Tag Archives: aircraft

A-26 Invader

The A-26 is a plane that had a longer life in service than many of its stablemates. It found use as a ground attack aircraft in Vietnam despite having its origins in WWII. It cropped up along the way between these extremes. Some of them found use as corporate transports too including the one I saw at Lyon Air Museum. It had been used by Howard Hughes at some point. Now it is restored to something closer to its operational configuration.

It was tight in amongst the other exhibits which made getting good shots tricky. It is also finished in black which can make the photography a touch more challenging. However, having not shot a lot of them, I was keen to make the best of it. These shots are a summary of what I got as I checked out this speedy beast. How I would like to get some airborne shots of one. I believe one lives close to me but I have yet to see it out in the wild.

Hellcat Surprise Pattern Work

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I had gone to Paine Field for an Antonov arrival that has its own post here. We got a nice bonus while there. A Hellcat was up for a Check flight of some sort which I didn’t even know about until it flew a pattern overhead. I had figured it was just another light aircraft making a midfield departure. The overhead was nice to see but a bit distant.

However, whatever the check flight was for was obviously done quite quickly as they called for an approach. As they came down final, another light aircraft was ahead of them and was not going to vacate in time so they were told to go around. Two approaches! Thank you. The first had been straight in but the second was a nice curving approach with a good top side view. That will do nicely.

Smoke the Tires and Make Them Shiny

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I was photographing some evening arrivals at Vancouver and, as I went through the shots afterwards, I got to see some detail on the tires that I had not noticed before. The tires’ surface has a matt finish as you would expect of rubber. When they hit the runway they go from zero rotation to very fast rotation extremely quickly. The friction that causes this rapid run up scrubs a bit from the surface of the tire making the familiar smoke.

What I didn’t know is that the heat changes the appearance of the surface of the tires. They suddenly become very shiny. In these shots you can see wheels of a 777 just before and just after contact. Also there is a shot from an A321 where you can see some of the tires have touched down and others haven’t. Only with the low sum angle was this obvious.

Floatplanes from the Space Needle

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While the Space Needle is a great place to view the city of Seattle, it is also good for seeing floatplanes. Lake Union is a base for many floatplane operations and the routes take the planes close to the Needle. On the day we were there, the wind was quite strong from the south so the planes were water taxiing to the other end of the lake before taking off. We had quite a procession with a stream takeoff from a couple of them.

Once airborne, the commenced a turn towards Elliott Bay which took them just north of us and pretty close. I wasn’t well set up to get shots but I managed to get a few. I tried my best to shoot through the gaps between the glass panels but sometimes I shot through the glass which was surprisingly good. You get the feeling of being air to air, even while standing on something solid.

A Couple of A350s (One is Closer Than the Other)

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The A350 is becoming a lot more widespread now. China Airlines has been flying them in to Vancouver for a while. I actually shot one last year on approach but it was coming in from the sea on the opposite runway near sunset so it is a tiny spec in the distance! This time I got one coming in a bit closer. The sun was getting low so the conditions were turning into something very nice. I touched down right in front of me with the sun pretty much on the nose.

It wasn’t the only A350 that day. Lufthansa also operated one in but it arrived before I got across the border. It did depart while I was there but departures are from the opposite runway so it was a bit far away. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much distortion in the air and I was able to get a reasonable view of it although not something that would have much use. The fleet will only grow so there will be more opportunities to get the German jet.

Dreamlifter at the Other End

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When planes are arriving at Paine Field from the north, I am usually up near Future of Flight. However, I was down at the south end when a Dreamlifter came in. They used the full length of the runway and turned on to the taxiway when they reached the end. This meant I got a good chance to shoot the plane from a place I had not done before. The weather was overcast which actually helped to show some of the textures associated with the modifications that the base 747-400 had received.

Don’t Float Too Long, I’m Using the Big Lens!

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Mark had pointed me to a good spot at Vancouver for evening arrivals when the summer sun has come around more to the north. I trudged to the top of the “hill” lugging my gear with me as I didn’t know exactly what to expect and what lenses would work. Consequently, I brought a selection with me. It turned out that the 500 was good for a lot of shots but, once the jets got closer to me, it was too much. For a wide-body, it was definitely too much but a narrow-body was okay until after touchdown – usually! An Air Canada A321 in the new colors came down the approach but he flared a little high and floated. He was getting closer and closer and the viewfinder was rapidly filling. The touchdown of the wheels happened just before bits of the airframe were cut off. This shot is exactly as it came out of the camera. Good lesson for some of the later arrivals.

Finally, an Antonov Antonov

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There have been quite a few appearances of Antonov AN124s on this blog. They all have something in common. They were operated by Volga Dnepr. There is another operator that I have not had much success seeing. That is Antonov Design Bureau. They never seem to be operating near to me. That was why I was so pleased when one was scheduled in to Everett. I was taking a week off work anyway so no reason not to go.

The weather wasn’t great but how many chances would I get for an ADB AN124? A genuine Antonov Antonov. Time to go. They were arriving from the north and it was morning so the only option was Future of Flight which wouldn’t normally be good for a morning flight. However, with a grotty overcast, sun on the wrong side wasn’t going to be such a problem.

There was a bit of a breeze from our side of the runway so the early approach looked like they were coming straight for us. They floated down the approach and touchdown of all of those wheels resulted in plenty of smoke. Then they taxied back to the Boeing ramp (after some confusion with air traffic) and shut down.

P-3s Coming Out of the Sun

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When Ault Field is operating on 25, the aircraft taxi out to the departure end along a taxiway that gradually brings them into view from the crash gate. The sound will usually precede them and, in the case of the P-3s, that is a pretty distinctive sound. As the day wears on, they are coming at you out of the sun so a bit more silhouetted but that helps to make them look more interesting. They pull around to the hold point, sometimes mixing in with the Growlers before departing off to the west. This is a sight that will soon be gone as the P-8s take over.

What Goes On These Pylons?

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An older generation of Learjet was heading out from Boeing Field. I almost ignored it but I got a few shots as it rotated and climbed out. As it did so I noticed it had a pod on an underwing pylon. A little further research shows it belongs to Phoenix Air. Apparently, they have a few Learjets that have electronic gear fitted – sometimes on pylons and sometimes internally. This pod appears to have dielectric elements front and rear so may well be an EW pod of some sort. I wonder if anyone knows more about these guys and what they would be up to.