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It Will Be Back Before Sunset and the Rain – I Hope

The day was fast running out and I was thinking about heading for home but one of the two 777X test aircraft out showed signs of heading home to BFI so I figured I would wait around for it. It looked like it would get back before the end of the light with a bit of margin so I decided it was good to wait. I have not shot a 777 landing from this location so wanted to get the shot.

However, while the time was looking good compared to sunset, it was not looking so good when thinking of the weather. There were some dark and stormy clouds off to the southwest and they seemed to be getting closer. As the 777X got to the city, I figured a coat was in order since it looked like the rain might arrive first.

Indeed it did and this brought the light levels way down. As it came down the approach, it was shrouded in rain and made for a less than distinct shape to shoot. Certainly not what I had been hoping for. However, why wait all that time and not take the shots. It touched down in the heavy rain but at least the reduced distance meant things weren’t as obscured. It rolled out and turned off the runway but I decided I was already done and headed to the car and dry warmth.

Lummi Island Ferry

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Having made a return trip to Anacortes to check out the dilapidated ship hills on the shore, I decided to add to my ferry collection. Just beyond Bellingham is an Indian Reservation called the Lummi Nation. Just off the coast is Lummi Island and there is a little car ferry that connects the island to the Nation. The ferry is called the Whatcom Chief and it is operated by the county. It isn’t a big ferry – it looks to hold about 16 cars – but the crossing is not long and they apparently will run extra services to clear a backlog of vehicles if needed beyond the scheduled services.

It was just as windy up at Lummi as it had been in Anacortes but it lacked the sun that I had experienced down there. Rain showers were blowing through periodically and it was a lot less enjoyable to be outside! However, I’d come all that way so I wasn’t going to miss out on the shots. As I mentioned, the ferry is not large and, with the wind whipping up some waves, it was bouncing around as it made the crossing. I guess you want to hose the salt water off your car after a crossing on a day like this since the spray was going across the boat as it pitched and rolled.

There were more cars waiting to make the crossing than there was space for so they squeezed as many as they could onboard and then headed back again. Hopefully they came right back for the remainders but I had got what I needed, had a decent drive home ahead of me and wanted to warm up so it was back in the car for me.

United Max Delivery

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While awaiting the NOAA arrival, I happened to shoot a 737 that was coming directly overhead on its way to SeaTac. I don’t shoot much of these flights but every once in a while, I do like to try and get a symmetrical shot from directly beneath the jet just for the fun of it. As this one came over, I just assumed it was another Alaska 737-900ER since they come in all the time. However, when I looked closely at the shot, I realized it was a United jet and, more importantly, it was actually a Max9. Turns out it was on its delivery flight from Boeing Field so must have only left a few minutes before.

Who Can Identify a Heron?

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Anyone a bird specialist reading this? I saw this heron sitting in the trees along the shore at Camano Island. It didn’t seem in a hurry to go anywhere and wasn’t spooked as I got closer to its perch to get some shots. It was high enough that it didn’t see me as relevant. I have seen Great Blue Herons but this didn’t look like that (it could be and I just didn’t recognize it). If you know what it is, please let me know.

Colorful G650

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A big bizjet is an appealing looking thing to shoot but the unfortunate thing is that they are frequently quite blandly painted. If I owned a $60m jet, I probably wouldn’t want to draw too much attention to myself (other than by owning a $60m jet) so I guess it shouldn’t be such a surprise. However, when one is painted up in a colorful scheme, it is a nice change from the usual.

This G650ER is one I think I have seen before but it was making a trip from Boeing Field to somewhere, probably well within the range capabilities of the aircraft. Given how quickly it got off the ground, I imagine it was not heavily loaded. It taxied up from the south end of the ramp near Modern Aviation and then held for quite a while for arriving traffic and for its airways clearance. When it got on its way, it rotated abeam me which worked out pretty well.

The Earliest A320s

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A launch customer for the A320 was British Caledonian Airways. Unfortunately for those that liked Scottish themed airlines, BCal was bought by British Airways before the jets were delivered. I recall some dispute with Airbus about who would pay for the repaint of the first jet but maybe that is an urban legend. I think there were ten of them and BA took delivery. However, they were an orphan fleet for a long time in amongst all of the BA 737s and 757s.

That changed when BA went to an all A320 family short haul fleet breaking their long standing use of Boeing jets (plus some other stragglers). However, that cam much later. The earliest jets were A320-100s and these didn’t have the wing tip fences. The A320-200 followed very soon afterwards. Here are two shots of them. One is from 1988 with an A320 in BA’s Landor scheme on approach over my head to Gatwick. The other shot is a late in life shot of one of the earliest jets taken at Heathrow. These early examples are all gone now.

Trumpeter Swans on Fir Island

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The snow geese are a famous visitor to the Skagit area of Washington but they aren’t the only big birds to show up. Trumpeter swans are also a regular visitor and they are even larger. They don’t have the same social gathering approach as the geese so you won’t see them in their thousands. However, they do sometimes travel in smaller groups.

I was driving out towards Fir Island when I passed a bunch of them in a field. They were right next to a church which made for a convenient place to park without being in anyone’s way. They were not far from the parking lot and seemed to be busy feeding. Some immature examples were still showing their grey plumage but were well grown at this point. A little dispute resulted in some noise and flapping of wings but it all settled down quickly when the important matter of eating took over.

NOAA Back In Town

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A couple of years ago, a NOAA Gulfstream was operating in the area for a while and I managed to get some shots of it that were shared in this post. That Gulfstream had a couple of interested radomes fitted. Another part of the NOAA fleet is a WP-3D Orion. It also has some interesting radomes and antennae installed. It is based in Florida – there are usually storms to follow on that side of the country. However, the Pacific has its share of storms too and NOAA studies them as well.

Consequently, NOAA recently deployed the WP-3D to Alaska to pay attention to some weather activity out in the ocean. They staged it through Boeing Field to split the journey up there in two. I was waiting for it when it arrived. The conditions had been pretty overcast but, with a late in the day arrival, the cloud cover was starting to break up and the sun popped out just in time for its arrival. An interesting airframe with a nice color scheme. It headed on the following day but I couldn’t be there for that.

Second Go At Old Ship Hulls

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In this previous post, I had some shots of a ship hull in Anacortes that had become part of a harbor wall. When I showed this to a colleague of mine, he looked at Google Maps and thought there might be one or two more hulls making up the harbor. Once I saw what he was looking at, I could see what he was thinking. I also couldn’t work out why I didn’t go down to take a closer look when I had been there. A return journey seemed in order.

First I checked out the original hull and the one that is in the best condition. It looked more impressive when down on its level. I didn’t see any sign of a name which was a shame. Then I went to see what the other areas were. Sure enough, behind the first hull is a second one. This one is much more broken down but the timbers are still there making up another part of the harbor wall. I then realized that a third hull was part of the harbor which we hadn’t seen from Google. That is because it is a barge hull and so square which meant it wasn’t conspicuous from the aerial photos.

The last hull was located within a shipyard and, since I didn’t have permission to enter their premises, I didn’t go closer to check it out. A look from the access road above it did seem to confirm that it was indeed another hull. I guess whoever created the harbor figured the easiest way to do so was to sink a few derelict hulls and then build up the land around them (or let nature do that for you). I imagine that has been done elsewhere. Not quite the D-Day Mulberries but something similar.

Anchorage Jets

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A step back in time to the mid 2000s. I had a work trip to Anchorage having been invited up by a potential client to discuss their business. We lived in Chicago at the time and I needed to fly to Seattle to connect to Anchorage. (Interestingly, the return leg was possible to make direct overnight.). I had not expected Anchorage airport to be too much. I knew, even then, that it was a hub for freight traffic across the Pacific but I did not think it would be that busy.

When we landed and I walked down the jet bridge, I looked out of the window to see rows of 747s, MD-11s and DC-10s. It was quite an eye-opener to see just how many large jets were laying over there. There was a steady stream of movements too. These planes were not just waiting around for business. The airport downtown was another reminder with everyone I spoke to in the bar being a crew on layover.

The meetings went well but didn’t lead to anything. The timing of the trips meant I had some time to kill so I spent a bit of time out at the airport watching the arrivals and departures. There were the unusual locals that Alaska is known for and the props will definitely be worth a separate post. For this one I shall share the jets that came and went. Many of these are types or operators that have ceased to be. It was a great thing to see and I’m glad I got the chance to be there, however briefly. A specific trip up is something I would like to try and do at some point. All those Alaska Airlines points have got to be worth something!