Category Archives: civil

Is That a Crosswind?

Unless you are on the center-line of the approach, you rarely get to see the aircraft directly head on. If there is a crosswind from your direction, though, you can get the planes pointing straight at you for a while. Sadly, this usually is while they are further out on the approach. If you are closer to the runway then you can get a shot that is more interesting because there is some ground to provide context to the angle of the plane. With a strong enough crosswind, you can get a head on shot until close to touchdown.

There is a location that I shot at once that is no longer available. It provided a good opportunity to get shots on a strong crosswind day. A Cathay Pacific 777-300ER demonstrates what I mean. A long airliner like a 777 emphasizes the effect even better when it swings around just before touchdown. The photos don’t demonstrate that as well as a video would but it did look cool. It wasn’t the only one either!

What is Happening on This 767?

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Every once in a while you see something and you have no idea what is going on. As a United 767 climbed out from O’Hare, it was streaming something from the fuselage. I saw it through the viewfinder at the time and figured it would be obvious what it was when I looked at the pictures. It turns out I still don’t know what was happening. Anyone reading this that has any ideas, please let me know what you think.

Let’s All Go To Europe

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The early evening period at O’Hare is the time when the departures to Europe get into full swing. The flights to the U.S. Tend to arrive from lunchtime into the mid afternoon so a regular turnaround means they are ready to head out later in the afternoon for the overnight trip back to Europe for a morning arrival. When the winds are from the west, this means you get the low sun angle on the nose of the aircraft which is pretty ideal.

It is a great time to shoot. Everything heads out in a pretty compressed timescale so you get a lot of interesting aircraft in a short period of time. The variety o types has taken a bit of a hit in recent years as things tend to get focused on similar aircraft for the similar missions. However, you still get a mix of A330s, 787s, some 777s and even the occasional 747.

There are a few flights that run a little earlier or a little later which meant I didn’t get a comprehensive collection of what is on offer but there was still plenty to make the time well spent. The fact I was hanging out with a good bunch of guys made the whole event far more enjoyable. If there was a quiet time, we could spend it talking as long as someone was paying attention to whatever was taxiing out. At the western end, there are large earth banks which restrict the view of the field. Instead, you predict where the planes will appear and make sure you are ready. The noise is usually a clue!

Nextant 400XT

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The smaller end of the corporate jet market has taken a pounding in recent years. The downturn in the economy hit that part of the market particularly hard. One company that has been doing well, though, is Nextant. Their first product is the rebuilding of the Hawker 400 jet. They re-engine it, upgrade the cockpit and completely rebuild the interior. The result is the 400XT. This example showed up at Boeing Field while I was there. It looked pretty nice in its new paint scheme. I was never terribly bothered by the Hawker 400 (or Beechjet or Mitsubishi jet if you go back a while) and the shape isn’t much changed. However, the paint job on this one made it look better than average. Nextant are now working on a King Air rebuild program.

Down the Runway

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Getting an unusual perspective is one of those goals we set ourselves when out shooting. It is not tricky to get similar looking shots on a regular basis and this blog is often populated with such stuff. However, finding a new angle on something is cool. The view down the runway is one I like. It gives some context to what is going on when planes are operating. Usually a good viewing location is hard to find but a bit of elevation can be helpful.

In Rosemont, there is a road that goes over a bridge crossing some railroad tracks. It just happens to be pretty much in line with runway 22L. As the rebuilding of O’Hare’s runways continues, 22L will eventually disappear. However, it is currently used primarily for departures. While it is a bit far away, you do tend to get the chance to have one aircraft taxiing into position for departure while another is getting airborne at the far end. This emphasis on the busy nature of O’Hare is part of the strength of this location.

Sukhoi SSJ100

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Russian airliner development has not been a terribly successful area for the last couple of decades. While Tupolev produced a huge number of 134 and 154 jets, by the time the 80s and 90s came around, things had got far less productive. The Ilyushin 86 and 96 were not successes and the TU204 has struggled throughout its time in production despite various efforts at upgrading it. Sukhoi made an effort to break this cycle by partnering with Alenia to create the Sukhoi Superjet.

This 90-100 seat jet makes use of western systems and powerplants co-developed with SNECMA of France to try and come up with a modern technology airliner. The Alenia tie in is intended to provide a support network that will appeal to western airlines while having a production cost base the delivers a plane at a price that is hard to beat. The result has not been stellar. Western customers have been hard to come by. Interjet in Mexico is the only current operator and it is happy by all accounts. VLM has discussed taking the planes but apparently the delivery schedules are proving problematic. Far east campaigns were more promising but the crash of an aircraft on a demonstration flight in Indonesia killing a lot of customers and officials has tainted the reputation. Even in Russia things have been tricky with customers returning aircraft due to poor performance.

Having a problem with deliveries is an ongoing issue and the number of aircraft that have come out of the plant is well below the projections Sukhoi originally gave. I have only seen one example so far. This one made a brief appearance at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford a few years back when I was there. Interjet flies theirs to the US but not anywhere near me at the moment. Hopefully that will change soon because I would like to see more of this jet.

I Guess Humid Days Are Useful

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If you want to get some nice vapor from an aircraft, start with a good, humid day. The hours after a storm are perfect since there is plenty of moisture in the air and the ground is wet meaning it will keep feeding the moisture for a while. Now you just need a big jet to climb out at high power settings. Enter an ANA 777-300ER stage left.

The engines were filling with inlet vapor as the beast hauled itself into the sky and the tip vortices were also doing their bit to pull the water from the air. The fact is was late afternoon so the sun was in a good position too meant that the combination was pretty ideal. We got a few like this for a while but eventually the humidity levels dropped and things returned to normal. Still, it was good for a while and there were other benefits to come.

Air to Air With Airliners (Well, Sort Of)

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My regular trips across the country often result in seeing aircraft out of the window as they cross our path or head in the opposite direction. I have seen plenty of jets in relatively close proximity but, with the speed differential being high, they are usually gone without a chance to grab a camera. Keeping it to hand for the entire flight is a little inconvenient. However, I have been working on an alternative plan.

Southwest provides in flight wifi and I get it for free as a result of the amount of flying I do with them. I log on to the wifi and open up Flightradar24 on my iPad. I can see where we are and I can see where other planes are too. The number of ADS-B equipped planes has gone up substantially in the last couple of years so accurate tracks are now common. Flightradar is usually pretty close to real time. I have learned, though, that the speed of the net connection on the plane is a big lethargic and the locations on the app while airborne have a bit of lag compared to the real situation.

By compensating for this, I have been able to predict a few encounters with other jets. Of course, they are never as close when you plan for it as when you are caught out but they were still pretty close. Shooting through an airliner window is not ideal but I managed to get a few shots all the same. Does this count as my first airliner a2a sortie?

When a Storm is Your Friend

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Usually when you head out to shoot planes you are hoping for some nice weather. Being out on a sunny day with planes to shoot is not a bad plan. If it is looking like crummy weather, you will have a good reason for thinking things will not go so well. However, there are times when it can work out. (I should point out that crap weather is more likely to be a bust than a success but it can work out sometimes.)

The perfect combination is the storm that passes through quickly but is isolated. As it moves through the weather may be harsh but, once it has passed by, you have the hope that the sun will come out again while there are still evil black clouds in the background. So was the case at O’Hare not long ago. The storm was really strong and the downpour was biblical in proportions. As it migrated north, the sun popped out and we got a combination of light and background that you can’t turn down. Some of the earliest arrivals got the best combination. The clouds soon moved off enough that the effect was reduced and then was gone. However, for a short span, we could get some great shots.

Is There a Plane in There?

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Sometimes you find yourself right in the middle of a storm of epic proportions. I was at O’Hare getting a few shots of the aircraft operating on the southerly runways. I later found out this spot is one that the local businesses do not like you using so I won’t be heading back here again. At the time, I had no idea that was the case and no one come out while I was there although the storm might have been a factor!

A 747 freighter was lining up to depart and I was ready to get some shots just as the rain arrived. It absolutely hammered down. I got very wet very quickly and, since I was now already wet, I figured I would try and get a shot anyway. This is the result. Somewhere in that murk was a 747 – I think!