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More detail on the role of planespotters in discovering the CIAs network of rendition flights and black prisons:
"How planespotters turned into the scourge of the CIA": http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/dec/10/usa.terrorism1
"The CIA's torture taxi": http://www.sfbg.com/40/11/cover_plane.html
"...when I boarded a mostly full Boeing 717, one of the smallest Qantas planes in the airline’s commercial fleet."
Apart from the 49 Bombardier Dash 8s in the QantasLink fleet.
As a photography geek, I wish the article would have mentioned some of the cameras and lenses they're using.
Given the lighting and subject matter, you could probably get away with a cheap crop sensor DSLR and a low end telephoto.
That said, here's my breakdown of their pictures:
1. Looks like a pair of Canon 7Ds with 70-300mm F4-5.6. The strap on the right suggests this. Even if we take the possibility of strap trolling into account, the labeling gives them away as Canon. The labeling also suggest that they aren't Rebel-series, given the all-white text. The side-ports also appear to be too large to be from Canon's full frame lines- although this is somewhat ambiguous. However, the pop-up flash button on the pentaprism hump firmly places these cameras as crop-sensor. The lenses match the Canon 70-300 non-L series. Sub-model distinction solely through cosmetics is difficult.
2. In the second picture the body is obscured by the owner's hand. However, the paint job of the lens clearly marks it as a Canon L-series telephoto. Judging from the size and twin focus/zoom rings, this lens is likely a Canon 70-200 F2.8. Sub-model distinction is again difficult at this resolution.
3. This camera is difficult, although clearly a Nikon. The label placement and lack of sync ports suggest a crop sensor model, but the left-side dial contradicts this. The high label disqualifies most options. The only seemingly plausible option is the rather old D200 (from 2005). The lens is also difficult, as the gold ring and dual control rings suggest a typical telephoto (70-200), but the lack of internal zooming contraindicates this. It could be an 80-400, but the size is a bit off. Hard to say.
The office I work at is right next to my town's little local airport, so I get to watch a lot of planes take off and land (my boss has a better view of it, but I can at least see the takeoffs reasonably well). Really is quite fun; most of the airport's (surprisingly heavy) traffic is small Cessnas and such, but there's a sizable minority of probably-chartered jets and turboprops, and every once in awhile you see something more exotic like a Blackhawk or some other military chopper stopping in.
When I was in flight school at the local airport, probably the most interesting "guest" was a B-17 that was on tour. That was cool. I was amazed at how small they actually were.
I love this kind of stuff too, but I really got hooked on PilotsEYE.tv. They've been able to film entire flights from inside the cockpit.
Every time my brother hears or sees an airplane or jet, he runs for the camera like he's crazy or something.
We call it "Airoaddiction."