Category Archives: photo

Sunbeams Over Sandown Bay

The stormy skies over the Island were very active in the Sandown Bay area.  In the course of a couple of minutes, you could see the valleys on the opposite side of the bay have clouds wisp across them and then suddenly vanish from view entirely.  They could be back a few minutes later and then gone again.  The wind was blowing things through very rapidly.  For a few moments, there were some great beams of light punching through the clouds and illuminating the water beneath.  I was lucky to be able to get a few shots off before the clouds rolled through again and cut of the sun altogether.

It’s a Long Way to Bole

There are plenty of widebody flights out of Paine Field.  Since the flights are normally not very long compared to the capabilities of the aircraft, they tend to be light and get off the ground quickly.  A delivery flight is a different proposition if it is for an airline based a long way away.  Ethiopian was taking delivery of a 787.  The flight was a direct one from Everett to Bole.  Consequently, it was fueled up well.  Still, it didn’t have much payload and I was surprised to see it get off the ground pretty quickly.  They had a long flight ahead of them.

Whistler

I have put together some posts of things we saw during our Whistler trip but not much of the town itself.  It is a nice place to hang out.  Like a lot of these winter sports resort towns, the center is predominantly restaurants/bars or places to buy clothing/sport gear.  However, it isn’t a bad place despite that.  The streets are laid out so nothing is too straight which means you feel like you are wandering around an old place, even if it is all relatively recently built.

There are water features and bridges, open spaces, sculptures and other forms of art.  No shortage of people, too, even in the shoulder season when we were there.  We found so great places to eat and some less inspiring ones.  We actually went to a chain place one evening and it proved to be better than some of the supposedly nicer spots.  Our favorite by far, though, was a bakery that had every conceivable thing you could want.  They even had a cheese sandwich for toasting that looked like it would feed a family of four.  We tried many of their treats but that one was left untouched, despite me giving it some serious consideration.

P-8 in the Wild

Despite the number of them that are now in service, I have very little experience with the Boeing P-8 Poseidon.  I had only seen one flying and that was a test jet at Boeing Field.  When we got to NAS Whidbey Island, the P-3s were the thing I was more interested in but I certainly wasn’t going to turn down an operational P-8 for the first time.  It didn’t take long to get one.  We had not long arrived when one departed past us on the shoreline.

As we moved around for the arrivals, we got a bit more P-8 traffic.  Some arrivals showed up.  One was lacking in anything colorful for squadron markings but another included a bit more individuality.  I wonder whether we shall gradually see more color showing up on the jets or whether they shall be a fleet of bland, gray jets.  Fingers crossed!

Unnamed Waterfall

I took a wrong turning as we went over Stevens Pass and, instead of going where I had intended, we took a back road which was probably once the main road across the mountains.  It twisted through the woods, never getting too far from the current highway, but being far more enclosed and far narrower.  Fortunately, not much traffic was coming the other way, so it was easy enough to navigate.  We crossed a small bridge which was over some falls.  I can’t be sure but, judging by the map, the water seemed to be called Martin Creek so maybe the falls are of the same name?

Finally an Air Transat

Air Transat is an airline that I haven’t seen much of.  I recall them flying to the UK decades ago with TriStars (if I am thinking of the right airline) but, since then I have not really come across them.  To be honest, I actually thought they were long gone but it turns out they continue to ply their trade.  As I was heading to Vancouver International, I saw one of their A330s climbing out and I was a bit annoyed to have missed it.  However, it wasn’t their only scheduled departure for that evening.  A later flight went while I was there and I managed to get my first shots of them in action.

Green Lake

Just outside the center of Whistler is Green Lake.  We took a trip out there because I was interested in seeing the floatplane base there.  It was also a cool place to have a stroll.  There is a golf course alongside the lake which was designed by Jack Nicklaus.  Alongside the course are some large houses which I suspect are not too cheap.  The lake itself had a nice beach area where the river was running in to it.  A bunch of people had come here with their dogs and the dogs seemed happy getting in the water.

The color of the water was a bit odd and so the name is not hard to understand.  I actually thought it looked more cloudy than green but I doubt anyone cares to much about the distinction.  I thought there might be a difference in color where the river was flowing into the lake but I couldn’t see it.  Maybe an aerial view would show a difference where the water was flowing in but I wasn’t flying that day.

Gate Guards

The 142FW of the Oregon ANG has operated a number of different types over the years.  It was nice to see that the base has preserved some of the jets.  As you come through the main gate, the grass area to your left has an F-15A mounted on a pole looking suitably dynamic and reflecting the current jets used by the unit.

A short distance away is a memorial park with two further jets.  Both of these are in great condition (the F-15 looked a bit weathered from a distance).  There is an F-4C Phantom which is nice but the one I liked the most is an F-101 Voodoo.  The Voodoo is a jet I never saw fly.  I have seen various examples on the ground over the years but there is something about the lines of the jet I just like.  Oh, to have seen them in action.

Index Road Bridge

I mentioned the bridge in Index in a previous post and I thought it deserved its own post.  The bridge is relatively new having been built in the late 1990s.  The road to the town in on one side of the river and the town is on the other so the bridge is pretty important!  There is a rail bridge too, but the road is the way for most people since the trains don’t stop anymore.

It is an arch structure.  The roadbed is suspended from the arch by a selection of cables.  These come down in pairs from the arch and into the bed of the bridge.  The structure is steel and, whether it was assembled on site or elsewhere, you can clearly see how the sections were assembled with the bolts through plates at each of the joints.

The arch shape is attractive and the symmetry of the bridge when viewed from the end is also very nice.  Because the area is not too busy, they have not cluttered things up with too much fencing to segregate the pedestrians from the traffic so the whole thing has a simple look to it.  A nice job by some engineers!

NASA Gulfstream STA

The Evergreen Aviation Museum has more aircraft than it has space to display.  Some of them are parked out in the parking lot including a NASA Gulfstream II.  This is no normal GII either.  It is one of the four Gulfstreams that NASA had converted to act as Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA).  They were used for the shuttle crews to practice the approach and landing phase of a mission when the shuttle was gliding (very steeply) in the atmosphere.

The main gear was deployed to increase drag, the thrust reversers were engaged in flight and the flaps could be moved up as well as down to modulate life.  One seat was set up as a shuttle pilot station while an instructor sat in the other.  Many practice landings could be carried out using the STA fleet.  They also provided a secondary transport function.

The aircraft is currently in a rather ignominious position in the parking lot and it will hopefully find a better permanent home.