Category Archives: photo

Alaska and Southwest on Test

The return to airworthiness of the 737 Max was first given in the US so there was a focus on getting airlines deliveries if they were under FAA jurisdiction. I guess we didn’t realize at that point that there would be some follow on issues that resulted in these jets getting grounded but such is the life of the Max watcher. Southwest started taking jets very soon after it was possible and Alaska soon followed with their first delivery – the grounding having come into effect before they had a chance to take their first jet.

On one day when I was watching the activity at Boeing Field, both airlines had aircraft out on test. They were operating under Boeing flight numbers but it wasn’t possible to tell whether they were production flight tests for Boeing or customer acceptance flights. No doubt I shall see a lot more of both operators with these jets in due course – once Boeing sorts out the latest issues and they become a more reliable part of service!

Boats Look Better At A Distance

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When photographing the ferries at Edmonds, the sun was very low in the sky and was coming on to the boat at an oblique angle. This shows up something that is not obvious about ships from far away but is really obvious when you get close to them. Take a look at a large ship from far away and it may look like a smooth sided creation. However, ships are constructed from plates of steel being welded together and, when you get close to them, this becomes a lot more apparent. The individual panels are far from smooth and the joins where they are welded together are a bit “agricultural”. Get the light on them at a shallow angle and this is pretty clear.

Long Time Since I Shot an MD-11 Touchdown

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MD-11 freighters are still a big part of the UPS fleet. In visits to Boeing Field before I lived up here, I got to see them quite often. For some reason, my more recent visits have not included many MD-11s. However, one nice evening with pleasant light, a UPS MD-11 was due in. They were on a northerly flow so a touchdown shot was not a problem. The bigger issue is that the 100-400 is fine for most of the sequence but, at the closest point, it is a bit too much lens. Still, nice to get one of these again. No idea what the long term plan is for UPS and the MD-11 but I hope they hang around for a bit.

Chickens

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Chatting with a work colleague recently, we were talking about Molbaks Garden Center in Woodinville which we have visited many times. She asked if we went to Flower World too and I had to admit I had never heard of it. It is in Maltby, about ten minutes from home but I had no idea it existed. It not only is a nursery but it also has a farm with a farm shop. A visit seemed in order.

There are a lot of chickens at Maltby Farm. There are a bunch of them roaming the park areas around the garden center. Within the farm ground, they have a large enclosure full of chickens and the eggs are sold in the shop. Chickens are interesting creatures since they come in such a wide variety of sizes and plumages. When the light is right, it really pulls the colors out of the feathers. They are also amusing to watch with the little battles that break out with surprising regularity.

Life Flight Bell 429

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Life Flight Network operate a lot of movements at Boeing Field. They have a Bell 429 that is there regularly. The thing I like about this airframe is that it has a metallic looking paint finish which looks great on a sunny day and can really catch the light. Here it is heading out on a mission from a while back.

Fishing in the Surf

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I spent a little time at North Head Lighthouse looking back down the beach I had been walking along earlier in the day. It is a vast area so the people down below were but specks against the sand. However, one person did catch my eye. He was fishing in the surf and standing out in the shallows as he cast into the water. Not sure how successful a location it is for fishing but it didn’t look like the easiest way to catch your dinner!

Uzbekistan Dreamliner Delivery

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Rarity value of Boeing’s production jets is a nice feature of living here. The 787 line is closing at Everett but there are still plenty of jets to be delivered as a result of some production quality issues. An Uzbekistan Dreamliner was built last year and I saw its colorful livery on the flight line a while back. It was finally lined up to depart recently so I decided to watch it go. It had done some test flying in lovely light in the preceding days but I was unable to be there for that.

The conditions weren’t as nice as they had been previously but they were okay and it did mean that the heat haze which is a big deal at this time of year was not such a factor. They were departing to the north so came out of the South Gate of the Boeing ramp and taxied to the south end of the field. A long flight home means plenty of fuel but also no payload so a pretty early rotation. Even so, managed to get some shots of a jet I am unlikely to see again.

Buzzed By A Bald Eagle

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We had a day out on Whidbey Island and we stopped off at Fort Casey to eat our lunch. We parked up near the lighthouse and there was a bald eagle hanging around along the cliff tops. The updrafts made soaring around a piece of cake for it. It landed in the top of a tree near us as we walked along the cliff. When we turned around and headed down the slope towards the fort, it started flying high above us and then appeared to swoop down into the bushes – presumably to catch a snack. We lost track of it at that point but a short while later it emerged from the bushes flying just above head height and straight towards us. I had the camera on the wrong settings to maximize my chance of getting a good shot but I still managed to get a few slightly blurry ones as it buzzed by.

A220 Engines Look Big Underneath

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The A220 (or C Series as it was then) was the plane that spooked Airbus and then Boeing. It was an efficient plane with a new engine – the Pratt and Whitney geared turbofan or GTF. Airbus decided the re-engine the A320 family with a version of the same plane and the success of that project changed Boeing’s plans from a new plane to a reboot of the 737 which gave us the Max! They went with a different engine to the GTF (and Airbus decided to offer both). The GTF is a high bypass engine so it takes up a lot of space under the wing. This A220 passed over me on approach to SeaTac and gave a good idea of just how large the engine nacelles are compared to the rest of the plane.

Mukilteo Rail Station

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In all of my visits to the waterfront at Mukilteo, it would have been neglectful if I hadn’t had a quick poke around at the railroad station. This is for Sounder commuter rail trains to Seattle and is across from the new ferry terminal. It will be interesting to see whether WSDOT’s Amtrak Cascades trains stop there in the future to connect with the ferries but currently they do not (and, at the time of writing, the Cascades services north of Seattle are suspended anyway.)

The station is not that old since the Sounder service has only been around since the 2000s. Consequently, it is a nicely thought out design rather than an old station that has been upgraded. It includes some artwork with a local theme with stone sculptures of local boat designs. A footbridge takes you over the tracks to the far platforms. I doubt I will ever have the need to use it but it was fun to look around on a quiet weekend.