This HondaJet had come from outside the US, so it had to clear customs at BFI after landing. That put it right in front of me while I was waiting for something else (although I can’t remember what it was). I find the jet very interesting although I am frustrated by the way in which all the ones I see have the same paint scheme with only a change in what color is used. Since this one parked up near me, I got to look at it from a variety of angles and that is a good way to appreciate the unusual shapes the airframe has.
The pylons are cambered and the way in which the nacelles sit on the wing is more easily appreciated from behind. It is great to have something different. I look forward to seeing the big brother when it makes it into service. A shame that Honda seems to have given up on their own engines but not a massive surprise.
It doesn’t take long for the weather to change in the Pacific Northwest. One afternoon I got a couple of Cirrus Vision Jets into Boeing Field. The weather was a bit overcast for one of them and then cleared up nicely by the time the second one showed up. The result was a far nicer shot for the second jet than for the first. It is amazing how quickly conditions can change and what a difference it can make to the images.
Air Canada operates a charter service under the Jetz brand. While the A320s are not the focus of the mainline fleet, they are part of the Jetz fleet plan. With a lot of use in sports charters, they do show up at Seattle pretty frequently. One of the Jetz jets has been painted in a gloss black livery which looks pretty cool. I really wanted to get some shots of it but they only seemed to be bringing it in late at night and departing in the early hours of the morning.
I wasn’t going to be out that late and photographing a black jet at night was not going to be that worthwhile. Then I saw one was going to come in on a Sunday morning. I took a look at the forecast, and it was showing the potential for the sun to be out and I decided to give it a go. Finding a location on that side of the field for the morning light has got a lot worse since construction has taken away some of the options. However, there are still some things that can work. I was hopeful that the sun might be there but, with the jet turning on to approach, there was still some cloud taking away the best of the morning light. Nevertheless, the jet looked pretty good as it flew by to touchdown. I wasn’t unhappy with the results.
A period of some pretty frequent visits to Seattle of 328Jets was nice to have. Unfortunately, I was unable to be there when one of them was arriving. Not chance to get the landing configuration but I was there by the time they were heading back out. I wasn’t sure of how quickly they would be off the ground given that the 328 is able to handle some short fields. As it turned out, they ran a reasonable distance and I was happy with the results.
During the trip with Mark, we made the excursion to El Centro to catch the Harriers. As I wrote in the post about those airframes, I thought it might be the last time I got to photograph Harriers. Turns out, I was a bit premature. With an exercise planned up in Alaska, the Marines were planning on taking ten jets to participate. Their routing staged through Boeing Field. The plan was for two sets of five jets to come across.
The moves were not entirely smooth. Bad weather in our area was not ideal, tanker support was not working to plan and then you get the occasional jet that breaks. However, we did get most of the jets showing up. The first bunch showed up at Boeing Field from the north. They were strung out on the approach but, from certain angles, you could see all of them stretched out over Seattle. One by one they came in and reminded us how loud a Harrier is in STOVL mode.
There was due to be the second wave later in the day, but they ended up showing up on another day. We had departures of the initial jets as well. When they called up for departure, they asked the tower to line up on both runways. This would have put them up at the north and away from where I was. This was a bad development. Fortunately, the tower informed them that they were too heavy for the short runway’s surface rating.
Instead, they lined up on the main runway spread out in a line. They powered up simultaneously and released brakes at the same time. The northern jet had no problem getting airborne in such a short space because of the STOVL capabilities of the Harrier. The jets further back were also airborne quickly and accelerating rapidly while still over the field. They climbed out in a loose line which meant assembling the formation would be a simple process. What a great thing to see one more time. Is that it for me and Harriers????
I had made a trip early one Sunday to Boeing Field to catch a couple of departures. One of them had left earlier than expected and was gone when I got there. While waiting for the next one, I was sitting in the car on a Zoom call with my family. I was parked somewhere where it was possible to make out through the fence what was the other side, but it had plastic filaments in the fencing which obscured things to some extent.
I was busy chatting away when I saw the shape of something taxiing across the runway from the FBO which looked both unusual and also familiar. I jumped out of the car, grabbed the camera and climbed the ladder to grab a shot as the Scaled Composites 401 finished crossing the runway and turned away up the taxiway. I last saw one of these aircraft at their home base of Mojave in California.
While I had missed the crossing shot of the runway, the flow was to the south so I knew the jet would be coming back my way when it took off. I was bothered that I was far enough down the runway that it could well be quite high by the time it reached me. It got to the hold point on taxiway bravo and then sat there for ages. The tension was painful.
Finally, it lined up and started its takeoff run. Sure enough, it was quickly off the ground, but good news was to follow. The pilot had decided to keep it nice and low – possibly to give a good view to the people over at the FBO that were watching the departure. That meant I got a nice landlocked image as it came by before climbing out swiftly. What a great surprise.
The freighter fleets of the big operators like FedEx and UPS are gradually being recapitalized. The older jets are heading to the desert and getting replaced with new airframes. The A300-600Fs in both fleets are not going away quickly but they won’t be around for a lot longer. The UPS A300s don’t normally show up in Seattle with 767s and MD-11s being the regulars here. However, the holiday season results in a big increase in parcel traffic and so extra jets tend to show up. That meant some A300s at Boeing Field. Great to have them here and I hope we get another time when they show up reliably.
I’ve shot this jet before but, on this occasion, I was really happy with the angles I was able to get on it. The big bizjets have so many power that, unless they are making really long trips, they are usually off the ground in no time at all. This time, this G650 ran a bit longer and allowed me to get some pleasing angles on it at rotation. When I was looking through the images afterwards, I saw the logo on the inside of the winglet. It looked like that of the LA Clippers. A quick Google search confirmed that the Clippers are owned by Steve Ballmer and, since he is one of the Microsoft founders, it made sense it would be here in Seattle. Quite a nice looking jet!
Testbed aircraft are the sort of thing I like to see and, when Intelsat brought their CRJ to Seattle, I was hoping to catch it. Sadly, its arrival and some initial flying were not at good times, so I didn’t get to shoot it. Then it was due out when I was heading to SEA for a trip of my own. However, the conditions were awful, and I could barely make it out in the gloom as it got airborne. Cameras – even with really modern tech – struggle to focus on something that is barely visible in the mist. I did have one last chance when it was taking off, but I was at the terminal at the time and could barely get some shots of it as it taxied and took off. After that, it left. I was frustrated throughout its time here. Will it return?
A simple post today of a plane taking off. Nothing too special about this one. Just a regular Max 8 heading to Malaysia. Since it was a delivery flight, I knew the jet would be a bit heavier and would have a longer takeoff run. I was hopeful of rotation in a good place for me to get some shots. It didn’t disappoint. I do like the livery on these latest jets for Malaysian Airlines.
This HondaJet had come from outside the US, so it had to clear customs at BFI after landing. That put it right in front of me while I was waiting for something else (although I can’t remember what it was). I find the jet very interesting although I am frustrated by the way in which all the ones I see have the same paint scheme with only a change in what color is used. Since this one parked up near me, I got to look at it from a variety of angles and that is a good way to appreciate the unusual shapes the airframe has.
The pylons are cambered and the way in which the nacelles sit on the wing is more easily appreciated from behind. It is great to have something different. I look forward to seeing the big brother when it makes it into service. A shame that Honda seems to have given up on their own engines but not a massive surprise.
