Tag Archives: jet

Closest Yet on the 777-300ER Gear

You might not think a really windy day was going to be a great time to head out and take photos with a long lens hand held. This certainly is not ideal but there are some advantages that a really windy day can bring. The purpose of the trip was to catch the new Virgin 787-9 service coming in to SFO on a Sunday afternoon when I didn’t have anything else planned. While the wind was very strong, the light was nice so I gave it a go. What I didn’t realize was that, while it was windy at home, it was really windy at SFO! Everything was operating on the 28s because the wind was above 30kts and gusting to well over 40kts. This also meant that departures got airborne quite quickly given that they started with over 30kts after zero takeoff roll!

The heavy jets were frequently airborne before the intersection of the runways and this included an Air France 777-300ER. Consequently, I was able to get a clearer view of the gear during rotation than I have managed before. Above are a still of the gear during rotation and also an animated GIF of the rotation in progress. I think I shall consider myself happy with this. It is the best I have got. Unless I get to spend some time out by the runway while one is departing, I doubt I will get a better chance than this.

United 757 Display

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You don’t often get to see an airliner maneuvering at low level. They tend to be up and away or approaching to land in a stable configuration. Each year at Fleet Week, united bring one of their airliners as part of the air show and it gets to be thrown around the bay, if not with abandon, at least with more vigor than is the norm for an airliner. In the past, the 747 has been the display aircraft of choice. Since I have been here, they have been using the 757.

The bay provides a nice backdrop for any display but one that uses a big airplane is well suited to the area since they have to maintain a reasonable distance from the shore at all times unless they are climbing out over the crowd. A combination of clean passes and gear and flaps deployed passes made for some good variety and some aggressive climb outs at high power and low weight were nice. Watching the plane turn over the Marin side of the bay was also pretty cool.

This may not be the most dynamic of air show performances but it has a novelty factor that makes it worth seeing and it certainly brought some variety to the show on the day. I’m just glad I got to see it this year. Last year they displayed on the day I was there but the low cloud base meant that we mainly heard them above the clouds but saw very little.

UPS Movements

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Boeing Field is a busy location for UPS. FedEx run their Seattle operations from SeaTac but UPS has made King County their location of choice. You get a busy period in the evening with arrivals and departures in a pretty narrow window. Provided there is evening light, you can get a lot of movements.

I have shot a bunch of their jets over the course of various visits. Usually I get them arriving and departing from the same location. I did get some familiar shots this time but I also decided to head to the other end of the field and shoot the departure head on. They do get airborne pretty quickly and climb quite fast so they rotate a long way off and are well above you by the time they cross the fence. Not ideal but still a bit of variety for me.

KLM 747

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I have posted a bit in the past on disappearing types and, in particular, the reductions in the number of 747s in service with airlines these days. Of course, there are still a number of carriers that are making use of the 747 and United is one that has a substantial number still in service. Operating from SFO, I see a lot of them if I am there. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic also come into SFO. However, I was pleasantly surprised recently to see KLM bringing an example in to the airport. They have seasonal variation with their types. The MD-11s have given way to the A330s during the winter months but the summer still has sufficient demand to require the capacity of the 747. I imagine they will soon be making way for the A330s but, hopefully, next summer will mean they are back on the route. KLM are one of the few airlines that bucks the trend to boring color schemes so there are doubly welcome!

SeaTac Departures Over Boeing Field

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Boeing Field is closely aligned with the extended centreline from SeaTac. If you approach SeaTac from the north and sit on the left side of the plane, you can look almost straight down on the field. Similarly, if the departures are heading northerly, it routes nearly over Boeing Field. For most flights, they are already high enough that they are not a good photo target. The heavies provide some interest though.

First, they are bigger so a slightly easier thing to fill the frame with. More importantly, they tend to be a bit more leisurely in their climb rate so are a bit closer in as they pass over. While I won’t bother to shoot the majority of the passing traffic, the heavies will often get my attention – provided nothing else is happening in front of me. Here are some of the recent passers-by.

Another JetStar for the Collection

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Regular followers of the blog who like aviation will know I have a soft spot for Lockheed JetStars. While my luck has not always been great in chasing them down, I have come across a few at various times. Hayward Airport is the home of a couple of them. There is one I have seen move through on a few occasions but I thought there was another based (or stored) on the field. At one point it seemed to be out in the middle of the ramp but, more recently, when I was flying in to Oakland, it appeared to have moved over to near the road.

I figured I would try and see it if I was passing by early in the day. Finally a chance came to do this and I stopped off en route back from Oakland. The plane was parked up conveniently close and the fence in front was not too high. I don’t recognize the registration as being one I have seen before so this is a good one to add. While I haven’t seen any sign of this plane moving, it could be blocked from tracking. It certainly looks to be in great condition which would seem likely if it was unused. Maybe I will catch it moving one day.

Sneak Pass

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I have seen a large number of displays by the Blue Angels over the years. Their display is a good one generally (although the ground portion is a little time consuming in my opinion). The sequence does not vary much from year to year but it works well enough so that is probably no big surprise. One of the fun parts is the sneak passes. The four ship head off in one direction to distract you and a solo jet streaks in from the left at low level and high speed. This catches a lot of people by surprise.

Just as everyone is getting over this, the other solo jet does something similar from crowd rear to make you all jump again. The displays that are held over water provide an added option for the first sneak pass. With no obstacles, the aircraft can end up very close to the water. This makes things look even more impressive. Also, the high speeds can result in some impressive vapor formations in the shock waves.

The Fleet Week display on the Friday had great weather conditions but, surprisingly for the Bay Area, the humidity levels were not terribly high. Consequently, while the sneak pass had its usual surprise impact, it did not result in any vapor on the jet. The upside of this was that the optical distortion caused by the shock waves was visible in some shots when a reasonable amount of background was included. Not what I was aiming for but not a bad alternative.

DHL Freighters

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DHL planes are hard to miss. The bright yellow livery they carry is not one that you are going to miss easily. They may not have the wide reach of FedEx or UPS in the US but Boeing Field is a regular stop for them. The 767 is one of their staples, much as it is for all express carriers. They also make use of the 757 which pleases me given my fondness for the first airliner I ever flew on.

Evening light is the best for getting a DHL jet since the yellow positively glows when the low sun gets on it. I had a bit of traffic during this visit and these are the jets I saw.

Life in the Old (Mad) Dog Yet

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Firefighting aircraft have often been older airframes converted for the task when their primary life is over. This has meant a lot of old piston types -both civil and military – have become tankers. Now there is a generation of jet airliners that are becoming viable candidates for conversion. I previously posted some shots of a BAe146 tanker. Erickson has been active in converting McDonnell Douglas MD-87 airframes to tankers and has a number already in service.

Dominating the flight line outside the Erickson hangars was a line of three MD-87s that had been acquired from Spain. They appeared to have come from a couple of operators and we sitting in storage. Most apertures were taped up and some panels/doors had been removed. However, these airframes are not destined to be parts donors. All of them are scheduled for conversion to tankers. Before too long they will be active supporting firefighting efforts across the country. The introduction of modern jet types to service should provide increased performance and the ability to respond faster to situations further away. They should provide a welcome boost to firefighting capability.

Air Force One

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I have had a pretty poor run of luck when it comes to Air Force One. I have seen it overflying in the distance, I have seen the VC-25 on the ramp at Davis Monthan but was thirty seconds from being parked when it took off and I had a failed effort to get it at SFO which I mentioned in this previous post. It was back in San Francisco recently and I decided I was going to have another go.

I tracked the TFR online and, this time, it didn’t change. I, therefore, got to SFO with plenty of time before the departure. The weather was not fantastic but there was generally a clear spot over the airport so I was a little optimistic. As the intended time for departure approached, the cloud rolled in. Of course it did! Nothing I could do about that. Meanwhile, departures off 01 had stopped (I am not sure whether that was related to the Fleet Week air show or not) and a bunch of planes were lined up to depart from 28. Then they all stopped.

I assume the President had come by road as there was no helicopter activity other than a police chopper over the highway. The beacons were on as I heard the sound of a jet going around. It briefly appeared through a gap in the clouds and was a United 737. I guess they had just timed it wrong. I have no idea whether they held or diverted. Suddenly the VC-25 was rolling. It taxied rapidly along the northern taxiway by 28R with a couple of Secret Service vehicles following close behind. Without a pause it turned onto 28R past the waiting airliners and powered away. The Secret Service chased it for a while down the runway but it was airborne pretty swiftly. I guess it was lightly loaded. A few minutes later everything started moving again. Another ten minutes and the sun was out. Typical!