Tag Archives: airliner

Zero G and, Ironically, It’s Not Raining

I last saw this jet on approach to Oakland. I blogged about that event here. On that day, it was pouring with rain. I got the shot but it was rather dreary. This time I saw the jet parked up at Boeing Field in Seattle. Ironically, the sun was out on a lovely day – not Seattle’s reputation. Sadly, it wasn’t moving while I was there. I don’t know why it was in town but I heard there was a big software conference underway so maybe it was a fun trip for some big cheeses in the software business.

Honeywell Test Convair

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An older airframe is always a pleasant surprise. While I was at Everett, Honeywell had some people making a visit to Paine Field and they came in the company’s old Convair. This is not the sort of plane you see around much anymore so I was rather pleased to see it show up.

Unloading the Wings

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The wings for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are not built in the US. They come from Japan and they make the journey in the 747-400LCF Dreamlifter. The process for unloading them is very well practiced. The aircraft lands and is parked up. The tail is then swung open to expose the cavernous hold. A transporter pulls up behind the lane and elevates its deck to level with the aircraft. The wings are in a cradle that then slides out of the plane and on to the transporter. It then backs away and lowers down before driving the wings into a storage building.

While this was going on, other fuselage parts could be seen inside. With production running at a high rate, this process is repeated every few days. I have never yet seen the Belugas at work for Airbus doing the same sort of thing but I would like to some day. Their new aircraft are currently being assembled so they will soon have more capacity. I don’t know whether Boeing will need more of the Dreamlifters at some point but the current fleet seems to be kept busy.

Zoomify the Boeing Flightline

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Everett is a busy production facility. 787s are being built at a fair rate while 777 production continues, albeit at a reducing pace. There are some 747s and 767s coming out as well. The flightline for their testing is consequently rather full. I figured a panorama was a good idea but they are hard to put on the blog without making them too small. Time for zoomify again. You can pan around and zoom in to see what was on the line this day.

Southwest Scimitars and the Inaccuracy of Online Truths

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Online forums can be a great source of information. They can also be full of rubbish. With the introduction of the split scimitar tips on the 737 fleets, Southwest was an early adopter on their 800 series jets. However, I read that they had not been happy with performance and had stopped adopting them. They definitely weren’t going to have them on the 700 series. Above is a 700 series with split scimitars. A number of airframes have now been fitted including this one so I guess those people were not the most accurate source of info!

FedEx Sneak in But the Background is Good

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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.