Category Archives: aircraft

It’s ISAP Time Again

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wpid4590-C59F3417.jpgOnce again the annual symposium of ISAP, the International Society of Aviation Photographers is back around. This year it is being held up in Seattle. It is always a good chance to meet up with old friends and spend a few days discussing planes and taking pictures of them. I am looking forward to seeing how it all plays out this year. Hopefully, it will be a great event. We shall see.

No doubt, there will be some pictures from this event that make their way onto the blog. Stay tuned to see what shows up here in the coming weeks! As to the reason for the A-10 picture above, it has nothing to do with ISAP. It’s just a picture of a plane that I like!

More Head On Attempts

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wpid6133-AU0E0113.jpgDuring a previous visit to San Francisco I had a go at shooting head on departures and wrote about it here.  I also tried some head on shots at O’Hare and that made it on to the blog here.  I was back in San Francisco for another project and the weather was a little better so I decided to have another go.

wpid6131-AU0E0043.jpgThis time, the light was a lot better but there were other conditions to deal with.  Nice weather tends to bring with it more heat haze.  This was certainly true here since the aircraft are coming across a heavily developed area that radiates a lot of warmth on a sunny day.

wpid6137-AU0E0247.jpgAdditionally, the wind was obviously beneficial to departures as a few of the heavies were going off the cross runway rather than coming towards me.  This is a pretty unusual occurrence although not totally unknown.  However, it is pretty frustrating to see the big jets going away from you when they are the majority of traffic you can expect.  However, I did get a few corporate jets coming my way which helped a little.

wpid6135-AU0E0168.jpgDespite all of this, it was still a productive shoot and I got a few good pictures before the light started to give up entirely.

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Chasing a G650

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wpid5823-AU0E8934.jpgToday is another tale of chasing a plane. As with my quest for a JetStar, this is another business jet that I wanted to shoot. Gulfstream’s latest product is the G650. It has not had a trouble free development program but finally has achieved certification and deliveries are starting. Since most jets go to completion centers to be fitted out, actual in service jets are still relatively uncommon. One of them came to Midway recently and I decided to try and get some shots of it.

wpid5825-AU0E9054.jpgIt was originally due to arrive a little while before sunset. Since it was a cold but clear day, this presented an excellent opportunity to, not only get the shot but, get it in very attractive light. It was is that convinced me to go in the first place. However, I was aware of the chances of arrival slipping and the jet turning up after sunset. I got to Midway in good time and was lucky to be there in time for a nice Global Express arriving. Was this the battle of the big jets? However, the 650 had been delayed leaving and was now scheduled to arrive at sunset. Given that the forecast arrival times is usually a little optimistic, I realized that things weren’t going to work out perfectly.

wpid5827-AU0E9234.jpgSadly, the lovely light disappeared and then the 650 called up on approach. There was still light enough to get some shots but not those that were what I had hoped for. However, in time to come, the 650 will become a lot more common so I guess I will get one in better conditions before too long.wpid5829-AU0E9266.jpg

The One That Got Away

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No photo to show here.  This is about one that didn’t happen.  I was driving back towards the city just after sunset.  The Kennedy Expressway runs east towards the city away from O’Hare for a while and the line of the freeway is the same as the approach path for one of O’Hare’s runways.  As I drove down it, there was a line of aircraft on approach, each showing up with their landing lights on and with the closest aircraft showing clearly against the remnants of the light in the sky.

Add to this the enormous full moon that was almost perfectly in line with the planes and you had the sort of shot that you see online every once in a while and think how cool it looks and maybe it was faked.  This wasn’t faked.  however, my cameras were in the trunk and I was driving on the expressway so there was no way to get the shot.  You will have to take my word for it.  It was that good!

Getting up someone’s nose

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wpid5616-AU0E6429.jpgI have shot many times at O’Hare over the years.  There are a few locations that provide opportunities but they do depend on the time of day and the approaches the jets are making.  I was out there recently and wanted to try something different.  I didn’t know how well it would work out but wanted to experiment.  I checked out what was due in and found a time in the schedule when nothing unusual was coming in.  Without the need to make sure I got something that was uncommon, I could risk not getting anything at all for a while.

wpid5618-AU0E6481.jpgwpid5620-C59F4692.jpgI wanted to get more directly under the approach path.  This is something that I have done before at Washington National but I have had less success at O’Hare.  I went out a little further on the approach.  The jets were a little higher but I wanted to see what I could get.  You end up with both a slightly more head on shot and also get to look right up as they pass overhead.  I like the view which is slightly less conventional.  Winter is probably a good time to do this since the sun is lower in the sky and the snow on the ground provides a bit more light on the underside avoiding the silhouettes more common in the summer.

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New American Livery – Not That Bad

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wpid5626-AU0E7638.jpgHaving heard a lot of comments about people’s views of the new livery American Airlines has adopted, I was reserving judgement until I had seen it myself. When I first saw images online, I was not bowled over with it but I was not appalled as some people seem to have been. Given the boring nature of many liveries these days, I thought it was a little different from the norm and certainly not cause for offense. Of course, there were plenty who thought the exact opposite.

I have now had my first chance to see it for myself and I have to say my opinion is much the same. I was lucky in this instance that I got to photograph it just before the sun went down so it was bathed in some very favorable light. Even so, I think it looked okay. You will make your own decision of course. In time, we will forget this discussion ever took place!

Firefighters

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wpid5528-IMG_1437.jpgI had a brief opportunity to head passed the field at McClellan, previously and Air Force base just outside Sacramento. This wasn’t enough time to have a good look around but more of a recce for a future visit. I knew of the Coast Guard and the Calfire facilities so I was looking to see what else was there that might be worth a future look. There were a few bits and pieces around. One thing that I liked was the collection of P-3 Orions in storage. They were operated by Aero Union on firefighting duties before the company went bust. No one has ought them yet. I grabbed a couple of shots over the fence. I might like to come back here to have a more detailed look around.wpid5530-IMG_1441.jpg

Back at the Hyatt

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wpid5523-AU0E4830.jpgI wrote previously of a lift that took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago. Erickson undertook this lift with the massively powerful S-64. However, they did not manage to finish off all aspects of the lift and a follow up job was required. Since the largest items had already been dealt with and the remaining items were either light enough for a smaller helicopter or could be broken down into parts that were light enough, the remainder was contracted to Midwest Helicopter with an S-58T.

wpid5525-C59F4047.jpgwpid5537-C59F4279.jpgI was planning to join them on the roof but it turned out that the team contracting the lift had already got one of their guys on a neighboring roof taking some shots and I could join him. This roof was higher and up sun from the majority of the action so a great spot. I gratefully accepted their offer. (I should note that I also tried something new this time. However, it didn’t work out as planned. I should write about it here but I think I will get it working properly before I tell the full story. Everyone prefers a happy ending and I am no exception.)

wpid5532-C59F4248.jpgThe lift went well and I got a lot of shots (and some video of which more another day). The same problem as the previous lift affected things with the wind meaning the helicopter was tail on to me most of the time. However, this time it was more than compensated for by the scenic background and chance for some nice wider shots. I was happy with the outcome.

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