As we drove across Bainbridge Island, we took a road that passed by a very attractive inlet. This was Eagle Harbor. At the time, I only appreciated it at the last moment and we were already passed. However, we did come back along the same road so, this time I slowed down and found a place to pull in and look around. It was a tranquil spot to hang out for a few minutes. However, we were heading to other places so I didn’t stay to appreciate it for long.
Paine Field held an open day which included some flying from the local aircraft. The Heritage Flight Museum had a number of the aircraft taking part including their B-25, Grumpy. On one of the takeoffs, they used a technique that was reminiscent of the Doolittle Raid. They applied power and full back controls to lift the nosewheel from the ground and roll down the runway in a wheelie. It was quite an interesting thing to see.
How long was it going to be before a post about being in Seattle included fish flying through the air at Pike Place Market? You knew it had to come at some point so here we go. The weekend we were there, the place was pretty packed. Tons of people were there so getting into a good spot was not particularly easy. Moreover, you don’t know when they are going to start throwing something. It depends on when someone orders something.
It is actually pretty dark inside the market so getting a good shot is trickier than I expected. The fish fly fast so you want a higher shutter speed. The ISO gets ramped up and you have to try and track the flight while in amongst the crowd with limited ability to move. Hardly the best situation but, if you want a shot, it is what you need to do. Of course, the bigger problem is that, just when you give up and wander away, they start calling out another order and you have to try and get back into a good spot quickly. That is the toughest challenge!
I keep spoiling Pete with some of his favorites. I hope he appreciates this one. You don’t see a lot of Piper Aerostars about. It is a quite unusual aircraft, apparently designed originally for possible conversion to a jet in future versions. However, the piston version is the only one that was produced. The empennage is quite unlike most similar aircraft. The one I saw was looking like it was very well taken care of. The paint was certainly in great condition. It landed at Paine Field and taxied off to park. I understand it is something of a regular so I will hopefully see it again.
There are four tigers at Cougar Mountain Zoo. They are in two pairs and they move them between enclosures to give them some variety in their surroundings. They were pretty active compared to tigers I have seen in other places. They spent a lot of time checking out where they were. Of course, being cats, they also enjoyed lying around for some of the time. The staff also did a demonstration with them when they showed how they carry out physical examinations for the cats when necessary.
The tigers would come up to the fence and would stand up on their hind legs with their paws up on the fencing. This allows the staff to CA them out from the safety of being behind the fence. It is a good opportunity to realize just how big a tiger really is. Those paws are something and, if you were in there with them, you can see how easily they would dispatch you!
The small pack of wolves at Cougar Mountain Zoo were quite something to watch. They had a variety of territories in their enclosure and they moved between them frequently. They did patrol the area near the visitors to keep tabs on what was going on. There was a very distinct hierarchy in the pack. The alpha male was very obvious. A number of them seemed to be at a secondary level and one seemed to be the most passive in the group, often staying away from rest. He didn’t seem to have any problems but did not get in the way of the others.
The alpha was a great looking wolf. When compared to the others, there was even something about the face that made you know he was in charge. He had a look that suggested he was constantly assessing things. It is easy to project human emotions on to animals but something about this guy made you think that he didn’t have time for the fun stuff and he was always on guard. He looked great.
It doesn’t matter whether a sunny day is a hot day or not. Get a bunch of kids somewhere near a fountain and they will be running through it in a heartbeat. When the air temperature is not that high, I guess the water temperature is probably not going to be much different. That doesn’t matter though. I think when you are a kid, you don’t care about stuff like that so much. Instead, you run through the water and have fun!
Antonov 124s make a regular appearance at Paine Field. Boeing obviously receives a lot of shipments which I am guessing may be engine deliveries. Plenty of the flights come from Columbus OH which is near a GE plant and the GE90-115 fan is too big for most freighters when installed. However, it could be for something else. Anyway, I got one coming in to Everett recently. Paine Field is a popular field for light aircraft so you get a lot of them flying patterns on the main runway. One called up on final when the Ruslan was turning on to final. They made it in without any trouble but it was quite amusing to see the little plane on final with the unmistakable silhouette of the Antonov not far behind.
While on the hunt for a different aircraft, I was getting some shots of the aircraft coming in to SeaTac from the south. I was pleased to see a FedEx jet showing up on FlightRadar24 but it seemed to be rather close to another plane. It turns out they were scheduling them in on roughly parallel approaches and the FedEx was going to the center runway – not near me. I was a bit annoyed and the view of the center was a bit obscured from where I was. Haze was also going to be a problem – plus the odd power line. However, there was one upside. Mount Rainier is in that direction so, while the shot wasn’t what I wanted, it wasn’t a total loss.
At the bottom end of Lake Union is the Museum of History and Industry. It is located in a building that used to be a Navy facility. I think the Navy had a building spree in a short time as a lot of their building have a similar architectural style. The buildings on Treasure Island in San Francisco that I covered previously here seem to have some similar styles.
The museum looks to have some interesting exhibits but, we were there on a sunny day and enjoying the outside. I shall return to check things out on a more rainy day. Do they have those here?
