Category Archives: corporate

G700 Test Jet

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I posted about the arrival of some Hunters and, in that post, I mentioned that I was there for a Gulfstream test jet.  A couple of years ago, I managed to get some shots of a G600 test jet and I had been hoping to catch a G700 at some point.  When one of the test aircraft filed a flight plan for Boeing Field, I finally had my opportunity.  I was waiting for it when the Hunters showed up.  It wasn’t far behind them that my original target showed itself.

This is the fourth test aircraft.  It is in a nice paint job typical for the average anonymous bizjet but it gives hints to its true purpose by having some of the windows replaced with instrumentation.  I was able to get it as it came in from the south, albeit with the usual cluttered background that Boeing Field has.  Fortunately, they were operating out of the field for a few days and I was able to come back at a later date to catch it on approach from the other end.

Dropping The Shutter Speed For Fun

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One weekend, I was at Boeing Field awaiting something interesting.  There was the regular traffic of business jets and, since they were pretty standard fair and the light wasn’t great anyway, I figured I would play with dropping the shutter speed super low.  The R3 is great for this because I can select a frame rate of 30fps if I want.  When shooting with silly shutter speeds, really high frame rates increase the chance that I might get something that isn’t terrible.  Technology overcomes lack of talent!

I was dropping down to 1/50th or 1/60th of a second for some of the arrivals.  I was using a polarizer to take out a load of light to allow such low shutter speeds on a sunny afternoon.  It also didn’t hurt to reduce the glare with the sun so strong.  Most shots were worthless but there were a few that came out okay.  Full size there were more acceptable ones but, since I was experimenting, I focused on the ones that were really sharp.  Such low shutter speeds do result in parallax issues which is not ideal, so I tend to look for the sharpness to be on the front fuselage unless the plane is going well away from me.  There were some 737s on test too, so I played with the same techniques for them as well.  Maybe I shall go even lower at some point.

An EMB-135 Can Look Good

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One Saturday afternoon, I was out shooting some planes approaching SEA with my buddy David.  We were thinking of calling it a day but I was curious about an EMB-135 that was due in to Boeing Field.  The weather was looking like it would get worse and these regional jets are hardly exciting.  However, a quick search online showed some older shots of it painted white but a more recent shot of it painted gloss black.  I wondered whether this was still how it looked.  I told David I would give it a go as we parted.

As I waited for the jet to arrive, I really hoped it was painted black.  Waiting a while in gradually degrading weather for a regional jet seemed like it might be a poor use of a Saturday afternoon.  When it came in to view, I was very relieved.  It was, indeed, gloss black with a hint of color on the tail.  The fact that the cloud had come in actually made it easier to get a good exposure on the black finish.  Once I got home, I checked out its ownership a little further and, while it was listed to a company matching the Aero on the fuselage, I think it is used by ConocoPhillips.  Maybe, if you are an oil company, you paint your planes to look like crude oil?

Don’t See A Lot Of Eclipses These Days

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Time flies fast and it seems like it wasn’t long ago that Eclipse was talking about building light jets at a rate more like that for a car company.  Their ambition faltered and bankruptcy followed.  A small company was established to support the existing fleet, provide updates and potentially restart production.  I actually visited them north of Chicago which tells me just how long ago that was.  They did build a few new jets but also went bankrupt.  However, the Eclipse fleet lives on.  A lot of jets were built before it all went south.  I don’t know how tough it is to support them these days so I am always pleased to see one out and about.

Bizjets Approaching Mt Rainier(ish)

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Sometimes you can get too fixated on image quality and forget the overall image.  I was hanging around at Ruby Chow park one weekend when some jets were approaching Boeing Field.  I got some shots as they came overhead but then switched to getting shots of them as they got close to touchdown.  The view down the runway is looking straight at Mt Rainier.  The jets in front of the mountain look great.  Very quickly, the heat haze can make the clarity not as sharp as I would normally expect of myself but, actually, the shot is fine at full scale.  Just enjoy the image and don’t fret about the details.

In From Manila And On To Teterboro

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A sunny Sunday morning trip out for a bizjet got a bonus.  I was a touch late for the arrival unfortunately but this G650ER had come in from Manila on its was to Teterboro.  It would have been nice to catch it landing but, after it cleared customs, they taxied out for departure to the east coast.  I’m sure it was nice to stretch the legs after a trans-Pacific trip although I doubt a G650 is that uncomfortable!

Falcon 50 Through the Snow

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Crappy conditions are not usually what you are after when photographing aircraft but, sometimes it is what you get and you have to make the best of it.  One upside is that, if you are somewhere with a reasonable amount of traffic, you can play around with getting shots of something you weren’t necessarily focused on.  While standing in the snow waiting for the Skycourier’s arrival, I did have a Falcon 50 on approach.  I like the Falcon 50 a lot so this would normally have my attention already.  However, crummy conditions almost left me in the car.  I decided at the last minute to try it anyway.

I was really quite pleased with the patterns that the snow made around the jet as it came in.  in such bad light, the landing lights are always going to be more dominant and their ability to light up the snow flurries ahead of them can work out well.  These pictures will probably never be gracing anyone’s walls but I got a kick out of them when I went through them back at home.

What Is Experimental About This?

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Dassault is developing their business jet line.  The 5X was stillborn as a result of engine supply issues but it led to the 6X which I got to see last year when it came through Boeing Field on tour.  The next jet is the 10X.  This is going to be a large cabin and long range jet to play with the Global 8000 and G800.  However, it hasn’t flown yet.  When I saw this jet at Boeing Field, I wondered what the story was.  The large graphic on the side must either relate to something else or is delusion of grandeur on the part of the owner.

Gulfstream Graveyard

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I had seen photos from the visits people had made to the airport in California City that showed a lot of old business jet airframes in storage.  I was curious to see this place myself and so headed up there when I had some time one evening.  There is a local business that takes old jets – principally Gulfstreams – and strips them for any components that will be useful in the secondary market.  The owner of the place is welcoming to visitors and a friend was actually already there when I arrived.  A little while later after sorting out issues with the gate opening, I was inside and free to roam around.

There are so many jets, it is hard to know where to start.  Some of them are basically intact while others have had substantial elements removed.  Sides of the fuselage might be cut out, gear may have been removed and engines are definitely a valuable commodity.  Some of the control surfaces will have found a second life supporting an airworthy jet.  Older generation jets like the G-II and G-III are represented but the G-IV is now knocking on a bit and so there are quite a few of those too.  Some very old jets are scattered in amongst the carcasses including one that had been used as a military testbed.

The planes are squeezed in to all available spaces.  As you walk around, you have to pay a lot of attention to make sure you don’t trip over anything or smack your head on part of an airframe.  Also good to try and avoid getting in the shots of other photographers!  I didn’t see any hazardous wildlife which helped make the walking around a little easier.

While most airframes were Gulfstreams, there were occasional exceptions.  I came across a really old HS125.  It was from the days of Viper engines so definitely an old one.  It didn’t look to be in great condition but the dry desert air means that they survive pretty well for a long time.

Vision Head On

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I was hanging out at Arlington with my buddy Bob.  A variety of aircraft were flying that day but the conditions were not ideal.  We were there for something else but that is the topic for another post.  We had gone to the north end of the field where a path crosses under the centerline.  Some Eagle Flights were taking place that day and one of the planes providing them was a Cirrus SF50 Vision.  It took off while we were up there so we got some head on shots of it.  A grey jet on a cloudy day is not ideal so, rather than getting the regular side on shots, a head on view was actually a better outcome.