Category Archives: aircraft

Floatplane Fest

I was in Vancouver for a few days for work and I managed to catch up with my buddy Mark when I arrived. He suggested to me a good opportunity for shooting the floatplanes is at the end of the day from Brockton Point in Stanley Park. I had only shot them from the shore near the convention center (other than an opportunist shot or two while walking in the park and that doesn’t count) so I was interested to see how this location worked out. I managed to get out of work at a good time one evening and the weather was looking very nice so it was off to the park for me.

This location is a lot of fun. In the evening, the light is well positioned and, at this time of year, the sun is lower and the light is nice and just gets better and better as the evening sets in. The aircraft were arriving from the east so they were very distant but it is the departures that we were after. The planes head along the shore from the base and then turn towards you and start their run. Often, they are pointing straight at you for a while.

Depending on the type and the pilot, they can climb steeply or can keep it nice and low as they come by. Sometimes, there might be a boat on their preferred take off run and, since they have to divert to one side which can result in a nice turn back towards you as they round the point and head to Lion’s Gate. The Otters are the most common type with the Beavers coming second. There are still some Twin Otters but they are a lot less common than they used to be so they end up being more interesting when they show up. How can it be that I get complacent about seeing Otters on floats? (The fact we have them in Seattle too probably doesn’t help!)

Mark certainly called this one correctly. Brockton Point is a nice place to hang out on a sunny fall evening in any circumstances but the addition of a steady stream of floatplanes to this makes for a wonderful combination is you are someone like me. What’s more, it is a reliable option. Until the winter light stops flying at the end of the afternoon, you have scheduled departures to rely on so this is not a case of turning up in the hope of seeing something. You will definitely get plenty of planes.

A Surprise Appearance of This Two-Seater

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Paine Field is the home of Paul Allen’s collection which includes a MiG29UB. I had seen it being dragged around the airport once but had never seen it fly. I was there to catch the Catfish, as described in this post, when a loud engine noise came from the right. I hadn’t been paying attention but, when the MiG taxied towards us, I certainly did. It came right by where I was and then held at the end of the runway before lining up and departing – sadly in dry power only. It was a bit far away and the heat haze was bad but who wouldn’t take a shot anyway?

787 Development Jets

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Two versions of the Boeing 787 have been in service for a while. However, development activities continue. The 787-10 is still undergoing flight test but work also continues on the older jets. Some of this is also related to the Dash 10. I had a post on my first encounter with the 787-10 which I wrote about here. I have since come across another of the test aircraft. This one is plain white and doesn’t benefit from the nice house colors that Boeing has.

Meanwhile, one of the 787-8 test aircraft has recently been testing the newest version of the Rolls Royce Trent 1000. I saw this engine when it was being tested on Rolls’ testbed in Tucson and that was in this post. Now it has been fitted to its intended platform and is undergoing trials. These have included lengthy flights around the US including one in which they traced out the planform of the aircraft across multiple states. If you are going to go flying for 18 hours, you might as well find a way to have fun with it. The aircraft is carrying the same logo on the engine nacelle that was on the testbed. Hopefully, the delayed upgraded engine will soon be in service, not just on the Dash 10 but also on the other variants.

T-45 Nose Gear Door Sequencing

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With a title like that, who could resist reading this one! The T-45 is a plane I have a close affinity with. It was my involvement with the project that first brought me to work in the US and it is responsible for me meeting Nancy. Aside from that, I got quite involved in many aspects of the plane’s design so feel like I know it quite well. It did not have a smooth entry to service and went through a multitude of upgrades prior to being accepted in to service. One of the lesser known items was the nose gear doors.

These were lumped in to a bunch of issues relating to directional stability. The front fuselage of the T-45 is considerably deeper than the original Hawk but the design originally had the same fin and actually lost the ventral fins that were either side of the airbrake on the original. Directional control was enhanced by adding a fin cap, modifying the rudder design and adding a new ventral fin on the arrestor hook fairing. One other change was made too.

The carrier launch requirements meant the simple nose gear was replaced with a far chunkier assembly with dual wheels and the catapult launch bar, all of which was beefier enough to take the catapult launch loads. Covering this all up were big nose gear doors. These were originally either open or closed. If you look at the doors, you can see they are like adding large fins to the front fuselage. This is very destabilizing. The rear doors must stay open when the gear is down but the front doors were rescheduled to close again once the gear was down, making a substantial difference in directional stability. They have to open while the gear is transitioning and stability is reduced during this phase but it doesn’t last long. However, if you watch the retraction and extension sequence, you get a brief glimpse at how big these doors really are. From what I understand, a similar issue affected the F-35 and only the first airframe, AA-1, had the old single huge gear door.

Stirring Spitfire Performance

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In my younger days, I was all about modern aircraft and didn’t have much interest in warbirds. Over time and having been involved with a number of groups that operate these aircraft, I have grown far more interested. Being in the US, you get a lot of American vintage aircraft to see. In the UK I might not have been so bothered about Spitfires but, now I see them less often, they have become of greater interest.

The later model Spitfires seem less graceful to me but the earlier models have a simpler and more elegant appearance. This one was carrying out some flybys at Paine Field during the Open Day. The rumble of the Merlin is well known and common to the P-51s. The line of the Spitfire is unique, though, and seeing it swooping by was really quite exciting. What a great looking aircraft.

Does No-One Want This 747? Tell Me the Story…

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This is a request for information from anyone who might know the story. The 747-8I has not been a huge success for Boeing. It has sold in limited number with the biggest customer being Lufthansa. A long time 747 operator, they ordered 20 of the aircraft. However, they only took delivery of 19 and cancelled the remaining aircraft. Boeing had originally taken it back to use for trials work and they retained it afterwards.

For a long time, it was stored down in Arizona. Recently, it was reactivated and I saw it was coming up to Everett again so managed to catch it arriving. Since it arrived, I don’t know what it has been used for. I also don’t know why Boeing decided it should return. Perhaps there is something more to happen with it. I understand that the two jets that were originally destined for a Russian airline but were never delivered are going to go into the Presidential transport program but I don’t think this jet is part of that. Does anyone know why it is back?

Floatplanes Coming at You

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Standing in Gas Works Park, you have a view straight down Lake Union. At the other end of Lake Union is one of the bases for Kenmore Air. They operate floatplanes from there on a regular series of services as well as some sightseeing trips. We got there just as a bunch of planes took off in close succession and I was a bit annoyed to miss out the chance to get some shots of them. However, they are a busy company so we knew we would get some more flight before too long.

They start their takeoff run at the other end of the lake so they get airborne long before they reached us. With so much clutter in the background and a lot of ambient noise, you didn’t always immediately pick out that a departure was coming your way. Once they got airborne and a lot closer, they were easier to identify. They would turn before they reached us and head off en route. I could probably have spent a lot of time there watching the flights but Nancy is not quite so keen so we lingered a short while and then moved on.

Emirates’ Latest on Test

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An Emirates 777-300ER is hardly a rarity. They have a huge fleet of them and, since this one is a new build aircraft on test at Boeing, the fleet is going to grow. What made this one fun was the light. Some stormy weather had been in the area and the sun was out on the white fuselage while the background was still looking rather mean. Both on the runway and on the approach, it shone brightly against the background and that is why I am sharing it today.

They Both Float, But…

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This is the cruise ship that our family had been traveling on when they arrived in Vancouver. It was heading back out the same day and we watched it leave port and head out. As it was turning to head back to the open sea, one of the local Otter floatplanes was making its approach to land (or whatever the correct word is when it is water rather than land). It passed in front of the ship. Both vessels are comfortable in the water but one is on a rather different scale than the other.

Max Development and Production Jets

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Boeing has completed flight testing of the first version of the 737 Max family, the Max 8. The Max 9 is currently in flight test and I posted shots of one of those aircraft here. While some additional flight testing will be carried out on the Max 8, the test fleet is now done. In due course, these aircraft will be refurbished and sold on to customers. In the meantime, new production jets are being built for delivery – except when it comes to Southwest.

As a result of a crewing issue, Southwest is delaying taking its jets until they have removed the 737-300 fleet from service. Consequently, Boeing is building them but not delivering them. There are a number parked up in the parking lot at Boeing Field and some are still sitting at Renton. Engines aren’t fitted since this is one way to keep the cost down pending delivery. They will be fitted and flown nearer the delivery date.

The flight line of these dormant Max 8s sits alongside the municipal part of the airport. I created a panorama of the jets which you can zoom and pan around below.