Tag Archives: Boeing

Qantaslink 717 Finally Makes It Through Seattle

Word was circulating amongst the local photographers about the impending arrival of a Boeing 717. Qantaslink has been operating the 717s in Australia for many years but is now in the process of replacing them. One of the first to be replaced had made its way as far as Anchorage and was heading to Victorville for repainting and refitting for its next operator. It was due to stage through Seattle before the final leg to California. However, while the flight plan was filed, it never left Anchorage.

The process was repeated for multiple days. I think it may have been over a week before the plane actually moved from its parking spot in Anchorage and headed for the runway. To be honest, I was still wondering whether it would get airborne but, once it did, I prepared to head down to BFI. The journey must have been relatively uneventful as they arrived when expected. There was already a flight plan for the next stage of the trip, so I hung around waiting for the departure.

Part of me wondered whether the jet would break again but all was well, and they headed off. The flight crew had Australian accents and were working for a ferry company judging by the flight number. With the plane safely delivered, I am now curious to see whether more of the fleet will make the same journey. Maybe we’ll get bored of Qantas liveried 717s coming through.

Skylease Cargo 747 Makes a Gloomy Weekend Appearance

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Not long ago I posted about the variety of operators of 747s that I have photographed over the years. The number of operators is gradually declining so, the likelihood of a new one showing up near me is reducing. However, I did get a new opportunity one weekend. Skylease Cargo had made a few trips to Paine Field for Boeing but these had all been when I was at work. This time, one was due in on a weekend.

I headed up first thing in the morning to catch it coming in from Miami. The weather was not good at home and it was worse at Everett. There was a low cloud base. Things were rather gloomy but you take the opportunities when they come along. At least, since the weather was bad, I wasn’t going to have to worry about being backlit this early in the morning.

No doubt about it, the conditions did not result in shots that I am going to treasure. A white jet on a cloudy day is never going to provide a competition winner. Never mind. It was a new operator of a favorite jet and what else was I doing on a dull weekend morning anyway?

Western Global Decides to Mess With Us

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We had a brief phase a few months ago when Western Global was bringing in jets to Paine Field. The first one I encountered was a 747 freighter. It arrived in okay conditions but was flight planned for a departure that afternoon. The weather was getting better and better and, when they missed their original slot, I wasn’t complaining since the light was only going to improve. However, there was absolutely no sign of them moving. The crew appeared at one point and then left again. Eventually it became clear that they weren’t going.

The jet was parked in a position that meant the tail was slightly obscured. That meant the shot was not quite what I would have liked but it was going to have to do. They didn’t end up leaving until the next day but that was no longer the weekend, so I didn’t see it go. A touch frustrating but such is life!

Sunny FCLP With a Color Jet

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With a nice forecast, the wind in the right direction and an indication of some operations, I figured a day off was worthwhile and headed up to Coupeville to see if I could get some Growler operations. I was pleased to see the fire trucks getting ready when I arrived, and that the meatball was at the north end. Looked like I was going to be in luck. Yes and no! I did get some ops and plenty of patterns but only a couple of jets actually showed up. Fortunately, one of them was a squadron color jet so I was able to get a bunch of shots to play with. I also shot a load of video so here is the edit of that too. Could have been a busier day but they finished up and the crews headed off so I did the same.

Xáat Kwáani

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The repainting of the Salmon Thirty Salmon jet caught a lot of attention and was the subject of a previous post. The jet was not destined to be in standard Alaska Airliners colors, though. Instead, it went to be painted in a special livery that has a salmon connection. This time it is adopting a native theme to the painting. The name is Xáat Kwáani which means Salmon People. It was unveiled in an event in Anchorage and made a couple of flights within Alaska before coming home to Seattle. It arrived on a Friday evening so plenty of people were out after work to catch it landing. I’m sure I’ll see it again plenty of times but it was nice to get it on a lovely evening.

Different Angles on Sentimental Journey

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A jump back to the visit of Sentimental Journey last year. Because she was here for a while, I was able to shoot from a variety of locations to try and get some different shots of her. The weather played ball while she was in Seattle unlike the conditions at Arlington the following week. It was fun to try some different angles on the same plane since I had got the initial shots I wanted.

The Negus 747-400

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We were in the Cotswolds for a wedding earlier this year and the morning of the wedding found my with little to do while everyone was getting ready. I was only 30 minutes or so from the old RAF airfield of Kemble, now Cotswolds Airport. Surely it would be churlish to not take a look since I was killing time? Kemble has quite a lot of interest and will mean there are several posts to come. The first will focus on one of the largest residents.

British Airways painted three of its 747s in retro liveries. The jets had different interior configurations which meant they were used on specific routes. I got to shoot the BOAC jet and the Landor jet when they came to Seattle but I never saw the Negus jet. When BA retired the 747 fleet during the pandemic, the Negus jet apparently made its way to Kemble to become a venue rather than get reduced to parts and scrap metal. However, I didn’t know this.

Consequently, I was rather surprised to find the jet sitting there as I drove up to the airport main buildings. There are other 747s stored on the field at Kemble but this one is very accessible. It was early in the day when I arrived so I could wander around unfettered but there were already crews showing up to bring in fixtures for an event that they were going to be hosting. Renting out a 747 for an event sound like just the sort of thing I would do! I was very pleasantly surprised to see the third of the retro jets and to see it in such good condition. (Sure, they have a few nacelle panels that have been switched around but it still seems in good shape.)

Farewell Salmon Thirty Salmon

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At the time of writing, the end is nigh for the second of Alaska Airlines’ Salmon Thirty Salmon paint jobs. These are a result of a sponsorship program with Alaskan fisheries and, from what I have heard, this deal has come to an end and the jet is due for a repaint. I came across the first of the Salmon Thirty Salmon jets many years ago at LAX. The original jet was a 737-400 and I shot it on Sepulveda Boulevard resulting in a shot I was rather surprised and happy with.

The -400s have gone from the Alaska fleet and the livery was added to a 737-800. I have seen it a few times over the years but never in good conditions or too close so, once I heard it was heading for repaint soon, I decided to try and get some parting shots. These shots required a combination of decent conditions, the right time of day, not being at work etc. I was lucky that the jet was departing SEA early one Saturday morning so I would get it with low early sun as it climbed out. That worked out pretty well.

The second shot I wanted was inspired by my original shot. I wanted to get a low shot from underneath. Fortunately, I got an evening when the jet was due in and would be approaching from the north which gave me a good location to get the shot. Mission accomplished so, now when the jet gets painted, I will be fine. If they paint a Max9 in the livery, that would be cool but no sign of that so far.

Penultimate Boeing 747

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By the time this post goes live, the last production 747 will have been delivered long ago and will be in service. As the countdown to the last jet was underway, the interest in the remaining jets off the line went up significantly. The penultimate jet to be built was also for Atlas Air and was branded for their contract supporting Kuehne + Nagel. I saw a few shots of it appear online as people got it arriving in some gorgeous lighting. Sadly, I couldn’t be there for that but I did manage to get it arriving from a test flight one afternoon. The light wasn’t fantastic, but it was okay. After this one, there was only one more to go.

C-17 Comes to Tidy Up

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The visit of the VP has resulted in two posts so far but there is a third! Once everyone had headed off, there were still a bunch of vehicles to be dealt with. As everyone was tidying up, a C-17 showed up on the approach to Boeing Field. It touched down and headed to Modern Aviation. I assume all of the vehicles will have been loaded up in it for transport to wherever they were needed next. I have to admit that I didn’t hang around to watch the loading or see the departure. It was time for me to head off so I will trust that is what they did.