Tag Archives: airliner

Anyone Have Any Engines?

Engine supply is a bit of a problem for the big two airliner manufacturers at the moment. Rolls powered 787s are going through a drawn out program of rework and A320neos are sitting around awaiting both Pratt and CFM engines. Boeing is also short of CFM Leaps and the result is a lot of parked 737 Max jets at Renton and Boeing Field. Apparently, they are flying jets to Boeing Field and then trucking the engines back to Renton. As I flew over Boeing Field earlier in the week, the flightline did look full!

I wanted to see all of these parked jets so took a trip to Renton one weekend to see how things were. There were certainly plenty of jets around and quite a few had ballast weights attached to the pylons. Supposedly the backlog will not be sorted out until the fourth quarter (although some think that is a bit optimistic)!

Narita Lounge Provides Some New Airlines

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It was time to head home, so I checked in for my flight and headed to Delta’s lounge to await boarding. What I did not realize is that the lounge overlooks the flightline and mirrors the view from the viewing terrace. It was a crummy day with a typhoon approaching so not ideal for shooting and certainly not ideal for shooting through glass but, despite the occasional reflection, it was actually surprisingly good. The battery on the camera was on its last legs but why not get whatever you can.

The fun of a different city in a different country is the new airlines. Airlines I have heard of but not seen and airlines I have never heard of at all. They kindly would rotate quite close to where we were which was appreciated. The rainy conditions also meant that, while the lighting was pretty flat, there were vortices, spluff over the wings and inlet fogging to add some interest.

Accidentally Getting Lufthansa’s New Livery

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Lufthansa changed their livery recently. It was not universally appreciated and I can’t say I disagree. It really is rather dull. I hadn’t even bothered to keep an eye on whether it was on a jet coming to Seattle. Instead, while out in Federal Way, I saw a 747 heading my way so decided to take a couple of shots. Turns out it was the new colors (or lack thereof). Soon it will be a common sight as they repaint the fleet but this was my first encounter.

The Wrong Vietnam Jet

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While at Haneda, I saw a Vietnam Airbus A350 on approach. I think their livery is a great change from the bland look of most airlines. Unfortunately, it was a long way off so not something I could get a good shot of. When I was waiting to head home at Narita, the Vietnam A350parked at the gate right in front of me. Hurrah? Nope. It was a Skyteam special so was a rather less interesting silver scheme. Still better than average but disappointing compared to what it could have been.

Air Do

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Haneda introduced me to a new airline. Air Do. They had a lot of traffic coming through Haneda, both narrowbody and widebody. In fact, one of their 767s took off in great light as I was walking to the viewing terrace which was a touch frustrating. It was a long time before another one took off but at least the evening light improved so the wait was worthwhile. Meanwhile, the 737s were busy and some 767s taxied past after landing so I got to see a few of them in action.

Hail Damaged Radome?

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This 777 pulled onto the gate in front of my while I was at Haneda. The radome seems to have taken a bit of punishment. It looks a bit like some of those shots you see of jets that have gone through a hail storm. I don’t know whether that is the case for this one and it has, no doubt, been checked and found to be airworthy but it certainly looked out of keeping.

Royalty Lands in a 737

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I nearly missed this one. A JAL 737 was taxiing in at Haneda and the guy next to me seemed very interested in it. He was shooting it when it was still a long way off and I didn’t know why. As it got closer, I could see two Japanese flags flying from the cockpit windows. I figured it must be something so grabbed a few shots. As soon as it was gone, he packed up and left. Talking to someone the following day, he told me that JAL currently has the royal transportation contract and that includes some flights on the narrow body fleet. I guess someone royal was on this flight.

Completing the ANA Star Wars Set

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ANA painted three jets in special schemes in association with Star Wars. They have an R2-D2 scheme on a 787-9 and a BB-8 scheme on a 777-300ER and I have shot both of them in the US. They have appeared on the blog here and here. The third jet was a C-3PO scheme that was on a jet that was used in the Asia regional flights so I did not anticipate seeing it. However, it showed up at Haneda while I was there. Consequently, I got to shoot it at last. Sadly, it departed off the other runway so I only got a distant backlit shot.

There was another 767 that also showed up with some Star Wars markings on it. It wasn’t a complex scheme like the first three but it was a Star Wars scheme. I guess I must have got all of them by now unless anyone knows of another one that is out there?

RAT Noise

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UPS is buying a bunch of 747 freighters at the moment. I have shot a few of them including examples here and here. The route back to Paine Field takes them across our area when the pattern being flown is a northerly. I grabbed the camera to see this primer example heading over. As the plane flew by, there was a lot more noise than would be normal for a jet on the approach and it had a vibrational element which made me think the RAT might be deployed. Sure enough, when I checked the shots, the RAT could be seen under the wing route. This is a normal flight test requirement so nothing to be concerned about but this was the first time I had heard a jet at speed with the RAT out and I was surprised how loud it was.

Cascades or Buckets?

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Watching a bunch of arrivals at Vancouver, I got a lot of shots of aircraft reversing thrust. Current jets fall into one of two categories. Cascade reversers or bucket reversers. The bucket reversers aren’t quite as obvious as those fitted to the old 737-200s where they clamped across the whole exhaust but the effect is much the same. Bucket reversers look like they are doing the job to me. They hang out and you can imagine the flow being turned around as they power up. Cascade reversers are far more subtly as the nacelle translates aft and the flow is redirected out of the based of fins that is now exposed. I imagine they are similarly effective but I have no data to back that up. If someone knows more, please let me know as I am genuinely interested to find out.