Category Archives: Pacific Northwest

Not Often You See An Avro These Days

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The BAe146 was a regular feature in the 90s.  It was a popular regional jet with use both in Europe and the US.  They were still in service when we moved to Chicago and I traveled on them on occasion.  However, a four-engine jet became a bit dated and they have mostly been replaced in service with newer and more efficient types.  Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise to see one show up at Vancouver.  In their later iterations, they were renamed Avros to pay homage to one of BAe’s predecessor companies.  They were basically just a tweaked 146 as far as I was concerned though.  The new generation RJX made it to protype form but was cancelled before production.  I guess the economics were just never going to be compelling.

Lots of Wheels to Touch Down

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The spot Mark introduced to me at Vancouver was good for touchdown shots.  British Airways brings an A380 in each day so I was keen to get that landing.  The landing shots included a lot of tire smoke as the wheels spun up but having something like an A380 means you have a few extra wheels and a lot more smoke, even if it is progressively given the configuration of the gear.

The size of the A380 makes it good at longer range if the conditions will allow.  The background is getting busy as more buildings are added but you could get a clearer view further out with only the bridge for the Canada Line showing up.  Swapping to the wider lens was necessary given the size of the jet.  I know it is one that polarizes opinion but I quite like it and I definitely enjoyed flying on it.

It’s Raining on Us Only

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A trip to Snoqualmie Falls ended up being on a day that was not the greatest weather.  We were hoping that it wouldn’t rain.  When we got to the top of the Falls, it was getting pretty wet.  However, it wasn’t raining.  Instead, the spray from the glass was being driven up the cliff face towards us by the prevailing wind.  It was then dropping on us.  Head off down the trail a short way and we were dry again.  Of course, that was little compensation when you were getting drenched at the overlook points!

Follow the Lock Staff Instructions

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The smaller of the locks at Ballard has mooring points that float with the water level so the boats can tie up and wait for the process to be over.  In the big lock, the boats have to let out or take in their lines as the level changes because they are tied to the lock side itself.  When the boats were down, the lock crew shouted out clear instructions to everyone to keep their lines tight until instructed to do otherwise.  As the boats had come in, we had watched with some amusement a guy who didn’t seem to know how to handle his boat.  Judging by the text on the boat, it was a share scheme of some sort.

I wandered away as they started to move out of the lock but Nancy and Mum stayed to watch.  Judging by the shouting that followed, one of the boats had let off his lines early.  When the gates open, there is a flow out of the lock which starts to take loose boats with it.  One of them started to rotate and take the other boats with it.  I missed the whole thing but I was able to guess who was the one that hadn’t followed instructions.  Hmm…

Hellcat Surprise Pattern Work

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I had gone to Paine Field for an Antonov arrival that has its own post here.  We got a nice bonus while there.  A Hellcat was up for a Check flight of some sort which I didn’t even know about until it flew a pattern overhead.  I had figured it was just another light aircraft making a midfield departure.  The overhead was nice to see but a bit distant.

However, whatever the check flight was for was obviously done quite quickly as they called for an approach.  As they came down final, another light aircraft was ahead of them and was not going to vacate in time so they were told to go around.  Two approaches!  Thank you.  The first had been straight in but the second was a nice curving approach with a good top side view.  That will do nicely.

 

Smoke the Tires and Make Them Shiny

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I was photographing some evening arrivals at Vancouver and, as I went through the shots afterwards, I got to see some detail on the tires that I had not noticed before.  The tires’ surface has a matt finish as you would expect of rubber.  When they hit the runway they go from zero rotation to very fast rotation extremely quickly.  The friction that causes this rapid run up scrubs a bit from the surface of the tire making the familiar smoke.

What I didn’t know is that the heat changes the appearance of the surface of the tires.  They suddenly become very shiny.  In these shots you can see wheels of a 777 just before and just after contact.  Also there is a shot from an A321 where you can see some of the tires have touched down and others haven’t.  Only with the low sum angle was this obvious.

Floatplanes from the Space Needle

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While the Space Needle is a great place to view the city of Seattle, it is also good for seeing floatplanes.  Lake Union is a base for many floatplane operations and the routes take the planes close to the Needle.  On the day we were there, the wind was quite strong from the south so the planes were water taxiing to the other end of the lake before taking off.  We had quite a procession with a stream takeoff from a couple of them.

Once airborne, the commenced a turn towards Elliott Bay which took them just north of us and pretty close.  I wasn’t well set up to get shots but I managed to get a few.  I tried my best to shoot through the gaps between the glass panels but sometimes I shot through the glass which was surprisingly good.  You get the feeling of being air to air, even while standing on something solid.