Etihad 777-200LR in its Last Days

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When Boeing developed its updates to the base versions of the 777, it came up with the higher capacity long range 300ER and a lower capacity but ultra long range version, the 200LR.  The 300ER sold very well but the 200LR was more of a niche product and, while it sold, it never went in the same numbers as its larger sibling.  Etihad was one of the customers but they have now decided they have no further use for the type and it is being retired.  I was glad to catch one at LAX in the days running up to their retirement.

I-90 Floating Bridge

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I-90 crosses Lake Washington on a floating bridge.  I have driven over it countless times.  It crosses from Seattle to Mercer Island which the freeway then crosses before continuing on to the east side.  I was on that side of the plane when taking off from SeaTac and got a great view of the bridge.  The dead straight floating section and the transition to land looked very interesting from above.  The road actually goes through a tunnel on Mercer Island in a long curve which, when I imagined its path, only added to the geometry of the whole.

Little Nosewheel Tug

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A post a while back talked about nosewheel tugs that lift the whole nosewheel and move it around.  That post can be seen here.  I commented then about how large the tug was.  I hadn’t then seen that there are far smaller versions of the same concept.  This one is in operation at SeaTac.  It is suitable for narrow body jets and regional jets.  I don’t know whether it is being trialed or whether these will gradually replace the traditional tugs.  I guess we shall see in due course.

Wolf Point Development

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Wolf Point sits at the place in the Chicago River where it splits into the north and south branches.  When I lived in Chicago, it was a park.  It sat in front of the a building with a Holiday Inn and the Sun Times located within.  It had a great view along the river in all directions.  That view was obviously too valuable.  The park is gone a some towers are now going up.  One was already there when I visited and work is underway on the others.  I’m afraid this is a shame to have lost a nice location.  Also, if you were in the building across the river that had a view along the main branch, I imagine you are not too pleased to have lost your view and instead be looking at another tower!

Eyebrow Windows Still Exist?

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The 737 fuselage is closely tied to the previous generations of Boeing jets like the 707 and 727.  It inherited the eyebrow windows above the main cockpit windows.  These days, the controlled airspace has made the need for these while maneuvering a lot less.  Current jets are built without them and many airlines have reduced maintenance costs by plugging them.  I had assumed that they had gone away for most operators.  Apparently not for Alaska!  Walking through the terminal, I saw one jet with the eyebrows and was surprised.  However, then I saw a bunch more so clearly this is still something Alaska see as valuable.

Mt St Helens From Above

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I have been on a couple of flights recently that took my past Mt St Helens.  One was coming back home from LA and the other was departing out towards Dallas.  In both cases I got a good view of the mountain covered in snow and with hints of clouds lower down.  When you live in Seattle, Mt Rainier is a constant reminder of the volcanoes that surround you but Mt St Helens is the one that has reminded everyone about the power that these mountains contain.  Hopefully it will be calm for a while.

Japanese Government Comes to Town

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I was sitting at the gate waiting to board a flight when the sound of a heavy jet reversing thrust outside caught my attention.  It was a Japanese 747-400.  JAL retired their 747s a few years ago and that made an appearance on the blog here.  That meant this was a Japanese Government 747.  I was really annoyed to have only seen it at the last minute.  However, I was on the right side of the plane on takeoff to try and get a look.  I did get a shot but looking through the camera made me lose the wider view.  The Japanese 747s tend to travel as a pair.  Sure enough, a second jet was parked up and I didn’t spot it was there until too late.

Puffins

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In the UK, the puffin is a well recognized bird.  The small body and large bill are easily identified and the coloring is pretty bright.  I am struggling to think whether I have ever seen one in the wild as they live in some pretty remote places.  I might have but I don’t recall it.  The aquarium in Newport OR had a bunch of them though.  While the coloring was a lot more subdued, there was no doubt that they were puffins given their shape.

Whether birds really have personality or not, you can imagine it with puffins.  They seem to be very fussy in the way they move which is probably just a function of being quite a small bird.  As they paddled around the pool and flapped their wings, we got a good look at their mannerisms.  The enclosure was pretty compact so you were very close to them which allowed some good opportunities to get some shots.  Seeing them out in the wild would be cooler but I don’t tend to hang around on cliff faces too often.

Aer Lingus 757 at Newark

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In the UK, I have seen plenty of Aer Lingus A320 family jets.  In the Midwest and on the west coast I have seen their A330s a lot too.  One type of theirs that I have not seen before is the 757.  These seem to be used for the shorter transatlantic runs.  While taxiing out at Newark for a flight back to Seattle, a Shamrock 757 taxied out too and departed ahead of us.  I have to admit I was quite surprised.  I guess I knew they had 757s but this was the first one I had seen.

Cotton Bowl

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I have heard about the Cotton Bowl a lot over the years.  There are so many Bowl games these days that I kind of forgot that some of them are actually the names of stadiums.  I didn’t even know where it was.  Turns out it is Dallas and it is right by the approach to Love Field.  I happened to have the camera in hand as we came down final approach and got a few shots of the stadium and the surrounding facilities.  It looked a bit quieter on this day than is sometimes the case.