Tag Archives: a350-900

Better Timing With This Ex-LATAM Delta A350

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The movement of the ex-LATAM Airbus A350s that Delta has picked up on their way to Singapore via Seattle got me out once before.  The jet was arriving after dark but I gave it a go anyway.  The next one to make the move from California to Singapore came through at a more convenient time for me being both daylight and also when I wasn’t at work!  The weather was not perfect but the sun did pop out which made for some reasonable lighting and it was a chance to catch a jet in LATAM colors which I probably won’t get very often.

Delta/LATAM Comes in After Dark

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Delta picked up a few ex-LATAM Airbus A350-900s as part of that airlines restructuring during the downturn in the airline business caused by the pandemic.  They went initially in to storage and then have been progressively moved to Singapore for updating to the Delta configuration.  Seattle has been the location for them to come through on their way to Asia.  I have missed a few but one was due to come through when I could see it.  Sadly, it departed a little late from Victorville and was showing due in after dark.

Since it was an unusual movement, I figured it was still worth the effort.  I would use the 500mm since it has a wider aperture and test the low light capabilities of the camera to the full.  It still meant some very low shutter speeds but I let the tech compensate for my low skill levels.  I was pleasantly surprised by how well some of them came out given the lack of light.  Since this shoot, I did also reprocess with PureRAW3 and this improved the quality of the shot further.

Heathrow A350s

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One of the things I was looking forward to seeing at Heathrow was A350s in new liveries.  I have seen a lot of A350s but I have never seen the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic A350-1000s and, since they are based at Heathrow, I figured I would get a chance.  As we landed and taxied in, I saw both operators’ aircraft but, because of where I was sitting, I wasn’t able to get any shots.  The end of the journey and the return to Heathrow allowed me to address that.

I got to shoot an arriving BA jet while outside the airport and there were some parked up on the gates when we were getting ready to board our flights.  Virgin was a bit more elusive.  I could see one parked up behind a Cathay 777 but that was it.  Other operators were also helping out though.  Amongst the arriving jets were examples from Malaysian Airlines, Finnair and Iberia.  All nice additions to the A350 collection for me.

Finnair Before Sunset

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The light was getting low in the sky and I was needing to drop my rental car back at the lot to get my flight home but a Finnair A350 was on approach.  I could see it was coming in to the south complex so the Proud Bird parking lot would be the spot for me.  The nice evening light was going to work out well.  I had shot a Finnair A350 once before when one came to SFO but this would be only my second encounter.  No point in missing it.  The sky was warming up nicely so it was hard to miss getting the shot.

Air France A350

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Regular readers will know I am quite a fan of the Airbus A350.  Getting a new operator of the jet in Seattle is nice for me and the Air France service has swapped from the 777 to the A350.  It started a while ago but the conditions have been so bad for a while, I didn’t even bother trying to get out and shoot it.  I was coming through the area when it was due in so made a diversion to get a few shots.  Not too nice a sky but still okay and I will hopefully get better conditions at some point before too long.  They arrive at lunchtime so the light is not ideal anyway at that time.

Lufthansa A350 Is Now Coming to SEA

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International flights are starting to increase in frequency and, it seems, capacity.  Lufthansa has been making the run to Seattle with the A330s for a while now.  Recently, they changed from the 300 to the A350.  One quiet Saturday, I figured I would head down to grab a shot.  Sadly, the old livery example of the previous day was replaced with one in the new livery.  I do prefer the old livery but that wasn’t the reason for my disappointment.  It will go away before too long so there will be plenty of chances to get the new livery over the years.  It was hot and sunny and arrival is noon so about the worst time you could think of for photographing.  A polarizer to take out some glare and to deepen the colors was the best I could manage.

Asiana A350 As A Quick Test

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I made a quick trip to SeaTac one Sunday for another visitor that I was keen to catch and that will have its own post.  I ended up shooting from a sub-optimal location and one that I had never used before.  I didn’t know exactly what I could expect.  Fortunately, prior to the arrival, an Asiana A350 was due in.  It was about 30 minutes ahead of the one I was after so, if things didn’t work out, I had time to try moving to somewhere else.

Fortunately, while heat haze was going to be a problem and the light angle wasn’t great, neither of these were things I could do anything about and the location did provide a reasonable angle on the jet.  There were some lamp poles which I noted to be ready for next time and the jet went behind the trees as it crossed the threshold but it did seem like a usable location for the intended target to come.

Sketchy A350 Paint Job?

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I shot this Singapore A350 landing at Haneda in January of 2020.  When I was reviewing the shots, I saw something odd on the roof.  At first I thought it was markings for rescue areas but it really didn’t look that good.  I am wondering whether the original paint job was pretty shoddy and the paint is peeling off.  It doesn’t look good to me.

JAL’s Special A350

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Japan Air Lines has been taking delivery of a bunch of Airbus A350s recently.  I was interested to see them at Haneda where they seem to be based as opposed to Narita.  Interestingly, for a plane with substantial range, they are being used from a lot of short sectors at the moment.  On the station platforms, they had some posters about a special A350 that was celebrating the 20th anniversary of a Japanese boyband, Arashi.

Fortunately, this jet was being used on internal flights and it was due back in to Haneda when I was there.  With the crummy weather, the JAL terminal roof top viewing deck was fine for photos in the afternoon since, with no sun, there was no backlighting.  The A350 came in to view and stopped in a cloud of spray from reverse thrust and then taxied back and parked right under me.  Plenty of opportunities to get some shots of it.

Lufthansa A350 at Haneda

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Lufthansa A350s are something I seem to struggle to get a good look at.  They operate to a number of places where I have been but I either time it wrong or they are on the opposite runway from me so a distant shot is all that results.  The closest I have got to them is at Haneda.  There an example landed and taxied in to the terminal across from me.  The light was at the right angle but the excessive heat meant that haze was a problem and I wasn’t going to get a good shot.  It is the closest I have managed so far but I shall continue to wait for the opportunity to get something better.  The fleet will grow and the route structure will expand so the time will come at some point.