Tag Archives: airport

The Honeywell Demonstrator Comes Back to Seattle

Honeywell’s Boeing 757 demonstrator has been on the blog before.  I caught it at Paine Field during some awful weather.  More recently, it was back in Seattle and I managed to get it again.  This time the weather was a little better.  It was actually getting a bit of a tour of the region in with passes at Paine Field, SEA and Boeing Field.  I thought I was going to be in the wrong place for it but I was fortunate enough to catch it twice in one flight.

I was at SEA as it came in on the outer runway.  A little bit close in on the underside but I figured it would show off the unusual pylon for engine testing that is mounted on the upper side of the front fuselage.  It wasn’t landing there, though.  It then continued on and headed for Boeing Field.  They changed the flow direction around the same time so I was actually able to make it back to Boeing Field before it landed there.  It did then park up at Modern for the day.

Inside An Airport Fire Truck

I was chatting with one of the King County Sheriff team that looks after King County Airport (Boeing Field).  We were standing by one of their fire trucks for airport operations and he suggested I take a look around the cab.  We didn’t have a load of time but it was very cool to see the configuration of the vehicle.  There is a central seat with controls on one side for the vehicle and on the other for the firefighting equipment.  There are seats either side of the cab for additional crew.  They have facilities for their breathing equipment so the crew can be strapped into the tanks while in their seats and ready to deploy as soon as they reach a fire.  It would have been fun to chat further with the guy about their operations but the event we were both there for started up so we both had somewhere else to be.

The Negus 747-400

We were in the Cotswolds for a wedding earlier this year and the morning of the wedding found my with little to do while everyone was getting ready.  I was only 30 minutes or so from the old RAF airfield of Kemble, now Cotswolds Airport.  Surely it would be churlish to not take a look since I was killing time?  Kemble has quite a lot of interest and will mean there are several posts to come.  The first will focus on one of the largest residents.

British Airways painted three of its 747s in retro liveries.  The jets had different interior configurations which meant they were used on specific routes.  I got to shoot the BOAC jet and the Landor jet when they came to Seattle but I never saw the Negus jet.  When BA retired the 747 fleet during the pandemic, the Negus jet apparently made its way to Kemble to become a venue rather than get reduced to parts and scrap metal.  However, I didn’t know this.

Consequently, I was rather surprised to find the jet sitting there as I drove up to the airport main buildings.  There are other 747s stored on the field at Kemble but this one is very accessible.  It was early in the day when I arrived so I could wander around unfettered but there were already crews showing up to bring in fixtures for an event that they were going to be hosting.  Renting out a 747 for an event sound like just the sort of thing I would do!  I was very pleasantly surprised to see the third of the retro jets and to see it in such good condition.  (Sure, they have a few nacelle panels that have been switched around but it still seems in good shape.)

Tanker Traffic

A few tankers were flying test missions at Boeing Field last year when I spent a little time down there.  The sun was out but heat haze was not too bad, so it was a good time to shoot.  The dark paint of the KC-46 Pegasus is not ideal for shooting on a bright day (or a dark one for that matter) but you aren’t passing it up.  What was more fun was having them taxi close by and getting a good look at the jets.  They might still have a bunch of issues to resolve but there are now plenty in service, so they aren’t a rarity.  Hopefully they will get the issues fixed soon enough.

JinAir In Primer

The nice thing about having the factory for airliners nearby is seeing aircraft in the colors of an airline that you would not normally see.  It is a little disappointing when they are not actually painted.  I like the primer look (I know the protective film isn’t really primer, but I don’t have a better term for it) but it would have been nicer to have the livery.  Only some marking on the composite parts that are already painted let you know what airline it is destined for.

Boeing’s Own BBJ

Boeing developed the BBJ in partnership with GE if memory serves and I think they took the earliest examples to be built.  A modified 737 airframe, the BBJ is a big jet for a bizjet – unless you are seriously wealthy and have a converted widebody.  Their house colors are actually quite nice and, since Boeing Field is a big base for them, seeing their jet in is not a surprise.  It does look good, though.

Formation Arrivals

Not really a formation I’m afraid.  I was shooting this PC-12 as it came in to BFI in nice light and a light aircraft was on the approach for the parallel runway.  I almost got both of them in frame but not quite.  However, I liked the shot so here it is.

Strolling Down a 10,000’ Runway

King County International Airport held a public event in the guise of a FOD walk.  You could sign up for free for the opportunity to take a stroll along their main 10,000’ runway one Saturday morning.  Since I wasn’t planning on anything else, this seemed like a good chance to be somewhere that I normally wouldn’t get to be.  I showed up just before 8am on the Saturday to see how it was.  Weather was overcast but it was not raining which was a relief.

We had a briefing from the airport team and the fire chief prior to heading out.  They made it clear that they do take care of the runway so we were hopefully not expecting to find much but we would see.  They last did a runway walk ten years ago and that was for staff so this was a new thing to try with anyone from the community taking part.  We could take cameras with us but they limited what we could have.  Also, photographing the Boeing military ramp was not allowed.

They split the group into two with two buses taking us out.  The buses went to opposite thresholds with the intent that we walk to the middle where we would meet up and take some photos.  Fortunately, I was in the bus going to the north end which is the one I wanted.  Driving past the Boeing civil ramp with its 737s, KC-46s and 777Xs was pretty interesting.  They set up the illuminated X at the threshold prior to us starting (which was a relief).  We then spread out across the runway and walked down.  The smaller runway remained in use while we were walking but there had been a bit of a mad dash of planes getting out before we started.

The runway was clean as you’d expect.  For those that were walking along the edge and in to the grass a bit, there was more to find including some quite large items.  I guess the session did have a practical benefit.  We made it to the mid point of the runway where everyone gathered in front of the fire trucks and we had some group photos.  Then it was back on the bus and a close out with some prize drawings.  It’s not often you get to stand in the middle of a runway that serves everything up to wide body jets so I am glad I took the time to go out.  I hope that they do it again.


One Day I’ll Get the NEO in Good Light

Shortly after my A220-300 landed, another Delta jet was due in.  (Actually, quite a few were but they weren’t terribly interesting.). It was an A330-900, the NEO version of the A330.  I have shot a few of them but have really struggled to get them in good conditions or nice lighting.  Since the weather was crummy on this Sunday morning, that luck wasn’t changing.  However, it was there so why not get a few shots.  At some point I will get one in good light.

Dreamliner In the Mist

During the winter, I shot a British Airways 787 as it approached landing at Seattle Tacoma International.  There was some low cloud base and it was just skirting the bottom of the clouds as it passed me by.  It was appearing and disappearing from view within the clouds and, even when clear, was pulling a bit of vapor along with it!  An all-white jet against a cloudy backdrop does not make for a contrasty shot but the elusive nature of the plane with such a background made the shots interesting to process.