After posting a picture of a Thud, I decided to see how many of the ones listed on Wikipedia as preserved in the US I had photographed. Here they all are in their Thud-loveliness.
Thudfest
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Lakefront Properties – Who’d Want the Noise?
Here are a few of the houses that along the north end of Lake Washington as seen from the pier at Kenmore. Sure, they look like nice houses and they look out over the lake but I’m sure the noise of all of the people having fun out on the lake would make these unattractive places to live. They also have floatplane traffic coming and going from Kenmore. I can’t imagine anyone who would want that.
NOTAR Sneaks Up on Me (I Guess It Works)
In the late 80s and early 90s, NOTAR was a big deal. McDonnell Douglas Helicopters (as it then was) had come up with the concept of NO TAil Rotor and was pushing it hard. It was seen as a safer approach, quieter and potentially more efficient. The last one may not have been the case as, given how long the concept has been around, the successor company has continued to build helicopters with tail rotors as has just about everyone else (unless you count a Fenestron as not a tail rotor). This example came in to BFI right over my head. He had called up on the radio so I should have known but the quiet aspect of the aircraft was proven as I had no idea he was there until he passed directly over me.
Practice Panning to Make it Different at BFI
I was killing some time at Boeing Field and the light was dropping fast. There was a variety of traffic inbound but nothing that counted as terribly unusual and not, therefore, something I desperately cared about getting a good shot with. As a result, I decided to play around with low shutter speeds to see how it changed the look of the shots at a familiar location, to see how the sharpness varied across the airframe and to see just how badly may panning skills have degraded. Needless to say, the results were pretty mixed. The worst of the lot will clearly never see the light of day but here you can see some of the shots that I was okay with. The conclusion from the output is that I should go a bit lower in shutter speed to increase the sense of speed.
Training a Tree
I have seen full sized trees being trained or supported with structures put in place to keep their growth where intended. I had never thought about it being applied to bonsai though. However, while trimming is a key part of shaping a bonsai, there are more direct approaches like wiring along branches to keep them going as intended. A close look at some of the exhibits at the Pacific Bonsai Museum showed how this was done. The clever bit was that these additions were not so conspicuous and didn’t ruin the appearance of the tree.
Combat Air Takes Up Some Customers
I got a little distracted while I was at Lyons Air Museum. Out on the ramp were some SF-260s belonging to a company called Combat Air. The company shared space with the museum and, while I was walking around, a couple of customers rolled up for their flights. They were going off in a two ship sortie. I don’t know what they had planned. They may have been heading out to do some aeros or maybe they were going to try and see which one was the dogfighting star.
The 260 is a cracking little plane. From a young age, this was a plane I wanted – something that has some serious performance that is enough for some militaries but is also available for anyone to buy (provided you have a fair bit of spare cash). In piston form it is pretty good stuff but I also believe that you can get them with a turboprop which I imagine goes like stink. Anyhow, the two customers were suited up, strapped in and they taxied out together. We were advised that they would probably come our way on departure so I hung around for a while. They had a fair taxi to the departure end and then needed to hold for a while but eventually they came into view and turned in formation over the top of the hangar. I went back to looking around the museum so I hope they had a fun flight.
Fireworks in Kenmore
Last year we were living in Kirkland when July 4th came around. We checked out the fireworks in the town and I took the camera along. Unfortunately, we picked a place to sit in the park that meant the fireworks were behind a tree so I didn’t get any pictures that I was happy with. This year we have moved a little up the lake so we decided to try out the fireworks in Kenmore.
We turned up later in the evening and the park was busy with lots of families out enjoying the warm evening and waiting for the display. We found a spot down near the water that seemed pretty convenient and set up. I wasn’t too bothered about shots but will take them anyway since it is easy to do while enjoying the display. We had some people in front of us that I thought might make good silhouettes in the shots too.
The display started at just after 10pm and lasted about twenty minutes. They were launching from the pier in Log Boom Park so the fireworks were out over the lake. The team had choreographed a great performance and everyone seemed to be pleased. These are a few of the shots I got while enjoying the show.
RAT Noise
UPS is buying a bunch of 747 freighters at the moment. I have shot a few of them including examples here and here. The route back to Paine Field takes them across our area when the pattern being flown is a northerly. I grabbed the camera to see this primer example heading over. As the plane flew by, there was a lot more noise than would be normal for a jet on the approach and it had a vibrational element which made me think the RAT might be deployed. Sure enough, when I checked the shots, the RAT could be seen under the wing route. This is a normal flight test requirement so nothing to be concerned about but this was the first time I had heard a jet at speed with the RAT out and I was surprised how loud it was.
AAA for Boats
Not being a boat owner, I had never thought about what happens if you should break down. I suppose if you were out in open water, the Coast Guard might be an option but to be honest I have no idea. When you are on Lake Washington, I guess there is a towing service available. I saw this boat bringing someone back into Kenmore. I assume they had broken down and needed help getting back.
Take Your Pick When Refueling
The F-105 Thunderchief (or Thud) is a beast of a plane. Sadly I never got to seem them in action. One is parked outside at Cavanaugh in Addison TX. Its camo is a bit bleached by the Texas sun (it was just over 100 degrees the day I arrived and that was towards the end of the afternoon). The thing that caught my eye, though, was the refueling receptacle or, more specifically, receptacles. USAF aircraft have the flying boom refueling system. This was not always the case and jets like the F-100 had flight refueling probes for the hose and drogue method.
I assume that the Air Force was in a transition mode when the F-105 was being designed so they had both. On the upper side of the nose there is a ramp for boom refueling to take place. Below that on the port side is a retractable refueling probe for hose and drogue use. I didn’t realize that any jets had been built for both (aside from the UK and French E-3s which are a bit larger and more able to accommodate the extra kit. I wonder which one was more regularly used since the techniques for each type differ.