Tag Archives: airport

Janets

The shuttle of flights run out of McCarran Airport, Las Vegas by private contractors for various departments of the US Government are known as the Janets. Previously operated using Boeing 737-200s, the flights have now been upgraded to 737-600s, probably as a result of the low price of these jets given their lack of popularity with airlines. They operate a pretty busy schedule at certain times of day. The flights file a plan to a location and then cancel it en route as they divert to whatever secret installation that is their true destination. Paul, Chris and I decided to try and find a good location to catch one as it departs since they make a tight turn out and should have good light in the evening. Several arrived while we were there and we were too late for one of the departures but we did catch one of them heading out. The light ended up being very favorable.

Marine Week

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En route from a day with a client to the airport I had a spare hour to pay a visit to Boeing Field in Seattle. I figured that my time window would mean there was nothing much to see and I didn’t have anything longer than the 24-105 with me anyway. However, when I got there I could see an interesting collection of USMC machines on the opposite side of the field and the Blue Angels were parked up near the Museum of Flight.

I took a ride around to where the Marine helicopters and V-22 were parked and got chatting to one of the crews. He explained it was the start of Marine Week and offered a chance to walk around the ramp with one of the crew. I was not going to refuse that. Mario kindly showed me around and let me shoot anything external. They had three UH-1Y Venoms and three AH-1Z Cobras along with a single V-22. One fof the Cobras was marked up in special squadron colors. I took a walk around all of them and grabbed a few shots while chatting with Mario about what it was like to support these machines. He had worked on the UH-1N before converting to the Venom so he had some interesting perspectives on the relative reliability of the two.

These machines were going to be progressively moved across to the other side of the field as part of the public displays for Marine Week and the first of the Cobras actually was towed while I was there so my timing was excellent. However I did have to go and then my timing let me down as, while I was driving away, I saw an AV-8B Harrier II coming down the approach. Oh well. I still did better than I had expected.

Black Hawks at Mather

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The California National Guard has a selection of Black Hawks that are based at Mather. Paul and I drove around to see them parked up. They seem to have varying configurations of the type on the ramp so I assume they have multiple roles that are assigned to the unit and the different configs to suit the roles. The fencing by the ramp was a little tricky for photography purposed and it was easier to get the Huey on display using the phone to get the pictures since it has such a small aperture, it isn’t affected by fencing. It looks like an interesting unit and possibly one that might be worth covering in the future.

Vijay’s 727

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Paul and I had a day of exploring and part of this took us up to Sacramento. We checked out things at Mather to see what was going on. Often the interesting things are not what is flying but what is parked up and this proved to be the case with a Boeing 727. It was parked alone at one end of the field. The area it was parked in was kind of interesting as we stopped the car on what had clearly once been a hangar which was now demolished. We were trying to work out how big the hangar was and what the USAF might have kept in it when Mather was an active base. However, the 727 was our primary focus. It was in Kingfisher colors and carried the registration N727VJ. The boss of Kingfisher is Vijay Mallya so this was obviously once his personal jet. It has winglets fitted but the paint looked a bit faded so it might have been out of use for some time. I suspect he has something a bit newer these days.

Coyote Runway Standoff

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Sonoma Valley airport (Schellville) is surrounded by fields and there is wildlife in those fields. I saw a coyote come wandering out of the field and head for the runway. An aircraft had just landed and was taxiing in at the same time. The two of them met on the runway although with more separation than the photograph suggests. I was particularly impressed by the way the coyote seemed totally unfazed by the whole thing. It stared at the plane for a while and showed no interest in getting out of the way. However, it obviously had other things it wanted to do and eventually turned and trotted off. I’ve no idea what the occupants of the plane made of the whole thing!

Ameriflight

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Not a company that I was previously familiar with, Ameriflight seems to have a significant operation at Boeing Field. I assume they are a feeder to some of the larger parcels businesses that operate out of there bringing in and distributing out the packages to smaller locations that don’t have the need for something the size of a 757. They operate a mix of turboprop types.

Beech see to be a popular choice. They had Beech 99s, King Air 200s and Beech 1900 airliners operating at various points, all seeming to have been converted for cargo business. In addition, they had some Metroliners – a type that you don’t get to see so often these days.

Flightware suggested they also had Brasilias but I didn’t get to see one while I was there so whether that is true or one of Flightaware’s not infrequent errors, I don’t know. Sadly, as color schemes go, they are not terribly distinctive but it was still nice to see a selection of different types in a very short space of time. I imagine they have a window of deliveries and pick ups so timing was everything.

Biz Jets Too!

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I am always partial to a corporate jet or two. Since Boeing Field is closer to downtown Seattle, it is a popular base of operations. There are a couple of FBOs on the field and a few movements took place while I was there. While the end of the line has come for the Hawker business jet as far as production is concerned, there are a huge number of them in service so seeing them will be common for many years to come. A nice Canadian example came in while I was there.

A departing Falcon 2000 was another nice one to see. Falcons are a very popular line and the 2000 looks okay to me but as it takes off over you, I think you get the best angle on it. There were a selection of jets departing as well. Heat haze was a small problem but not terrible and, for web sized images, it doesn’t cause too much trouble.

A Learjet came in while the sun was out but the sky in the background was a touch more moody. That certainly made me happy as it makes for a more interesting shot. It was a brief visit but still resulted in a fair bit of interest so I would happily stop back again.

Freighter Frenzy

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A recent post mentioned an evening at Boeing Field in Seattle. With nice evening light, this is a great place to shoot. Not only is the warm evening light in exactly the right diction, the field is situated at the bottom of a hill that provides a far more interesting backdrop for shots than a clear sky. Also, the variety of traffic is very good. Today, I shall focus on the bigger freighters. The airport is a base for UPS and DHL and also has a variety of other freight traffic.

With so many airlines vanishing and the variety of aircraft types diminishing, freighters provide an interesting level of diversity. First they are different operators, even if UPS and FedEx are pretty ubiquitous. Also, they tend to operate older types so aircraft that are in the twilight of their passenger careers may show up more often. This trip was not going to deliver too many exotic types with 757s and 767s still being regulars in passenger service but it won’t be too long before they start to disappear.

Irrespective, it is nice to see something a little different and to shoot them in nice light and at a nice location is even better.

More Tucson Exploration

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While the majority of my time at Tucson International was spent chasing F-16s, there is a lot more going on at the airfield. This part of the world is popular for aircraft storage as a result of the dry conditions that don’t encourage corrosion. The reason that Davis Monthan AFB has the boneyard is because of this and Marana is just up the road and also stores lots of aircraft.

Tucson seems to have a few things stored but there seems to be more of a focus on reworking aircraft that have left an operator or breaking down planes for parts. Over on the southwest side of the field seem to be a bunch of planes so I drove over to take a look and see what I could find.

There are quite a few aircraft in various states over there. A bunch of ex-Southwest 737s seemed to be going through the process of rework. Whether they are going back to the fleet or heading off to pastures new I don’t know. I also came across the fuselage of an MD-80 which appears to have been part of a U2 tour prior to its demise. I particularly liked an L-1011 TriStar that was on one ramp. I assumed it was disused but it does appear to be in better shape than something that hasn’t flown for a long time. Who knows. They are a rare beast these days so let’s hope it is still flying occasionally.

Some O’Hare Arrivals

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A bit more time stuck indoors than I would ideally have liked had meant that I was beginning to climb the walls a bit. Some good weather had been about but I had been unable to get outside to enjoy it. However, I did get a Sunday when I was able to get out and the weather showed signs of clearing up. (It had been pretty murky early in the day but the forecast said it would get better and it wasn’t wrong!)

I decided to head to O’Hare to watch some European arrivals. A strong westerly wind meant the arrival direction would be reliable as far as sun angle was concerned and the low temperatures should hopefully avoid too much heat distortion. Apart from that, an afternoon out shooting the arrivals is better than plenty of other options even if it isn’t something new and unique.

As it was, there were a fair few interesting aircraft coming in along with the regular O’Hare types of traffic. I was able to keep close to the car which meant I could hop back out of the chilly wind between interesting targets and listen out on LiveATC’s app on my phone to know when something was coming my way. Flightaware also allows a bit of planning ahead.

It was a fun afternoon and some good results showed up. Some new bits to add to the catalog along with some of the familiar stuff and some that will soon no longer be familiar and need to be remembered before they are gone. Here is a small selection of the day.