Tag Archives: jet

My First Lear 75

After building on the basic Learjet family for many years, Learjet decided to update things with the Lear 45. This was a new design for them, even if it was based on many of the original Learjet design features. It also spawned a shrink with the Learjet 40. For a while this was a popular jet but, with many manufacturers adding new types to the market, the Lears were beginning to look rather dated and the sales suffered.

The response was the Learjet 75. A new engine and a bunch of revisions were introduced to try and reinvigorate the type and get some more airframes moving out of the production halls at Wichita. The result has been mixed. Some customers were pleased with the new type but the competition is still strong and some customers are not coming back. I hadn’t seen one in the wild until recently when one showed up at San Jose. It is still the same basic airframe so it looks okay (although if you ever get inside one, you will be surprised how cramped it is). Whether it is enough to save the brand, we shall have to wait and see.

Lumps and Bumps on the Sufas

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Lockheed Martin has been evolving the F-16 over the years. It has been massively transformed from the original F-16A (which was a big change from the YF-16) to the Block 50/52 version. The development of the F-16E/F for the UAE took the jet up another level. When the Israeli Air Force decided to buy an updated jet, they created the F-16I Sufa. A lot of local electronic systems are incorporated to the LM designed airframe.

As you take a closer look at the airframe, you see all sorts of bits that are specific to the jet. The big spine is a common feature these days although it was pioneered on Israeli jets a long time ago. Aside from that, there is a circular antenna on the spine. On the sides of the inlets are some more antennae. Head back on the spine and some more side antennae seem to be present (although not on all of the jets I saw). Then there are sensors on the canopy (which I guess are related to helmet sighting systems). The jet is covered in devices. I assume there is a great system for integrating all of the information these sensors are gathering. The crew should have plenty of data to work with.

Dear Volga Dnepr, Please Choose Your Time Better

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Moffett Field is located close to a couple of satellite manufacturing locations. When the time comes to ship the satellites to their launch location, the transport of choice is often the Antonov AN124. Twice, now, I have caught one of these huge aircraft coming in to pick up a payload. The most recent one resulted in getting these shots. The slightly annoying thing is that both times the plane came in in the middle of the day. This is the worst time for shooting at Moffett because the light is almost directly on the tail of the jet. Earlier or later would be fine. Oh well.

Sufas Finally Come Right

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One of the big attractions of Red Flag 16-4 was the appearance of the F-16I jets of the Israeli Air Force. The Sufa is a variant of the F-16 that incorporates the conformal fuel tanks and a lot of local Israeli electronic equipment. In the days before I was there, the jets had been landing on the left runway which meant they broke away from the photographers and landed a fair distance away. When I was there, things changed.

They started to come in with a right break for the right runway. This was really good news. It makes getting shots of them a lot easier. They didn’t fly very tight patterns so they were a little far away on the final turn but it was still better than if they went left. The departures were mainly from the far runway so they were a bit far then but it was still a good result for me.

My First 737 Max (Sort Of)

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Sometimes you take a shot when you know it is pointless. However, something inside you says take it anyway and delete it later. One such shot was a 737 I saw heading to SFO while I was over in Hayward. I don’t know why I bothered with the shot, maybe the colors looked unusual, but when I looked at it later, it appeared to be in Boeing house colors. It looked like one of the 737-8Max development aircraft. A quick check on Flightaware and indeed it was. This shot is useless for most purposes but it is my first shot of a 737Max!

Why Am I Excited By a White Jet?

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I have mentioned A340s and their gradual demise a few times in the blog. Sometimes it has been that I have got ahead of myself. However, I recently was genuinely surprised. Apparently, during the summer, an A340 makes a single flight a week into Oakland from the Azores. I had no idea about this until I read something about it online. A direct flight from Oakland to an island in the middle of the Atlantic? Who would have thought it?

I managed to be in place for the arrival one time. The airline is HyFly. I am guessing you have never heard of them. The jet is chartered from another operator but the whole operation is Portuguese controlled. (The Azores are Portuguese if you didn’t know.). The aircraft is totally unbranded. An all white A340-300 sounds really dull. I guess it really is. However, the novelty certainly caught my attention and I am both pleased and annoyed that I had no idea it was a regular visitor so close to home.

A Surprise Private 757

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If you spend a day somewhere, you can get absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Alternatively, you can be somewhere for a short time and get a really lucky break. I was down in Hayward awaiting an unusual Airbus movement as I headed to something else and, in the short space of time I was there, someone else showed up. This was a Boeing 757 that has been converted for private charter use. I have actually come across this aircraft before but, when it showed up heading in to Oakland, I was rather pleased with my good fortune.

Pakistani Block 50 F-16s

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I have made two short visits to Nellis for recent Red Flag exercises. The Pakistani Air Force attended RF16-4 but they showed up near the end of the preceding RF16-3 to allow them to familiarize themselves with operations before the next exercise kicked off. They weren’t supposed to be flying while we were that after their arrival but the F-16s that launched over us clearly had the conformal tanks and it turned out that they were up and flying ahead of the rumored times. Sadly, it was a brief opportunity and the lighting wasn’t great.

I did head back for RF16-4 and that trip will get a post of its own. Enough went on that week to easily fill another entry. However, staying on track, I did get to see the Pakistan jets as they launched and recovered. They are a recent build standard and, aside from the conformal tanks, they are also distinctive courtesy of a paint scheme that is different to the normal F-16s camouflage. I don’t know whether they had a productive time at Red Flag or not but I was glad to catch them while they were over.

Norwegian East Bay Arrivals

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Norwegian Airlines have been flying in to Oakland for quite a long time now. They started out with flights from Oslo but they now also have flights from London Gatwick. Despite them having been coming in for a long time, I have never got good shots of them. I have often seen the jets while standing on the BART platform at Bayfair but that is not a time to get a shot. I have also seen them across the bay from the SFO side. Finally I got to see one coming in from the right side of the bay and on the side of the jet that had light.

Norwegian has famous people from that country on the fins of the jets. This one was Edvard Munch. I don’t know how many different people they have on the jets but, with this being the first one I have shot, I don’t have what you would call a collection. It was nice to catch it later in the day as the sun was getting lower. Maybe I shall catch more in due course. However, there won’t be a lot because Oakland is a bit quiet unless you are after Southwest or FedEx jets so I won’t be there often.

Pinal Air Park

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Pinal Air Park is located northwest of Tucson. A number of business operate there. It used to be a location for Evergreen International. They carried out a number of programs of a spooky nature which meant there was strict security controlling access to the area. Evergreen have gone bust so now the airport is a lot less restricted. The hangars and ramp areas are still controlled but the roads around the field are now freely accessible.

The airport is used for active operators but also for storage of airframes. Some of these are planes that are clearly not going to be making it back into the air again. They are either old enough to not be in demand or of a type that has more value in the spare parts they contain than as a complete airframe. That isn’t the case for all of them though. Many of them are stored awaiting another operator finding a use for them. Consequently, you see a variety of aircraft from old TWA 747s to unmarked A330s.

While I was there, a Pratt and Whitney 747SP engine testbed was visible on one ramp while the Global Supertanker 747-400 was not far away. There were also some stored Grumman Goose aircraft (should that be Geese?) that looked like they weren’t moving for a while. A turbine Caribou was on the ramp obscured by a CASA 212. Plenty of variety. This would certainly be a fun place to tour with someone that has good access.