Alaska Airlines has a 737 flying in a special scheme as a Salute to Veterans. I have shot that in the past and it appeared on the blog in this post. I wasn’t aware until recently that they had painted a second jet in a similar scheme – this time from their regional fleet. This is an Embraer E175-E1. Here it is departing SeaTac one morning while I was awaiting my flight out.
Arrivals day at any air show is a good opportunity to catch the movements of aircraft that will only be in the static display as opposed to the flying display. At RIAT, there are park and view areas at the east and west ends of the airfield. I have used both over the years but the east end can be really hectic. It does give you the chance to shoot the aircraft on final approach but you can really be fighting for space.
I chose the west end this year. Planes were landing at the east end but it was pretty normal for aircraft to taxi to the west end to then be led to their parking location. Of course, a few interesting types managed to turn off early or backtrack before they got to the end but, on the whole, we did well. The weather wasn’t great but there was a fair bit of sun which helped.
Some of the more exotic types made it up our way. The Ukrainian SU-27s and their IL-76 came up as did the special schemes on some of the F-16s. The Luftwaffe brought some marked jets along too. An F-15E taxied past twice and provided a couple of speed brake waves for the gathered photographers. It could get a bit congested and, with jets holding in the turning loop, they did occasionally send their jet wash across the path of the incoming jets which sabotaged a few photo opportunities.
Later on the Thursday, a few practice displays were also flown by crews qualifying for the show which provided a different angle on some of the performances. An F-16C of the USAF did its full routine and then added a few extra banana passes bringing out right over us at speed several times. Much appreciated!
The IL-76 is a beast of a transport. It is a rugged plane and looks like it could handle anything thrown at it. I have seen them on a variety of occasions – most recently the modernized versions used for civil freight work. The older versions with the original engines are a great thing to see though. The Ukrainian Air Force brought an example to RIAT this year. It was flying overhead when the Sukhois were landing and then it came in too. It came up to the west end where we got a good view of it. Then it was parked up on static display for the show. Sadly, I didn’t get to see it depart at the end of the show.
An Alaska Airlines Embraer E175-E1 might not normally get a post but this one was operating a flight from Paine Field when I shot it. I saw there was some sort of graphic on the fuselage but I hadn’t worked out what it said at the time. Turns out this is the 1500th E Jet that Embraer has delivered. That is quite an achievement when you considered that Embraer was a manufacturer of niche turboprops for many years. Congratulations.
The Red Arrows operated from ramp space at the eastern end of the show grounds at RIAT. I spent some time down there on one of the days. It provided a chance to watch them brief, crew up, start and then recover after the display. Here area. Few shots of the team in action.
The SJ30 is a jet that always has an “almost” feel about it. It has gone through a number of owners and the development has resulted in certification but very little production. There just aren’t many of them around. One of the more recent versions came to Everett. It arrived one weekend early in the day and before I was there. I didn’t get to see it fly but it was parked up in a convenient spot to get a photo. The stalky undercarriage is a distinctive feature of the jet. I wonder whether the current owners of the design will finally make it into a successful project?
The Red Arrows have conducted a North American tour this year. It commenced just after RIAT so, while I saw them there, I hoped to catch them at some point during the tour. Their closest displays were in Oregon and Vancouver and I wasn’t able to go to either sadly. They did stage through Seattle, though, so I figured I would go and see them arrive. The twelve jets showed up on a heavily overcast day. They did some flybys over the city and then a run in across Boeing Field. A pair of jets landed directly while the remaining ten flew around a little more – nine ships in formation and one getting some photos. Then it was run and and break to landing before taxiing off to parking.
The Spanish Navy Harriers have recently become the darlings of the UK air show scene. The retirement of the UK’s Harriers left a feeling of longing for many air show attendees and the recent return of the Spanish Navy has made a lot of people happy. They brought two of the jets to RIAT this year. They put on a nice job of displaying with both aircraft flying giving some formation work and some faster stuff. Plenty of hovering of course.
They seemed to be leading a charmed life with the sun seeming to appear whenever they were flying. Given how the weather was over the weekend, this was no mean feat. One day I spent down near the ramp when they were operating from so I was able to get some closer shots of them as they taxied out for departure and when they returned. Harriers are still relatively accessible in the US but it won’t be too long before the F-35B consigns them to history too so it was nice to get some Harrier time again.
Here is a bit of video I shot of a Dreamlifter heading out of Paine Field. I was there with a visitor who wanted to see the large beast and, rather than shoot more stills, I figured I would go with just video. If I had planned for it, things would have been a little better but hopefully it shares a little of the experience.
I was picking up some family members that were coming to stay. I got to the airport a little ahead of their scheduled arrival time and, since it was some time near an airport, I figured a bit of photography wouldn’t go amiss. They were coming in on a Virgin 787-9 so I knew I would shoot that. The heavies come in on the inner runway, but the rest tend to go to the outer. You can still get them, but it isn’t so close. I figured a few shots on a cloudy day was worth time to experiment with exposing high and playing with the shots in post.
