I was out for something else, but I happened to be around when a Lufthansa A330 made approach to SeaTac. The weather was nice, the light was good and an A330 was coming by. I could hardly avoid shooting it, could I? I am no fan of Lufthansa’s current low-key colors but on a good day, even they look alright.
Singapore Airlines has been rationalizing their operations and one of the changes that they are making is getting rid of their subsidiary Silk Air and integrating its operations in to the mainline airline. Silk Air has ordered a bunch of 737s from Boeing and these are in the process of being delivered. A number of the planes were already painted in the Silk Air colors and apparently the airline determined it was cheaper for them to repaint them than to have Boeing do it. Consequently, they are being test flown in the old colors.
I assume that later jets will be painted in Singapore colors as they come off the line (depending on how much Boeing charges for that change order) but I have yet to see one in the new colors. I hope to get one before too long since I don’t have any plans to be in Singapore for a while. We shall see. I have got some distant shots of one passing near the house as it returned to BFI as well as some shots from BFI itself.
Of the original 787 development airframes, three are now in museums and Boeing has one that it continues to use for test work. It was the fourth of the jets and, I assume, the closest to a production standard. It was recently out at Boeing Field for a flight. It taxied by me to the end of the taxiway where it then waited for a very long time. Some fire trucks were close by but not attending it – just watching as far as I could tell. They called up to say that they would be there for a long time so the tower was diverting things around them.
Eventually they taxied back before finally getting whatever was the issue sorted out at which point the runway in use had changed. They had to head to the other end of the field for departure. This time they did take off and headed off for whatever testing they had planned. Not sure of whatever it was that caused them so much trouble but I guess it got resolved.
Everts has based its operations on older airframes. They have recently added some MD-80s to their fleet which, I guess, is indicative of the fact that the MD-80 is rapidly disappearing from service. It is now available for freighter conversion. I shot one on the ramp at BFI quite a while back in nice light but one was due in to Paine Field just before the end of the day. There was always the question about whether the light would play ball or not but I wasn’t going to pass up the chance.
The IAero 737 had diverted me to SEA but it also meant I was there when the Qatar 777-200LR was due in on its regular rotation. It was a special painted up to celebrate the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. (I don’t think we need to discuss Qatar hosting the World Cup, the timing of the event or the way in which the facilities have been built.). It was an overcast day which is not ideal for the colors of this plane against a grey sky but I think I was able to get something out of it.
I was running back through some older shots while experimenting with some processing techniques and was looking at some British Airways 747-400 shots. With them now retired from BA service, it was a moment of reflection to see the shots again. It was also a departure sequence which meant there was a good view of the way in which the QOTS main gear tucked away. A cool looking sequence but a lot less common these days. Thank goodness for the freighters and the remaining passenger jets.
My trip to get the G600 on a rainy Saturday meant a little time to shoot some of the other arrivals. The conditions were incredibly variable. It was hammering down at some points and then sunny for a little while before raining again. I shot a few jets twice as they got to the threshold before going around and having a second go at it. The Alaska Cargo 737-700BCF was a lot better the second time.
One of the jets broke off the approach before it even got too close. Looks like the crews were earning their checks that day. As an aside, I had a tree fall a short distance from me while I was shooting these arrivals. There was a loud cracking noise and then the tree gently fell to the ground. First time I have seen that.
I diverted my Sunday outing (not far admittedly and I wasn’t under any pressure to be anywhere at a given time) when I saw that an IAero 737 was coming into SEA. This is a 737-300 which means it isn’t too common anymore. There was a time when these things were everywhere. Southwest had tons of them and this example was one of theirs. The conditions were a bit overcast so not ideal but with the sun angle being on the nose, having some cloud made things a little easier. They were bouncing around on short final.
As a youth, a British Airways 737 was a regular sight. The 200 series got a ton of use by BA and, in later years, the 400 series did a lot of work at Gatwick. The A320 family gradually displaced them all. However, Comair in South Africa flies in BA colors. They even had 727s in BA colors in days gone by. IAG, the parent of BA, signed a letter of intent with Boeing for 200 737 Max aircraft but this has not been turned into a firm order that I know of. However, Comair did order the Max and one of their aircraft was on test recently. I am not sure if it is still going to Comair or has been reallocated to another customer but it is still in British Airways markings – for now.
At quiet times, I browse through older shots to see what I have shot in the past that might not have been the most interesting subject of the shoot but was worth another look. I had been photographing with a bunch of guys at O’Hare a few years back as the evening was drawing in. We were out at the west side of O’Hare and the evening light was great. An Embraer E175-E1 took off and turned overhead us. The low light angles picked up the underside of the aircraft as it turned. The bottom of a wing has a lot of complex curvatures to it and the low light angle really emphasizes that shape. This shot really appealed to me for that reason.