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Viking’s Ramp

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As Bombardier has decided to remove itself from a number of its legacy aviation programs, Viking Aerospace has been willing to step in.  It acquired the rights for a number of legacy de Havilland Canada products first and put the DHC-6 Twin Otter back into production.  Since then it has acquired the CL215/415 amphibious waterbomber program and very recently the Dash-8/Q400 program.  It has its headquarters at Victoria International so, after getting off the ferry and having a spot of lunch, we swung by to have a look.  They have a very nice, modern headquarters building which stands out amongst the other airport buildings.

I took a look on the ramp.   Their demonstrator Twin Otter was parked up along with a couple of clean airframes that looked like they were destined for new customers.  A CL-215 was parked a bit further out.  I discovered shortly afterwards that this one is about to undergo an upgrade program.  There were plenty of people going in and out of the offices but the ramp was sadly quiet.  No movements while I was there although we had places to be so I didn’t hang around for long.

Pelican Formations

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When we lived in the Bay Area, I got used to the pelicans being around. Only when you move away do they suddenly become interesting again. I used to enjoy the formations of pelicans touring the bay and to see a bunch of them heading towards us at Fisherman’s Park was fun. They approached us head on before curving around the shoreline and away. Their low level flying is so effortless, I become jealous of their ability to float around the bay with freedom.

Winthrop

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Drop over the North Cascades Highway and you come into Winthrop.  This is the first significant town you come to after going through the passes and it is definitely picturesque.  I had no idea what the town was so coming in to the center and seeing all of these western style buildings was quite a surprise.  Time to park and go for a walk.

The old style of the town jars with the cars parked everywhere.  However, while the cars would be better if they weren’t there, the town still has an old school feel to it.  I wonder what their planning consent rules are in order to stop the place being transformed.  Even the gas station fit in.  It was old and the pumps were pretty old too – not as old as the town of course but still dated.

We wandered around the town and checked out the different shops, restaurants and bars.  There was a brewpub that was really tempting to me but, since we were aiming to be back home by the end of the day, that was not going to be a good idea!

Gulf Air 787-9

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I caught this Gulf Air 787-9 as it returned from a test flight to Paine Field.  It was at the end of the SkyFair event so the crew will have noticed that there were a lot of people on hand to witness their landing.  Not a particular problem of course but probably one of the few landings of the Boeing production tests to get a large crowd.

Fisherman’s Wharf in Victoria

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While in Victoria we walked along the shoreline of the harbor and made our way to Fisherman’s Wharf. This are is a mix of houseboats, tour boats and commercial boats. It is clearly a real commercial port at one end but the houseboat end is a different story. The houseboats are real houses. The residents were in evidence while we were there but there is plenty of stuff for the tourists too. The houseboats are painted in a variety of striking colors and on a sunny day it looked pretty nice. The houseboats were quite small and I wonder whether they are a fun place to live, a bit inconvenient or a pain given the people wandering around every day.

Coming In Across the Harbor

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Often the floatplanes will come in to Victoria Harbour through the entrance to the harbor, touch down on the water and continue straight in to the base.  However, if the wind is in the opposite direction, they sometimes make their approach across the city and the harbor itself.  While we were there, I saw one Twin Otter coming in this direction.  It made its final turn with the large hotel and apartment buildings behind it which made for a shot with more context than would otherwise be the case.

Plenty of 200ERs But the 300ERs Avoid Me

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While I enjoyed my visit to Haneda earlier this year, I was a little frustrated by one thing.  Regular readers will know of my interest in trying to capture the articulated gear feature of the 777-300ER.  Haneda provided a great opportunity to photograph this as the departing planes were rotating almost directly in front of me.  It is also an airport that gets plenty of 777s.  Unfortunately, all of the ones that came my way were 200ERs.  There were 300ERs departing too but they all went off the parallel runway on the opposite side of the terminal to me.  I could only see them once airborne and backlit.  Someone in air traffic must have been trying to thwart me!

Washington Pass

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Our trip over the Cascades took us through Washington Pass.  There was an overlook area with parking which allowed us to stop and wander around a bit.  The view of the pass was gorgeous.  There was snow on the peaks surrounding things and a hint of snow on the ground too.  The road drops down dramatically from the pass and comes down the valley below the overlook.  You were almost looking straight down on vehicles as they passed beneath.

There were plenty of places to walk.  The overlook area itself was not far from the parking lot but a short trail wandered up and around the rocks to give a wide variety of views.  The autumnal light was nice and low even though it was very sunny.  Being quite high up meant the sun was a bit stronger than normal.  The panoramic views meant standing and staring was the order of the day.  We ended up staying there for quite a while.  It will soon (if not already) be snowy up there.  As I write this, the road is already closed for the winter.  Hopefully we shall head back up that way when spring arrives.

Coming Over Coyote

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Coyote Point on San Francisco Bay is a spot from which I have shot many times.  It provides the closest spot to the approach path for the planes coming in to the 28 runways at SFO.  It is also a pleasant place to hang out with a nice view of the bay, the marina below with plenty of boat traffic and a fair selection of wildlife.  When shooting from Fisherman’s Park, the approach line makes the planes appear to be coming from behind Coyote Point.  Given that it was a nice clear day when we were there, you had a good view of the approaching jets.  Only the widebodies are large enough to show up well but it makes a change from my usual close-cropped style of shooting to go wider and get something with some local context.