Category Archives: photo

What Is It With the Dorniers These Days?

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The Pacific Northwest suddenly seems to have a bunch of Dornier 328Jet ops at the moment.  I posted here about one coming in to BFI.  I saw another one on the BFI ramp recently too and Paine Field had a visitor over the holidays.  The weather was pretty nice for this one when it showed up so I popped out to get a shot of it coming in.  I was not familiar with Taos Air.  They had made a couple of stops before arriving at Everett and departed for California shortly afterwards.  I wonder what the story was behind that?

Ferries in the Mist

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The misty mornings at Orcas were not only pretty atmospheric to wake up to but they also could make for interesting shots of the ferries.  As the banks of fog rolled in and out, the boats could disappear and reappear.  As they backed out and spun around, they could be right on the edge of disappearing.  Since we were facing south, the whole scene was backlit which made it look even more interesting.

XOJet Colors Change Again

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I shot an XOJet Citation X at Paine Field over the holidays.  The light was at a nice low angle since it was not long after the shortest day and it picked out details on the airframe nicely.  I was surprised to see that the jet was in a grey paint finish.  I have shot a few XOJet Citation Xs over the years.  Some of the earlier ones were in a pretty standard looking livery, not unlike NetJets.

I then started to see them in an all white paint finish.  This was definitely not too exciting and had the look of someone that was ready to save money when they sold their jets without the need to repaint them.  The new scheme is not much better but at least it looks slightly more deliberate than a plane you couldn’t decide what to paint it.  I wonder if this is a new standard for them or just an oddball?

These are Concrete – Honest

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Driving up to the summit of Mount Constitution, the road twists and turns a great deal.  Some of the curves have a steep drop off which will not end well if your vehicle were to leave the paved surface.  Consequently, there are plenty of concrete posts along the edge of the road to try and stop you going too far wrong.  However, it is so shady and damp within the woods the cover the side of the mountain, these posts get no light and have become home for moss.  It looks so thick that you wonder whether the car would even be scratched it you hit one!

777X Line Up

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The number of 777X airframes at Paine Field keeps growing.  I pictured some before in this post and, one morning over the holidays, I was up that was for something else and figured the morning light is good on the east side of the field where some stored jets are.  There are a bunch in a line along the disused cross runway so I got a shot or two before continuing with whatI had gone up there for.

Cormorant Having Dinner

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The shallow waters near the new ferry terminal at Mukilteo seemed to be a popular spot for the local cormorants to hunt.  For a while, there was one cormorant almost directly below me that seemed to be having a pretty successful time fishing.  A couple of times I saw it pop up and swallow something large so I spent a bit of time tracking it waiting for it to return again.  Sure enough, it popped to the surface holding a rather large looking fish.

I am not a fish expert so I don’t know what it was.  I just know it was still struggling to get away and, given the size, I was curious as to whether the bird would be able to eat it.  I clearly underestimated its capabilities as a couple of quick adjustments and the whole thing went down in one go.  I waited for it to dive again but, having had a few decent sized snacks, it was clearly letting its lunch go down.  It was a while before it dived again.  Just before it did, a bloom in the water led me to believe that it was making space for its next course.

Return of a P-8 Test Flight From Above

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The first decent sized arrival I got on my BFI visit was a US Navy P-8 Poseidon returning from a test flight.  It gave me a chance to get the hang of picking the arriving planes up against the background and working out their positions as the are on final.  Things are pretty cluttered in the background which doesn’t help make a photo look interesting but, once they are over the airfield itself, the background is a lot cleaner and the plane stands out more.

Once over the runway, everything is unobstructed so you get a good view of the touchdown and roll out.  The runway wasn’t too damp so not much in the way of spray from reverse thrust but a good amount of tire smoke as the mains hit the ground.  Heat haze was not too much of a problem as the conditions were not too sunny but you still had to be pretty close in before the shots were sharp enough to look at closely.

Where It All Began for Gulfstream

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Everyone always associates the Gulfstream brand with business jets.  These days that is all that they make but it started out with a turboprop.  The first Gulfstream was a straight winged plane with a low set tailplane and a pair of Rolls Royce Dart turboprops for power.  If you look at the airframe, it is not hard to see how it was married to a new wing, power plants and empennage to create the G-II,  However, the turboprop is the original.  I remember seeing Ford’s aircraft operating from Stansted to their European bases.  However, I have rarely shot one of the originals.

I have two that were operating at different locations but, judging by the registrations, they are probably from the same operator.  Not much diversity there.  I also have shots of an old NASA airframe stored as part of the Pima Air Museum’s collection.  Not sure whether it has been reassembled at this point or not but, hopefully, one of the locals there can let me know.  This was the beginning of a long line of top of the range bizjets.

Cascades Lake

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Orcas Island is the location for Moran State Park.  It includes Cascades Lake which makes for a nice hike.  We extended the hike slightly to include some waterfalls but they will get a post of their own (or two).  In the low winter light, the lake looks really beautiful.  The trail brings you out in little bays but you are never too far from the water.  The trail is not along the shore and the terrain is a little steeper than you might expect but it is still a pretty simple hike.  Meanwhile, you get to enjoy the lovely views so it doesn’t feel like too much exertion at all.