Category Archives: Air Shows

Tip Toe the Dragon Rapide in the Crosswinds

I’m pretty sure that, over the years, I have posted about the Dragon Rapide. It was the first plane I ever flew in, and I have seen a few over the years. When I went to Shuttleworth’s show recently, there was a Rapide undertaking pleasure flights. I suspect I might add more pictures of it to this blog before too long, but I am going to start with some images of it landing. There was quite a strong crosswind when I arrived at the airfield and the pilot was quite busy bringing the plane in. A nice bit of wing down technique and she kept this old taildragger under control. A little later the wind was really making things interesting, and it was the other wheel that was brought down first!

Fat Albert Takeoff and Video of Return

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When I was up the tower at Boeing Field for Seafair last year, I got to play around a bit with what I shot of the Blue Angels C-130, Fat Albert. The takeoff was a straightforward as it was departing in our direction so photographing it as it left the ramp and then rotated and climbed past was the obvious choice for me. However, when it came to the return to landing, I was wondering what to do.

The threshold is a long way from the tower, so any shots of the landing were going to be quite distant and, given the heat haze, unlikely to be that good. I figured I might try video and, with the 200-800 having such good stabilisation, thought this might be practical. It turned out surprisingly well with the original video being pretty stable. I did apply a little extra stabilisation in Resolve afterwards. The worst elements are down to operator error where I had a few moments where I ended up moving the camera very jerkily and there is nothing that the post-production can do to fully disguise that! Shame I didn’t plan ahead enough and avoid having that happen when near the flare!

Refueling the Hornet

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Two quite different versions of the same thing here. The Comox Air Show this year included demonstrations are aerial refueling with the RCAF Hornet. The first of these was perfectly sensible because it was the Hornet formating on the C-130 Hercules fitted with refueling pods. The Hornet took up station behind the drogue units to demonstrate how refueling would be done.

Later in the show, there was a slightly odder version of things. A USAF KC-135R Stratotanker (which was carrying Kadena tailcodes which might be a first for me) was airborne and the Hornet formated on this too. Some KC-135s do carry hose drogue units on the wings or a drogue adaptor on the end of the boom but this was not one of them. Instead, they simulated the boom refueling. The Hornet can’t refuel from the boom but, since it was just an airshow, I doubt too many people were bothered by this.

Why Land When a Flyby Would Be Better?

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The view from the tower at Boeing Field is excellent (which makes sense, of course) but, when planes are landing from the south, they will have touched down long before they get close and so are not going to give the best photo opportunities. A small price to pay for having such a good spot to hang out so no complaints from me. However, I was rather pleased with the USAF F-35A demo when it completed its show.

It came in on a curving descent towards the runway but, as it got lower, up came the power and the gear was cleaned up. Keeping it low, the pilot gave us an impressive show as they blasted along the length of Boeing Field’s runway before pulling up aggressively into the downwind. The second time, they did actually land. I would have been fine with a few more of those passes but I guess I shouldn’t be greedy.

Shocking Times with the Blues

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One of the highlights of the Blue Angels’ demonstration is the Sneak Pass. The main formation heads off in one direction and the crowd’s attention follows them. Meanwhile, one of the pair comes running in at high speed and low level from the left catching many people by surprise. Just as this is done, the other of the pair comes at high speed from crowd rear and most people jump again. I am most interested in the first pass because it offers a couple of possibilities. If the atmosphere is humid, you can get some vapor on the jet around the shock waves and expansion fans. If there is a background other than the sky, the other opportunity is to have the refraction from these phenomena distorting whatever is behind.

Seafair does provide a background with Mercer Island providing the backdrop to the pass. The downside is that the display line is a long way out over the lake, so you are stretching the reach of lenses to get a close enough look at the jet. This year I did have the benefit of the long end of the 200-800 so I could get something of the shot I was after. Perhaps not the best of shots but at least there is something of the refraction to see.

Growlers Head Home Together

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During Seafair, the USN Growlers from Whidbey Island did a display earlier in the schedule. Once they were done, the jets headed home in midafternoon. They didn’t have a long trip home so getting back to base was probably a simple call. What made it better was that they undertook a section departure and the view from the tower was really cool. The tricky thing about a section departure from a photographic point of view is which plane to track. Which one looks dominant in the shot early on and which is dominant later in the pass? It changes but tracking is harder to switch. Small problem, I know, but a little tricky.

Departure of the USAF F-35A Demo

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Being up the tower at BFI during Seafair was a fantastic opportunity. I have photographed a bunch of F-35A departures at Boeing Field in recent years, but an elevated location was hard to beat. The A and B jets were parked together on the far side of the field so a little distant for a clean shot but, as they taxied out, it was still worth a go. Passing the Golden Knights jumpship and all of the people watching from the ramp was also rather cool to see.

The takeoff is a brutal affair. The power of that engine is impressive and, as they got airborne and held it low, you knew that anyone at the north end of the field was in for a treat as they blasted across the airfield perimeter. Looking down on the jet was epic. I was taking a chance with some lower shutter speeds but letting the camera make up for my lack of skill by letting me have a lot of shots to choose from. What a moment of sensory overload!

Flares Aplenty

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The USAF has started using flares more in some of their displays recently. I have seen shots of the F-22 Raptor demo pumping out flares at the top of a loop to great effect. The willingness to use flares is dependent on where you are – no point starting a wildfire for a display. Seafair is over water so no risk at all there. Consequently, The F-35A demo this year incorporated flares too.

I was pleased to get some shots with the flares being dispensed. They were not thrown out in quick succession, which was a shame as a closer spacing would have made for a better shot. Even so, having some flare shots was a nice addition. Seafair’s display axis is a long way from the shoreline, so things were a bit distant, but they were still not too bad.

Boeing’s Contribution to Sunday at Seafair

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The fast jet displays were the stars of the Seafair performances but the home manufacturer, Boeing, also provided a contribution on each day. On Sunday, that contribution was in the form of the 777X development aircraft, a 777-9. I was at Boeing Field on this day so got to see the aircraft launch and recover. An elevated view of an aircraft as large as the 777-9 is most impressive.

Since the plane is so large, I wasn’t going to use a longer lens to shoot it because I would have had way too much lens for the jet as it came by. Consequently, I was a bit short of lens when the aircraft was on the take off roll and rotating. Not enough time to change bodies so the compromise was okay. I still had a decent view of the jet even at 105mm.

The display was a long way away from where we were, but we did get to see the jet as it periodically popped up above the hills. It looked like they were really throwing the jet around. I imagine it looked pretty impressive for the crowd down on Lake Washington. I did stick with a longer lens for the recovery of the aircraft to get a good look at approach and touchdown. There is something really fun about getting to photograph a large jet like this from close proximity.

The Dolphin is Nice and Close

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The location I choose to go to for watching Seafair is very close to where the Coast Guard keeps their MH-65 Dolphin. They participate in the display, but I guess they can also be used if any emergencies occur. They park the helicopter on an area that juts out into the lake. It is normally a sparking lot but is closed off for their use during the show. There is fencing around the area to keep us out of the way. During the show I was slightly further north but had a good view of them as they crewed up and departed and then returned after their display.

One everything was over, I moved close to the location because I knew that they would be heading off for the overnight before returning for the following day’s display. This was a good opportunity to get a closer view of them as they crewed in, started up and took off. The fencing was a bit of a nuisance, but the uneven ground meant it was possible to find some gaps where the fence elements were not tight together.

It was nice that, unlike during the display itself, when they departed away from us towards the south end of Lake Washington, this time they turned around and head north along the lake shoreline. This gave us a great view of the helicopter as it climbed away.