BLV it or not, there are hidden gems everywhere

On July 4, 2020, I ventured into the great unknown. I drove miles upon miles and crossed lines I hadn’t yet crossed to get to a place I’d heard of, but never seen with my own two eyes.

Yes, I’m clearly talking about MidAmerica St. Louis Airport.

I’ve lived in St. Louis for nearly two years now, and up until recently I thought Lambert was the only airport in the area with regular passenger jet service.

WRONG.

One of my followers on Instagram, whom I recently had the pleasure of meeting, suggested I pay a visit to the “other” St. Louis airport — MidAmerica (BLV) — to shoot some photos of Allegiant Airlines aircraft, which happens to be the only airline with regularly service the airport. Oddly enough, I’d only photographed Allegiant once before, so despite it being a low-cost carrier sporting an all-Airbus fleet, I thought it sounded like a nice change of pace from STL.

My first visit over the Fourth of July weekend was a little “meh” — I shot two Allegiant arrivals and then visited the nearby Heritage Air Park at Scott AFB. For those in and around St. Louis, if you haven’t visited that park, I highly recommend it. It’s just outside the gate of the base and you can get up close and personal with a C-141 Starlifter, a KC-135 Stratotanker and a C-9 Nightingale, among other aircraft.

Despite being a bit underwhelmed by what I had seen at BLV, I was so impressed by the Heritage Air Park that I brought my husband back just a few days later. It was that very evening at Scott AFB that my love affair with MidAmerica St. Louis Airport began. While we were exploring the various military aircraft at the park, I saw something out of the corner of my eye, just above the tree-lined divider between Scott’s and MidAmerica’s parallel runways. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew with certainty what it was not: an Allegiant A319 or A320.

I sprinted across the park to my car, grabbed my camera bag and sprinted back to where Scott (that’s my husband Scott) was standing. I was hopeful that maybe, just maybe the aircraft would come back. I know touch-and-goes are fairly common at Air Force bases, so I was hopeful. Lo and behold, it did come back… and despite being a fair distance from the runway it was using, I was able to zoom in far enough to snap a few photos to find out what the airplane was: a U.S. Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon.

“LET’S GO!” I shouted. And off we were… navigating our way along side streets to the freeway, where we zipped down to the next exit, hoping that upon our arrival we’d get a closer look at the beautiful, all gray, militarized 737-800.

Boy, did we ever…

We saw the Poseidon do a few more touch-and-goes before it was time for us to call it a night. And from that moment on, I was hooked.

I soon learned that Scott’s runway had been closed for some time due to maintenance, meaning any aircraft coming into the base needed to use the parallel runway at MidAmerica. I knew that meant some seriously cool stuff could come into BLV, and that the airport’s cell phone lot would be the prime place to see it.

As usual, the airplane gods did not disappoint.

Over the next several weeks I obsessively checked OpenADSB, hoping I’d see something special pointing in our direction and beginning to descend. And several especially cool airplanes did just that.

My first extraordinary catch was one of two U.S. Air Force OC-135B “Open Skies” aircraft — one of the many variants of the Boeing C-135 family of airplanes, the military offspring of Boeing’s infamous 367-80 or “Dash 80” prototype, which also led to the commercial 707 jetliner. Within another couple weeks I caught two U.S. Navy E-6Bs. With only 16 built, the E-6B Mercury TACAMO (for “Take Charge and Move Out”) is yet another C-135 variant.

Over the course of the next month, I caught countless KC-135 Stratotankers (the most common variant of the C-135), C-21s (a military version of the Learjet 35), and C-40s (a military transport derived from the 737-700). And while these three are all based right there at Scott, they were still new to me, and never failed to disappoint. I also caught a couple C-130Js and a C-17 Globemaster departing, which are always fun to see.

During all of this exciting military plane spotting — a radical departure from the constant Southwest 737s and smattering of feeder RJs out at Lambert — I was also seeing more and more Allegiant arrivals and departures, which gave me a chance to practice my photography in different light with a beautiful tree-lined backdrop quite different from the industrial scene out at STL.

This past week, however, was truly outstanding.

On Tuesday, a 3-year-old United 777-300ER came into BLV as a military charter. I was incredibly fortunate to be able to join my friend Jason on the airfield where we photographed its arrival and then had the chance to go inside the massive jetliner.

And then, as if that weren’t cool enough, we got to explore the inside of an old KC-135 that sits idle outside the terminal — having last flown 27 years ago. We climbed up the ladder, explored all the nooks and crannies, and even got to do a wing walk (it was my first time doing that!).

My experience Tuesday was so unexpected and so much fun, I didn’t think I’d see another wide body commercial airplane back at BLV for quite some time. As usual, my expectations went out the window when I realized a National Airlines Airbus A330-200 was coming in Friday. However, I first discovered the plane was coming in about 45 minutes before it was due to land — a bit of a time crunch.

I zipped down I-64, arriving with only a few minutes to spare. The A330 arrived right on schedule for a picture perfect landing on 32R. I snapped some photos and was getting ready to head back home, when I was given yet another opportunity to go out on the airfield to get up close and personal with the special guest. National very recently took delivery of this plane, and you sure could tell it was new to the fleet by its obviously fresh, sparkling paint job.

Up until receiving this 10-year-old A330 in March, the Orlando-based cargo and charter airline operated an all-Boeing fleet, consisting of five 747-400Fs and a 757-200. Previously, they operated a number of 757s and even a few DC-8s, built by Boeing heritage company Douglas Aircraft Co. As a Boeing historian and diehard fan of the company, I’m of course partial to Boeing airplanes, but I do have to admit I find anything and everything that flies to be stunningly beautiful. So getting the chance to take the obligatory “Look at me next to this huge engine!” photo — even though it was the competitor’s airplane — was still exciting. And, I just so happen to be especially fond of the Rolls Royce Trent 700.

All in all, since my first visit to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport less than two months ago, I’ve had some incredible experiences out there. I’ve seen dozens of Allegiant jets — an airline I’d only photographed once before — and an incredible variety of military planes, and I even had the chance to spend some time on the airfield and hop on board a couple different aircraft.

At least while Scott is utilizing the airport’s runway, MidAmerica is a great spot for aviation enthusiasts — especially those who are into large military aircraft. And even for travelers (well at least those heading to Florida!), BLV is most definitely worth looking into as an alternative to STL.

Year-round, Allegiant offers flights out of MidAmerica to a number of cities in the Sunshine State. They also operate seasonal flights to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway (AZA) and Savannah/Hilton Head (SAV). The BLV-SAV route — announced this January as part of a larger Allegiant expansion — took effect in June. And with one-way fares as low as $19 (remember, though, that’s basic economy!), you could end up with a killer deal.

So, here’s to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport — a hidden gem for AV geeks and travelers alike. And a huge thanks to the incredible people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting there — from airport staff, to pilots and plane spotters — it has been incredible getting to know you all. Until next time!