Tag Archives: testbed

Sampling the Air in Detail

The time that the NASA DC-8 spent up in the Pacific Northwest was a ton of fun for the aviation enthusiasts.  Since I did get to shoot the jet a few times, I got some closer shots of the airframe to show the various sensors that cover the jet and are used for the sampling work that has been its specialization.  There are plenty of them on the top, sides and bottom of the airframe.  Here are some shots.  I wonder what will replace the jet and whether it will have a similar array of probes?

Finally, I Catch the NASA DC-8

I have not done well in my previous efforts to photograph NASA’s DC-8 environmental sampling aircraft.  I had taken some distant overhead images when I was down at Star Wars Canyon and had hoped to see it fly at the air show at Edwards AFB last year.  Sadly, that didn’t happen as it was down for some maintenance issues.  With it due for retirement soon, I figured that might have been it.  However, I was chatting to some friends a while back and they informed me that it was due to come up to Everett for about ten days of flying in November.

This proved to be the case.  A program with Boeing as part of their EcoDemonstrator program had a new 737-10 that is ultimately destined for United (if the Max 10 ever gets certificated) flying with sustainable aviation fuel and the DC-8 flying behind it to sample the air, identify the emissions particles and measure the types of contrails formed but the different elements of the fuels.  The Max 10 was painted in a special livery which included the EcoDemonstrator Explorer program name.

The DC-8 was operating from Paine Field for the trials.  I was not able to get it arriving, but it was there long enough that I didn’t miss out.  These shots are from the first time I was able to see it getting ready to fly and heading out.  Over the course of the time it was here, I had further encounters and some of those are worthy of their own posts.  Consequently, there will be more to share of this fantastic relic of a bygone era in passenger aviation.

Sabreliner Duo Passing Through

The large exercise that was taking place in Alaska attracted a lot of unusual types and I have posted about the Hunters and the Northrop Grumman testbed heading up there already.  They weren’t the only ones, though.  Paine Field had a couple of transients too with a pair of Sabreliner jets heading north.  This vintage bizjet is a pretty agile type and Clay Lacy used to display one on the air show circuit.  These two had an interesting pod mounted under the front fuselage – presumably for some sort of electronic warfare role.  I was able to head up to Paine Field that weekend to get them as they arrived.  I didn’t have the time to get them departing although they weren’t around for long – just getting some fuel and then heading onwards.

They did route back through Paine Field when the exercise was done so I was able to get a second go at shooting them then but the conditions were much as before, so the shots are not too different.  I did take a bit of a chance with my shots by dropping the shutter speed down pretty low to try and get some good motion blur – always a risk when shooting something new!

Lucky Encounters With NG’s Testbed

This is a continuation of my string of good luck.  I was back at Boeing Field awaiting the G700 movements.  I had headed down to the south end of the field and was glancing at FlightRadar24 when I saw a CRJ700 on the display making a track that looked like it was coming to BFI.  Normally, aircraft like that show up with a call sign/flight number rather than just as a CRJ.  For some reason, I thought this might be an unusual CRJ and my mind jumped to the Northrop Grumman testbeds.

I had missed them once at BFI before when one took off while I was over at the museum.  Having seen the BAC-111 testbed many years ago, I wanted to catch this one.  I decided to try and get to the other end to see what it was just in case.  The road along the airfield is not well suited to swift travel but I was patient as I figured there was just enough time.  I made it to the other end and grabbed the camera quickly.  Barely any time passed and then there it was.  It was indeed one of the NG testbeds.  Result!

I hung out for a while before deciding to head back to the other end.  Nothing interesting was due in so I figured I’d see what was departing.  When I got back, I pulled up FR24 just to see what was moving on the field and, lo and behold, the CRJ was up at the hold, ready to go.  Rapidly out of the car, grab camera and, just as I am ready, here it comes.  This was a continuation of my string of good luck.  It’s all going well.  Then I see that some Sabreliners are heading north.  The streak continues!

Century Circle

I got to the gate for Antelope Valley Air Show 2022 early in the morning.  We were lined up outside the security gate for Edwards AFB waiting for the time things opened up.  I was on the phone so was happy to sit in the car for a while chatting.  When I finished my call, I could see that I was a short distance away from Century Circle – a display of various aircraft associated with Edwards.  Nothing was moving so I figured I would walk up and have a look around.  I had got most of the way there when it looked like cars were starting to move. I rapidly retraced my steps to the car and we drove on to the base.

At the end of the show, I was coming back out the same gate so decided to see if it was possible to pull in and see the aircraft on display.  Indeed, there were no barriers and Iw as able to park up and have a walk around the various exhibits.  The name, Century Circle, is a reference to how many of the jets are Century Series fighters.  There is going to be a museum for the Air Force flight test center and the base for the building was not far from the aircraft.  I will be interesting to see what the museum is like when it is finished and how many of the other interesting aircraft that are currently on base will be included.

Of the jets on display, my favorites are the F-106, the F-105 and the F-104.  Nicely sequential now I think about it.  There is an F-102 which I have never been so keen on and this one is a two seater which takes a place that didn’t look that great and makes it worse.  Still, vintage jets on display is a good thing and I shouldn’t be critical of what is on offer.

The one plane that is a bit of an oddball is the McDonnell Douglas YC-15.  This was a program the USAF ran for a new jet transport to replace the C-130.  Boeing and McDonnell Douglas both built demonstrators for the program but neither was taken to production.  However, there are a lot of features from the YC-15 that will be familiar to observers of the C-17.  Having a transport jet alongside the sleek fighters is a little unusual but it is a rare beast and worthy of preservation.  Thankfully, the dry desert atmosphere is a place that will allow the airframe to survive for many years.

Scaled Composites 401

The day after I went to the Edwards show, I was hanging around the area and headed up to Mojave to see whether Stratolaunch was going to move.  It didn’t, which was disappointing but the time up there was not wasted.  I got to shoot some stuff around the airport that I hadn’t previously and I went to the north end to look down the runway in case anything was moving.  I saw that a Western Global 747 was coming in and decided to head to the south end to get it arriving.  As I left, an L39 took off to the north.  I should have paid more attention to it.

I short while later – once I was well away, it was followed by a more interesting plane that it was acting as chase for.  A Scaled Composite 401 known by a variety of names including Son of Ares.  To miss that climbing out past me was bad.  It got worse when I realized the 747 had approached from the north so I missed it anyway.  I wasn’t going to make the same mistake when the 401 returned.

I did have to wait for quite a while.  They were undertaking flights at altitude and running racetrack patterns.  I could get the occasional distant shot as they went overhead.  Eventually the L39 returned and I figured it wound’s be too long before the 401 was back.  I had picked a spot on Google Maps that looked promising for the approach.  As I waited, I realized some other photographers were on the other side of the road and closer to the centerline.  I wondered about moving but also didn’t want to miss it while I did so.  I stayed where I was.  A bit distant but still worth it for an unusual type.  It has been seen at Boeing Field but not by me!

P1A Tucked In The Back

The Boscombe collection has a couple of interesting testbed airframes.  The Avro 707 was in a previous post but another fine jet is the English Electric P1A.  The precursor to what was to become the Lightning, the P1A is very similar in some respects but quite different in others.  The nose is a pitot inlet without the shock cone that the Lightning adopted to house its radar.  The rest of the front fuselage has quite a different shape while it also feels lower to the ground than the Lightning was.  It is nice that a Lightning front fuselage is displayed alongside it for comparison.

Avro 707

The development of the Vulcan required a lot of concept testing before the full size jets were built.  Avro built a series of smaller scale delta winged jets to work out some of the issues under the name Avro 707.  One of these lives at Old Sarum in the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection.  It is painted a bright orange color and, while tucked in a dark hangar, it still looks striking.  It would be great to get some elevation to show off the delta planform of the jet but still happy to have managed to see it.  I was rather close to it so needed to shoot a variety of shots to stitch together afterwards which only worked so well.

Honeywell Testbed and a Very Rainy Day

Over six months ago, the Honeywell Boeing 757 testbed ferried from Phoenix – its home base – to Paine Field for maintenance work at ATS. I don’t know whether there were mods to be done too but, with a jet like this, that wouldn’t seem to be a stretch.  I only found out it was there when I saw it outside the ATS hangars one time.  I figured this was one to watch since it would have to go home at some point.

Whether there was a ton to be done or whether COVID delayed progress, I don’t know.  However, it stayed at ATS for a long time.  I had an alert on it should a flight plan be filed but nothing happened.  I talked to other people up there and we all wondered when it would move.  Then, finally a flight plan was filed for a flight coming back to Paine Field.  This was good news since it would mean taxi shots, departure and arrival.  I headed up.  First flight after a long layup is not likely to go smoothly and the time for departure kept slipping and slipping.  Eventually, later in the day, the flight disappeared off FlightAware.

A few days later, up it popped online again.  Unfortunately, this time it was a flight direct to Phoenix so redelivery.  That was unfortunate.  So was the fact that we were experiencing some torrential rains.  However, this is a rare one so I headed up.  As per the last time, the departure time slipped a bit but then it pulled on to the taxiway heading for the runway.  Amazingly, the rain had abated and it looked very promising.  I got out of the car and walked to the bank to get some shots.  At some point, I began to feel some rain drops.  Then I felt what seemed to be the stream from a fire hose.  The rain came pummeling down and I was instantly soaked.  At this point, I was wet so no point heading back to the car.

When they got to the hold point, they stayed around for a while.  Then someone came to the door on our side and opened it.  I imagine they were getting pretty wet doing this since I was.  As it sat there at low power, it was still pulling a vortex into the inlet of one of the engines.  Maybe there was a door open warning but they closed it again and then pulled towards the active runway.  The plane is covered in graphics pointing at parts of the airframe that have Honeywell technology installed.  Its most distinguishing feature, though, is the pylon mounted on the side of the front fuselage on which turboprop engines can be mounted for airborne testing.  No engines are there at the moment but the pylon itself is pretty substantial.  Coming towards us and then lining up, we had the pylon on our. Side.  They powered up and disappeared in to the gloom as they climbed out heading home to Phoenix.

New Rolls Royce Testbed

One of the things I was interested to see at Moses Lake was the new testbed being fitted out for Rolls Royce.  Rolls currently has a Boeing 747-200 that they use for airborne testing of their engines.  I shot it at Tucson and posted about it here.  They recently acquired a 747-400 from Qantas to use as a testbed and it was moved to Moses Lake for conversion by Aerotec.  I don’t know the timescales for the conversion process but it will be interesting to see it when ready in house colors and hopefully with a big engine installed on one of the inboard pylons.