Category Archives: civil

Dreamlifter Reflections

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The idea for this was spotted by my friend, Paul, during a visit of his but we missed it at the time.  It was early in the morning and the water was calm as a millpond.  However, the jet was beyond the water before he spotted it.  I have missed the chance since or there was not water.  However, while the conditions weren’t ideal, when I saw the Dreamlifter taxiing back to the ramp, I realized the opportunity was going to be there this time.

The water wasn’t quite still and I had the long lens on the camera but a phone is a good second best these days.  The jet taxied in with Mt Rainier in the background before reaching the north end of the field and crossing over.  Then it was time to be ready.  The phone has the added advantage of being able to shoot through the fence with no interference.

Heathrow From a While Back

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When we first lived in Chicago, I was working for a UK based company.  I used to make regular trips to London to check in with the mother ship.  For the return journey, I would usually take the morning flight back to O’Hare from Heathrow.  In those days, BA operated from Terminal 4 and there was a Hilton hotel attached to the terminal.  This made the whole process very easy.  Get up, walk across the bridge to the terminal and check in.  It also meant I could get the occasional shots of operations.

There was a fire escape on the side of the hotel that provided a view to the east and to a bit of the airfield itself.  It was a bit restricted as views go but it was not bad.  I could get some shots of the operations if the direction of the flow was right.  I would also get up early sometimes to see the arrivals coming in as the sun was coming up.  Here are some of the shots I got from there.

American West

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In the saga of mergers that have characterized the US airline industry over the decades, plenty of airlines have disappeared – subsumed into a larger merger partner.  One such airline is American West.  I was looking for some old shots for another project and came across a bunch of shots of this airline.  It merged with USAir and then ultimately into American Airlines.  It had a more interesting color scheme than is usually the case these days so I figured I would pop a few shots of their jets into a post.

I believe one of these jets is a retro scheme as part of the American Airlines retro jet program.  The rest, though, are from the days when the airline was an active competitor.  A search on the registrations of some of these jets would have, until recently shown them as still active in the American Airlines fleet.  Now, with most of the fleets on the ground and given the age of some of these jets, I suspect a lot of them won’t be making it back in to service.

Dreamlifter Before Sunset

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This is my first shoot of a moving plane that wasn’t taken from my yard since the virus shelter at home started.  With a slight relaxation of the state rules, I saw that a Dreamlifter was due in to Paine Field from Charleston.  It was due to arrive some time after 8pm.  With the sundown not long before 9 and the weather looking lovely (unlike the forecast for the rest of the week), it seemed like the light would be very good.  I have got a lot of Dreamlifter shots at this point so, if it had been anything other than shortly before sunset, I wouldn’t have thought of going.  With this light, though, why not.

I was tracking it on two services and they showed rather different arrival times.  I got there with some margin just in case but, even so, the jet was already getting ready to turn downwind when I pulled up.  The arrival procedure takes a while so it wasn’t a rush, but I should probably have added a little time.  The sky was so clear you could see the jet flying the approach from miles out.  As it turned to final, the low light angle even picked out the texture on the side of the jet!  The air was still so you could hear it from a long way out too.  After all that, it was suddenly so close and touched down just a little away from my spot.  Time to pack up and head home.

An Old RIAT Since This Year’s Is Scrubbed

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When I lived in the UK, a trip to RIAT was a regular thing for me.  After I started shooting digital, I was living in the US so RIAT was more than just a day trip.  My first visit with the digital camera was in 2006.  I had to be in the UK for work so I timed it to coincide with RIAT because, you know, it would have been rude not to.  With RIAT canceled this year due to the ongoing virus issues, I figured I would jump back to this show to provide some highlights.

I spent two days there.  I made my first arrivals day visit and spent the day at the west end which was really nice.  Planes were arriving from that direction anyway so it worked out well.  The conditions were really nice on both days too so it was a fun and successful shoot.  Mikoyan-Gurevich brought there MiG-29OVT demonstrator with thrust vectoring and it flipped its way around the sky with abandon.  There was the usual selection of types from around the world which makes RIAT so fun.  There were also some older UK types making an appearance like the Canberra demonstration – the last RAF Canberra flights I saw – and the old Twin Pioneer.

A Czech Mil-24 Hind helicopter gunship in special tiger dquadron markings overflies RAF Fairford, UK.

Hopefully there is something in this selection that will be of interest from a great show.  There have been more RIAT visits since so maybe I shall dig out some stuff from those years if I continue to struggle for material for future posts!

Stored 737s

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After two month of shelter at home, I did finally venture out in the car to see something other than the house or my bike routes.  I swung by Paine Field to see some of the stored Southwest 737s that are there.  Planes seem to have been arriving and then heading out again so I don’t know what the overall plan is.  They also seem to have moved from where they were when they first came in.  I got to see a few of them scattered around near FHCAM.

These jets look like they are in place for a while.  The nacelle inlet which is normally unpainted metal is currently covered in some black coating which runs on to the inlet blanking.  The exhaust ducts are similarly blocked up.  The jets are arrayed around the ramp and, while behind the fencing, the use of a monopod with a ball head and the remote shooting app from Canon allowed me to see what the shots looked like and to take the pictures.  I went with a few panos since things are rather close to the fence in some places.

I hope these jets are back up and working before too long.

Omni 767s

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Omni provides a lot of charter work in the Seattle area, presumably military work for JBLM.  The planes usually operate from SeaTac but then will reposition to Boeing Field.  There is often an Omni 767 parked up at the south end of the field but I have not ever seemed to have been there when they are moving.  More recently, I happened across one coming in to land after a short trip from SeaTac (I could probably have driven it faster given the routing that they had to take).  It was nice to see one up and about so it prompted this post with a few Omni 767s.

FAA Gulfstream

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I have plenty of photos of Gulfstreams and a few photos of FAA jets – mainly flight checking Learjet 60s.  However, the FAA Gulfstreams have not been something I have seen a lot of.  I did have a nice chance to shoot one at Washington National many years ago, though.  I did see the jets on the ramp at the south end of the field occasionally but I think this was the only time I got one airborne.  It was shot from Gravelly Point so I was nice and close to it as it was on final approach.  That is a great place to shoot from (or just hang out and watch the planes) and I will have to get back there at some point.

Midwest Airlines

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My trawl of the archives is also including airlines that have disappeared.  Today’s subject is Midwest Airlines.  They operated out of Milwaukee which was not far from me when I lived in Chicago but was not a place I frequented much.  The only time I think I shot there was during an open day at the ANG tanker unit based there.  I did get some Midwest movements that day.  I actually saw more of their jets and Washington National as it happens.  It wasn’t an airline I have many shots of in total but here is a selection of what I did get before they disappeared.

US Marshal 737 Moving People Somewhere Else

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This 737 was sitting on the ramp at Boeing Field, apparently getting ready to move.  It showed up online as a variety of possible owners including Aramco.  However, I thought I knew who it really belonged to and it did indeed turn out to be used by the Federal Government.  I think it is part of the US Marshal service and I suspect it is being used to transport individuals that are not popular with law enforcement to a new location.  I don’t know whether that is internal transport or deportation but I suspect I don’t want to be on one of those flights.  They certainly don’t divert any funding to painting the jets!