Tag Archives: Boeing

Please Come Back Before Sunset

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Some late day departures after the Flag returns included F-15Es, F-35As, L159s and A-4s.  You don’t know how long anyone is scheduled to be out but you find yourself hoping that they will all make it back before the sun sets so you can get some arrival shots in the nicest light available.  Once they are gone, it is a case of watching the time and crossing your fingers.  As it was, we got lucky.  They came back in a steady stream with all of them showing up as the sun was at its best.  Arriving over Cheyenne is not ideal from a sun angle perspective at this time of year but we still got some nice angles.  Some turned tighter while others went wider so we got to try all sorts of angles out to see which picked up what light was remaining.

Kalitta Charter 727

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Boeing 727s aren’t a total rarity but they are certainly not common and, when one showed up at Paine Field, it was worthy of a look.  Operated by Kalitta Charter, it was making a trip around the west.  It arrived at Paine in nice light and a flight plan was filed for a departure shortly afterwards.  This turned out to be a bit optimistic but I had plenty to do so I sat nearby awaiting the departure.  It ultimately came later in the day so the weather was great.

What wasn’t great was that I missed them calling up on the radio as I was busy with some work.  I happened to glance up and see the aircraft rotating in lovely light.  I grabbed the camera and tried to get a quick shot but the camera was not happy and I got a second of open shutter.  Nothing usable.  A quick reset and then I was able to get tail on shots as it climbed away.  To say I was annoyed is an understatement.  At least I saw it, even if I have no shots to share.

Sands 747SPs

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It’s always interesting to see what is at the Sands ramp at McCarran.  The flight of luxury jets for bringing in the high rollers to play at the casino is a mix of types.  Some “normal” Gulfstream, an A340-500 and the Boeing 747SP.  I was delighted to see that two SPs were parked up on the ramp the morning I was there.  Seeing them move was a bit much to ask but getting them in some lovely light immediately after sunrise was a good alternative.

777X Prepping for Flight

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The 777X will make its first flight before too long.  Indeed, it might happen before this post goes live but we shall see.  It was due to have a roll out at Everett but that was toned down due to the ongoing Max issues.  Instead, it rolled out to the flight line where it has been in prep for first flight.  (We will get low and high speed taxi runs first of course.  I wonder whether I will be able to get up there for the flight or not.). I have seen it parked on the ramp at Boeing’s center.  From across the field, it is visible but subject to a lot of heat haze.  From the other side of the field it is closer but the view is a bit obstructed.  I saw it in the hangar during a previous tour but now it is out and in Boeing house colors.  This is a 777-9 version and the folded wing tips are clear to see.

Been a While Since I Saw a BOAC Jet

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When I was very young, BOAC still existed but it was soon merged in to British Airways.  I remember model kits being for BOAC jets and I have seen some preserved aircraft in BOAC colors.  As part of British Airways’ 100th year celebrations, they have painted up four airframes in legacy colors.  The first to appear was a 747-400 in the BOAC scheme.  I saw a bunch of shots of it online and was keen to see it for myself.  It appeared on the schedule for an evening arrival at SeaTac so I made sure to be down there.

They were making a southerly flow that day and the evening is not a good time for that approach path as there are few locations to get good shots.  However, I was “lucky” in that it was a crummy day for weather.  The water tower location would normally have been horribly backlit but, since there was no sun, it might just do.  I did get the shots and, by virtue of shooting quite heavily overexposed and then pulling back in post, I was able to get something I was reasonably pleased with.

I did really want the sun though and, not two weeks later, the jet was back on the SeaTac run.  Again the evening arrival but this time it was sunny and the flow was northerly.  This provides some opportunities for getting the iconic SeaTac arrival shot with Mt Rainier in the background.  I was certainly not alone as she came down the approach nicely illuminated by the evening light.  Thank goodness for time changes and being done with work by then!

Janet is Local!

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I have photographed Janet 737s operating out of their hub at McCarran International in Las Vegas before.  They have made it on to the blog too.  However, it turns out I can get them a lot closer to home.  Normally when they leave Las Vegas, they fly for a while and then disappear to wherever they are headed.  In the case of the destination being Paine Field, no need for such subterfuge.  Like a lot of operators, it seems they use ATS for maintenance.

I knew an aircraft was in as they had been filing flight plans for a number of days but never going anywhere.  The weekend came around along with another flight plan so I was skeptical.  However, when they got airborne, I figured it was time to be ready for the return.  The weather was doing its usual thing.  Clouds everywhere but with sun regularly popping through.  Could we get the same thing? 

Hardly surprising that a big cloud rolled in as they were lining up on the ILS.  There was still hope of light further up the approach and the cloud was moving fast.  In the end, we had good light far out, a lot of gloom for most of the approach and then sun just over the threshold.  Not perfect but it would do.  The flight must have been successful because the departed for Las Vegas later the same day.  We have had some before so hopefully there will be more.  The 737-600 is pretty rare anyway so this is one of the few times I get to see one.

Juggling the Pegasuses

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While the UPS freighter had enticed me to Everett, I was interested to see that Boeing was busy moving KC-46s around.  They have a hangar at the south end of the field where they work on the Pegasus aircraft and they were taking on out of the hangar.  To do this, they needed to move a bunch of them out of the way so they had a juggling act underway putting different planes in odd locations while they all were moved.  They stuck a row of them down by the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum.

The plane came out of the hangar and was rolled off to park.  Then, one that had been sitting outside for a while was moved back inside.  I wasn’t going to hang around to see if they moved them all back that evening but I did go across to the museum side to see them parked in this odd location before leaving.  At this time the Air Force had halted deliveries due to loose items in the received airframes so I guess the chance of more airframes stacking up was back on the cards.

737 Max8 Heads Off For The First Time

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I stopped off at Renton one Sunday morning to see what was on the flight line.  (This was prior to the groundings after the Ethiopian Max 8 crash.)  There was a first flight showing up on the flight plan so I kept an eye out for any sign of activity as I walked along the park trail.  Sure enough, the sound of an engine start reached me when I was down near the bridge between the factory and the flight line.  This is a bit far away from where I would want to be to photograph the take off but this is a first flight.  There is plenty to check before they go flying unlike a regular flight, so time was on my side.

I made my way back along the river in plenty of time for the jet to move.  Prior to flight they accelerate and brake to a stop.  They did this along the runway the opposite direction to that in which they planned to take off so they actually taxied up past me, turned and accelerated before turning again to make the actual take off.  This gave me plenty of views of the unpainted jet.  They climbed away and then redeployed the gear, possibly to cool off the brakes a bit.  They then turned off on their departure heading.  Moses Lake will have been part of the test plan but the flight will have ended at Boeing Field.

Pretty Mountain Backdrop

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My effort to shoot an arriving A350 at SeaTac provided a secondary benefit.  The majority of arriving aircraft land on the outer runway.  This is further away and also has a threshold further up the field.  This means the aircraft are higher up on the approach.  On a clear winter’s day, the planes have the backdrop of the snow covered Olympic mountain range.  They were a bit far away but did provide a rather scenic view.

UPS Delivered from the Paintshop

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A sunny and cold winter day provides nice light and an afternoon arrival of a jet at Paine Field from the paint facility in Portland was enough to tempt me out.  UPS is the primary recipient of 747-8F jets these days and it was another of their getting close to delivery.  It was approaching from the south so I was at the windsock with a few other locals.  They flew a touch and go before making a full stop landing so I was able to try two different positions to get the landing.  Conditions were really nice for getting a shot of a shiny new plane.