Dyess Air Force Base (DYS/KDYS) is a US military airport in the heart of Texas just a few miles west of the city of Abilene. It was built in 1953 and was an emergency landing airport for the US Space shuttles. Nowadays, Dyess hosts a part of the US Rockwell B1 Lancer fleet today with the 7th Bomb Wing. In addition, Dyess also hosts a handfull of the based 317th Airlift Group C130J with Texas banner on the tail. They also do fly regularly here and may appear on short final during a spotting session sometimes, too. East of the air base you can astonish the USAF’s history at the air base museum/visitor gate where you will find some preserved aircraft from previous decades.

But to see modern aircraft flying, head for our spots in the north mentioned below. While the northern part of the air base (area) still works for spotting, the south is even more unwelcoming. It is very much a pull over, take your photo quickly of what ever is landing or departing, then get back in your car and move along. The south part is not a good place to stop and wait for movements as the locals will call the police even quicker than already normally in the north. In the south ones feels a bit risky to pull over and take photos so we don’t have any spot there. But feel free to try that on your own risk and let us know!

Written by Severin Hackenberger in cooperation with Garrett Heller. Last Update: 2020

Rating
Movements
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
16/34	4115m
Spotting Information
Ladder	Not recommended at all! Forget about a ladder here!
Car/Public Transport	Car needed 100%. No chance otherwise due to the distance, lack of public transport and temperatures.
Drinks/Food	Directly at the spots and base is nothing, but east of the air base close to Abilene you will find some restaurants.
Hotels	No spotting hotels around here.
Season	Summer is very hot, so autumn till spring is better.
Security	Security there is far less welcoming here than at other bases. Each time you visit make sure to call the security forces dispatch phone number and give them name, car and license plate information, and where around the base you will be and for how long. The locals are known to call you in quickly so even if you call in advance you more than likely will be visited by law enforcement! So always be prepared for that with your ID. Just explain them then friendly what you do and it should be fine. Hide your camera as long as possible along the roadside as some drivers may see you as threat for the traffic and call the police/co.
Runway Usage
General Info	Dyess has one major runway (among 3 in total, but the 2 other are quite small). We cannot say anything about rhythms in runway usage/direction unluckily though, just that the big 16/34 runway will be used by most aircraft obvioulsy…

	Spot #1 – Air Base Rd – 16 Arrivals + 34 Departures
WHERE	No exact position, rather just the roadside of Air Base Road on the North East side of the base. Just look at your in relation to the runway and the object you wanna shoot, then just pull over on the shoulder of the road wherever you want actually.
WHAT	Spot offers a good view onto 16 arrivals and 34 departures.
TIME	Sunrise till early noon.
MISC.	Nothing around, be aware of the cars on the street! Hide your camera as long as possible as some drivers may see you as threat for the traffic and call you in.
FOCAL LENGTH	150-600mm C130 = 190mm / B1 = 180mm

DYS-Spot1

DYS-Spot1

	Spot #2 – Rister Park – 16 Arrivals + 34 Departures
WHERE	The Rister Park Playground on the North west side of the base a good position as well. You can drive in and park near the fence, from where we took the examples below as you can catch all movements from here.
WHAT	Spot offers a good view onto 16 arrivals and 34 departures.
TIME	Later noon till sunset.
MISC.	Nothing around.
FOCAL LENGTH	150-400mm T38 = 400mm / B1 = 175mm

DYS-Spot2

DYS-Spot2

DYS-Spot2