Tag Archives: aircraft

West Seattle Bonuses

We made a trip to West Seattle with our guests while they were here. We were looking at the view of the city and also wondering what wildlife might show itself. I got a benefit in that departures from SeaTac and Boeing Field were coming to the north. I got a couple of nice airliner shots as they climbed out over us. They weren’t the only ones though. A KC-46 launched out of Boeing Field and climbed over us as it went off to its test area. I wasn’t paying attention, but my guests spotted something rocketing up behind it. An F/A-18C Hornet from the Strike Test unit was following it, presumably for some test work. It climbed rapidly but then leveled out, I assume to stay below the departure routes from SeaTac. Not a bad bonus for me while showing the sights to my guests.

I Am Liking the A350

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When I first saw images of the A350, I did not think much of its looks. The nose profile seemed odd and I was disappointed. However, something about it has got to me. I have been seeing a lot more of them in service recently and something about the jet in person is appealing. It doesn’t hurt that a few of the airlines I have seen have interesting liveries.

Narita seems to be a popular destination for the type and I got to see examples from Delta, Thai and Vietnam Airlines while I was there. Deliveries have really ramped up now so it will not be long before I am seeing them regularly. Asiana has been using it to SeaTac for a while and China Airlines is bringing them in to Vancouver. Good that I like them since I will be seeing a lot more of them. Now I need to fly in one to see what it is like as a passenger.

Virgin Orbit

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Everyone seems to have a plan for getting into space these days. Some companies have more than one! Virgin already has their Galactic operation that is based on the Spaceship Two design evolved (a lot) from the original Scaled Composites design. However, they have a second approach that is a small satellite launcher rather than a passenger craft. This one is going to be launched from a Boeing 747-400. They have provided one of the old Virgin Atlantic aircraft for this purpose.

I was down in Long Beach recently and saw the plane sitting on the north side of the field. Sadly, the light from the south side was very nice but it was too far away. A trip around the field did get me closer to it although now backlit. Not far away are the offices of Virgin Orbit. The launcher will be mounted on a pylon under the port wing making use of the hard point that was included to allow the ferrying of a spare engine.

How things develop we shall see in a reasonably short time I imagine. The operation seems to be pretty significant and will need to deliver something before too long. In the mean time, here are a couple of shots of Cosmic Girl when she was in passenger operation.

U-125 Out and Back

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The BAe125 (and all of the successor names) was a dominant biz jet for many years. It also found a few roles in military operations from transport, through trainer, to flight calibration and reconnaissance. The JASDF was one such operator with the aircraft designated U-125 in Japanese service. Hyakuri is home to a detachment and one of the jets flew during my visit. It taxied out and headed off on its mission.

Returning later on it was stopped in time to make the taxiway not far passed my location. The aircraft has a fairing underneath the fuselage for the search radar. The operator sits in the fuselage just above this location. They are also provided with a huge observation window for observing what is going on outside. Must be a good spot for taking pictures! I’m not jealous…

Lufthansa MD-11

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Aside from FedEx, MD-11s are becoming pretty thin on the ground. Lufthansa Cargo has had a decent fleet of them but there will come a time before too long when they are all gone. I figured one weekend I would nip out and get the arrival of one of them. The arrivals of heavy jets, particularly freighters, are often put on the inside runway which gave me a bit of a chance but, at that time of day, there aren’t great spots. I found a place that is rather close to being underneath the jet but it would have to do. I still think it is a nice looking jet, even if it didn’t prove to be a success in its originally intended role.

Alpha Jet Action

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The Alpha Jet has attracted the attention of a few owners in the Pacific Northwest. This example is pretty cool because, rather than being painted in some new scheme, it is still in the colors it wore when operated by the Luftwaffe. It flew a few passes during Skyfair so we were able to see it in action. I have seen lots of the French style Alpha Jets with the spinning nose but my exposure to the German style of jets over the years has been a lot less. The pointy nose has a slightly more purposeful look to me.

ABX 767 in White

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I’ve taken so long to write this post that it has been expanded. I got an ABX 767 freighter coming in to SeaTac one time in overcast conditions. I had been meaning to write about it for a while but other topics had seemed more appropriate to cover first. Then, while out hunting for an MD-11F, I happened to have another example fly over me as I was parking up. (This one is an ABX jet but they are a common fleet.) The camera was to hand so I was able to get some shots for almost directly beneath. I guess this was the trigger for me to finally write the post!

Dreamlifter Turnaround

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The 787s fleeing the hurricane weren’t the only aircraft arriving at Paine Field while we were there. The regular schedule of 787 component deliveries was underway with the Dreamlifters. One of the jets landed just after we got there. We watched from the rooftop as it taxied in, the crew opened up the tail and a fuselage barrel section was offloaded. There was another Dreamlifter already parked up when we got there.

Once our tour was over, we headed back upstairs because this Dreamlifter was now ready to go. It pushed back and taxied out. I decided to try some video of it rather than more stills. The jet was off to Japan and was fueled up. Consequently, it used a good chunk of the runway to get airborne. I was watching through the camera and can admit to being a little surprised how long it ran. The video I got is below.

Eastern Front Veteran

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The FHCAM IL-2 Shturmovik has been airworthy for a while but I have previously only seen it on the ground. Skyfair was my first opportunity to see it flying so I was rather pleased. This is a pretty rare type and a new one for me so having it display was a treat. The sun was rather high when it flew which is a bit less than ideal for a plane with a dark paint scheme but that is a small price to pay. It flew a number of passes, all of which felt nice and close. Great stuff.

R44 Pilot Showing Off for the Camera

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I was wandering along the runway at Concrete towards the end of the day during the fly in. A Robinson R44 had been doing pleasure flights throughout the day and was landing well up the field from where I spent a lot of my time. I had photographed it as it came over a couple of times but soon lost interest. However, as I wandered along, I happened to be near his landing spot when he came back from another trip. I was far better placed to get a shot or two so I did. However, he spotted me and, instead of following his normal approach routine, he brought the helicopter to a hover in front of me facing at me as they all looked at me while I looked at them. As long as I kept shooting, he didn’t go anywhere so eventually I just lowered the camera and waved. At that point he turned around and landed.