Tag Archives: airplane

Delta/LATAM Comes in After Dark

Delta picked up a few ex-LATAM Airbus A350-900s as part of that airlines restructuring during the downturn in the airline business caused by the pandemic. They went initially in to storage and then have been progressively moved to Singapore for updating to the Delta configuration. Seattle has been the location for them to come through on their way to Asia. I have missed a few but one was due to come through when I could see it. Sadly, it departed a little late from Victorville and was showing due in after dark.

Since it was an unusual movement, I figured it was still worth the effort. I would use the 500mm since it has a wider aperture and test the low light capabilities of the camera to the full. It still meant some very low shutter speeds but I let the tech compensate for my low skill levels. I was pleasantly surprised by how well some of them came out given the lack of light. Since this shoot, I did also reprocess with PureRAW3 and this improved the quality of the shot further.

Blackbird Air Park

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Alongside, connected to but not part of Joe Davies Historic Airpark is Blackbird Airpark. On the south side of Palmdale’s airport, this area pays tribute to some of the most iconic products from Plant 42 across the airfield. Lockheed’s Skunk Works turned out some amazing aircraft and this exhibit includes an A-12, an SR-71, a U-2 and an D-21 drone. Having an A-12 next to an SR-71 is pretty special. You have to look closely to see which is which. A selection of black airframes together in the desert sun does not make for easy photography and there are lots of power lines and fences in the background but it would be churlish to complain too much. It is free after all!

C-17 Comes to Tidy Up

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The visit of the VP has resulted in two posts so far but there is a third! Once everyone had headed off, there were still a bunch of vehicles to be dealt with. As everyone was tidying up, a C-17 showed up on the approach to Boeing Field. It touched down and headed to Modern Aviation. I assume all of the vehicles will have been loaded up in it for transport to wherever they were needed next. I have to admit that I didn’t hang around to watch the loading or see the departure. It was time for me to head off so I will trust that is what they did.

Shooting at SEA After Sunset

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One of the things that photographers that have only used digital cameras can’t appreciate is ability to shoot in low light conditions. When I was shooting film, you were already struggling with image quality with ISO 400 film. Early digital cameras got very noisy as the ISO got ramped up but, these days, the capabilities of shooting in very low light are truly amazing for those of us that are old enough to remember what it was like. ISO1000 black and white film was adventurous!

Now I feel quite comfortable trying all sorts of silly things. I had gone down to SEA one evening to try and get a departure that was possibly going out just before sunset. Sadly, it didn’t play ball and the sun was gone by the time it headed out. However, I was there and the camera can do silly ISO numbers so why not. It still needs to drop the shutter speed down quite low but, with a fast burst rate, the chances of getting a reasonable shot are not bad.

I figured I would play around with shooting departure shots as the last of the light was fading away. It was more about trying something different rather than aiming for the perfect shot. I did have some interesting planes to play with but also plenty of Alaska 737s. The light was pretty dim and ISO51200 is quite something to work with but the image quality is really very impressive considering what conditions you are shooting in.

Century Circle

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I got to the gate for Antelope Valley Air Show 2022 early in the morning. We were lined up outside the security gate for Edwards AFB waiting for the time things opened up. I was on the phone so was happy to sit in the car for a while chatting. When I finished my call, I could see that I was a short distance away from Century Circle – a display of various aircraft associated with Edwards. Nothing was moving so I figured I would walk up and have a look around. I had got most of the way there when it looked like cars were starting to move. I rapidly retraced my steps to the car and we drove on to the base.

At the end of the show, I was coming back out the same gate so decided to see if it was possible to pull in and see the aircraft on display. Indeed, there were no barriers and Iw as able to park up and have a walk around the various exhibits. The name, Century Circle, is a reference to how many of the jets are Century Series fighters. There is going to be a museum for the Air Force flight test center and the base for the building was not far from the aircraft. I will be interesting to see what the museum is like when it is finished and how many of the other interesting aircraft that are currently on base will be included.

Of the jets on display, my favorites are the F-106, the F-105 and the F-104. Nicely sequential now I think about it. There is an F-102 which I have never been so keen on and this one is a two seater which takes a place that didn’t look that great and makes it worse. Still, vintage jets on display is a good thing and I shouldn’t be critical of what is on offer.

The one plane that is a bit of an oddball is the McDonnell Douglas YC-15. This was a program the USAF ran for a new jet transport to replace the C-130. Boeing and McDonnell Douglas both built demonstrators for the program but neither was taken to production. However, there are a lot of features from the YC-15 that will be familiar to observers of the C-17. Having a transport jet alongside the sleek fighters is a little unusual but it is a rare beast and worthy of preservation. Thankfully, the dry desert atmosphere is a place that will allow the airframe to survive for many years.

United 787-10 Arrival at Paine Field

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The 787-10 has a center section that is too long to fit in the Dreamlifter. This means that they can only be assembled at the North Charleston plant. The conspiracy theorists amongst us may think this was a deliberate part of the plan to focus production there and close the Everett line but, whether that is true or not, Everett is now only addressing issues with airframes already built and is not building any new 787s. However, some continue to come here from the east coast for rectification work prior to delivery. That means we get some 787-10s showing up and one of them was for United. I hadn’t planned on it but was there for something else and got this as a bonus.

C-40 Follows Out The C-32

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A while back I posted about the visit of a C-32 to Boeing Field in support of the visit of the Vice President. It wasn’t the only aircraft to be there, though. The USAF also had a C-40 that was providing support. The motorcade delivered everyone to the aircraft but the C-32 departed swiftly while the C-40 was in less of a hurry. I imagine that they were sweeping up the stragglers before heading off. Needless to say, I waited around for them to go. They didn’t get quite the same priority as the C-32 but taxied back and took off – presumably heading back to the east coast.

How Many 747 Operators Have I Shot?

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The delivery of the last production 747 got me digging out a lot of older shots of operators long gone or unusual ones that I had come across. This then triggered me looking through my collection of 747 shots to see just how many operators I had got images of. There are others I have seen but didn’t photograph in my younger days like Continental but, once I added them all up, I was surprised to see that, including some government jets and some testbeds and counting freight operations separately from passenger for some airlines, I have over 70 operators that I have shot over the years. I was rather surprised about that.

I am not going to include a shot of all of them. That would make for a very long post and I doubt too many people would get to the bottom. Instead, I shall just provide a selection of some of the more unusual ones. The full list is as follows:

British Airways, Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, JAL, Asiana Cargo, Air Atlanta, Lufthansa, United, Pan Am, JAL Cargo, South African Airways, Qantas, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines Cargo, Polar Air Cargo, Air New Zealand, KLM, EVA Air, Kalitta Air, Tradewinds, NCA, PIA, Thai, Saudia, Air France, Northwest, Air China, Air China Cargo, UPS, China Airlines Cargo, Southern Air, Korean Air Cargo, Cargo 360, Northwest Cargo, Focus Air, Malaysia, Air Pacific Fiji, Air India, China Cargo, NASA, Delta, Southern Air, Great Wall Airlines, Yangtze River Express, Atlas Air, Evergreen, Asiana, Cargolux, British Airways World Cargo, China Southern Cargo, Rolls Royce, Centurion Cargo, State of Kuwait, Japan, TWA, Global Supertanker, Sands, Qatar Amiri Flight, Boeing, Qatar Cargo, UAE, Wamos, Virgin Orbit, SF Airlines, Cargo Logic Air, Cathay Pacific Cargo, Pratt and Whitney, Western Global

What A Difference A Few Minutes Makes

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Paine Field is getting rather full of spare 777X airframes. They are getting stored in all sorts of locations and a recent spot for them is alongside the main assembly building at the north end of the field. I was using the long lens and so, rather than change lenses, I shot a few images to make a pano. It was a little dull but more of a record shot. A few minutes passed by the the clouds behind me had moved on and the light on the airframes had improved significantly. I reshot the scene before it changed again. Looking at the two shots, it is hard to believe that they were only a few minutes apart. What an impact a change in lighting can bring to a shot.

This Is Not What You Expect To Find in Washington

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I was doing a favor for a friend from the Midwest a little while back that involved visiting someone north of Seattle who owned a jet that the friend was interested in researching. The documentation was the main reason for the visit, but we also took a trip to his hangar to see the jet. While we were there, he showed me another jet that he has. If you go to a random hangar in Washington, are you expecting to find a pristine MiG-23? He had told me he had it so it wasn’t a surprise at that point, but it was in excellent condition. It hasn’t been re-assembled since it arrived, so the wings are off and the engine is out. However, it was freshly overhauled before he took possession, and the engine has zero time since overhaul too.

Tucked alongside it in the hangar are the various parts that are removed. I don’t know the status of any of the weaponry, but I am told it has no hindrance to being made airworthy again. He has no interest in doing that and I don’t think he has any plans to dispose of it so it may sit there for a while yet. MiG-23s are impressive jets when airborne and I would love to see this one fly again. The engine is huge and the only time I saw one fly a display at RIAT many years ago, the plume of the afterburner made quite the impression. Maybe one day…