Tag Archives: airliner

The Thai Air Force A340 Tempts But Thwarts

On my last visit to LA before I left the US, I was quite surprised by an interesting airframe parked at LAX. The FBO ramps on the south side of the airport often have interesting visitors but this one was quite special. The Thai Air Force A340-500 was parked up in a corner. I last saw this plane as it overflew Seattle, and I happened to see it. I was in the back of an Uber as we left the airport, and I tried to get a shot with my phone as we drove by outside.

When I got to the airport hotel in the evening, the plane was still there. I got a more distant shot but from a better angle as it sat in the same location. It did have some lights on, and I wondered whether it would depart while I was watching. Sadly, nothing before I turned in for the night. The next morning, I came back and it was gone. The lights were clearly an indicator that it was heading out that night. It must have been quite late.

A Quick Evening Stop at Heathrow

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I made a visit to Kemble for a Buccaneer event that will get a separate post. As the day went on, the weather got nicer and nicer. I took a look at the weather at Heathrow and saw that they were operating on easterlies. I figured that, since I had very limited time photographing at Heathrow and that there would be the chance to shoot from Feltham Park which I had never tried before, I would make a brief stop off there before heading home.

It was a bit late in the day which has its pluses and minuses. The light was a bit lower and would be on the jets that were turning south after getting airborne. However, I had missed the busier time for the long haul departures. However, this is Heathrow so there are always going to be some long-haul flights heading out.

I was pleasantly surprised by what I managed to catch in a relatively short period. I did just miss an Emirates A380, but I got Saudia, Cathay, American and Royal Jordanian along with the local BA and Virgin traffic. I did focus more on the widebodies but there was a Lufthansa neo and my first Air France A220-300. I needed to get home so this was a quick stop off for me but it was fun to try a new place to me, even if it is one that has been used by so many.

Caught Off Guard by an A340 Overhead

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A walk in the New Forest one weekend was a very pleasant way to spend a day. This was not supposed to be an aviation related time but, as we walked across some open grassland, I noticed something large and four engined coming towards us at pretty low level. It was clearly an Airbus A340-600. European Cargo picked up a few of these jets and is using them from the nearby Bournemouth Airport for freight runs to China. I don’t believe they are a full cargo conversion but instead load the cargo through the normal passenger doors.

I only had the 24-105 on the camera so was a little limited in what I could get. However, when I went to the Bournemouth Aviation Museum a week later, I could see a couple of their jets on the ground at the airport. One was being loaded for another flight while an all-white jet with a registration that might be Maltese, seemed to be stored. Another time, I did try getting a shot of one departing, but conditions were far from ideal, and the location is not great for photography, so things were a bit compromised. Even so, it is cool to see some A340s still in use aside from the Lufthansa examples that have been my only other recent examples.

The Ride to the Next Phase

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This is just another British Airways Boeing 787-10 so maybe not something too exciting. However, this was the plane that was going to take me and Nancy to the UK as we wrapped up our time in the US. The plane was just another plane making another trip but, for us, it was the transition from one phase of our lives to the next. I have occasionally wondered about the journeys people are making when I see a plane coming from a long way away. It could just be a work trip or a vacation but sometimes it is a really significant transformation. This flight was that for us. Onwards!

Head on For GlobalX

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The GlobalX operations at Boeing Field had become a pretty regular thing so were not necessarily enough to pique my interest. However, I was passing the field when one was getting ready to depart and, since it was a cold, winter day, I figured that heat haze was not going to be too bad. As a result, I decided to go to the street at the departure end of the runway to try a head on shot. I knew they would rotate a long way from me but decided to see what the result might be.

I was quite pleased with the results with the haze being limited and, while I was shooting through a fence, there was not a significant reduction in image quality. This A320 is one that GlobalX took on after it departed the Alaska Airlines fleet. The majority of the airframe is plane white but the rudder has to be balanced after painting, so it was clearly easier to leave it with the remnants of the Alaska livery to save time and money. Not sure who was on this flight, but I imagine they were probably not there by choice.

Rainy Mad Dog Departure

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The MD-80 fleets rapidly disappeared from passenger service, but they did find a small secondary life as freighter conversions. The majority of freighter conversion activity has been around the 737 and more recently A320/321 families and the MD-80s have not been widespread. They seem to be popular with operators that already were using DC-9 freighters so maybe the transition is easier to manage. USA Jet is one that has picked up the type. When I saw one was at Paine Field, I figured I would try and catch it departing. Sadly, the conditions were far from ideal. It was a gloomy and rainy day but I went for it anyway. New there was little likelihood I would see one again.

Twisting the Clouds

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I posted some shots of the Ethiopian Cargo 777F in another post. What I didn’t include in that was the lovely effect as it came down the approach. There was some low-lying cloud to the south of the airport and, as it came through this, the trailing vortices twisted the cloud up beautifully. Stills down’s always show this as well as you would like so I did shoot some video to try and capture the effect.

SEA Ramp from the Bridge

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I headed back from the UK to Seattle to finalise our move out process and arrived into SEA after the fun ten hours sitting and watching films. The IAF includes the bridge across the taxiway. I have crossed this a few times and normally I am with Nancy so stopping to look around doesn’t happen. This time I was on my own so, rather than head straight across, I figured I would have a look at the various planes on the ramps. Here are a few shots from above of what was there that day before I headed to immigration.

Sunset Ethiopian Cargo Return

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Shortly before we left the Pacific Northwest, I made one of my final visits to Paine Field at the end of a day. Boeing was testing a 777F that was due to go to Ethiopian Cargo and the jet was due back at the end of the day shortly before sunset. I was hoping that I might get some stunning colours at that time of day but, by the time the jet came on to approach, the sun had slipped below the low cloud on the horizon.

Even so, the remaining light did provide some nice illumination on the jet as it was on short final and touching down. I was about to pack up and head home when I heard the sound of the engines coming back our way and, sure enough, they were taxiing back for a high-speed taxi and abort. There was a fair bit of moisture on the runway surface and, as they powered up, they were spraying clouds behind them. This time they were done and headed back to the ramp. I shall miss seeing the interesting variety of operators that you get from the factory.

Maersk Delivery Day

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The dire situation with Boeings 777X programme means that Boeing hasn’t delivered a passenger 777 for a very long time. The only jets getting delivered from the line are freighters. The good news about freighters is that you get some different operators to the norm. Maersk is a shipping company that has taken some 777Fs and, while I missed the first one that they took, I was able to catch the next one although only just. I was there on the day it was delivered. It was heading in a northerly direction which isn’t my preference for Paine Field departures but, because it was a delivery flight, you had the advantage of it being pretty heavy with a decent fuel load to take it home. That blue paint scheme is a cool one to catch. Maybe I will see one in service at some point.