GlobalX Has Interesting Passengers

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GlobalX charter flights are pretty common in our area these days.  The company is expanding aggressively, and any charter work seems to be on the cards.  This one flight was a bit unusual – at least compared to what else I have seen then do.  The buses pulled up with the “passengers”.  However, instead of all walking up the steps, they went one at a time.  A closer look showed that their hands were in front of them – presumably in cuffs.  I’m not sure whether this was a criminal transfer or a deportation flight, but I suspect the latter.  I have seen plenty of DOJ flights into BFI but this was a first for me to see.

Port Gamble Cemetery

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The highest point in Port Gamble is occupied by the town cemetery.  I was perplexed as to why the place with the nicest views was given over to a graveyard.  Apparently, this is deliberate.  Not sure whether the best views as appreciated once underground but it is a nice spot to spend eternity.  We wandered around looking at some of the graves with headstones covering a variety of styles and some being easily legible while others were heavily weathered.  The texture on some of the stones appealed to me quite a bit and I spent some time looking at how to reflect that in an image.

Gripen Two Ship Departure

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Flashback to RIAT and 2019.  I was working through the catalog looking for something for another project and came across these shots of Swedish Gripens departing from RAF Fairford after the show had concluded.  A section departure is always more interesting than a singleton even if it does give you something to think about when deciding on which plane to focus on.  The Gripen is a great looking jet and one that has been pretty successful given that it was built specifically for Swedish needs.  Always happy to get to shoot one.

Water Treatment Plant by the Pacific

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The departure from LAX takes you out over the Pacific on most occasions.  As you climb out and reach the shoreline, just south of your track is a large water treatment plant.  Oceanfront property would be in high demand, I imagine, but this spot is taken with a far more functional purpose.  The size and shapes involved are quite fascinating to me and I couldn’t resist getting some images as we flew by.

A Black Challenger 850

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What do you do if you have built a large fleet of 50-seat regional jets and now no one really wants a 50-seat regional jet?  You take that jet and refit it into a corporate configuration and change the name to match your other bizjets.  That is the way a CRJ200 suddenly transforms into a Challenger 850.  It’s a bit ironic because the CRJ was developed from the original Challenger jet anyway so maybe the reverse process is not a big deal.  Anyway, it finds a second life for some jets.

I wouldn’t have gone out specifically just to get a Challenger 850 (you might ask why that is when I go out for any number of other aircraft of niche interest), but this one was painted all black and I am partial to any jet that doesn’t look like all of the others.  A glossy black finish is definitely worthy of some attention and, if the light is going to play ball, it should look pretty good.  In the event, it did come out rather nicely.  I don’t know whether the operator will be back here on a regular basis, or this will be counted as a limited time offer but good to have had the chance!

Half a Moon in the Morning

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I was driving to work one morning recently and as I headed south down the road near home, the moon was quite low in the sky.  It was partway through the phases and the angle of the sunlight on its surface provided a lot of texture on the surface.  I was driving to work so was not immediately in a position to stop but the drive to work is short so, as soon as I got to the parking lot, I took out the camera.  The moon was low above the roof of the office, so I had to move a bit to get an angle on it.  The trees were also in the way, so I decided to incorporate them rather than remove them.  Then it was into the office.

A Huey Trip at the Last Minute

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During our Arizona trip, Mark and I stopped by at Falcon Field.  Our friend, Joe, is involved in a group, the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation, that maintains and operates historic army helicopters, and they were having a flying event that day.  We wanted to see the Huey that they operate as it was taking people out on rides.  We saw a couple of runs and then they stopped for a break, and we could wander around the helicopter.  When they were getting ready for the next flight, they had a spare slot and asked if I wanted to take a ride.  The funny thing is, while I was happy to make the contribution, I often am more interested in seeing the flying from the outside rather than being inside.  However, since it was a good cause, I said yes.  I am so glad I did so.  I had a good spot looking forward between the two crew up front and next to the open door giving me plenty to see.  I decided that video was more likely to be a good way of recording such a trip so that is the majority of what I took during the trip.  I did get some stills, of course, but the video then got edited down to the following piece.  I thoroughly enjoyed the flight and the brief time to see some of the surrounding landscape.  I will not be so reticent in future.

My Nemesis Returns

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When we first moved to our current house, we used to get lots of rabbits in the back yard.  For a while, it was nice seeing them around.  However, they did have a habit of “leaving” seeds for other plants in our grass and the weeds became an issue.  We went about blocking up the various access points for them to keep them from coming in.  This was broadly successful, but it is a continuous process as they find ways to breach the perimeter.

Recently I looked outside to see a rabbit not eating but stretched out and sunbathing in the back.  Now that is taking the Michael.  I went outside and he bolted so I saw where he had punched a new way in and closed it off.  Later in the day, I saw him out front – where I have no issue with him being.  Instead, I decided to get some images of my latest intruder.  Now I’ll have proof if he ever denies being the one to break in previously!!

At Last, I Get a Shot of Another Icelandair Special

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Icelandair painted a couple of its 757s in special liveries a few years ago.  One of them, called Vatnajökull, has never been where I was or, if it was, the conditions were bad, or I couldn’t take any images.  Finally, I saw that it was coming in one weekend and would be departing when there was a northerly flow, and the sun was likely to be out.  I finally had a good chance to get it.  Icelandair is adding plenty of Max 8s to the fleet and they are becoming more common into SEA and they will be getting some A321neos soon so the 757s might not be a reliable visitor here before too long.  Consequently, I was glad to finally get some good shots of this lovely looking jet.

Afternoon Sun on the Ducks at Juanita

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It has been a long time since I was at Juanita Bay.  A combination of lack of time and lack of nice weather has stopped me going down there.  One afternoon after work, the sun was out, and the time was not too late, so I dropped down there for a walk around to see what was going on.  The answer was not a great deal.  It was a lovely afternoon but none of the more crowd friendly visitors were around.  The ducks were, though.  A merganser stayed too far away to be photographed by there were plenty of wood ducks and green winged teals, so I made do with them.  The low sun angle picked up the colors really nicely.