictures.
From the back, the T Tails with their elevators raised resemble the flukes of a great whale preparing to sound.
An interesting aspect of the T Tail is that there is an exit stairway in the tail cone. This type of stairway is what D. B. Cooper used in 1971 to bailout with $200,000 in ransom money over Washington state never to be heard from again. Cooper was on a Northwest 727 then.
Putting all the T Tails on one concourse must be a conscious effort no doubt to improve already impressive on-time performance stats.
It was a great evening for photos. Here are some other shots of ATL that day.
PS. This is my first in-flight post. The wifi is slow, very slow on this American 777-300. At this moment I’m posting from above the Arctic Ocean just north of Barrow, Alaska. I’m flying business class from Dallas (DFW) to Hong Kong (HKG) thanks to a System Wide Upgrade that somehow managed to clear yesterday. This flight will be covered separately. Cheers!
