Tag Archives: aircraft

Falcon 50s Are Getting Rarer

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Dassault’s Falcon family has been getting larger both in the number of types and physically.  Now there are long range and wide bodied corporate jets available in their catalog.  Before the jets got wider, their first effort at a longer range version was the Falcon 50.  It introduced the three engine configuration which made it well suited to longer range missions in the days before twin operations over long distances were widespread.

The 50 is now rather long in the tooth so you don’t see them around so often.  That makes it all the better when one shows up.  I was heading home one evening from an event south of the city and the lovely evening light made me stop off at Boeing Field to see if I could get any shots.  Sadly, a cloud bank rolled in just before this Falcon 50 showed up.  Still, it was great to see one in action.  I was back the next day having taken a day off work and it happened to depart while I was there.  Certainly more light but a bit harsh in the middle of the day.

JetStar Prototype

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I’ve seen the JetStar prototype a few times in various visits to the Museum of Flight restoration facility up at Paine Field.  The JetStar is a favorite of mine as might be determined by several of my posts over the years.  The prototype is a bit different, though.  It was built with two engines – Bristol Orpheus turbojets.  After the first two aircraft, the rest were four engined.  After it finished testing, it was used by Lockheed for transport duties.  It ended up in Vancouver before coming into the museum’s collection.  These shots are of it in the restoration shop.

Stop By The Floatplane Base

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I was riding around Lake Washington on my bike and Renton is approximately halfway around.  I wasn’t in any particular hurry so figured a few minutes down at the float plane base were justified and that I can get a bit of a break before continuing the ride.  The phone was the only camera I had with me but it would do to get a photo of this Beaver on floats that was moored there.  There wasn’t a huge amount of activity during my visit but it was still a good place to pause and have a drink.

Boeing 737 Max 10 in Flight

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I missed out on the first flight of the first Max 10 version of the Boeing 737 family.  I got to Boeing Field as it was landing on its initial flight which I watched from the freeway as I got close to the airfield.  However, a flight test airframe is going to get a lot of use so I knew I would have more opportunities.  The Max 10 rolled out a long time ago so the start of flight test was heavily delayed, presumably as a result of the overall Max grounding and the more intense scrutiny being given to Boeing as a result.

I have now seen it flying a few times.  It is still flying around with a trailing static cone so they either haven’t completed calibration of the air data system or just haven’t got around to removing the cone yet.  It is in Boeing house colors with the large 10 on the fin being the main giveaway.  It is longer than the Max 9 but not noticeably so.  I’ll need to put them side by side to see where to identify the differences.

Lufthansa A350 Is Now Coming to SEA

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International flights are starting to increase in frequency and, it seems, capacity.  Lufthansa has been making the run to Seattle with the A330s for a while now.  Recently, they changed from the 300 to the A350.  One quiet Saturday, I figured I would head down to grab a shot.  Sadly, the old livery example of the previous day was replaced with one in the new livery.  I do prefer the old livery but that wasn’t the reason for my disappointment.  It will go away before too long so there will be plenty of chances to get the new livery over the years.  It was hot and sunny and arrival is noon so about the worst time you could think of for photographing.  A polarizer to take out some glare and to deepen the colors was the best I could manage.

A Pair of New 737s in Nice Light

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With Max flight activity pretty much back to normal at BFI, there is no shortage of opportunities to shoot the jets on the approach.  However, since it is now mid summer, the lighting is going to be pretty harsh most of the time.  A little later in the day, though, and the light can be improved.  I have also taken to using the polarizer to cut down on the harsher glare which is boosting the vibrancy of the shots.  I got two of the jets during one visit.

One of them was a Ryanair Max 8-200.  This is a special configuration that Ryanair has ordered that has an extra reader fuselage exit added to the -8 fuselage to allow the seat count to be increased.  This jet turned out to be the first one to be delivered to the airline shortly after this was taken.  The other was an Oman Air jet.  Nice colors for the livery of this airline which were enhanced with the lower light angle and the polarizer.  Sure, 737s are incredibly common but sometimes it can still be nice to shoot them.

Competitor Dreamliners

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I took this shot at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.  The 787 has sold well with the Japanese carriers – my trip to Tokyo was on a JAL 787-8 and ANA was the launch operator – and with these two airlines competing strongly for the Japanese market, it seemed slightly appropriate that they should both be in this single shot.

Finally I Get The NEO

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I complained recently about my lack of luck when shooting the A330NEOs that Delta operates out of SEA.  I finally got some better light on them.  I was out for the Aloha Air Cargo 767 which was coming in just after sunrise.  About half an hour later, Delta had a NEO coming in from Honolulu so I hung around.  The light changed a lot in that half hour with the super warm light getting a little subdued as the sun came up but it was still by far the best light I have had on one of these jets.  Thankfully it came in on the inner runway so no shooting it in the distance!

Malibu Downwind Fast

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A Piper Malibu was launching out of Boeing Field last year.  Things were quite busy and the tower asked them to make an early turn downwind once airborne.  They clearly took them at their word because they barely seemed to be off the ground before yanking it in to a tight turn to the north.  I doubt they even passed the tower!  They were only going a short distance and were due back about fifteen minutes later so I guess they know the area well.