I was running through some images of a Dornier 328Jet that I had shot at Boeing Field. I was zoomed in close to check for image sharpness when my eye caught the inside of the nozzle of the engine nacelle. There was an interesting pattern on the inside. Judging by the layout of the staining, I think the mixer in the exhaust results in varying deposition of material on the walls. This is the sort of thing that really appeals to me and probably no one else but it is my blog!
Just when I think I have seen the last of something, I get proved wrong. The Lufthansa service to Seattle was being provided by A340-300s over the winter but they then switched to A350s. I thought that might be the last I would see of the A340s but lo and behold, Lufthansa has switched again and this time to the A340-600s. That was a really pleasant surprise. At first, I thought it was a short-term change, but they have been in use for some time now.
I went down shortly after they returned to catch some shots. I didn’t realize that there would be plenty of chances at that point, so I figured I should try and catch them quickly. With it being midsummer, the heat haze is a significant problem – particularly at the time of day that they depart. I decided to try and slightly different location that might provide a nicer angle, would be closer but was more problematic with trees getting in the way.
The results are okay, but the conditions are just not conducive to getting the cleanest shots. Even closer in, the haze issues are apparent. A while later, I did go back to another favorite spot and shot from there with similar issues regarding the conditions. I don’t know how long they will remain on this route and whether I will have a chance to try in slightly better times – a nice delay to later in the day would help – but at least they are in the old Lufthansa colors for the most part, so we get a bit more color than is the case for most of the fleet at this point.
You see a fair few air ambulance operators through Boeing Field. There are often flights moving people to and from the city from Alaska and other parts of the state. The ones I am used to, though, tend to be older Learjets and US or Canadian registered. We do get the occasional one from overseas, but I was quite surprised to get a G550 from China showing up as an air ambulance. It seemed worthy of a look. It was a pretty brief stop for the jet before it headed across the Pacific. The naming seemed quite amusing – Happy Air!
The Italian Air Force recently retired their AMX fleet. I remember seeing early AMX demonstration flights at Farnborough, so this is another one of those moments when you realize you are old enough to have seen the entire life cycle of an aircraft. The “joys” of aging, I guess. Anyway, I figured that, while I hadn’t seen a lot of AMXs over their time, I would reflect the few encounters that I had with them.
This HondaJet had come from outside the US, so it had to clear customs at BFI after landing. That put it right in front of me while I was waiting for something else (although I can’t remember what it was). I find the jet very interesting although I am frustrated by the way in which all the ones I see have the same paint scheme with only a change in what color is used. Since this one parked up near me, I got to look at it from a variety of angles and that is a good way to appreciate the unusual shapes the airframe has.
The pylons are cambered and the way in which the nacelles sit on the wing is more easily appreciated from behind. It is great to have something different. I look forward to seeing the big brother when it makes it into service. A shame that Honda seems to have given up on their own engines but not a massive surprise.
I may have worked on the Typhoon/EF2000 in my younger days and have a strong affinity for that plane, but I have always appreciated its competitor from next door, the Dassault Rafale. The Rafale is a very elegant-looking airframe, and it has recently started to sell very well on the export market. One of those customers is India and the Indian Air Force brought some of its jets to Alaska for an exercise. They routed across the US with an overnight stop at McChord AFB (JBLM) before continuing on to Alaska.
I went out with a bunch of friends to see them arrive. They came in two waves and the first arrived in some quite poor conditions. This resulted in them making straight in approaches to the field. This was a bit of grey jets and a grey sky, but it was still worthwhile. There was a fair time between them showing up and the second wave and, by that time, the weather had improved considerably. This allowed them to do a run in and break to landing. Four jets came in but one was clearly offset – presumably getting some shots of the others. They tightened up before the break, though.
The final turns varied in how tight they were but, since the earlier jets had allowed me to get some more standard side-on shots, I decided to get closer to their approach path. I moved in a way for the first jet and then proceeded to sprint closer between each arrival in order to try and vary the angles a bit. If there had been more jets or time, I might have gone for directly on the centerline to get a head on shot but that wasn’t possible. What fun catching something very different to the norm for this area.
Allegiant currently flies a bunch of A319 and A320 jets, but its most recent order was for some 737 Max8-200s. The first of these have been flying at Boeing Field. Unfortunately, my first encounter was with an unpainted jet, but I have since caught them looking a lot more like the finished article. It got me thinking of what I have seen of their jets over the years so I thought I would scan the archive. Plenty of the A320 family jets but I have also got their 757s and MD-80s so here are a few shots.
Mesa Gateway Airport is a popular spot for cross country flights by various military aircraft. T-38 training jets are particularly common apparently so, while it was my first time visiting the airport, catching some arriving Talons was not a surprise. What was unusual was that one of them was in a retro paint scheme in a green camouflage design. It was looking very well finished as it taxied in and parked. The various student trainees parked their jets and walked into the FBO. Many of them appeared to be overseas students training in the US.
My involvement with the T-45 program was back when the aircraft were just coming into service. Now I am reading articles discussing the US Navy’s plan for the replacement of the Goshawk fleet. Another type I have been involved with that is going to disappear from service before too long. Since the jet was never exported, when the Navy gets rid of them, that will be it. Consequently, while I have shot T-45s at various places and times before, getting some more shots while on our trip was worthwhile.
We made a detour from our Arizona locations to El Centro to catch the Harriers. El Centro is a regular haunt of the T-45s with the training wings sending jets out to use the ranges just north of the base. Since it is not too far to travel, you can watch them launch and know it won’t be too long before they return. Getting the departing jets as they break towards the south with the last jet cutting the corner the most to catch up with the first ones is easy enough. The returns give you an option at both ends with either the overhead break with speedbrakes out at one end or the final turn at the other. Managed to catch both. I am sure I will see more T-45s in the coming years but here are some shots from the recent visit.
When deciding on what garden furniture to have, there are many options. You could have some garden gnomes, maybe a stone lion, all sorts of possibilities. Most of these are because most people don’t have access to a fast jet. If you do, and the California Science Center does, you’d stick a Hornet outside the front door. It was in the shade from the building in the morning I was there, but I thought it provided just the right amount of gravitas.
