Tag Archives: piston

Doc Weekend Rides

I have posted some photos of the arrival of Doc previously on the blog. However, at the weekend, it did a series of flights and I went down one morning to get some shots of it before heading off to Skagit for the fly day up there. Shooting at BFI in the morning is not ideal so I decided to head up the hill to look down on the airport. I headed up there and met my friend Mark. We went in to the clearing to get ready and realized we had timed it well. It wasn’t long before several other people had arrived and things were getting rather crowded. Early arrival meant the choice of spots.

You are shooting from quite a distance at that location but you are elevated so the heat haze is not such a problem. Even so, not the simplest of shots to get. The crew kept Doc really low on departure, much as they had done on the first flight I saw. They were flying right by the Boeing ramp so you had a combination of modern Boeing planes and 1940s products!

Once they had headed out, we moved down to the approach end. Originally, I set myself up next to the fence. However, a Beech came in to land and I realized that the proximity to the fence, even with ladders, was not ideal. I relocated to the other side of the road and awaited the return of Doc. They made a pretty sporty turn from downwind. I got shots of it but none that were a combination of sharp and as dramatic as I would have liked. Then they were rapidly on to short final and swooping across the threshold.

It was all pretty good fun. I was okay with the results I got, even if they weren’t amazing. I could have hung around for more but had another place to be. It would have been good to go back over the weekend but timing wasn’t good with the other things I had on. I didn’t get the visit the plane itself which was a disappointment. I do hope they come back at some time and I can have a tour of the aircraft.

Newly Arrived Dak

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I heard that a DC-3 had arrived at Arlington. It was a plane that had been with Air Atlantique in the UK for many years and was familiar to a friend of mine that had worked there a while back. I am not sure if I had seen it in the UK or not but had definitely seen shots of it. It came in during the week and was parked on the ramp at Arlington over the holiday weekend. Unfortunately, the weather was not great. However, with nothing much else to do, I figured I would head up and see it.

The rain was pouring down as I left home but it was actually drier and even with a hint of light up in Arlington when I arrived. Even so, the conditions were not great. However, the clouds, while plentiful, did seem to provide some interest to the sky. Consequently, I went with HDR to try and make the best of the conditions.

I am not sure what the plans are for the plane and whether it will remain in its old RAF colors as a Dakota rather than a DC-3 or C-47. We shall see. Hopefully it stays in the area and I’ll get to see it flying.

Stealing A Composite Idea

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Quite a while back, I saw a shot that someone had composited of a Typhoon display over an airfield where they had the jet throughout its routine to show its route through the sky. I liked the idea and, while it was totally different, it got me thinking when I was up at Heritage Flight Museum. They had the Skyraider on the ramp but not flying. It was ready to go but hadn’t yet been signed off.

However, they did do an engine run for the visitors and unfolded and folded the wings a few times. Having got some basic shots, the idea of the Typhoon display popped in to my head so I shot a sequence of shots of the wings as they folded and unfolded. I took way more than actually was a good idea. I imported them all in to Photoshop as layers and then hid all of them except one and then progressively added some back to get the wings in different positions. If I had used them all it would have just been a blur of wings.

With the ones I wanted selected, I changed the blend mode for all but the base layer to Darken and that meant the dark wing elements overlaid anything brighter behind them. The result was a composite with multiple wing positions all showing at once. I think it came out quite well. I thought I might have issues with hiding things I didn’t want to or having to much movement between shots but that wasn’t a problem in the end.

Arrival Of Doc

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I have only seen one flying B-29 prior to this year. That is Fifi from the Commemorative Air Force which I got to see in DuPage IL many years back and also saw overflying Oshkosh. A second B-29 was returned to flight about four years ago – Doc. It is based in Wichita KS and has been on a tour which included a visit to the Pacific Northwest. Its previous stop was in Spokane and then it came to Boeing Field for a week.

I saw when it was due in to BFI and got down there in time for the planned arrival from the other side of the state. It was a little later than I expected but that was fine. It was easy to track as it came across the mountains and then across the city and on to the approach for Boeing Field. The light was pretty good on it as it came down final approach although the reflective nature of the polished aluminum fuselage meant it took on a greenish hue as it flew over the grass inside the perimeter fence.

Shortly after arrival, they crewed up to make a press trip. Sadly, I was not part of this but it did give me a chance to get some more shots. The winds meant they were doing a southerly departure and I didn’t anticipate them climbing too fast when babying these old engines. They certainly didn’t climb aggressively! They kept it nice and low while cleaning up the gear and were still very low when they came past me. It was ideal. They then put in a surprisingly aggressive turn downwind where they kept it low enough that they were behind the trees.

I decided to try for something different for the next return. I headed to the end of the runway to try for some shots directly underneath the plane. It is a tricky place to shoot with buildings in the way for a while and more power lines than is ideal. Still, it provides a cool perspective and something a little different. I was very pleased with the success rate of the shots because, while you are shooting at a wide angle, there is a lot of relative motion.

Once on the ground, the plane was going nowhere for a few days until the paid flights started at the end of the week. There would be another encounter. I got to see it one day as it flew over the city but I did make a more deliberate effort to shoot it again. More to come…

Stinson Reliant – Don’t Go Too Soon

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Sometimes my poor choices can help other people out. I made a trip down to Auburn to see the Stinson Reliant that the local chapter of the Commemorative Air Force has. They were having an open day but the conditions were not looking great. I got there as things were opening up and had a look around the plane while they prepped it to run. Then they fired it up and ran the engine for a while before shutting down. At this point, the rain was thinking about starting up and I decided to call it quits.

This was just what everyone else needed. I got a call as I was heading north again. My friend Bob told me they were looking to go flying. I was tempted to turn around and go back but decided not to. I had some other things I wanted to see and felt the conditions were likely to mean that they skipped the flying. I was clearly wrong. My friends got a bunch of nice shots of the plane flying. I have to make do with it on the ground for now.

Navion Rangemaster

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The Navion is a type that you see a fair bit around the US. They are a popular aircraft and are both used for private flying and also sometimes for display teams. I’ve shot a bunch of them over the years. However, I did not know until very recently that Ryan, when they took over the design, came up with a larger cabin version of the aircraft called the Rangemaster. I only found out because I happened to shoot one at Paine Field. It was only when I looked it up that I found out what it was. I may have seen one before but I certainly didn’t know it if I did. A quick search shows that there weren’t too many of them built and I guess a lot less are currently airworthy.

Long EZ Action

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There is a Rutan Long EZ that lives at Arlington and flies pretty regularly. The Long EZ is a fun plane just because it is so different from the average. The tandem cockpit is not unique – there are plenty of RVs that give you that – but combine it with the rear wing and the fore plane plus the wing tip fins and you have a far more interesting configuration. Consequently, I want to find some times to get good shots of it.

The one at Arlington has flown a few times while I was there, and I have got these shots. However, I haven’t really got something of it that I really like yet. Let’s hope for a combination of good weather and timing and maybe I shall get something I am more pleased with. In the meantime, I shall continue to get what I can.

Vashon Rangers

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I had never heard of a Vashon Ranger before I looked up the registration of one I saw flying up here in the Pacific Northwest. On this day, a couple of them were out flying and, while it isn’t the most sleek shape or the highest performer, it is a different little beast and therefore worthy of attention. I will have to do some research about the company behind them and how many there are but I imagine I shall see more of them around.

Floatplane 185

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This Cessna 185 looked in great condition and any plane on floats is going to get my attention anyway. The buzz saw sound of a 185 as it takes off will definitely get your attention but it is not so intrusive when it returns. Having some nice winter light on it was a good thing and floats just make any place look better.

Is This Pitts Special?

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But of course it is! This Pitts lives at Arlington and I got to get some time watching its owner doing some pattern work. He ran it up near where I was prior to getting airborne and then proceeded to fly around the circuit for a while. Generally the approaches were a continuous turning descent which made for some top side views. Of course, the Pitts is not a large plane so, even with a long lens, it was still a bit small in the viewfinder but enough to get some reasonable shots.