Photos of the Week: Rare Visitor Drops In

Pittsburgh International Airport shares its airfield with not one, but two military bases: the 911th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve and the 171st Air Refueling Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. So military planes are a common sight.

However, Evan Dougherty caught an Air Force EC-130H stopping by recently for fuel while coming back from an overseas deployment, and that is something we don’t see very often. It is a heavily modified C-130 used in electronic warfare and is a very rare aircraft to visit PIT—only 11 are in service, all based at Davis-Montham Air Force Base in Arizona.

While the EC-130H arrived on a clear day, there haven’t been many of those this winter in Western Pennsylvania, and Tim McTigue’s before-and-after shots of his plane going through deicing before takeoff are a sight with which passengers have become accustomed this season. Our deicing partners have been pretty busy lately.

Our readers continue to pass along shots of unique aircraft, international airports, historical events, gorgeous views and even family vacation photos for this feature. We love them! Keep them coming—you can click here for submission guidelines.

Thanks, Evan and Tim!

A plane awaits deicing at Pittsburgh International Airport. (Photo submitted by Tim McTigue)

A deiced plane waits to take off from Pittsburgh International Airport. (Photo by Tim McTigue)