Tag Archives: airplane

Honolulu Military Traffic

While sitting at the terminal at Honolulu waiting for our flight home many moons ago, I was staring out of the window at the traffic arriving and departing. Being in a different area meant plenty of different airlines as well as the more familiar ones. I created a post a while back that included some of the more usual operators. However, the airport shares a runway with the Air Force base. When you are on final approach, you get to see some of the fighters in shelters. It also means that some military traffic might arrive.

A bunch of F-16s started appearing as they rolled out after landing. I don’t know whether Hawaii was their destination or just a good stopover as part of a Pacific crossing. They weren’t making the journey unsupervised though. A KC-10 was dragging them across the ocean and it soon showed up too. I guess the last refueling was the cue for the F-16s to put in a burst of speed to get in first with the “Gucci” following them home.

Alaska and Southwest on Test

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The return to airworthiness of the 737 Max was first given in the US so there was a focus on getting airlines deliveries if they were under FAA jurisdiction. I guess we didn’t realize at that point that there would be some follow on issues that resulted in these jets getting grounded but such is the life of the Max watcher. Southwest started taking jets very soon after it was possible and Alaska soon followed with their first delivery – the grounding having come into effect before they had a chance to take their first jet.

On one day when I was watching the activity at Boeing Field, both airlines had aircraft out on test. They were operating under Boeing flight numbers but it wasn’t possible to tell whether they were production flight tests for Boeing or customer acceptance flights. No doubt I shall see a lot more of both operators with these jets in due course – once Boeing sorts out the latest issues and they become a more reliable part of service!

Long Time Since I Shot an MD-11 Touchdown

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MD-11 freighters are still a big part of the UPS fleet. In visits to Boeing Field before I lived up here, I got to see them quite often. For some reason, my more recent visits have not included many MD-11s. However, one nice evening with pleasant light, a UPS MD-11 was due in. They were on a northerly flow so a touchdown shot was not a problem. The bigger issue is that the 100-400 is fine for most of the sequence but, at the closest point, it is a bit too much lens. Still, nice to get one of these again. No idea what the long term plan is for UPS and the MD-11 but I hope they hang around for a bit.

Uzbekistan Dreamliner Delivery

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Rarity value of Boeing’s production jets is a nice feature of living here. The 787 line is closing at Everett but there are still plenty of jets to be delivered as a result of some production quality issues. An Uzbekistan Dreamliner was built last year and I saw its colorful livery on the flight line a while back. It was finally lined up to depart recently so I decided to watch it go. It had done some test flying in lovely light in the preceding days but I was unable to be there for that.

The conditions weren’t as nice as they had been previously but they were okay and it did mean that the heat haze which is a big deal at this time of year was not such a factor. They were departing to the north so came out of the South Gate of the Boeing ramp and taxied to the south end of the field. A long flight home means plenty of fuel but also no payload so a pretty early rotation. Even so, managed to get some shots of a jet I am unlikely to see again.

A220 Engines Look Big Underneath

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The A220 (or C Series as it was then) was the plane that spooked Airbus and then Boeing. It was an efficient plane with a new engine – the Pratt and Whitney geared turbofan or GTF. Airbus decided the re-engine the A320 family with a version of the same plane and the success of that project changed Boeing’s plans from a new plane to a reboot of the 737 which gave us the Max! They went with a different engine to the GTF (and Airbus decided to offer both). The GTF is a high bypass engine so it takes up a lot of space under the wing. This A220 passed over me on approach to SeaTac and gave a good idea of just how large the engine nacelles are compared to the rest of the plane.

T-34 Low Departure From BFI

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A civilian owned Mentor lives in the Pacific Northwest. I don’t know which airport is its base as I have seen it flying from a bunch of locations but it is always interesting to catch. One morning I was up overlooking Boeing Field when it taxied out to depart from the short runway. It is a small plane for that distance but unusual enough to justify some attention. They took off quickly but kept it nice and low as they built up speed before climbing away for whatever they had planned.

Life Flight PC-12

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PC-12s are a common aircraft in the North American aviation scene so this one is nothing special. Seeing one on approach, albeit in nice light, is not cause for much celebration. However, it does mean that, with the light on the nose and a prop spinning up front, it is worth dropping the shutter speed and getting some prop blur. If I try and fail, I haven’t lost a shot of something that I wanted desperately to get and, if it works, it’s a bonus.

Nice Looking Global 7500

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The Global 7500 has been around for a while now but I have only shot one in flight. I did see one on a ramp but I was keen to see another in motion. Fortunately, one evening, an example was coming in to Seattle before heading off across the Pacific. Since these jets have incredible range, I assume it was picking someone up or dropping them off since it could easily have made the trip in one step.

This one was slightly better than average because the owner had decided to paint it in a scheme other than plain white. It had a couple of brown swoops along the side. Makes for something a little more interesting. I went with a relatively low shutter speed but, since I was keen to get the shot, I wasn’t quite as brave as I had been with less interesting jets. I kind of wish I had taken it a bit lower. Maybe next time.

Aspen Sounds Familiar

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There was a call sign of an inbound flight at Boeing Field that caught my attention. It was Aspen. This is a call sign that the 9^th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB has used since the days of the SR-71. I have seen their T-38s show up at Boeing Field before so thought there was a good chance it could be another one. Sure enough, when they called up on approach, I could see a T-38 inbound. However, it was coming in at the same time as something else and it was actually aligned with the short runway.

They put the power on when crossing the airfield boundary and pulled up into the downwind for a second approach. The first approach had made the jet look pretty small in the viewfinder – I hadn’t realized that they were further away than the main runway – so I went with the 500mm when they came back. This made for a tighter shot than expected. However, I managed to get a few shots of the jet as it turned final – a long way away – and then as it was on short final. A nice treat.

777X Through the Clouds

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When planes are on a southerly flow into the Seattle airports, the traffic comes over our house all the time. The SeaTac traffic is always a bit higher but the Boeing Field traffic can be lower and visible from the window. If I notice something is coming, I can grab the camera and take some shots of the jets passing overhead. This includes the 777X test aircraft. On a clear day, things are pretty straightforward but a bit of cloud can really make for more interesting shots.