Tag Archives: airplane

Sunset Dreamlifter

Leave a Reply

Scrolling through some shots for something else, I saw these two shots of a Dreamlifter departing Paine Field one evening.  I think I actually posted about that flight on another day but I guess I ignored the view of the jet as it headed in to the distance.  The sky was beginning to develop a nice color and the air was very clear giving a good view of the Cascades mountains in the distance so why not share them now – particularly as it is a time when I am not getting much aviation photography done!

Janet on a Blustery PNW Day

Leave a Reply

Crummy weather and a lack of light is not usually a recipe for heading out to shoot planes.  However, I was up in Everett getting the car serviced and, as I prepared to leave when the work was done, I figured I would have a quick check on what was moving up the road.  Turned out ATS had another Janet 737 out on a test flight.

I have shot the Janet 737s at Paine Field in far better conditions but I figured it was worth a quick diversion before heading home.  The wind was very strong and from the southwest.  As the 737 came down the approach, it was pointing in my direction as it compensated for the crosswind.  A short while before it arrived, we had experienced some nice sun poking through the clouds but, sadly, this had gone by the time it arrived so it was dull lighting.  This somehow made the airframe paint seem a little warmer than I recall previously.

Fisher P-75A Eagle

Leave a Reply

While researching some old images of mine from the experimental hangar at the USAF Museum in Dayton OH (the collection of which has since been moved into a new, custom build display hangar which is far more spacious), I saw some shots of something which, to be honest, I had no idea what it was.  I took a look at the website of the museum to try and identify the type.  It is a Fisher P-75A Eagle.

I did not knew Fisher existed and discovered it was part of General Motors.  The configuration of the aircraft is quite unusual.  The engine is mounted in the middle of the aircraft driving a contra-rotating propeller.  The cockpit is further forward that on other single-engined fighters of the era since there was no space allocated to the engine up front.  The underside includes a pair of inlets.  The airframe is finished in polished metal rather than paint.  Overall, it looks quite impressive.  From what I read, another type was not deemed as necessary so development was terminated and they used the airframes for engine development work.  Funny how I saw it on the visit and took photos and then promptly forgot about it.

Back to Coupeville for a Day Off

1 Reply

NOLF Coupeville was scheduled for FCLP training and strong winds from the Southeast were forecast which suggested the right runway would be in use.  I also had a day off scheduled.  While the rest of the weather was potentially not ideal, I figured I would make the trip.  Why. Not?  They were due to be flying from late morning but, as seems to be usual, it was just after noon by the time things started to look active.

I was worried about the low cloud base but it was actually not a problem.  The wind was really strong gusting 20-30 kts.  This was giving them some interesting flying.  Early on, there was a hint of sun sometimes which really helped the photos.  As they climbed out after each touchdown, the skies behind made from interesting backgrounds and showed off the heat haze from the exhausts as well as the streaming tip vortices courtesy of the damp conditions.

After a while, I got a visit from the Navy Police.  The young lad informed me I wasn’t allowed to photograph the jets. I pointed out I could be he was most insistent that I couldn’t.  Rather than have trouble I decided the stop shooting.  As it happened, the conditions got a bit worse anyway so I had got the best of what was on offer.  I just watched the rest of the flying which included quite a few bolsters and some sketchy touchdowns as the wind got stronger.

747s Over Kenmore

Leave a Reply

A sunny but cool Sunday afternoon with a bit of spare time on my hands meant I headed over to Kenmore to see whether there was any floatplane activity.  The answer was not much.  However, I did get something a little larger overhead.  Traffic in to Paine Field was running on a northerly flow.  A Dreamlifter made an approach and was followed a little later by a 747-8F destined for UPS once test flying is complete.  They both turned on to approach overhead the north end of Lake Washington so I got shots of them both.

Turbine Bonanza

Leave a Reply

Any airport in North America on any given day will have a reasonable chance of a Bonanza showing up.  Them come in all vintages, shapes and sizes but they usually come!  I’ve therefore shot tons of them over the years.  However, I think I may have had a first in that I recently shot a turbine Bonanza.  It was on the approach at Paine Field and it was obvious that there was something different about it.  The noise was clearly a turbine and the tip tanks had been fitted with winglets.  Given the location, I assume they are for drag reduction since they wouldn’t add much to directional stability.  Tip tanks are probably a must given the rate at which turbines burn fuel compared to pistons.  It was a smart looking thing with the revised nose shape looking quite graceful.  Sadly the landing wasn’t as graceful but floating is fine when you have 10,000’ ahead of you!

More of the RAF’s Poseidon Test Flying

Leave a Reply

In this recent post, I had an RAF Poseidon flying over the house.  A little while later, I was at Boeing Field when the same jet came back from a test flight.  Here are some shots of it as it rolled out after landing.  It wasn’t long after this that the jet was delivered to the RAF and made the trip to its new home in Lossiemouth.

Blue Angels Legacy Hornet Retirement

Leave a Reply

Recently, the Blue Angels made their last formation flight with the F/A-18 Hornet.  The team is transitioning to the Super Hornet ahead of 2021 and they have started working up with the new jets.  It has been a while since I last saw the Blue Angels demonstration so I thought a few shots with their aging legacy Hornets was in order.   They always got the oldest jets in the fleet so I hope they are happy to have some slightly newer airframes to work with.

More To Love A321 Shot for Work!

Leave a Reply

I had a brief visit to Seattle Tacoma International to get some images for work.  These images were not of the aircraft but the configuration of the roadways in to the airport.  Not a great opportunity for photographing an aircraft.  However, you could just see some of the ramp area and, as the sun came out, the Alaska Airlines A321neo in the More To Love markings taxied in.  It was just visible above the terminal buildings so it would have been rude not to get a shot!