Tag Archives: airliner

FedEx Sneak in But the Background is Good

While on the hunt for a different aircraft, I was getting some shots of the aircraft coming in to SeaTac from the south. I was pleased to see a FedEx jet showing up on FlightRadar24 but it seemed to be rather close to another plane. It turns out they were scheduling them in on roughly parallel approaches and the FedEx was going to the center runway – not near me. I was a bit annoyed and the view of the center was a bit obscured from where I was. Haze was also going to be a problem – plus the odd power line. However, there was one upside. Mount Rainier is in that direction so, while the shot wasn’t what I wanted, it wasn’t a total loss.

Icelandic Veteran With a Smoky Engine

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Icelandair has made a good business of operating Boeing 757s on routes from Iceland to the US with Seattle being a regular destination for years. There was a time when the 757 was a cutting-edge jet but these days they are getting up in years. Similarly, the RB211-535E4 was once considered very advanced. Now, it is dated. It turns out that one of the engines on this flight is in a little better shape than the other. As they cycled the power on the approach, the starboard engine was noticeably smokier. Not a big deal but I guess it has been on the wing a little longer than its partner.

If You Snooze You Lose – Missing the Dreamlifter

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The move to Seattle meant lots of new things to shoot and that includes the Boeing 747-400LCF Dreamlifters. These transport the components for the Boeing 787s between the production locations and the final assembly lines. We were sitting indoors one Sunday afternoon when I saw one was inbound to Paine Field. I figured the light would be okay so I would head out to catch it. I had a bit of time. Did I get up there and then or did I mess around for a bit? You guessed right if you think I was wasting time.

I did finally get going. I head the scanner on in the car to listen out for it and, sure enough, as I was driving towards the field I heard them call final. As I got closer, the unmistakable shape of the jet was on short final. By the time I got there, it was safely on the ground. Crap! I was in place for it taxiing back to the base they operate out of. However, I would have been a lot happier if I had caught it in the air. Was the other stuff I was doing worth it? Since I can’t remember what it was, I seriously doubt it.

Structural Remains

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I do like coming across test aircraft. Production jets will be seen all over the place in due course but the test aircraft often show small signs of their test role no are a bit more individual. However, any test program also includes airframes that never get much coverage. This is because they never fly. Structural test specimens are vital but usually out of sight.

Boeing has a yard around the back of the Everett plant in which the remains of these test articles are stored. Bits of airframe sit awaiting any possible future use. The yard also includes a few bits that appear to have been operational at some time. The front fuselage of a 747-400 that still shows United colors is there. I wonder whether it was bought back to allow them to do a condition assessment based on the in service fleet.

Irrespective of how they got here, they are all rather forlorn looking as they sit in this space, out of the way and maybe never to be used again. Service life extension programs may require them to be brought out again although I have no idea whether the storage outdoors will have rendered them less useful.

BBJ at Medford

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Directly opposite our hotel during our overnight stop in Medford Oregon was a Boeing BBJ. There was no way I wasn’t going to try and get a shot of it despite the fence. The initial shots were when we first arrived because I didn’t know what the timing of the rest of the day would be. However, after dinner, the light was getting so much better so I wandered back out to have another go. No idea whether it is based there or whether someone was just visiting. We left before it moved.

Some New Max Jets

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Boeing has now certificated the first of the new Max versions of the 737. The Max8 has now entered service. I first saw a Max at some distance across San Francisco Bay as I wrote about here. I was passing Renton so I thought I would have a quick look at what was on the flightline. A few of the new jets were mixed in with the current builds of the NG aircraft. Customer jets were clearly awaiting delivery while a Max9 was also on the ramp. The test program for the Max9 is at a far earlier stage although it will be a shorter program given the amount of testing already completed by the Max8. A Max8 was close by and one awaiting delivery was behind the Max9.

Inlet Vapor for the Heavies

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More shots from a fun shoot a while back. If the wind is coming from the west, evening departures from O’Hare provide plenty of opportunity to get some shots. The heavy departures to Europe leave later in the afternoon and in to the early evening and, as the sun drops down things are getting better and better. The nice thing about this day was that we got a combination of good conditions. Earlier in the afternoon, while the light wasn’t as good, a storm had not long passed through and there was plenty of moisture in the air.

The result was a lot of vapor in the inlets of the jets as they climbed out at high thrust settings. Some of them had clouds sitting in the inlets for long periods of time. Others would just pulse with the vapor as they climbed away. They would also puff up little clouds over the upper surfaces of the wing as they fought to gain height. As the afternoon wore on, the air dried out a bit and the vapor went away. However, the light was then getting better so no reason to go just yet!

Why Travel North if the Aurora Comes to You?

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Icelandair painted one of their 757s in a scheme that portrays the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. It is named Hekla Aurora. It was painted a long time ago but, since they didn’t operate anywhere I lived, I hadn’t got to see it. Then I had my first sighting when landing at SeaTac when it was parked across the ramp as we taxied in. I certainly didn’t get a shot of it. Moving to Seattle meant I would have a chance to see it in action but that was dependent on it operating here on a day when I could actually be there. Turns out my luck was in – and it was sunny! (In fact it had been a crummy day but I had a feeling it would clear up and, while it was raining as I drove down, the sun came out on cue. Hurrah!)

Veterans’ Alaska 737 – Finally!

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Alaska Airlines has a number of jets in special colors. My efforts to finally get the merger jet were covered in this post. One of the other jets that I never managed to catch in California was their Tribute to Service aircraft that is honoring veterans. My friend Roger caught it a number of times but I was always in the wrong place.

Alaska is, despite the name, headquartered in Seattle so their jets are regularly rotating through SeaTac. Shortly after arriving here, I saw that this jet was coming in and, since I was nearby, I decided to see if it could finally catch it. Sure enough, I got it. I would also like to point out the sun and blue skies in this shot for those of you that think I have moved to somewhere where it only rains. It’s true that it does rain but not as much as you think so far!

When United Thought That Ted Was a Winner

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Occasionally I post about disappearing airlines. Normally they are airlines that went away because they ran out of cash. This one is a different story. The arrival of low cost airlines caused a lot of the majors to think that they could fight the newcomers by setting up their own lost cost operation. United came up with Ted. I guess this was like half a United! They moved a bunch of their Airbus A319s and A320s from United to Ted and set them up on services which, I guess, did not have the premium passengers and so was focused on the economy traveler.

Ted lasted for a while. I don’t know whether it was ever a profitable business or not. When you viewed it in the context of the overall United business, it might have been good for a while. However, whatever the underpinnings of the business were, eventually United came to the conclusion that Ted was not a good idea. I don’t know whether the cost base was too high to sustain it or whether it was just undercutting revenue from United but they gave up on the idea. The jets got repainted and became part of the United fleet again.