Category Archives: Pacific Northwest

Putting Away the DC-8 Each Night

NASA chose to operate its DC-8 from the ATS facilities at Paine Field while they were deployed there for the trials program with the Max 10. They would start up from there and then taxi past the fire station for departure. I was more interested in getting the landing shots so I didn’t wait for their return there but, once the plane was on the ground, I did make a rapid move to get back where they might either be shutting down or would be disembarking. Quite a few people were onboard for each mission.

Closing everything down took quite a while and, once everyone was off, the steps were removed, and the ground power disconnected. They then towed the jet in to one of the open-ended structures so that the nose was under cover while the back end of the jet was in the open. This was the process each time, so I was able to take photos from different angles each time I was there. I never happened to be there when they reversed the process. The jet was already out by the time I showed up.

EcoDemonstrator Returns in the Gloom So Video It Is!

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Boeing flew the EcoDemonstrator 777 from Paine Field for a while last year. I managed to be up there for the return late in the day, but the conditions were not that great. Having shot the plane at other times, I decided that the stills option was probably not the right one to take. They would not look that interesting. Instead, I decided to shoot some video of its return. Since going mirrorless, video shooting is so much easier because I can continue to hold the camera up to my eye as I would if shooting stills. It makes for a (slightly) more stable platform so a little less camera shake.

The Return of the F-35As on Veterans’ Day

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Quite some time ago, I posted a piece about the take off of some F-35As that were doing a flyover for Veteran’s Day. What I didn’t cover in that post was that they had to come back! They actually spent a fair bit of time out around the area as well as doing the flyover so there was some time between departure and arrival. Originally, I had intended to get some pretty standard side on shots of their return. However, earlier in the year, I had done the same thing for some other F-35s, and, at the last minute, I had a change of heart.

I rapidly grabbed my stuff and drove around to the approach end of the airfield near Ruby Chow Park. I decided a head on shot followed by an underside shot would be a better bet. Conveniently, they decided to do a run in and break rather than a straight in approach, so I was able to get some shot of them in formation as they passed overhead. Then the approach shots worked out pretty much as I had hoped. I was glad that I had done something different to my usual. If there had been more opportunities, I hope I would have tried other ideas too.

Back to Some Old Cormorant Shots

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Regular readers will be shocked to see more cormorants showing up on the blog. These aren’t even recent shots. I can’t recall why I was running through old images, but it matters not. All that is relevant is that I came across some older shots I have of cormorants sunning themselves which I had forgotten I had. This got me looking for others. The result is a few new shots of my favorite birds to share on the blog.

Golden Global

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Most bizjets have pretty uninteresting paint finishes but occasionally you get one that is a bit different. This Global showed up one afternoon in this gold finish which looked rather special. It had a logo on the fin which I didn’t recognize but, a little bit of searching showed the plane as belonging to Enrique Iglesias. He was in town for a show and, with Drake having brought his 767 in previously, we got another performer and their jet. I hope everyone had a good time at the show. I didn’t see him depart.

Port Gamble

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Our trip to Port Gamble was a bit of an impromptu event. We had been to Poulsbo but, having failed to appreciate that it was the day before St Patrick’s Day and the town was full of people dressed in green and drinking heavily, we figured a change in strategy was necessary. Port Gamble is a short drive away, so we headed there instead. We had only driven by, previously, so didn’t know exactly what to expect.

It is a cute little place. Developed around a mill, it is not a big place. However, they have done a nice job of preserving many of the buildings. Some are still residences, but many are now shops or tourist features. As we drove in, two large water towers on our right announced where we had come to. Their green paint was in great shape (although a polarizer was a useful thing to have to take the glare off them and let the green show through).

We walked through the town looking in the various shops as we went. We were also considering lunch options and the General Store was one possibility we went in to. While we didn’t end up eating in there, it was a very interesting building once inside. The lower level was a shop and café but upstairs had a museum. I didn’t check the museum out, but I was fascinated by the big interior space the building had.

There is a pavilion looking out over the sound that seems to be set up for events such as weddings. Nothing was going on while we were there so we could check out the grounds. On a sunny spring day, looking out over the water seemed like a great place to be. I think we chose a good time to go since the weather was nice, but it wasn’t as busy as I suspect it will be as the summer approaches. A nice day trip for sure. (Also, the place we did get lunch had excellent food!)

Falcon 50 With Winglets

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If a Falcon 50 is coming and I have the time to be there, there is a good chance I will. What could make a Falcon 50 even more appealing? Having winglets fitted. I didn’t know that when I went to catch it, but you can guess that I was rather pleased when that turned out to be the case. It feels as if there have been lots of Falcon 50s in the area in recent months. Maybe I am just noticing them more or maybe they have been more common. Either way, I’ll take it. Add some more with winglets and that will be even better please!

Propping Up Poulsbo’s Shoreline

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An elevated walkway has been built along the shoreline in Poulsbo. It runs from one of the parks in the center of town along the water to another park. We went along it during one of our visits on a delightful, sunny, spring morning. The hillside beside the water climbs up quite rapidly and there were many logs lying up the slope all well aligned with each other. It was hard to tell whether they were integral to the stability of the slope because they weren’t deeply embedded. However, their position seemed to suggest more of a motive, so I wonder if they are reinforcing the slope.

Not Many P-3s Left So This Was a Treat

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When my friend Paul first told me he was going to be in Seattle over the holidays, I thought we wouldn’t be able to get together. However, circumstances changed, and it turned out we could go out and check out the local aviation scene. We had been getting some stuff locally but a check on ADSB showed a P-3 and an EP-3 out at Whidbey Island and we debated whether to make the run north. In the end, we went for it. The EP-3 had been out a while already and it did return before we got there but we were not going to come up short. A P-3 made its return with some lovely December sun on it. It flew a bunch of patterns which meant the chance to try different spots to get some images, so we were rather pleased with the outcome.

Bloedel on a Chilly But Sunny Day

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The last time we went to Bloedel was after restrictions started to be lifted during the pandemic. They had a timed entry system and a one-way route around the gardens to keep people spaced out at that time. The one-way system has gone but they have kept the timed reservations it seems. Not sure whether this just helps them out or if it has some other reasoning but it does stop the random decision to show up.

It was a lovely day to be out and about but, since it was winter, that also meant things were quite cold. That does make for a good combination for light although the low sun angle will mean more areas are in shade. The lakes, the woods and the run down to the house are all very appealing. We also took a walk down the river to one side of the house and then back up the other side. I am not sure whether we had taken that route previously as it didn’t seem very familiar. It did have some nice falls that I may have been shooting for the first time. A great way to spend a day out (and it includes a ferry ride to Bainbridge so a double win for me!).