Tag Archives: airliner

Don’t Float Too Long, I’m Using the Big Lens!

Mark had pointed me to a good spot at Vancouver for evening arrivals when the summer sun has come around more to the north. I trudged to the top of the “hill” lugging my gear with me as I didn’t know exactly what to expect and what lenses would work. Consequently, I brought a selection with me. It turned out that the 500 was good for a lot of shots but, once the jets got closer to me, it was too much. For a wide-body, it was definitely too much but a narrow-body was okay until after touchdown – usually! An Air Canada A321 in the new colors came down the approach but he flared a little high and floated. He was getting closer and closer and the viewfinder was rapidly filling. The touchdown of the wheels happened just before bits of the airframe were cut off. This shot is exactly as it came out of the camera. Good lesson for some of the later arrivals.

Max7 Number Two

Leave a Reply

The first Max7 test aircraft got a blog posting here but I have now seen the second in action too. I think I first saw it on the ramp at Renton but I didn’t see the registration so can’t be sure. Now it is engaged in testing and flying regularly out of Boeing Field. It actually departed as I pulled up, so I only got to watch it rather than get a shot. It was a bit overcast then anyway.

Later in the day it returned and this time the light was a lot more favorable. I have yet to be able to gauge it against a 700 series and see the increase in length but the bigger engines are pretty obvious. Still not a huge number of orders so we shall see whether it becomes a success but, in the meantime, we shall see them testing in the area for a while.

Concorde

Leave a Reply

Few would argue that Concorde is an elegant aircraft design. It may have had commercial limitations, but it never failed to be a head turner. Getting good shots of it when it was flying was not too difficult. One the ground it can still be a good subject but having it confined in a tight space does make things a little more tricky. The Museum of Flight’s example is in their covered annex across the street from the main museum. The annex has a great selection of aircraft but they are right up against each other.

I decided, after getting some shots on an initial visit, that I would try something a bit different and took a fisheye the next time I went. Concorde already has some interesting curves and a fisheye can either help of ruin them so some careful framing was required. I combined that with a 70-200 to crop in close and avoid the surrounding clutter. It was a fun experiment to see what you could achieve in a constrained environment.

Etihad 777-200LR in its Last Days

Leave a Reply

When Boeing developed its updates to the base versions of the 777, it came up with the higher capacity long range 300ER and a lower capacity but ultra long range version, the 200LR. The 300ER sold very well but the 200LR was more of a niche product and, while it sold, it never went in the same numbers as its larger sibling. Etihad was one of the customers but they have now decided they have no further use for the type and it is being retired. I was glad to catch one at LAX in the days running up to their retirement.

Eyebrow Windows Still Exist?

Leave a Reply

The 737 fuselage is closely tied to the previous generations of Boeing jets like the 707 and 727. It inherited the eyebrow windows above the main cockpit windows. These days, the controlled airspace has made the need for these while maneuvering a lot less. Current jets are built without them and many airlines have reduced maintenance costs by plugging them. I had assumed that they had gone away for most operators. Apparently not for Alaska! Walking through the terminal, I saw one jet with the eyebrows and was surprised. However, then I saw a bunch more so clearly this is still something Alaska see as valuable.

Japanese Government Comes to Town

Leave a Reply

I was sitting at the gate waiting to board a flight when the sound of a heavy jet reversing thrust outside caught my attention. It was a Japanese 747-400. JAL retired their 747s a few years ago and that made an appearance on the blog here. That meant this was a Japanese Government 747. I was really annoyed to have only seen it at the last minute. However, I was on the right side of the plane on takeoff to try and get a look. I did get a shot but looking through the camera made me lose the wider view. The Japanese 747s tend to travel as a pair. Sure enough, a second jet was parked up and I didn’t spot it was there until too late.

Aer Lingus 757 at Newark

Leave a Reply

In the UK, I have seen plenty of Aer Lingus A320 family jets. In the Midwest and on the west coast I have seen their A330s a lot too. One type of theirs that I have not seen before is the 757. These seem to be used for the shorter transatlantic runs. While taxiing out at Newark for a flight back to Seattle, a Shamrock 757 taxied out too and departed ahead of us. I have to admit I was quite surprised. I guess I knew they had 757s but this was the first one I had seen.

Ice Emphasis to Structure of the A330

Leave a Reply

An Aeroflot Airbus A330 landed at LAX while I was shooting there. On plenty of occasions, I have seen ice on the underside of the wings of landing aircraft where the cold fuel remaining in the tanks has caused condensation and freezing in the warmer damp air lower down. However, I haven’t ever noticed it on the fuselage structure. On this jet, though, I could see ice on the surface and the patterns of ice reflected the underlying fuselage structure. Maybe this is there more often and it was just the paint finish that made it show up this time.

Max7 Test Aircraft

Leave a Reply

The 737 Max8 and Max9 Jets are both certificated and in service. Next to come along is the Max7. It is a lower priority as a result of a far lower level of orders combined with a redesign it underwent to make it larger than originally intended. It is now flying though. I saw one aircraft on the ramp at Renton when passing by and also saw the first test aircraft landing at Boeing Field. I actually saw it take off as I drove in to the city heading to a meeting and it returned at the end of the day. Neither the Max7 nor the A319neo has sold well so it will be interesting to see how many of these enter service.

Smoking the Nosewheel of the A380

Leave a Reply

Touchdown of an airliner almost always results in a big cloud of smoke as the rubber burns off the tires when they spin up to speed after first contacting the runway. Lots of tires can mean even more smoke and the 20 main tires on an A380 should mean a lot of smoke. Less often noticed is that the same thing happens when the nose gear touches down. As I shot this A380 landing at LAX, I happened to catch the smoke from the nose gear as it hit the ground.