Tag Archives: airplane

You Want To See Our Starfighter?

In a previous post, I mentioned coming across a MiG 21 in Corvallis Oregon.  When we saw this jet through the door of the hangar, we were surprised.  However, we are polite types so I went in to the office attached the hangar to ask if we could take a look at the MiG.  When I said this to the person on the desk, she asked if I wanted to see their Starfighter.  I was confused but wasn’t going to argue about the type since I wanted them to let me in.  She pointed me through the door to hangar and said I was welcome to look around.

I went through the door and looked to my right and immediately realized what she was talking about.  Tucked in a corner to one side of the MiG was an TF-104G Starfighter.  It was in bare metal but there was a hint of previous paint on it.  I found a panel with markings on it which suggested the jet had seen service with Turkey.  Mark advised that they had received jets from other countries so it might have served elsewhere before.

While it was tucked in the back of the hangar, the hangar doors had plenty of clear panels which meant there was some nice light illuminating the jet as it sat there doing very little.  The Starfighter is such a fantastic looking jet.  It is so dynamic looking and, when in bare metal, it looks even more cool.  I have no idea the story that brought it to Corvallis but was so happy to have found it as part of a short diversion from the long drive home.

Yak With Gear Issues

The opening fly day at Skagit County included a bonus in the form of a visiting Yak 3.  It arrived early in the day and then started up to be part of the flybys.  On one of the passes, the gear did not look fully up and then, at some point while it was off to the east, the gear door came off the plane.  Fortunately, it didn’t cause any serious issues and the pilot was able to land safely.

When he taxied in, it was easy to see that the door was missing on one of the legs.  I wondered how long the plane would be down for but I understand it ferried home later in the day to allow them to sort out the repair.  Plenty of planes have lost gear doors over the years.  As long as they come away cleanly and don’t damage any systems as they depart, things will probably be okay.

Wolfhound On A Dull Morning

I had to go into the city for a meeting but the time before it was filled with calls.  The only time I could realistically make the drive without clashing with anything was early in the morning.  Consequently, I parked myself up at Boeing Field to sit in a car in the rain and talk to various colleagues.  In a break between calls, the rain had let up and I was treated to the departure of a C-146 Wolfhound.  A Dornier 328 would be a nice surprise at any time, but a Wolfhound was definitely a bonus.

It taxied past me when heading for the departure end and I was able to get a quick couple of shots.  I then had another call and figured that the departure itself was not going to work out.  For some reason, though, the departures were really slow.  Everything was sitting at the hold for ages.  I wonder whether the conditions combined with the departing traffic from SEA meant that they were restricting the releases.  Whatever the reason, they held for over half an hour and my next call ended just before they took the runway.  A lucky bonus as reward for sitting in a parking lot in the rain taking calls for a couple of hours!

Odd Place To Find A Heron

A little while back, I posted about some local herons.  One of my friends (who shall remain unnamed) made a comment expressing disappointment that it wasn’t the de Havilland version of a heron.  Imagine my surprise when, only a few weeks later, Mark and I were driving through Oregon en route to Klamath Falls when we passed through a small town called Chiloquin and, right by the highway, was a de Havilland Heron.  This was a Royal Navy example that had found its way to the grounds outside a motel.

It wasn’t in the best of shape.  One wing was completely gone and it was sitting on the ground rather than its gear.  However, the paint finish was still pretty reasonable.  No engines, of course.  They will have been salvaged at some point when it became clear the airframe was not going to be a flier again.  The grass had grown up quite a bit around it.  Late June probably means it grows well and someone hadn’t cut it for a while.  I wandered around to try and get different angles on it.  The light was rather shady and I was using my phone rather than the main cameras but it was fine.  There was even a large rock that could be used to gain some elevation.  This trip was proving to be a lucky one for getting unplanned things and this added to that in a way we hadn’t anticipated.

Heritage Flight Museum Fly Day

I made a trip to the Heritage Flight Museum last year for one of their fly days.  I only shot from outside and that was quite good fun.  This year, I made the effort to get up there earlier to take a look around inside before the flying started.  Once I got inside, I decided that the location was worth staying inside for given that I could watch the planes start up and shut down and also get the best of the low passes.

Sadly, the Skyraider was not signed off to fly but everything else put on a good show. We had flying from the T-6, an O-1, a pair of T-34s and a P-51.  They all flew more than once (except the O-1) and the location on the ramp provided a great place to watch the start JP, taxi out, flybys and the recovery process.  I was even able to be in the shade for a lot of the time which made for a very relaxing day.

They flew some formation flybys including a missing man formation.  Then the individual planes would do a series of passes.  Having shot a similar day from outside before, being inside did provide a good opportunity to try different things.  Outside has angles to offer but inside gives some shots that can’t be matched including the lower passes.  Besides, watching them taxi by at such close range is really cool.  I hope to get back up for another of their fly days this year.  I also need to explore the museum in more detail.

Portland Eagles

The first stop on our Oregon odyssey was Portland International Airport.  Aside from being a commercial airport, PDX is also home to an Air Force Reserve unit of F-15 Eagles.  I have visited the base before for their open house but I have loved the F-15 from my childhood so I was hoping to see their jets in action again.  They were done for the day when we arrived but the following morning we were optimistic that we would get a launch before we headed off on our further travels.

The aircraft were parked up under the shelters when we arrived but they are quite regular with their launch schedules so we were listening out for the whine of low bypass turbofans kicking in to life.  We were also joined by our friend, Bill, who works locally and is familiar with what to expect.  As we scanned the flight line, we noticed one of the jets had a sharks mouth painted on the front fuselage.

The airliners and freighters were busy with their operations when we finally heard the noise we had been hoping for.  Sure enough, first two jets and then a third taxied out.  Even better news was that one of the jets was the shark mouth jet and another was the one with unit colors painted on it.  They taxied to the last chance, got checked out and then went to the departure hold.

I decided to be safe with the first jet to make sure I got a shot so I kept the shutter speed high.  It was not configured with external tanks so was airborne as it passed us and tucking the gear up as it accelerated.  For the second jet, I dropped the shutter speed a little to try for a more dynamic image with a blurred background.  For the third, I dropped it even further.  I figured it was time to get brave.  High frame rates are your friend in this case and I was happy to get some acceptable shots of all three jets as they departed.  With them on their way, it was time for us to depart too.  Plenty more to do on this trip.

Doc Weekend Rides

I have posted some photos of the arrival of Doc previously on the blog.  However, at the weekend, it did a series of flights and I went down one morning to get some shots of it before heading off to Skagit for the fly day up there.  Shooting at BFI in the morning is not ideal so I decided to head up the hill to look down on the airport.  I headed up there and met my friend Mark.  We went in to the clearing to get ready and realized we had timed it well.  It wasn’t long before several other people had arrived and things were getting rather crowded.  Early arrival meant the choice of spots.

You are shooting from quite a distance at that location but you are elevated so the heat haze is not such a problem.  Even so, not the simplest of shots to get.  The crew kept Doc really low on departure, much as they had done on the first flight I saw.  They were flying right by the Boeing ramp so you had a combination of modern Boeing planes and 1940s products!

Once they had headed out, we moved down to the approach end.  Originally, I set myself up next to the fence.  However, a Beech came in to land and I realized that the proximity to the fence, even with ladders, was not ideal.  I relocated to the other side of the road and awaited the return of Doc.  They made a pretty sporty turn from downwind.  I got shots of it but none that were a combination of sharp and as dramatic as I would have liked.  Then they were rapidly on to short final and swooping across the threshold.

It was all pretty good fun.  I was okay with the results I got, even if they weren’t amazing.  I could have hung around for more but had another place to be.  It would have been good to go back over the weekend but timing wasn’t good with the other things I had on.  I didn’t get the visit the plane itself which was a disappointment.  I do hope they come back at some time and I can have a tour of the aircraft.

Is That A MiG 21?

Chatting with Kev Perry, who we met in Klamath Falls, we got on to the topic of a Taiwanese F-5E Tiger II located at Corvallis Airport in Oregon.  This was on our route home so we figured we would check it out.  Corvallis is not a particularly busy airport and we drove around looking to see if we could find this jet.  We got to the center of the airport and it involved driving past the open frontage of a large hangar.  As we drove by, a look inside showed the nose of a MiG 21!  This was a bonus that we hadn’t expected but it wasn’t alone!  More to come.

The Plane Almost No One Wanted

When Boeing launched the 737NG family, the original models were very similar in size to the previous generation of 737s.  However, there was pressure for more capacity so they added a new model to the family with the 737-900.  A few were sold but it was not a capable enough aircraft and hardly anyone bought any.  Instead, Boeing had to redesign the aircraft with some more capacity after redesigning the rear bulkhead and some more range resulting in the 737-900ER.  This has sold considerably better.  There are still a few -900s around though and Alaska has a few.  They are very early jets and they are not worth the investment for adding winglets so they are some of the few NG generation jets to still have wings with the original wingtips.  Here is one of them arriving at Paine Field.

Did You Know SeaBees Can Reverse?

I was up at Arlington when the Croman helicopters guys were in town.  One of the local aircraft is a Seabee.  It had pulled up on the ramp next to the S-61 – presumably so they could have a look at the visitor.  When they were done, they taxied off.  I figured I would shoot a little video of them pulling away.  What I hadn’t considered was that they would reverse off the ramp.  They backed away before adding some power to taxi north in the normal fashion.  Here is some video of them.