Tag Archives: aircraft

Lots of Approach Vapor for Video

Seattle is a place where you can get a fair bit of humidity at certain times of day. Earlier in the day, there might be a lot of cloud but it will burn off as the day goes on and you have some sunny afternoons and evenings. Watching the planes on approach to SEA on days like this can make for some rapidly changing conditions. I was watching a bunch of jets heading towards SEA as they came through the clouds and into clear air. They would be leaving trails in the cloud base behind them as they went but would be trailing their own little vapor fields behind them.

The conditions didn’t last long and soon the clouds were almost gone and the amount of vapor that they were pulling was minimizing. The vapor was clearly aligned with the flaps on the wings so you could see where the air was being worked the hardest. I did get some shots of them for this which I shall share later but the way in which the vapor puffs and dissipates is best seen in video, so I shot a bunch of that. Most planes were coming directly over me but a couple of the wide-bodies were going to the inner runway so were offset from my location.

Leaking Fuel and Engines That Won’t Start

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The Memorial Day weekend included the visit to Boeing Field of four F/A-18 Hornets from the US Marine Corps. I had heard that they were in the area but wasn’t able to get out to see them until the Monday of the holiday weekend when they were due to head home. Weather was a bit overcast so not great for shooting a grey jet! Still, I wasn’t going to ignore them. When I got there, the crews were just beginning to look like they would be ready to go.

However, things were not going to be smooth. One of the jets was the color jet and I had heard that it had been leaking fuel during the stay. Sure enough, when they fueled it up for departure, it must have leaked again because a bunch of ground crew – presumably from the FBO – were suddenly out with absorbent pads and brooms to clean up whatever had spilled. This took quite a while to get done so the four pilots were hanging around the jets waiting to be clear to go.

Finally, everything was tidied up and they crewed in for departure. The sound of engines starting was a positive one but, as one jet fired up one of the engines, it definitely didn’t sound like it was spooling up at the same rate as the others. Sure enough, one jet shut down and the pilot hopped out of the cockpit, walked back down the fuselage and slid to the ground. I’m not sure what he did to the jet but he then retraced his steps, back up on the jet and strapped back in. This time, the start sequence went okay and they were all ready to taxi.

Log Boom with Mark

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My buddy, Mark, was heading through the region on his way south but he had a little time to kill. We agreed to meet up late in the afternoon to see what the traffic was like at Kenmore. He comes from Vancouver, so floatplanes are not a novelty for him, but a different operator is some variety I guess. I am always happy to watch floatplanes. I got there a little before him and got a couple of extra movements but there was still enough happening once he showed up. Log Boom Park provides a good spot to watch the planes from, but the summer can be trickier as it becomes a popular spot for the local kids to hang out and swim. Fortunately, the day was cooler, so we weren’t surrounded by kids.

Most of the planes approached from down the lake and came straight in but there was one Cessna that decided the southerly wind necessitated the approach over Kenmore. I would like more of those to be honest as they provide some interesting angles, but it was just the one this time.

A Few of the Recent Vision Jets in the Area

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The Cirrus SF50 Vision is a strange little jet. It might be jet powered, but it isn’t a particularly high performer. Sure, it is quicker than a piston aircraft, but it doesn’t compete with the jets that are a little larger than it and it certainly isn’t huge. However, it does fill a niche. There have been quite a few of them around her recently and, with its bulbous fuselage, V-tail and dorsal engine, it sure looks different. It also helps that they often get painted in interesting schemes so I’ll get shots whenever I can. Here are some I have seen recently.

Taking A Chance on Late Evening Light on the 727

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I had been disappointed by a Kalitta 727 that had come into Boeing Field during the day when I was unable to see it. I was heading home from meetings south of the city and stopped by to see if it was leaving that evening and they almost did and then had a technical issue. I had to get home so missed it. I was, therefore, rather pleased when I saw it was coming to Paine Field a little while later. It was due to arrive early in the evening.

The 727s are rare beasts these days but Kalitta has been picking up more and more 737s so you have to wonder how long the 727s will be around. My enthusiasm was tempered a bit when I saw that the previous leg had been a few hours late so the planned arrival time was not realistic. Instead, once it got airborne, it was due in around 9pm. Sunset was 9:12 so this would be tight for time and would require the weather to cooperate.

I had dinner with Nancy, and we hung out for a while at which point I had to make the call. Would I go up to Everett or not. The weather looked okay where we are, but you never know what it will be like further up towards the coast. At that time of the evening, it is a quick run so I figured I would just see how things looked. As it turned out, the weather was pretty clear, and they made good time and a pretty direct approach. As the three-holed beast came down the approach, there was low sun illuminating it.

I then headed around to the terminal to see if I could get a shot of them unloading. The sun was now setting so the sky was glowing behind the jet as the crew worked to offload the cargo. The fuselage was in deep shadow, but I used some HDR bracketing to give me options to work with. Overall, it couldn’t have gone better. They were looking for a quick turnaround and return to Michigan, but I knew it would be dark by then so headed home. I actually heard it climb out over us just after I had got into bed!

Ospreys Through BFI – Not The Birds, Though

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I spent a portion of a Saturday with my buddy Chris as he was passing through town. While I was waiting for him, I headed to Boeing Field and was surprised to see a V-22 Osprey on the ramp across the field. The crew was working around it with some panels on the nacelles open but it became clear that they were buttoning things up for a while. They soon headed off and I did similarly to get Chris from the airport.

When he had made it through immigration, we headed back to Boeing Field and, while walking near the terminal building, the sound of rotors caught our attention. I barely had time to get the camera ready as a V-22 came into view. It was heading to the same area as the other one, so we got some shots of it in the semi-transitioned configuration and then went around to the other side of the field to see the pair of them parked up. I have no idea when they left but at least I got a little activity, even if on a grey and overcast day.

How Many Jets in One Approach Shot?

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I was waiting for one specific jet at SEA (which has long ago made an appearance on this blog) but, while I was hanging around, I was shooting different angles up the approach. In a few shots I could see a number of aircraft lined up on the approach or turning on to it. I played around with seeing how many I might get in one shot. It needed relatively clear air to get the more distant planes visible. A hazy day would not do the trick.

Qantaslink 717 Finally Makes It Through Seattle

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Word was circulating amongst the local photographers about the impending arrival of a Boeing 717. Qantaslink has been operating the 717s in Australia for many years but is now in the process of replacing them. One of the first to be replaced had made its way as far as Anchorage and was heading to Victorville for repainting and refitting for its next operator. It was due to stage through Seattle before the final leg to California. However, while the flight plan was filed, it never left Anchorage.

The process was repeated for multiple days. I think it may have been over a week before the plane actually moved from its parking spot in Anchorage and headed for the runway. To be honest, I was still wondering whether it would get airborne but, once it did, I prepared to head down to BFI. The journey must have been relatively uneventful as they arrived when expected. There was already a flight plan for the next stage of the trip, so I hung around waiting for the departure.

Part of me wondered whether the jet would break again but all was well, and they headed off. The flight crew had Australian accents and were working for a ferry company judging by the flight number. With the plane safely delivered, I am now curious to see whether more of the fleet will make the same journey. Maybe we’ll get bored of Qantas liveried 717s coming through.

Skylease Cargo 747 Makes a Gloomy Weekend Appearance

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Not long ago I posted about the variety of operators of 747s that I have photographed over the years. The number of operators is gradually declining so, the likelihood of a new one showing up near me is reducing. However, I did get a new opportunity one weekend. Skylease Cargo had made a few trips to Paine Field for Boeing but these had all been when I was at work. This time, one was due in on a weekend.

I headed up first thing in the morning to catch it coming in from Miami. The weather was not good at home and it was worse at Everett. There was a low cloud base. Things were rather gloomy but you take the opportunities when they come along. At least, since the weather was bad, I wasn’t going to have to worry about being backlit this early in the morning.

No doubt about it, the conditions did not result in shots that I am going to treasure. A white jet on a cloudy day is never going to provide a competition winner. Never mind. It was a new operator of a favorite jet and what else was I doing on a dull weekend morning anyway?

CAF Reliant Getting Time In

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Word reached me from my friend, Bob, that the CAF squadron at Arlington was planning to get some training done with their Reliant one Saturday. I thought this would be worth a trip as I had previously left one of their events thinking that they weren’t going to fly and they did. When everyone else got good shots of this plane, I was a touch annoyed. Time to rectify this.

They were putting a few pilots through sorties to get time in the plane. In the early part of the day, the weather was a little overcast so not great for shots but okay. Of course, as the day drifted on and the sun moved around to the other side, things brightened up. Just in time to be backlit. At this point, I decided to call it a day and head home. I did also have some good time near the plane while it was being refueled so I am quite happy with the results, even if they are nothing special.