Tag Archives: aircraft

Tankers at Sunrise

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Boeing started delivering KC-46s to the USAF as I covered in this post.  However, it didn’t take too long before the Air Force found various items of tooling in the aircraft that shouldn’t have been there and stopped taking delivery.  Consequently, rather than delivering the backlog, it has continued to build.  Paine Field had well over a dozen aircraft in various locations when we were there including three over by the Heritage Flight Foundation’s hangars.  Here three were illuminated nicely by the sun as it rose across the field so a pano seemed in order.

Sikorsky’s Historic Landmark

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Igor Sikorsky is well known as a developer of helicopters even though his early work was based on fixed wing types.  The airframe he developed to demonstrate practical rotary flight was the VS-300.  This helicopter went through a number of design changes over its life including upgrades to the cyclic system to make it more controllable.  When testing with it concluded, it was donated to the Henry Ford museum in Michigan and that is here I saw it.  It is a historic landmark and hugely significant.  However, it is stacked up in a display behind other artifacts, so it is actually pretty tricky to photograph.  I tried making a pano of it to avoid the things in front with some success.

Rainy Pegasus Takeoff

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I have shot KC-46s in bad conditions more often than would seem probable.  I got one in conditions so dark it was like a night shoot.  This time it was heavy rain.  Of course that can mean vapor.  The matte gray of fuselage actually looks better when it is wet.  I had hoped the inlets would fog but that didn’t happen.  However, the flat light helped the fuselage a bit which often gets too contrasts.  Besides that it throws up a ton of spray behind it as it accelerates down the runway. Rotating in front of me meant I was rather happy with the result compared to what I expected.

My First A220

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The A220 (or C Series CS100 if you are not yet ready to have it labeled as an Airbus) has been in service for a while but, until recently, I hadn’t seen one.  Then, while I was on the shuttle between the terminals at DFW, we came around the terminal that Delta uses and I realized that the jet that had just pushed back was an A220.

It was early evening so the light was quite nice.  The shape of the jet was quite distinctive.  Aside from the cockpit shaping, the wings are quite large (giving it quite decent range capability) and the large fans of the Pratt GTFs are conspicuous.  It is not a bad looking jet the Delta colors looked good on it.  Sadly it taxied to the other side of the airport so I didn’t see it depart but it was nice to finally see one for real.

Cape Air Ramp

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I have read a lot about Cape Air.  They are a small operator in the New England area flying a fleet of (mainly) Cessna 402s.  The reason I know this is that they have been heavily involved in the development of a new piston twin with Tecnam which they intend to use to replace their fleet.  The first examples have started to show up but, for now, the 402 is still their workhorse.  While I was sitting at a gate at Logan waiting for a flight home, we were right across from their ramp so I was able to watch the comings and goings of their planes.  Seeing them mixing in with the big airliners was pretty impressive.

Global Finding Everett Sun

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Returning from Whidbey with Paul, we stopped off at Paine Field to see what might be moving.  There was a bit of frustration with a delayed departure that we couldn’t catch but we got a few bits and pieces and that included a Global 6000.  This one popped up on approach just as the sun was reappearing from behind the clouds so we could get some nice light on it as it crossed the threshold and touched down.

Brand New F-15SA Jets

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The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) was attending Red Flag 19-2 with some brand new F-15SA jets.  These jets had come direct from delivery so had not yet even made it out of the US.  I guess they had that new fighter smell.  They did fly the first day we were there, despite the strong winds which was a pleasant surprise.  They flew along with the rest of the jets on our second day.  I have mentioned their slightly strange approach to flex departures before so I won’t go there any further but instead will share what I have of the jets from the two days I was there.

Max 8 Departs Just Before Grounding

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Paul and I were in Vegas for Red Flag but the early morning is also a good time to shoot at McCarran International.  The morning light is ideal for the north/south runways and, with the wind playing ball, you can get the iconic McCarran shots of jets taking off with the weird and wonderful hotel buildings behind them.  Where else will you get a pyramid and the Empire State Building in the background.  Southwest has a big presence at McCarran and we saw a string of their jets head out including one Max8.  We watched it climb out little realizing that the grounding order would be coming within hours or even minutes.  Whether the jet continued to its destination or turned around, we don’t know but that was its last commercial flight for a while.

Low and Sporty Lightning II Departure

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Speedway departures can be a mixed bag at Nellis.  Flex departures with a pull over the Speedway are the best but it does depend on how high planes have got.  Some climb out quite steeply and are way too high for a good shot by the time that they reach you.  On my most recent Nellis trip, though, we were treated to a few departures by the locals that broke the mold. They got airborne and kept it nice and low as they accelerated towards us before breaking in to the flex departure routing.

The evening light combined with the great angles made for some good shots.  It didn’t hurt that I had a lower shutter speed than usual so got some nice blur of the mountains behind the planes courtesy of them being nice and low.  The Strike Eagles also gave it a go which was nice.

Dornier 328Jet

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The FBO ramps at McCarran had a selection of Dornier 328Jets.  I noticed one at first and only later realized that there were more.  What did please me was seeing a bus pull up by one of them with the door open.  I figured we would have a flight before too long.  Indeed it did, in due course, power up, taxi down to the departure end and take off.  It was a bit far away but I’ll take a 328Jet when the opportunity arises.