Category Archives: civil

Crosswind Training in the Citabria

This Citabria was flying circuits at Hayward while I was there. The wind was pretty strong and coming across the runway so the pilot was taking the opportunity to practice their crosswind landings. A lot of wing was down into wind in order to compensate for the conditions and, while they occasionally struggled with some of the bigger gusts, they did seem to have good control of the aircraft. I guess awkward conditions are a reason a lot of flyers would stay on the ground but this one saw an opportunity to get some good practice in. Nicely done!

Special Liveries

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On the whole, airline liveries are getting less and less interesting. Whether it is the branding style, the minimizing of cost or the need to return jets to lessors without too much repainting being necessary, they are ending up a bit dull. However, periodically, an airline will paint one or more of its jets in special color schemes. These may celebrate some event, recall a previous airline that was merged in at some point or be part of an alliance. Whatever the reason, it makes for some variety which is welcome.

I figured I would see which special liveries I have managed to photograph over some time. All of this was prompted by a recent China Eastern A330 that came in to SFO. My friend Roger told me it was coming in which came as a nice addition to the morning. As I was looking at the shots, I started flicking back through the catalog.

I decided not to include the alliance aircraft here. OneWorld, Star Alliance and Skyteam jets tend to be rather similar so I didn’t think they added something special. However, plenty of other jets have been more distinctive looks. It turns out that I have more of them than I realized and I didn’t want to just food this page so maybe I will have another batch of these at some point.

Pulling a Cloud With You

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Getting shots of vapor is a popular thing when shooting fast jets. An airliner on a damp day can also result in some clouds being formed. While shooting something special at Oakland, I was getting a few shots to make sure the light metering was working as planned. A Southwest 737 came in and, as it flared for landing, it had a nice cloud of moisture form over the wing. Normally these things pop up further out on the approach and don’t make for a good shot but this one was close at hand.

The Early Emirates

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If you were to ask someone to name one of the dominant global airlines these days, it wouldn’t be long before the name Emirates came up. The rapid growth and large fleet of wide-bodies makes Emirate a familiar sight around the world. It is easy to forget that is was not always thus. I first saw Emirates in 1988. At the time, I had a small book of airliners around the world and it listed the planes that were potentially going to be seen in the UK. It didn’t include short haul jets from the opposite side of the world but it did have something that could conceivably be seen. At the time, Emirates were listed as having one A300 and two A310s. A far cry from what they have now.

They used to fly in to Gatwick with the A310s. While working for the CAA, I got to spend a bunch of time under the approach to Gatwick recording noise levels of the passing jets. I did manage to get the occasional shot too! Here is a scan of a slightly rough negative of an Emirates A310 passing the middle marker. This plane would now be considered a bit too small for their regular operations!

Those That Sneaked In

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I learned something significant while shooting the airliners from above LAX. It is a lot harder to see an airliner from above than I thought. In the many years of flying, I am familiar with the importance of maintaining a good lookout and the difficulty of spotting other aircraft around you in the sky. From our locations over the airport, we were generally picking out the aircraft from a background of the city, not the sky. I had figured that we knew the approach paths and what was due in so we would not have trouble seeing the planes as they came in.

I was very wrong. First, they are not easy to find at all. Three sets of eyes were looking but we would find things at odd times, sometimes when they were very close. Also, with parallel operations to the 24 and 25 complexes, you can get distracted by activity on one side and miss out on something the other side. The result of this was that we did not see some of the jets until they were on the ground. Pete, who was with me, flies 777s so we were keen to get the BA jet when it came in. We knew the arrival time and still managed to miss it until it was on the ground. An Air France A380 also sneaked in past our “diligent” scan. An Aeroflot A330 was also successful in coming in untouched.

All of these were a little frustrating but not terrible. However, it did give me pause for thought about how I would plan the flight the next time in order to keep track of the things that I most wanted to get. This flight was my first time trying this so I was happy to have got so many shots that I like. The missed ones are not the end of the world. I did learn a lot though and will make sure I use that knowledge next time.

Aerial Firefighting Demonstration

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Every other year the Aerial Firefighting conference comes to North America. This year it was held at McLellan Field near Sacramento. A tow day conference, I originally was going to attend on both days. Unfortunately, I had a work conflict and had to miss the first day. Fortunately I was able to be there on the second day which was the day that included a demonstration session on the airfield. An internal exhibition of products and services was open for the entire time but the demonstration included a wide number of airframes – far too large to fit indoors.

There was a wide variety of types on display. Helicopters are a big part of aerial firefighting and there was a number on display. Airbus Helicopters had brought their H215 demonstrator along as the conclusion of their North American tour. This version of the Super Puma is a derivative of the AS332 (and indeed this airframe had a data plate that listed it as an AS332) and is designed to be a simplified and cheaper version providing a more affordable utility type. It was alongside a new Bell 412 and some refurbished airframes including a Bell 205 and a freshly refurbished UH-60 Black Hawk.

Fixed wing types came in all shapes and sizes too. Air Tractor AT802s were on display in both wheeled and amphibious configurations and these two aircraft put on a number of water drop demonstrations. A Pilatus PC-12 provided a demonstration of management of a fire with down linked information. Calfire had a Bronco and a Tracker on the ramp while a bunch of Broncos were busy in a flying program to get ready for the season. MAFFS had a P-3 on the ramp while another took off early in the program. A Bombardier CL415 shared ramp space with a Neptune conversion of the BAE Systems RJ85.

However, the ramp was dominated by one aircraft. Global Supertanker had brought their converted Boeing 747-400 to show off. They have taken the system from the 747-100 airframe previously in use and added it to a more modern version of the airframe. Fresh from the paint shop and shortly to receive approval of the STC, they were keen to show off the aircraft. I am not sure how well it will fit in with the needs of firefighting agencies around the world but it certainly is an impressive beast.

I didn’t get to take as many stills as I had planned. The organizers asked me to shoot some video for the, which I did. Hayman was working with me so he made sure we had the necessary shots for the GAR feature. After a few passes, I was able to switch and get some stills anyway. I also got roped in to taking the group photo for the conference attendees. If I had known that was required, I would have made some arrangements to get a better vantage point. Still, it was a good day out and the conference sessions I saw were similarly informative. Next year it is in France. Perhaps we shall have to go!

: A US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk taxis in at McClellan Field in Sacramento CA.

Nice Challenger 300

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I may joke about what my favorite business jet would be to buy but, of course, I am not getting one any time soon. That doesn’t stop me considering which would be a good choice. The large cabin ultra long range jets are, without doubt, a nice idea but I would actually like something in the super midsize bracket. This would meet most of my needs (except for paying for it of course). One great looking jet and a good performer is the Bombardier Challenger 300 (and the newer 350). I would certainly be happy with one of these. This example is one that I saw at Hayward recently. Should I get one do you think?

Southern Hemisphere Rest Stop

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The scheduling of flights from Australia and New Zealand to the west coast of the US is not ideal for getting maximum utilization from your aircraft. There is a long time between the arrivals and the most desirable time for departing on the return journey. Consequently, there are a lot of jets that spend a good portion of the day sitting at LAX. Rather than waste valuable gate space, these jets are disembarked and then towed to remote stands to await the time when the evening flights will be readied.

There is a large parking area to the west end of LAX where these jets are kept. You will see Qantas, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand aircraft all parked up here in the middle of the day. We were able to make a short detour from our normal operating area to the west end of the airport when ATC was able which meant we could get a good view of the jets parked up here. One of the Qantas jets was carrying special markings for the Wallabies rugby team. Later in the day they will have started the return trek across the Pacific.

Regional Parks Astar

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While I was getting lucky catching the Huey at Hayward, this wasn’t the only helicopter I came across in action. A short distance away from me, an Astar was running up on the ramp. Before too long, it lifted, taxied across to the active runway and then departed to the southeast. It turned out to belong to the Regional Parks service. I had actually seen this airframe before when it had been at Livermore. This time I was a lot closer to it and able to get a far better view.

It is actually quite a nice paint job that they have applied. Some quick research suggests that they have a couple of these Astars. I wouldn’t mind finding out more about them and what they are used for. It could make for a more detailed piece at some point.

More Aerials from LAX

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I have put together a number of posts about specific aspects of our flight over LAX. However, there were lots more aircraft that we shot on the flight. It is just that they didn’t seem to warrant their own post. Instead, here is a selection of additional shots taken on the flight.