Tag Archives: civil

Last Good Paint on a Lufthansa A340

The A340 is a plane that keeps on going despite repeated claims it was done. The 300 series jet is actually not as inefficient as it is popular to suggest (the 600 series is far less competitive) and it is still working for a few airlines including Lufthansa. This winter the jet is back on the run to Seattle which has pleased me. Most of the jets have been repainted in the new livery which is not that thrilling. There are also Star Alliance liveried jets but there are one or two of them still in the older Lufthansa colors. This is a better look from my point of view.

I did have one of them come in one weekend when the light was good and the wind was favorable for the shots I was after. The landing shots were more of a struggle because the plane landed at noon and the lighting angles were not helpful. Departure was mid afternoon and so this was slightly better. They have been back occasionally since but not on days with a) good weather and b) me being available to be there. I hope I get more chances before they finally head to the desert.

Silk Way West Can’t Avoid Me Forever

Leave a reply

Having been operating 747 freighters, Silk Way West, an Azerbaijani cargo airline that is upgrading its fleet with 777Fs. They took delivery of their first one a while back and there was no time when I could be anywhere close while the jet was on test or being delivered. I was a bit annoyed to miss it, but these things are part of the process. When a second jet came off the line, I was similarly unable to get anywhere near it while it was on test. However, the delivery flight did coincide with some free time I had.

I headed to Everett with the hope of catching it leaving. Delivery flights are not always reliable. The timing of getting airborne can move and sometimes odd things happen and they don’t go at all. This is not the norm, though, so I was hoping it would all work out and I was lucky. The flight was direct to their home base so, while the jet had no cargo in the hold, it was going to be heavily fueled up so I was hopefully of a reasonably long takeoff run. It rotated in a good spot for getting some shots but was still quite well off the ground when it came by me. Still, not a bad location for some shots. I wonder if/when I shall next see this jet!

The Old Horizon Fleet

Leave a reply

The departure of the Q400s from Horizon’s fleet means that they are now fully equipped with Embraer E175-E1s. I know some people didn’t like the Q400 but I actually found it to be perfectly fine when I flew in them. Not a ton of space but not the longest flights. Certainly nothing as long as I have done in the Embraers! However, before the Q400s, there were other aircraft in their fleet. I was scanning through some shots for some other reason and came across shots of Dash 8-100s and CRJs. I figured I would remind people of some of the older times that Horizon operated when I was shooting stuff. Of course, there are far older types that they would have had but they are before my time.

Great Access for the Ameristar Jets

Leave a reply

As some previous posts may have indicated, I have not had the best of luck with Ameristar DC-9s in the past. They never seem to move when I am around. I heard that some were coming in to Paine Field and, again, I wasn’t going to be around when they got there. However, I was up there a little while afterwards and, after getting the shots I came for, the evening light was looking nice so I figured I would head around to see if there was a good shot of them on the ramp.

When I got there, I was disappointed to see some vehicles parked up inside the fence and in the way of any shots of the jets. Rather than give up, I headed in to the FBO to see if they would let us outside and they were very helpful. Turns out one of their team is a keen photographer himself and he was happy to escort us out. The two DC-9s were sitting on the ramp in lovely light. What more could you ask for? There was a medical helicopter crew getting ready to depart and we had to stay well out of their way but this did not impact what we were after. A great opportunity to get the jets in nice conditions.

A few days later, one of the jets was heading out. It was a northerly flow and, given the ability of the original short body DC-9s to get out of shorter fields, it was going to be pretty high when it came by me. That wasn’t going to stop me getting a shot, though. Got to make the most of it when the opportunity presents itself. When DC-9s were everywhere with operators like Northwest, it was easy to ignore them. Now they have rarity value, it is a different story!

Shooting Just Before Sunset at SEA

Leave a reply

With some nice autumnal light and a northerly flow at SEA, I was going to stay around to see what jets were heading out as the light was starting to be at its best just before it disappeared completely. At that time of year, there would be a number of widebodies heading out to Europe and the Middle East that would be close to sunset. In the weeks afterwards, they would all be after sunset! I decided to see what I could catch.

The light got better and better, so it was pretty straightforward to catch some really nice images of the big jets (and some smaller ones) as they climbed out of SEA on their way back to home base. Just looking through the viewfinder, I knew that I was going to be very happy with the results. Then, the sun set, and the light changed dramatically. However, some of the shots I got after this time will justify their own post.

So, What Really Happened With This Jet?

Leave a reply

Titan Airways provides jets for some high end tourist programs. I have shot their older A321s before, but they recently took on an A321neo that had previously been used as a transport for the UK government. On a flight, it had issues with windows that were not sealed, and the plane was not pressurizing properly with a load of noise. When they investigated further, it turned out it had been used for filing work and the high intensity lights had damaged the window seals.

With the windows repaired and a test flight undertaken, it was back in service and its next trip was to Seattle. I caught it landing at Boeing Field. It arrived at the worst time of day for lighting but, with something unusual like this, I decided to make the best of it. It turned out okay and I was quite pleased with the results, as was one of the pilots!

The Return of the DC-8 and Max 10 After the Storm

1 Reply

There was an evening when the weather was awful and the NASA DC-8 was out on a mission. The forecast suggested things might get a bit clearer late in the afternoon and so, while the light was awful, I thought I might take a chance and head to Paine Field after work. The sky was dark and ominous but I was there so I might as well wait. As the Max 10 was first on approach, it was the one I would try out first. There was a hint of the sun starting to punch through the cloud and it did look okay.

Then, when the DC-8 showed up, the clouds parted. The backdrop was still and evil looking sky but the sun was on the plane as it came down the approach. I had thought of shooting video but, when I saw the light, I couldn’t resist shooting stills. The joy of modern cameras is the ability to switch rapidly from one to the other. I got video down the initial approach and then stills as it was close in. Then back to video once it was by me. This actually didn’t make for a bad video edit.

A moment with light like this is very rare and you have to be excited when it all works out.

A Dash 7 Almost Catches Me Out

Leave a reply

We saw a variety of planes in Kenya and Tanzania. This one I didn’t get too close to but I was really happy to have caught either way. Dash 7s are pretty few and far between these days. There are some up in Canada that I would love to get up to see but the last ones I saw were in Toronto and looked stored. This one flew overhead and I grabbed a few quick shots. Oh to have seen it touching down on one of the rough strips.

Beach Towel Aircraft

1 Reply

Condor has gone on a bit of a Marmite route with its livery. They have decided to paint their aircraft with a striped paint scheme that looks like a beach towel. When they first went this way, the A330s that came to Seattle were leased jets and they only painted the fins rather than the whole airframe. They had ordered new A330-900s from Airbus, and these were delivered with the full paint job. I took a while before I finally saw one of these come to SEA and it was the green one. I still haven’t seen beige or blue! I have heard comments that really show how much people dislike this choice. For me it is such a nice change from the norm that I am really happy to see them. Something different is fun.

STOL Adventures

Leave a reply

Quite a few of the planes that went to Concrete for the fly in were great STOL aircraft. Light airframes with plenty of power and high lift wings make for a really short take-off. Pilots of STOL planes are usually quite keen to show off the performance of their steeds so we knew we would get some aggressive takeoffs.

Consequently, I did try to position myself in the right spot along the runway when the STOL planes were taking off. Getting a frontal view of the plane as they pull up rapidly and climb out steeply was the goal. They usually obliged. I haven’t been to any of the STOL competitions or the recent version that involves getting airborne and back on the ground, but I would like to see that at some point. There is one in Alaska I would love to try at some point!