A Tree Trunk Supporting Sea Life

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The Pacific Northwest shorelines are strewn with tree trunk. Whether they have been washed in to the see or are strays from the logging business, doesn’t matter. There are tons of them everywhere. This one was on Cannon Beach. I have no idea where it originally came from but it had washed up here at some point and got quite established in the sand. The surface of the wood had become the home of a multitude of sea creatures. It was festooned with them. I wonder how much they depend on it staying there or, if it gets washed out again in the next storm, they would be in trouble.

A Singaporean DHL 777F

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The only 777s coming out of Everett at the moment are freighters. This can mean unusual airlines but not usually and I don’t head up there terribly often at the moment. However, one of the jets on test recently was destined for DHL’s operations in Singapore. Consequently, it is a hybrid of the DHL and Singapore markings. It seemed worth a look and it helped that they had taken off mid afternoon and were due back after work.

A few photographers had showed up for this arrival as was expected. At this time of year, even early evening is not the best of the light, but it was pretty good. They could be seen out as they set up for approach with Mount Rainier in the background. They touched down with the sound of the RAT buzzing in the background. I was ready to go and headed for the car, but I heard a shout from Royal and Nick that it was coming back. Sure enough, they had taxied back to do one further acceleration and abort on the runway, so we got a second chance at some shots.

How Green Is Diablo Lake?

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The water running out of the mountains along the North Cascade Highway brings a lot of sediment with it. The result of this is that the rivers and lakes that form along the route of the pass have a distinct green color to them. The Skagit River in Newhalem has a clear green color to it. However, the more dramatic demonstration of this coloration is visible at Diablo Lake. This lake that is formed behind Diablo Dam has a very green appearance. It looks like it must have been created artificially but it is just the result of carrying the minerals down from the mountains above. Of course, a polarizer does a good job of highlighting the color when the reflections are removed.

Inside the JetStars

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I have posted about the JetStars that were stored at Klamath Falls. There were three airframes that we got a chance to check out. We were given a great opportunity because they also opened up the jets so we could look around inside. It was fun poking around inside what was once the premier form of executive transport. It was also interesting to see the difference in the configurations with things like the throttle quadrants looking very different between the jets.

They are being broken down for the key parts that still have value so most of this stuff will either be sold or scrapped but here are some views of the interiors of these three elegant jets.

Italian Day At Exotics Again

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The schedule for Exotics@RTC has been erratic this year. They have had to scrub a bunch of events as a result of the poor weather. However, with summer finally arriving in the Pacific Northwest, they have had a run of successful gatherings. One of these was their Italian Day. I have been to this before and it is always a fun event with a lot of interesting vehicles. It was going to worth going again.

The center of the venue was packed as usual. Plenty of Ferraris and Lamborghinis to look at. Not as much variety in the Ferraris as in some previous events but still a lot of good looking cars. These are nice to see but it is perhaps more fun to spot the oddities that show up. I was interested in how many Alfa Romeo Spiders were in attendance and just have different they could be. I guess the Spider stayed in production for a long time and the design evolved a lot over that time. Annoyingly, I didn’t seem to get any good shots of them. There were plenty of other Alfas, though as well as some older Ferraris. These shots are a sample of what was on display.

The First Korean P-8

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The US Navy continues to take deliveries of the P-8 Poseidon jets but they are getting close to the end of their production run. Meanwhile, export customers continue to be receiving their jets. The latest customer to have an aircraft show up on the flight line is the Republic of Korea’s navy. Their first jet flew from Renton to Boeing Field a while back and then went in to the fit out process for a while. It is now out on the flight line and undergoing test.

I have managed to get a few shots of it so far. It is marked up quite colorfully so it looks better than the average jet coming off the line. We shall see how long it stays around here before it gets delivered to Korea. There will be others following it down the line too. New Zealand is the next customer to get its first jet so we shall see how long it is before that jet makes to move to BFI and then is fitted out.

Fields Of Lavender

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Nothing like making a mistake and having it work out better than your original plan. We were driving across San Juan Island after visiting Roche Harbor heading to Lime Kiln State Park. We had been discussing the lavender festival taking place at Sequim during the day but it was not close enough that we were seriously considering a visit. I thought I knew the route to the park but I managed to miss the turning and, after going for a while, realized the mistake.

I put the destination in to the GPS and it told me that my turning was coming up. As we headed back in the right direction, we came around a corner to see a purple field in front of us. A rapid turn off and we checked out this lavender farm. It was not on a road we would otherwise have used that day so we really were lucky to see it.

They have two main types of lavender that they farm but there was a pick your own field in which there were dozens of varieties. I had never thought about different types of lavender before visiting this place! There were pathways throughout the fields so it was easy to wander through looking at the patterns that the plants made as they were grown. Too close and you could see too much of the orderliness and the raised beds and irrigation system. However, stay back a little and it all blended together nicely.

What Is The Story With This Reverser?

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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?

Baby Catfish En Masse

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I am no specialist on fish (or any other wildlife for that matter) so, if I have got this wrong, please feel free to correct me in the comments. I was down at Juanita Bay seeing what wildlife was out an about. I was on one of the boardwalks and looking in to the water to see if there was anything in there. I saw a black mass seeming to pulse and move. I was confused as to what it might be but the long lens gave me a clearer view of things. It was a massive amount of baby fish.

My previous disclaimer comes in to effect here. I think they were catfish based on the shape of the mouth and the barbs but that could be totally wrong. Let’s assume for now that they were. There was hundreds of them, if not thousands. They were moving around furiously but staying closely packed together for safety. The group would gradually move around and migrate through the plant life. Occasionally, a group would split off into a second section and then later they would somehow find each other again and regroup. They looked almost alien as they swirled and moved. I did take stills, as you can clearly see, but video seemed like the better way to convey the impression that they left.

B-17 In Pieces

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Erickson has a B-17 as part of its collection. However, while Ye Olde Pub was sitting outside during my visit, there was a second B-17 on site. This is Thunderbird and it is undergoing some major airframe work. The fuselage was sitting on stands directly in front of you when you entered the hangar. The wings and empennage were in racks around it.

I don’t know what the schedule is for sorting out this aircraft but people seemed to be busy working on it so I assume it will be back in the air before too long. I did enjoy sneaking around trying to find good views of all of the parts that were stored awaiting their return to their rightful place on the airframe. Madras is quite a hike for me but it might be good to go back when they get the plane back in the air. It sounds like the sort of thing that Matt Booty might get down to photograph. Maybe I can be his assistant!