Category Archives: Pacific Northwest

German Day at Exotics@RTC

The improvement in the pandemic in our region has meant that certain gatherings that were cancelled last year have been able to restart. That includes the Exotics@RTC car gatherings in Redmond. The first of the year that I was able to attend had a German theme to it. The theme days do not exclude other car types but they provide a focus to the theme cars and give them pride of place within the center. The other cars are out in the parking lot.

It won’t surprise you to learn that there were plenty of Porsche and Audi vehicles on display. Mercedes was also represented but not in such large numbers. There were some nice old Porsches to be seen including a pair on display which are owned by a father son team – the son being a neighbor of ours. I was really pleased to see a nice selection of older BMWs and a Z1 which I recall from my teen years. I had assumed the Audis would be more around the R8s (and there were a few of them) but to see a Quattro from the rallying era was a cool addition.

I had ridden down to Redmond on my bike so I wasn’t carrying heavy gear with me. I went with the M6 which shows how useful it is for such a situation. It is nice and compact plus, it has the folding screen which is great for getting low or high angle shots. Waiting for people to move out of shot is always problematic in this events but they have as much right to be there as I do so I either wait a long time or just accept that the shot will be more cluttered than ideal.

I hope to get down there a lot more this season and see what they have to offer and what fun cars show up. I will also share a few of the non-German cars from this day in another post to come.

C Series Stretch

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It’s true that the C Series is no longer called that but the A220 is not such an exciting name and the title was dull enough as it was so I figured some artistic license was allowed. I have shot A220s a number of times both in Seattle and Dallas Fort Worth since Delta flies them to both locations. However, to date, my only experience had been with the original aircraft, the A220-100. The -300 is the stretch version (or the actual original idea if you believe some analysts) which is proving to be the more popular seller. Delta has started taking delivery of them and one was coming to Seattle on a Sunday morning so I went out to catch it. Conditions were not ideal. In due course, these will be a common sighting but a first is still a first. Loads are flying in to Vancouver with Air Canada but, until the border opens, I will have to make do with this one.

Ruston Ferry Terminal

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Continuing my quest to explore the ferry services of the Pacific Northwest, I took a trip down to Tacoma and out towards Point Defiance. Ruston is the location for another of the Washington State Ferries terminals. This service crosses to their south end of Vashon Island. I knew about the ferry to Vashon from Fauntleroy but I didn’t initially realize that there was a second connection to the Island. It is a short crossing and, while I was there, only one ferry was used to run a shuttle back and forth.

The ferry terminal is right next to the entrance to the marina. The jetty provides access to allow me to photograph the other side of the ferry to that which is visible from the shoreline. The ferry in use is of the same class that runs the service from Port Townsend to Coupeville. It was big enough to clear the line of cars each time it came in while I was there. Maybe busier weekends have more of a waiting time, though.

It is not hard to see across to the other terminal. I was able to track the ferry is it made the crossing in each direction. It was not a particularly bright day when I got there but I was happy to add another ferry to the collection. However, as I was contemplating moving on, the sun started to come out. The light colors of the hull certainly look a lot better on a sunny day so I figured I would wait for it to come back once again. Unfortunately, as it started back across in lovely sun, a cloud was moving in over me. Sure enough, the ferry was back in shade by the time it got close in. Oh well, not the most important thing to worry about.

What Will This Neptune Get Labeled With?

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The Indian P-8I fleet is different from the P-8A Poseidons of the US Navy and that have a different name – Neptune. The original batch had Ark on the fin. The second batch had a different name but the current test aircraft I saw at Boeing Field both departing and arriving had a blank fin. I am not sure whether this is because it won’t have a unit name, whether it hasn’t been decided yet or whether it hasn’t been disclosed and will be added at a later date. It made for a slightly more boring look combined with the US registration taped over the paint scheme. I got it departing and returning so experimented with some slower shutter speeds to make things more interesting. The takeoff run was long so it must have been pretty heavy when it departed.

Drive Through Vaccination

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I have had both of my vaccination shots at this point. The vaccination center I went to was in the fairgrounds in Monroe WA. They had a well-organized process where you booked online, showed up, had your details checked, drove into a covered area to have the shot and then parked up in rows to allow them to see whether you had any side effects.

The first time I went, it was a lovely sunny day, but I was very focused on the process at hand and never thought about taking any pictures. Once it was done, I was quite annoyed with myself for having failed to do so. When I went back for the second shot, I was more prepared. Sadly, the conditions were a bit more gloomy so no sunny day to record. However, it all still went smoothly.

Everyone I dealt with was incredibly friendly and helpful. Standing around all day in a field doing this sort of thing can’t be fun and their efforts are certainly appreciated. The cars get split into lines to allow more to be processed in parallel. I found myself wondering whether my line was slow but why this should matter I don’t know since we all got taken care of very quickly. They write your arrival time on the windshield so they can se when to let you go again. It’s over before you know it and I was driving back home. Great effort by all involved.

What Are You Planning With All Of These Robbies?

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Robinson operations at Boeing Field are very common. There are quite a few airworthy Robinsons – R22s and R44s – on the field. Apparently, someone has plans for a bunch more airframes though. This selection of airframes are stored awaiting something new. Not sure whether they are going to be overhauled or just turned in to parts supply for other airframes. They clearly aren’t flying any time soon.

Lambs

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Our visit to Maltby Farm gave us a chance to look at some of the wildlife that the farm has. They have a few sheep and there were some lambs in the enclosure too. Lambs can be a riot to watch when they are young since they have incredible energy and bound around the place. Clearly these were a few weeks older than that and they were taking a more lethargic approach to the day. Aside from munching on the available food, they were lying down and resting in the sun.

As sheep get mature, they lose a lot of the cuteness that they have when young. Some breeds are cute when adult but plenty aren’t. A bunch of lambs, though, are going to be a lot more appealing. Let’s not focus too much on how tasty they might prove to be…

Qatar 777-200LR

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The gradual relaxation of travel restrictions means that there are more long haul jets showing up in Seattle. Some are still just taking freight but passenger ops have expanded. The reduced number of passengers does mean that smaller capacity jets will suffice for some routes. Qatar has restarted operations to Seattle. They are using their 777-200LRs for the time being. I caught one as it was passing overhead on final approach.

Commercial Vessels on Lake Union

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Lake Union is a real mix of boat types. We were crossing it on a pontoon rental that my friend Torger had access to. We got to see a lot of different stuff out there. There is plenty of cash in Seattle so there were a lot of the large boats that are owned by those with a touch more cash than me. However, while the leisure market is a big deal these days, Seattle is still a commercial port. Fishing boats abound in Salmon Bay and out towards Lake Union. There are dry docks for the work that big vessels need including floating dry docks.

Towing operations are aplenty. Tugs to pull barges up the coast to Alaska are there as are tugs for more local duties. Fishing vessels also mean fish processing vessels. These boats take the catch from the smaller boats and process and freeze it for transport back to the distribution facilities ashore. These fishing vessels look pretty substantial when you see them alongside in Seattle. However, I imagine when you are out in the Bearing Straits, they suddenly seem a lot smaller as the big swells of the northern Pacific are heading in their direction. Not a job for the faint of heart.

R44 With a Camera Boom?

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There is no shortage of Robinson R22s and R44s at Boeing Field. Plenty of flight training takes place there and these types will be on the move on a regular basis. This R44 was coming in one evening when I was over there waiting for a later arrival. What caught my eye was that it was fitted with a boom of some sort. It looked like the sort of thing from which a camera might be mounted. An extension would be needed to bring to camera forward far enough but maybe this was the base of the mount? It was certainly not normal. Anyone know details about this installation?