Category Archives: civil

It Might Have Been Green but the Light Was Excellent

An Air Tanzania 737 Max 9 made its initial flight from Renton and was due into Boeing Field at the end of the day. The timing of its arrival was looking promising. However, I was dealing with something else, and it was a higher priority. If that could be completed in time, the Air Tanzania might just work out. Having shot their 767 freighter, I was hoping that it would already be painted. That was not to be the case with only the rudder and winglets showing the colors that are to come.

The evening light was developing nicely so the green of the protective covering really looked pretty good. However, the real benefit was once the plane had passed me. The sky to the east was developing a really cool purple hue. The evening light was working wonders with the clouds over there. Stick a green 737 in front of that and things really did look good. I hope I get to see it once painted before it heads off to its new home.

Is Crossing the Runway Now a Good Idea?

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At the fly in at Concrete last year, I was looking up the runway at approaching planes. There are designated crossing points for the runway but people are able to cross elsewhere if they like. I saw a guy with canes heading towards the runway. He was not moving fast so I figured he would wait for the landing aircraft. He kept moving but I was sure he would check whether it was safe to go. Nope, he just kept on going while a plane was on short final. At some point he must have realized that crossing a runway can come with some peril and he suddenly started moving a bit faster – not fast, but at least faster. Meanwhile, the pilot on approach either didn’t see him or decided he would miss him so didn’t go around. The whole thing was one of those that you witness with a little incredulity.

Comparison of Two Globals

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When Bombardier launched the Global 7500, I was quite keen to see them. My friend was the engineering director on the project and, despite me giving him crap at every opportunity, I think he probably did a good job on this one. Sadly, I haven’t shot as many 7500s as I would have liked. Global 6000s, on the other hand, I have shot plenty of. There have been a few, though, so I decided to see what the obvious visual differences would be.

With some bizjets, counting windows is the way to know. That rarely helps me out as I can never remember what the appropriate numbers are. For the 7500, though, I think the windows look very different. They seem to be a lot larger and squarer. That is a bit of a giveaway. Then there is the fin top. The 7500 has a more angular top to it which actually looks a bit like some of the CRJ versions. Last, there are the flaps. The 7500 flap system seems to be more complex than that of the 6000. I have included images of NetJets and VistaJet examples of both types at similar angles for comparison. See what other differences you spot.

Alaska Air Cargo’s Newest Freighter – Finally!

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Alaska Air Cargo has a bunch of converted 737-700s that it uses to run freight around Alaska and down to Seattle. The -700 is not a popular freighter conversion with the -800 being the basis for most NG freighters around the world. Alaska must have decided that they too need the additional capacity and are converting a pair of their passenger jets. The first returned from Kelowna, where the conversion was undertaken, and entered service. I went out one weekend to catch it heading north. I waited a long time as its departure time slipped and slipped before it eventually canceled. It then flew to Oklahoma City for some work of some sort. It did return but then went back to OKC so something was clearly not right.

Recently, it finally returned to Seattle. The weather was not great but it was a weekend and I had some time so I decided to catch it coming in from Ketchikan and then heading back the same way. With the cargo door in the front fuselage and the Air Cargo markings added, it looks pretty good. It hasn’t been used hard yet, so the paint is in good shape. Let’s hope its teething troubles are behind it and I might catch it in nicer conditions. Its sister ship is in conversion currently, so we should have a pair of them before too long.

Omni 777 Takes the Band to Houston

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The appearance of UW in the national championship game meant a lot of people flying from Seattle to Houston. That included the band and I believe they were the ones to fly in an Omni Air International 777-200ER. We get plenty of Omni’s 767s at Boeing Field but a 777 was an interesting change. I hung around quite a while one Saturday waiting for them to depart. As with so many charters, they went late. (Late enough to mean I got stuck on I-5 heading back for lunch when a protest closed down the interstate.) I took a chance by going with a long prime rather than a zoom and, fortunately, they rotated just early enough for that to work out for me. I was rather pleased with the tighter shots of them getting airborne.

Playing With an Old CRJ Moon Shot

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For some reason, I recently came back to an old photo I took of a Delta Connection CRJ900 as it climbed out of O’Hare. It had climbed right by the moon as it was rising in the eastern sky towards the end of the day. I had liked the photo at the time but now I was thinking about how to do a better job of editing it. Now I have been using the masking tools in Lightroom a lot more, I figured I could take different approaches for the jet and the background. The results were a lot better than my original efforts and I quite like how it now looks.

Lockheed 12 Heading East

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Airport roads can sometimes throw up interesting surprises. I was driving around Paine Field one weekend and came upon this fuselage sitting on a trailer. I had a chat with the guys loading it up. It is a Lockheed 12 and was heading to Minnesota for restoration to flight. They suggested a lot of work was needed and it would be a while before it was flying again. However, I was just taken to see it sitting beside the road as I happened to pass by.

Grab It While You Can – Or Will I Be Wrong?

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UW had some success with their football program this year which meant a few charter flights took place. Some of the charters that they arranged were with New Pacific Airlines. This is a relatively new airline that originally was going to be Northern Pacific until BNSF Railway, which owns that name, objected to their using it. Their plan has been to operate transpacific flights via Anchorage in a similar model to that of Icelandair. Things have got off to a slow start. They are doing some domestic US flying but those routes have been erratic too. The fleet is a pair (I think) of Boeing 757-200s so hardly cutting edge. I think they might not last long.

Consequently, when their jet showed up at BFI, I figured I should definitely get photos since I might not get the chance again. Winter conditions are not going to be the greatest, but I was able to get a few that I was pretty happy with. I don’t wish the airline any harm at all, but they don’t seem to be giving off the vibe of a great success story. Let’s hope the charters can fill in until they get something more solid going.

Sampling the Air in Detail

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The time that the NASA DC-8 spent up in the Pacific Northwest was a ton of fun for the aviation enthusiasts. Since I did get to shoot the jet a few times, I got some closer shots of the airframe to show the various sensors that cover the jet and are used for the sampling work that has been its specialization. There are plenty of them on the top, sides and bottom of the airframe. Here are some shots. I wonder what will replace the jet and whether it will have a similar array of probes?

Last Good Paint on a Lufthansa A340

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The A340 is a plane that keeps on going despite repeated claims it was done. The 300 series jet is actually not as inefficient as it is popular to suggest (the 600 series is far less competitive) and it is still working for a few airlines including Lufthansa. This winter the jet is back on the run to Seattle which has pleased me. Most of the jets have been repainted in the new livery which is not that thrilling. There are also Star Alliance liveried jets but there are one or two of them still in the older Lufthansa colors. This is a better look from my point of view.

I did have one of them come in one weekend when the light was good and the wind was favorable for the shots I was after. The landing shots were more of a struggle because the plane landed at noon and the lighting angles were not helpful. Departure was mid afternoon and so this was slightly better. They have been back occasionally since but not on days with a) good weather and b) me being available to be there. I hope I get more chances before they finally head to the desert.