Tag Archives: kpae

If You Snooze You Lose – Missing the Dreamlifter

Leave a Reply

The move to Seattle meant lots of new things to shoot and that includes the Boeing 747-400LCF Dreamlifters.  These transport the components for the Boeing 787s between the production locations and the final assembly lines.  We were sitting indoors one Sunday afternoon when I saw one was inbound to Paine Field.  I figured the light would be okay so I would head out to catch it.  I had a bit of time.  Did I get up there and then or did I mess around for a bit?  You guessed right if you think I was wasting time.

I did finally get going.  I head the scanner on in the car to listen out for it and, sure enough, as I was driving towards the field I heard them call final.  As I got closer, the unmistakable shape of the jet was on short final.  By the time I got there, it was safely on the ground.  Crap!  I was in place for it taxiing back to the base they operate out of.  However, I would have been a lot happier if I had caught it in the air.  Was the other stuff I was doing worth it?  Since I can’t remember what it was, I seriously doubt it.

Structural Remains

Leave a Reply

I do like coming across test aircraft. Production jets will be seen all over the place in due course but the test aircraft often show small signs of their test role no are a bit more individual.  However, any test program also includes airframes that never get much coverage.  This is because they never fly.  Structural test specimens are vital but usually out of sight.

Boeing has a yard around the back of the Everett plant in which the remains of these test articles are stored.  Bits of airframe sit awaiting any possible future use.  The yard also includes a few bits that appear to have been operational at some time.  The front fuselage of a 747-400 that still shows United colors is there.  I wonder whether it was bought back to allow them to do a condition assessment based on the in service fleet.

Irrespective of how they got here, they are all rather forlorn looking as they sit in this space, out of the way and maybe never to be used again.  Service life extension programs may require them to be brought out again although I have no idea whether the storage outdoors will have rendered them less useful.

Building But Not Delivering – The KC-46 Story

Leave a Reply

The tale of the USAF’s quest for a new refueling tanker has been long and drawn out.  People went to jail, awards were made and overturned.  None of that matters now.  The contract is with Boeing to produce a variant of the 767 as the KC-46 Pegasus.  The program has not been smooth.  Technical and production issues have caused delays.  The in service date has slipped and Boeing has incurred a lot of overruns.

While all of this has been going on, the production process has not stopped.  Consequently, while testing still continues, there are production airframes coming off the line.  If you go to Boeing Field, there are a bunch of test airframes on the flight line.  If you go to Paine Field, there are a bunch more that remain to be finished.  It appears that Boeing is building the airframes, sealing them up, not fitting high value items like engines, and parking them wherever there is space.  A few years ago, Paine Field was covered in undelivered 787s.  Now it is as if time has turned back because the Dreamliner’s predecessor is the type parked all over the place.