Category Archives: Pacific Northwest

Starbucks Number One

When you don’t drink coffee, as I don’t, Starbucks is not something you pay much attention to. However, when you have the tourist route to do in Seattle, the first Starbucks shop down at Pike Place is part of the routine. You have to get in line if you want to order something because there are plenty of people also looking to check the place out. Meanwhile, some musicians are set up outside the door to keep you entertained while you wait.

Once you get inside, there is coffee to be ordered. There are also plenty of souvenirs which seemed to be selling well. Since I didn’t have anything to buy, I was able to watch everyone else doing their thing.

Refurbished Space Needle

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With some visitors in town recently, I made another trip up the Space Needle. They have finally finished to refurbishment of the area at the top of the tower and it is a pretty cool job that they have done. The glazing around the balcony area is finished as is the floor area inside. There is also now a stairwell to take you down to the next level. This has been refurbished to create a glass floor for a ring around the whole floor. This glass floor rotates. I imagine this is where the restaurant was when the Space Needle first opened. It gradually cranks around and it gives you a fantastic view downwards.

Apparently there will be a refurbished restaurant next year which, I assume, will be in the section a third of the way up the tower (since I can’t see where else it would go). The new floor is really cool though. Having been up a couple of times recently, I thought I wouldn’t have much new to see, but the addition of this element really gave me lots of new things to look at.

Lufthansa MD-11

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Aside from FedEx, MD-11s are becoming pretty thin on the ground. Lufthansa Cargo has had a decent fleet of them but there will come a time before too long when they are all gone. I figured one weekend I would nip out and get the arrival of one of them. The arrivals of heavy jets, particularly freighters, are often put on the inside runway which gave me a bit of a chance but, at that time of day, there aren’t great spots. I found a place that is rather close to being underneath the jet but it would have to do. I still think it is a nice looking jet, even if it didn’t prove to be a success in its originally intended role.

Alpha Jet Action

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The Alpha Jet has attracted the attention of a few owners in the Pacific Northwest. This example is pretty cool because, rather than being painted in some new scheme, it is still in the colors it wore when operated by the Luftwaffe. It flew a few passes during Skyfair so we were able to see it in action. I have seen lots of the French style Alpha Jets with the spinning nose but my exposure to the German style of jets over the years has been a lot less. The pointy nose has a slightly more purposeful look to me.

ABX 767 in White

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I’ve taken so long to write this post that it has been expanded. I got an ABX 767 freighter coming in to SeaTac one time in overcast conditions. I had been meaning to write about it for a while but other topics had seemed more appropriate to cover first. Then, while out hunting for an MD-11F, I happened to have another example fly over me as I was parking up. (This one is an ABX jet but they are a common fleet.) The camera was to hand so I was able to get some shots for almost directly beneath. I guess this was the trigger for me to finally write the post!

Dreamlifter Turnaround

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The 787s fleeing the hurricane weren’t the only aircraft arriving at Paine Field while we were there. The regular schedule of 787 component deliveries was underway with the Dreamlifters. One of the jets landed just after we got there. We watched from the rooftop as it taxied in, the crew opened up the tail and a fuselage barrel section was offloaded. There was another Dreamlifter already parked up when we got there.

Once our tour was over, we headed back upstairs because this Dreamlifter was now ready to go. It pushed back and taxied out. I decided to try some video of it rather than more stills. The jet was off to Japan and was fueled up. Consequently, it used a good chunk of the runway to get airborne. I was watching through the camera and can admit to being a little surprised how long it ran. The video I got is below.

Eastern Front Veteran

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The FHCAM IL-2 Shturmovik has been airworthy for a while but I have previously only seen it on the ground. Skyfair was my first opportunity to see it flying so I was rather pleased. This is a pretty rare type and a new one for me so having it display was a treat. The sun was rather high when it flew which is a bit less than ideal for a plane with a dark paint scheme but that is a small price to pay. It flew a number of passes, all of which felt nice and close. Great stuff.

R44 Pilot Showing Off for the Camera

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I was wandering along the runway at Concrete towards the end of the day during the fly in. A Robinson R44 had been doing pleasure flights throughout the day and was landing well up the field from where I spent a lot of my time. I had photographed it as it came over a couple of times but soon lost interest. However, as I wandered along, I happened to be near his landing spot when he came back from another trip. I was far better placed to get a shot or two so I did. However, he spotted me and, instead of following his normal approach routine, he brought the helicopter to a hover in front of me facing at me as they all looked at me while I looked at them. As long as I kept shooting, he didn’t go anywhere so eventually I just lowered the camera and waved. At that point he turned around and landed.

A-26 Invader Visitor

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I have seen very few airborne A-26 Invaders in my life. They have been in museums and have been on this blog but the last time I think I saw one active was at North Weald in the late 80s. To see one at Skyfair was, therefore, a treat. It flew a couple of times and was flown with some vigor during its flypasts so we got a good look at it. It is a beefy looking aircraft and to see it hurtling by was a lot of fun.

Jim’s Spartan Experience

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I didn’t get to the Spartan Race in time for Jim’s start so he was out on the course when I got there. I wandered around seeing others making their way around and decided he must have already passed the earlier spots I might see him. I waited for him to come back in to the main area before heading out again on the second big loop. I was wondering if I had missed him when he came into view down a hillside. Rather than distract him, I let him do the next obstacle before I said Hi!

I then saw him do a few more tests before he was off again. At least now I had a rough idea of where he was and who was on a similar pace. That made picking him up again a lot easier. I could then follow him around the final series of tests. These shots are a bunch of those I got of home as he was in the second half of the race. He pushed on to the end and finished well. I was tired watching it all so I bet he was shattered. However, once he finished, he looked really stoked so I guess the success was rejuvenating.

Excellent effort mate. Well done and a well deserved addition to the medal collection. Now to finish off your personal challenge!