Tag Archives: united airlines

The Return of the DC-8 and Max 10 After the Storm

There was an evening when the weather was awful and the NASA DC-8 was out on a mission.  The forecast suggested things might get a bit clearer late in the afternoon and so, while the light was awful, I thought I might take a chance and head to Paine Field after work.  The sky was dark and ominous but I was there so I might as well wait.  As the Max 10 was first on approach, it was the one I would try out first.  There was a hint of the sun starting to punch through the cloud and it did look okay.

Then, when the DC-8 showed up, the clouds parted.  The backdrop was still and evil looking sky but the sun was on the plane as it came down the approach.  I had thought of shooting video but, when I saw the light, I couldn’t resist shooting stills.  The joy of modern cameras is the ability to switch rapidly from one to the other.  I got video down the initial approach and then stills as it was close in.  Then back to video once it was by me.  This actually didn’t make for a bad video edit.

A moment with light like this is very rare and you have to be excited when it all works out.

United’s 737-10 Being Used for SAF Tests

The NASA DC-8 was up in the Pacific Northwest for the trials sampling the air when burning sustainable aviation fuel.  The aircraft that was actually burning the fuel that they were sniffing was a 737-10.  This Max 10 is ultimately destined for United Airlines.  Since the Max 10 is not certificated yet, I guess the jet was free for Boeing to use.  It had a special livery for the trials program.  Not sure whether this will be kept for service or not.  However, when I was shooting the DC-8, I usually got to shoot the Max as well.  It didn’t always get the best light, but I still got a few good shots of it.

United’s First Max10 (Sort Of)

I saw this jet on the flight line at Renton a while back.  It is a 737-10 and is the first one to be in the colors of United Airlines.  It will probably be their first jet in service (assuming the 737-10 ever gets certificated) but, in truth, the development jets are also going to United (again assuming that ever happens) so they are really United’s first jets.  However, you get the gist of what I am saying.

What Is The Story With This Reverser?

I was scanning through some photos from my travels to Oregon with Mark and came across some photos of a United Airlines 737-700 landing at PDX.  It was braking and had the reversers deployed.  Looking at the shots, there is a dark burn mark on the engine nacelle that is split either side of the join in the reverser.  It looks like something has been cooked a little.  Anyone with experience that can suggest what has been going on with this engine?

Battle Of The Alliances

The creation of the airline alliances has allowed airlines to serve a wider range of routes than they could sustain themselves.  Part of their obligation as a member of the alliance is to have some of their aircraft painted in alliance colors.  Sadly, these liveries are not that exciting but I suppose it is some variety.  I was quite surprised to get an Air France 777-300ER in SkyTeam colors vacating the runway at the same time a United 777-200ER in Star Alliance colors was taxiing the opposite direction.  I felt like the scene for a stand off but no such thing occurred.

Two Max Jets on Test But Only One Works!

One evening, while at BFI, a couple of Max test aircraft taxied out.  One was painted up in Fly Dubai colors and the other was still in primer although the rudder seemed to indicate that it will be a United jet when delivered.  They both taxied out and then held on the taxiway.  The primer jet was second in line and held for ages.  Eventually, it took the intersection on to the runway and backtracked to the Boeing ramp.  No idea what the issue was but it clearly wasn’t ready to fly.  Their colleagues took off a short while before in their, apparently serviceable, jet.