Tag Archives: airplane

The End of the Day is Always Better

How many times in this blog have I commented on the nice light at the end of the day being the provider of my best shots. It isn’t just about the shot though. Stuff just looks better (hence the better shots) when the sun is low. Mark and I had spent a good day at Coupeville and then at Ault Field but, as the evening was beginning to draw in, we knew a few jets had launched earlier and were due back. As a result, we anticipated some nice arrivals. Mark had also scoped out a better spot for the final turn the jets would be making.

It wasn’t long before we heard some calls on the approach frequency and so we headed to the new location. Our first trade was not the jets we had expected though. Some maritime patrol training was done and a couple of aircraft were making straight in approaches. A P-8 and a P-3 were welcome additions. They may not have been flying particularly interesting approaches but we would have taken them at any time and in this light all was good.

Then the Growlers showed up. The flew some nice curving approaches around us and the evening light was illuminating their topsides in a great way. Clearly these were going to be the shots of the day that we were most happy with. Not only that but they did the decent thing and didn’t land straight away. Instead, a couple of patterns meant we got a good chance to get some shots of them. Once they were down, the radio was quiet and we both had drives home to make so we called it a day. (Sadly, as I got on to I-5 to head south, a C-5 flew over me heading in what appeared to be the direction of Whidbey. That would have arrived in gorgeous light as it looked really nice as it passed over me!)

Interjet In Vancouver

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One of the fun things about shooting at a different airport is the airlines you are not used to seeing. Interjet is a Mexican airline that I have seen occasionally at LAX and I believe now goes to SFO (too late for me though) but they do serve Vancouver. They are also an operator of the Sukhoi SSJ (although sadly not on this run). They arrive later in the evening so are timed well for the light to be good in the summer months. The A320 may not be as unusual as the SSJ but as a different operator to the norm for me, I was happy to get it arriving.

New FedEx 767 Struggles for First Flight

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Aside from the USAF, FedEx is the main recipient of aircraft coming off the 767 line these days. They have just placed another order too so they will continue to take new 767 freighters for years to come. One of the jets was planning to have a first flight at Paine Field. Prior to first flight, Boeing tends to run a high speed taxi and braking profile. If this goes well, they will then take off for the first flight. Judging by the radio traffic this time, things were not going well. They did one run, braked and vacated. They taxied down to my end and repeated in the opposite direction. Then they called the tower to confirm that they were heading back to the ramp. I imagine they fixed the issue before too long but no first flight on this occasion.

Not Often You See An Avro These Days

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The BAe146 was a regular feature in the 90s. It was a popular regional jet with use both in Europe and the US. They were still in service when we moved to Chicago and I traveled on them on occasion. However, a four-engine jet became a bit dated and they have mostly been replaced in service with newer and more efficient types. Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise to see one show up at Vancouver. In their later iterations, they were renamed Avros to pay homage to one of BAe’s predecessor companies. They were basically just a tweaked 146 as far as I was concerned though. The new generation RJX made it to protype form but was cancelled before production. I guess the economics were just never going to be compelling.

Fuddy Duddy

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The Lyon Air Museum has a B-17 as part of its collection. Named Fuddy Duddy, I was told by a docent that it is airworthy. I don’t know whether that means it is still flown or not and a quick search has not brought up any recent photos of it but maybe it is out and about at times. I walked around it in the hangar and got a few shots of it in amongst the rest of the museum collection. It looked to be in great condition but I have no idea what is beneath the skin.

Lots of Wheels to Touch Down

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The spot Mark introduced to me at Vancouver was good for touchdown shots. British Airways brings an A380 in each day so I was keen to get that landing. The landing shots included a lot of tire smoke as the wheels spun up but having something like an A380 means you have a few extra wheels and a lot more smoke, even if it is progressively given the configuration of the gear.

The size of the A380 makes it good at longer range if the conditions will allow. The background is getting busy as more buildings are added but you could get a clearer view further out with only the bridge for the Canada Line showing up. Swapping to the wider lens was necessary given the size of the jet. I know it is one that polarizes opinion but I quite like it and I definitely enjoyed flying on it.

A-26 Invader

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The A-26 is a plane that had a longer life in service than many of its stablemates. It found use as a ground attack aircraft in Vietnam despite having its origins in WWII. It cropped up along the way between these extremes. Some of them found use as corporate transports too including the one I saw at Lyon Air Museum. It had been used by Howard Hughes at some point. Now it is restored to something closer to its operational configuration.

It was tight in amongst the other exhibits which made getting good shots tricky. It is also finished in black which can make the photography a touch more challenging. However, having not shot a lot of them, I was keen to make the best of it. These shots are a summary of what I got as I checked out this speedy beast. How I would like to get some airborne shots of one. I believe one lives close to me but I have yet to see it out in the wild.

Hellcat Surprise Pattern Work

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I had gone to Paine Field for an Antonov arrival that has its own post here. We got a nice bonus while there. A Hellcat was up for a Check flight of some sort which I didn’t even know about until it flew a pattern overhead. I had figured it was just another light aircraft making a midfield departure. The overhead was nice to see but a bit distant.

However, whatever the check flight was for was obviously done quite quickly as they called for an approach. As they came down final, another light aircraft was ahead of them and was not going to vacate in time so they were told to go around. Two approaches! Thank you. The first had been straight in but the second was a nice curving approach with a good top side view. That will do nicely.

Smoke the Tires and Make Them Shiny

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I was photographing some evening arrivals at Vancouver and, as I went through the shots afterwards, I got to see some detail on the tires that I had not noticed before. The tires’ surface has a matt finish as you would expect of rubber. When they hit the runway they go from zero rotation to very fast rotation extremely quickly. The friction that causes this rapid run up scrubs a bit from the surface of the tire making the familiar smoke.

What I didn’t know is that the heat changes the appearance of the surface of the tires. They suddenly become very shiny. In these shots you can see wheels of a 777 just before and just after contact. Also there is a shot from an A321 where you can see some of the tires have touched down and others haven’t. Only with the low sum angle was this obvious.

Floatplanes from the Space Needle

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While the Space Needle is a great place to view the city of Seattle, it is also good for seeing floatplanes. Lake Union is a base for many floatplane operations and the routes take the planes close to the Needle. On the day we were there, the wind was quite strong from the south so the planes were water taxiing to the other end of the lake before taking off. We had quite a procession with a stream takeoff from a couple of them.

Once airborne, the commenced a turn towards Elliott Bay which took them just north of us and pretty close. I wasn’t well set up to get shots but I managed to get a few. I tried my best to shoot through the gaps between the glass panels but sometimes I shot through the glass which was surprisingly good. You get the feeling of being air to air, even while standing on something solid.