Tag Archives: jet

Big Tugs

Leave a Reply

At the majority of airports I fly out, there are basic tugs used to push the airliners back.  They are hooked on using a towbar and push the jet out.  The tugs at Heathrow are a bit different from the ones I am used to seeing.  They are the type of tug that actually picks up the noseleg to move the aircraft out.  The leg is surrounded by the tug and elevated.  The tug then drives wherever required with the leg coming along.  They are pretty substantial beasts.  Moving a widebody needs a big tug I guess.  They can move a 747 or an A380 but in this case “only” a 787.

Puffs Across the Wing

Leave a Reply

The day I left London was a bit damp which made for a bit of vapor on departure.  I was sitting almost directly over the wing.  I couldn’t see in to the inlet but I could see vapor puffs in front of the inlet at lower speeds anyway.  As we rotated and climbed out, there was plenty of vapor puffing over the upper surface, aided by climbing through a few patches of cloud.  I had the video running the get a view of the moisture and here is what I got.

 

Hello C-17s. Where Are Your Buddies?

Leave a Reply

In this previous post, I mentioned the crews at Portland setting up for the arrival of some F-16s.  They were coming in from Texas for a week of DACT training according to the word around the ramp.  Sadly, the jets did not arrive prior to the end of the Open House.  However, they weren’t the only planes coming in.  The ground crews and support equipment arrived ahead of the jets courtesy of a pair of C-17s.  These arrived a few minutes apart and taxied in to the adjacent section of the ramp.  One jet was already unloading as the second taxied in.  They were a nice compensation for the F-16s not arriving in time.

Sabreliner Testbed

1 Reply

The Sabreliner is a neat little jet under normal circumstances, combining as it does the wing of the Sabre with a fuselage for passengers.  This example, that now lives in the Evergreen Aerospace Museum in McMinnville Oregon, is even better because it is a testbed.  The nose has a new radome grafted into place to allow the testing of different radar.  Meanwhile, pods can be mounted under the wings to test a variety of different sensors and electronics.  Some of these different configurations are displayed alongside the airframe.  Good to know that after years of specialized service, the aircraft will survive in the indoor comfort of the museum.

The Candid Really is Russian

Leave a Reply

The Antonov 124 is a reasonably regular visitor to the US when outsized cargo needs to be moved.  It is often commented on as being a Russian plane but, while one of the operators is a Russian company and some of the aircraft were assembled in Russia, the design and much of the production is actually Ukrainian.  Ilyushin, on the other hand, really is a Russian company.  Their IL-76 is also operated for freight services but it doesn’t show up anything like as frequently.  Consequently, when a Volga Dnepr example was scheduled in to SeaTac on a Friday afternoon, I was pretty annoyed I would miss it.  However, it ended up being seven hours late so arrived well after dark.

Departure the following day was going to be a practical proposition for me (and many others as it happened).  The weather was not going to be ideal with low cloud and rain but, when the visitor is a rarity, you don’t get to choose whether to go based on weather.  Fortunately, the departure was a lot closer to schedule than the arrival.  I drove past the cargo ramp and saw it parked up and all closed up so did wonder whether it would go on time but things were working well and they headed out.

This aircraft was the newer variant with the PS90 engines and takeoff performance was pretty good.  I had worried it would be low on the climb out and not in a good position to photograph but it climbed well and was in a good position to get a shot.  I had a big grin once it had gone as did the rest of the people waiting for it.

Every Morning You Great Me (Well, Evening This Time)

Leave a Reply

A bit of a crummy song reference for which I should really apologize.  Edelweiss is a Swiss airline that flies to Vancouver.  Their flight arrived while Mark and I were on the north side of the field.  Lighting is less than ideal in that location but, once the plane is passed and turning to taxi to the terminal, you get some nice angles and very good light options.  This was my first encounter with an Edelweiss jet and I was pleased that the livery is a bit more interesting than the average these days.

Tower, Requesting a Flyby

Leave a Reply

Another shot from the Portland Open House of the Redhawks and a gratuitous reference to Top Gun scripts.  In this case it wasn’t really a flyby.  Instead, the jets were launching off the near runway.  They were all doing a nice job of keeping it low on departure and they ended up pulling up as the passed the ramp and the tower.  A nice view as they pulled up with a few of them getting some vapor is they climbed out more steeply than the average departure from the airport!

Build a Blackbird Pano

Leave a Reply

While I was wandering around by the SR-71 at Evergreen and taking some pictures, one of the museum docents approached me and asked if I wanted to go upstairs.  I had seen the stairs and a gallery but the signage showed it as closed off.  If I had an invitation, I wasn’t going to say no, though!  The location put you above the Blackbird giving a great perspective that you don’t normally get.  However, I was pretty close in so the lens I had was still not wide enough.  Time for a pano instead.  I took a sequence of shots to try and cover the whole thing as best I could.  Then it was up to the software to do the stitching.  The above shot was the result.

It’s a Long Way to Bole

Leave a Reply

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.

P-8 in the Wild

Leave a Reply

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!