Tag Archives: seattle

First of the Weekend Flyovers – The F-35C

The Navy brought three F-35Cs to Boeing Field to provide a flyover for one of the UW Huskies’ games. It would have been great to catch them landing but that wasn’t possible, but the game was on a Saturday that I was free, so I headed out to catch them. The conditions were really nice with that sort of fall lighting that can be so welcome. Two jets were going to do the flyover so the spare could wait on the ramp.

They got airborne long in advance of the game itself. Whether this was to allow a little sightseeing or to buy time if there was a need to jump to the spare, I don’t know. I did decide to get some video as they taxied out since it showed off the wings being unfolded. The video is below and is actually a combination of two different departures.

I haven’t seen much of the Charlie models of the F-35 so was happy to have these jets operating locally. The motor in the F-35 is a big one and the take off is not subtle – they do seem to come out of burner pretty early, though. I guess that much power gets you going fast enough pretty quickly. I picked my mid field location for the take offs to get a reasonable angle on the jets as they rotated and climbed out. Then it was time to relocate.

The return of the jets after the flyover had been completed gave the opportunity to get some touchdown shots which I had missed from the day they arrived in Seattle. More good light so all was well. They stayed overnight and then headed back home the following day. A different flyover was happening that day which will be a different post but, in the meantime, there are some bonus shots of the three jets heading back to base.

Departures Off the Parallel

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Having made the FOD Walk at Boeing Field before, I missed it the next year but did it again this year. I saw a few of the local aircraft operating from the short runway while the long runway was closed for us. Since I was on the south end this year, I wasn’t as close to the runway as last time, but I still got a good view of the passing planes as they climbed out.

Nothing to Say Other Than It’s an Avanti

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No shock to any regular reader that I found a way to photograph another Avanti. Just some good fortune about when it showed up at Boeing Field and that the light was playing ball when it had been rainy for a good portion of the time. I was able to be there to catch it and would have loved to have been there for departure too, but you take what you can get.

Growlers Head Home Together

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During Seafair, the USN Growlers from Whidbey Island did a display earlier in the schedule. Once they were done, the jets headed home in midafternoon. They didn’t have a long trip home so getting back to base was probably a simple call. What made it better was that they undertook a section departure and the view from the tower was really cool. The tricky thing about a section departure from a photographic point of view is which plane to track. Which one looks dominant in the shot early on and which is dominant later in the pass? It changes but tracking is harder to switch. Small problem, I know, but a little tricky.

Fifi Shows Up in Seattle

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Since we have lived in the Northwest, we have had a visit from a B-29. That was Doc with Fifi’s previous visits having predated my arrival. I had seen Fifi elsewhere in the US but, when I heard that the CAF was bringing her up, I was looking forward to seeing her. She was due to arrive early in the week and then sit around until undertaking some rides at the end of the week. She was coming up from California and arriving at the end of the day, which meant I had a chance to be there.

A B-29 is not speedy so you can track her progress and know you have enough time. When they arrived, they did request an overhead break by ATC was unable to comply. When we saw her out on the approach, she seemed to be doing something odd. Apparently, they had got too close to the preceding aircraft (although it was a bizjet and she is a lot slower, so I am not sure how that happened). The result was that they broke off the approach and made an orbit before resuming the approach.

After that, things were pretty normal. She came down the approach with some nice evening light. The rumble of those engines as she came by was impressive and then she was flaring for landing. I was optimistic about trying a variety of angles the following weekend when she was due to undertake the rides. Directly under the approach path was one I had in mind. Sadly, one of the crew had to return home and they didn’t have enough for the rides to be carried out, so she sat on the ground for almost the entire visit.

777-300ER High Lift Flows

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Regular followers of the blog will know of my aerodynamics background and the fascination I have with fluid flows. Anything that shows it off will pique my interest. The damp conditions that the Pacific Northwest offers can, if the light is nice, provide a good show on a plane that is configured for landing. Plenty of flap angle and low speeds will drop the pressure and condense the moisture. This Qatar Airways 777-300ER was coming over SODO on its was into SEA when I shot it. Plenty of moisture over the flap system and some conspicuous trailing vortices. Just the sort of thing this guy loves.

The Seals They Be a Frolicking

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On a sunny weekend afternoon at Ballard Locks, we were treated to a lot of seal activity. The salmon were not running so I am not sure why the seals were there in such numbers, but they were. Two in particular, seemed to be having a bunch of fun together. They were playing a lot – occasionally pausing to just cruise around before getting back into their play. Everyone was fascinated and I imagine there was a lot of cell phone footage of them from that day.

A Rainy Sunday But it is an Avanti

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This part of the world is not known for its great weather. Actually, we can have some really nice conditions, but it is true that it will rain here from time to time. That might be a disincentive to going out to photograph planes but, when it is an Avanti and I don’t have something else on, I might well sneak out.

This one is the one that does live in the area, but Boeing Field is not its regular spot, and BFI does allow some good locations to get shots, so I headed off. Sure, it was damp and dismal, but I wanted to get something of this plane again. It was on the Modern ramp which was a possible shot without the heat haze. Then it taxied out and took off to the south, so I got a distant rotation shot and then a closer look on the climb. What a great plane.

Departure of the USAF F-35A Demo

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Being up the tower at BFI during Seafair was a fantastic opportunity. I have photographed a bunch of F-35A departures at Boeing Field in recent years, but an elevated location was hard to beat. The A and B jets were parked together on the far side of the field so a little distant for a clean shot but, as they taxied out, it was still worth a go. Passing the Golden Knights jumpship and all of the people watching from the ramp was also rather cool to see.

The takeoff is a brutal affair. The power of that engine is impressive and, as they got airborne and held it low, you knew that anyone at the north end of the field was in for a treat as they blasted across the airfield perimeter. Looking down on the jet was epic. I was taking a chance with some lower shutter speeds but letting the camera make up for my lack of skill by letting me have a lot of shots to choose from. What a moment of sensory overload!

Embraer’s Colorful Demonstrator

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Embraer developed a new generation of their E190/E195 family to take advantage of the latest generation of engines. The E2 versions of the jets have been quite successful (while the smaller version hasn’t sold, and I think the program is on pause). Embraer has liked to market the jet as the Profit Hunter and has taken to painting their demonstrators up in dramatic liveries to reflect hunting. There was a lion, and the current version incorporates an eagle’s head around the cockpit.

They were taking the jet to Asia for some customer demos, and it routed through Seattle. Initially it came up from Mexico to Boeing Field before continuing on to Anchorage and then across the Pacific. The return came back through Boeing Field and on to Florida before heading home to Brazil. I managed to catch it a little but not always how I would have liked. Still, it was interesting to see it as a different livery always make an airliner look better and this type has not sold in the US, so it is a bit of a novelty for now.