This 737 Max 8 was flying a few missions from BFI shortly before I left the region. At first I figured it was just another jet that, while in Ural’s colors, was likely going to another airline and needed to be repainted. However, when it taxied by me, I noticed it had an “experimental” marking on the fuselage. Then I saw that it had some instrumentation mounted in one of the windows. Apparently, it is doing something different. No idea what it is and I probably will never know.
Honeywell has a 757 testbed that I have seen a number of times but it was die back to Paine Field late last year and I was keen to see it again. I headed up there for its arrival and it was getting close to Everett while I was nervously looking at the sky. The weather was a bit crummy and I feared it would come in when the light was awful. Then the jet headed off in a totally different direction.
I don’t know what was going on but they turned off towards Puget Sound and ended up maneuvering in the area to the northwest of the airfield. Meanwhile, the conditions started to improve. Now I started to welcome the time they were spending doing something unknown out over the water. As the sun started to poke out from behind the clouds, I was willing them to wait a little longer. Not too long, of course. It’s the Pacific Northwest and things can change again rapidly.
Finally they turned back towards Everett and it was clear that, this time, they meant it. The light was now really nice and I could see the jet turn in to the approach from a long way out. As they came down the approach, I realized that my initial impatience with them disappearing off into he distance was misplaced and that I was going to get some better shots as a result. Before long, they were on short final and we had some shots. I did then head around to the ramp overlook at the FBO to see if I could get a good shot of the jet which I could!
I had made a trip early one Sunday to Boeing Field to catch a couple of departures. One of them had left earlier than expected and was gone when I got there. While waiting for the next one, I was sitting in the car on a Zoom call with my family. I was parked somewhere where it was possible to make out through the fence what was the other side, but it had plastic filaments in the fencing which obscured things to some extent.
I was busy chatting away when I saw the shape of something taxiing across the runway from the FBO which looked both unusual and also familiar. I jumped out of the car, grabbed the camera and climbed the ladder to grab a shot as the Scaled Composites 401 finished crossing the runway and turned away up the taxiway. I last saw one of these aircraft at their home base of Mojave in California.
While I had missed the crossing shot of the runway, the flow was to the south so I knew the jet would be coming back my way when it took off. I was bothered that I was far enough down the runway that it could well be quite high by the time it reached me. It got to the hold point on taxiway bravo and then sat there for ages. The tension was painful.
Finally, it lined up and started its takeoff run. Sure enough, it was quickly off the ground, but good news was to follow. The pilot had decided to keep it nice and low – possibly to give a good view to the people over at the FBO that were watching the departure. That meant I got a nice landlocked image as it came by before climbing out swiftly. What a great surprise.
Testbed aircraft are the sort of thing I like to see and, when Intelsat brought their CRJ to Seattle, I was hoping to catch it. Sadly, its arrival and some initial flying were not at good times, so I didn’t get to shoot it. Then it was due out when I was heading to SEA for a trip of my own. However, the conditions were awful, and I could barely make it out in the gloom as it got airborne. Cameras – even with really modern tech – struggle to focus on something that is barely visible in the mist. I did have one last chance when it was taking off, but I was at the terminal at the time and could barely get some shots of it as it taxied and took off. After that, it left. I was frustrated throughout its time here. Will it return?
The arrival of a Gulfstream III would be a good reason to head out in any circumstances but, when that GIII is one operated by Calspan, it definitely is worth a look. It was due to come to Paine Field but only for a very brief stop before heading back across the country. Why it was there I have no idea. It was due in early in the day so I was actually hoping for overcast weather since I would be on the wrong side for the sun. Of course, the sun burst through just as it lined up for approach. Nevertheless, it was still possible to get a reasonable shot of it.
I then headed off to the departure end to be ready for it to go. I did stop by the terminal to shoot it on the ramp but, when I saw one of the crew remove a chock, I didn’t hang around and got the departure end. The sun did last a little, so I had some nice light on it as it got airborne. The wind was very strong that day, so they were off pretty rapidly and climbing steeply. Of course, the sun was obscured as they got closer to me but what can you do?
Boeing flew the EcoDemonstrator 777 from Paine Field for a while last year. I managed to be up there for the return late in the day, but the conditions were not that great. Having shot the plane at other times, I decided that the stills option was probably not the right one to take. They would not look that interesting. Instead, I decided to shoot some video of its return. Since going mirrorless, video shooting is so much easier because I can continue to hold the camera up to my eye as I would if shooting stills. It makes for a (slightly) more stable platform so a little less camera shake.
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?
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.
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!
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!
