Tag Archives: aircraft

Comet Cockpit and Cabin

Leave a Reply

The Comet may have been the first British jet airliner and the first in commercial service but it is not too well served by Museums.  I guess the stragglers got chopped up when they had served their purpose.  Everett is home to a Comet 4 though with the Museum of Flight’s restoration facility being home to one.  Progress on it has been slow but steady.  I have seen it a few times over the years.  You used to be able to walk outside and see the bits stuck outdoors but now there is commercial service at Paine Field, the ramp is a bit more secure.

On my most recent visit, I wandered through the cabin and had a look in the cockpit.  The cockpit did result in some HDR shots and I wrote a post about that here that discussed the different results Adobe software provides for HDR.  These shots just give you an idea of what the early days of jet aviation brought to the flying public.

BOAC and the Red Arrows

Leave a Reply

RIAT is known for special formations and British Airways has been part of them in the past.  Concorde with the Red Arrows and an A380 with the Red Arrows spring to mind.  For 2019 and BA’s 100th anniversary, they wanted to do something special.  The focal point was to be the BOAC liveried 747-400.  I shot this jet at SeaTac and covered it in this post.  To see it in formation with the Red Arrows sounded pretty good.  They put together two passes.

The first was from the right and involved a gentle turn in the direction of the crowd to give a slightly topside view of things.  This was nice but the distance involved did mean there was a bit of heat haze to combat.  The second pass in the other direction was a more straight pass along the display axis.  The sun was popping in and out during this time so the colors popped sometimes and not others.  It made for some tricky shooting but it still looked pretty good and it was nice to just watch when not shooting.

A220 Airborne

Leave a Reply

My first Delta A220 (or C Series if you are old school) showed up in this post from when I was at DFW.  It was only on the ramp so no flying action on that occasion.  SeaTac is one of the regular destinations now and one was departing when I had just landed and was waiting to meet my sister off her flight from the UK.  Shooting through the windows at an airport is a bit hit or miss.  The quality of the glass is one concern since it is thick stuff.  You also have mixed cleanliness and reflections from the interior.  Then you have to deal with the heat coming off whatever is on the ramp with the potential for lots of APU and engine exhausts.  However, I did get some clear shots of it as it got airborne.  I think the shape is quite distinctive and I am really coming to like the type.

A Pair of Otters Return to Kenmore

Leave a Reply

Getting an Otter at Kenmore is not a challenge.  The Kenmore Air fleet returns to their home base each evening so a steady stream of them can be relied on.  What I hadn’t seen before was two showing up almost simultaneously.  I was watching the first on final approach when I saw a second appear in the background.  It provided a slightly more dynamic view of a regular occurrence.

The Tornados Just Weren’t Playing Ball

Leave a Reply

I do love the Tornado.  It was coming in to service just when I was getting into aviation and I ended up working on handling clearances for them when I was a junior aerodynamicist.  Their retirement by the RAF was a sad thing for me but I was consoled by the fact they remain in service with the other operators.  I was looking forward to seeing some at RIAT.  I did get to see some flying at a distance on arrivals day and they taxied up our way.  Nothing too close in the air though.

I did get a chance to see them on static display which is fine but not as fun as seeing them flying.  A lot of my hopes, therefore, were focused on departures day.  The German jets were scheduled out at various times during the morning.  However, they weren’t hitting their designated times and I was getting close to needing to leave.  Eventually I realized my time had run out.  I walked back behind the FRIAT stands and popped to the facilities prior to making the drive away.  While in there, I heard a very familiar roar.  Sure enough, as soon as I was out of sight, a Luftwaffe Tornado made its departure.  The Tornado doesn’t climb fast so it was nice and low as it passed the stand – apparently.  Bum!

Four 777Xs On the Ramp

Leave a Reply

The 777X initial airframe has already made it on the blog when it was parked on the ramp and when it undertook some taxi trials.  It has since had the dodgy engines removed and I assume some more trustworthy examples are on their way.  First flight will not be this year, though, based on what I am reading in the press.  While the start of flying has not been achieved, production has continued.  The initial customer aircraft have also now shown up.  I understand that Lufthansa will be receiving at least one of these jets.  The flight line now has four jets parked up – two in house colors and two all white.  Hope we will see them up and active before too long!  I hear a fifth came out with Emirates’ wing tips just after I took this!  I have another primer one since which is below.

A Sentinel Looks Glossy When it is Hammering Down

Leave a Reply

Based on a Global Express business jet, the RAF’s Sentinel battlefield surveillance jet has plenty of lumps and bumps to distinguish it but the paint scheme is a different story.  It is painted plain gray and, aside from one example I saw at Red Flag, it doesn’t have any interesting squadron markings.  The Friday of RIAT was a very wet a dreary day but this had the effect of making the Sentinel look rather glossy.  I have never seen them look too interesting before (aside from Red Flag) but this looked okay.  I did shoot it departing too on an overcast day and it didn’t look too bad then so maybe this one was fresh out of the paint shop?

747s Might Be Fading But Thai Is Still Playing

Leave a Reply

The passenger 747 fleet is something that is shrinking fast.  US operators have retired theirs but other operators still have fleets in use, some of which (like British Airways) are still fairly large.  However, they are definitely not as common a sight as they used to be and seeing one from a different operator is a nice surprise.  At Haneda I saw a couple of operators.  A Qantas jet was parked on the far side of the field and, while visible, wasn’t much of a shot.  However, a Thai Airways jet was on the gate when I arrived so it seemed like there was a fair chance it would move before I overheated and gave up.

It took a while but eventually it did push back and taxi for the runway I was watching.  It then sat at the hold for what seemed like a ridiculously long time.  It probably wasn’t that long but I was wilting in the heat and begging it to move.  Finally it did line up and got off the ground pretty quickly.  I guess the run to Thailand is not a long one so it wouldn’t have been very heavy.  I wonder whether I shall ever see one of these again?

Piaggio Doesn’t Just Mean Avantis!

Leave a Reply

I am a big fan of a certain Piaggio aircraft this this post is not about the Avanti.  This is an older generation of Piaggio aircraft and a piston powered one at that.  However, it still goes with the theme of interesting configurations and it is a pusher.  The P.166 is an interesting looking plane and this one appeared at RIAT.  Apparently, it is a regular for the show but a first for me.

I didn’t see it arrive so my first look was in the static display.  It was parked up at the end of the field but this was the end where I was parking so I got to see it each time I arrived.  It was fenced off on the Friday but was easier to see after that.  I was hoping to get a good look at it on departures day but it only backtracked a short way and then took off away from the FRIAT stand.  That was a touch disappointing but there were a lot of planes to get out that day, so I guess there was no point making it use all of one of the UK’s longest runways!

Some Other Evening Arrivals While Waiting for Cathay

Leave a Reply

Earlier this year I went out to get the Cathay Pacific A350 arrival later in the evening when the light was still good due to the longer days in summer.  Of course, Cathay wasn’t the only airline coming in at that time.  Some of the regular visitors also were arriving and even using the inner runway that is often only used by the heavier jets.  Here are a few shots from the other arrivals in the nice light you can get late on a summer evening.