Tag Archives: Boeing

Dreams Take Flight

Boeing has marked up a 787-9 is a special color scheme to reflect their internal charity organization. It is a jet that was supposed to go to Hainan Airlines but the financial issues with the airline means that they have not taken delivery of a number of jets. This is not a paint scheme but is a giant vinyl wrap. It looks very impressive. The jet has been used for flyovers at events Boeing has sponsored and it is also going to Dubai for the air show (which will be in the past by the time this post goes live).

Finding a New Place for the Outer Arrivals

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SeaTac is not the easiest place to get shots of the arrivals in the afternoon if the flow is from the north. The inner runway is okay but the outer is not so easy without bugging the more experienced locals. I was heading to the airport for a meeting but, with easy traffic, I got there a little early and decided to do a quick trip around the airport. I came across a gravel parking area that gives a view of short final. The planes appear quickly and are soon below the sight lines for the runway but there is a window in which you can shoot. On this day the weather was crummy with rain constantly coming down – sometimes very heavily. This was just a recce but I did get an A220 and some other types in the few minutes I was there before heading to my meeting.

SeaTac Widebody Evening Arrivals

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I was out one evening awaiting the arrival of something that currently escapes my memory. In the meantime, I was in position to get the arrival of a few widebodies. Since SeaTac tends to put the widebodies on the inner runway, they are the ones you can get from this park location while almost everything else (plus the occasional wide body!) goes to the outer runway behind you and through the trees.

On this evening, we had four widebodies come in. Condor brought their regular 767 flight. This were joined by an Air China Cargo Boeing 747-400F, a FedEx 777F and last but by no means least, a British Airways 747-400. The evening light was very favorable and this location is both easily accessible and pretty good for this approach.

Ryanair Max Jets in Storage

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Ryanair is the launch customer for the Max 200 version of the 737-8 Max. The Max 200 name is going away I believe since it is a high density version of the -8. With the grounding of the Max fleet continuing, a number of the Ryanair jets are now parked awaiting deliveries to recommence. I was walking through the park at Renton on a sunny weekend morning and the Ryanair jets were lined up across the airport from me. Knowing Michael O’Leary’s enthusiasm for direct communication, I would love to know how his conversations with Boeing over compensation are going.

Farewell Nine-O-Nine

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A text message from a relative let me know that the Collings Foundation’s B-17 had crashed in Connecticut. Such a terrible shame for those who died or were injured and those associated with them. The loss of an historic airframe is also very sad. I have seen the Collings Foundation tour on a number of occasions are different locations including earlier this year. I hope they will continue with the other aircraft because it brings so much joy to so many. Here is a selection of my shots of Nine-O-Nine.

Spanish EAV-8B+ Display

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The Spanish Navy Harriers have recently become the darlings of the UK air show scene. The retirement of the UK’s Harriers left a feeling of longing for many air show attendees and the recent return of the Spanish Navy has made a lot of people happy. They brought two of the jets to RIAT this year. They put on a nice job of displaying with both aircraft flying giving some formation work and some faster stuff. Plenty of hovering of course.

They seemed to be leading a charmed life with the sun seeming to appear whenever they were flying. Given how the weather was over the weekend, this was no mean feat. One day I spent down near the ramp when they were operating from so I was able to get some closer shots of them as they taxied out for departure and when they returned. Harriers are still relatively accessible in the US but it won’t be too long before the F-35B consigns them to history too so it was nice to get some Harrier time again.

Dreamlifter Video

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Here is a bit of video I shot of a Dreamlifter heading out of Paine Field. I was there with a visitor who wanted to see the large beast and, rather than shoot more stills, I figured I would go with just video. If I had planned for it, things would have been a little better but hopefully it shares a little of the experience.

Cloudy Arrivals for the Family

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I was picking up some family members that were coming to stay. I got to the airport a little ahead of their scheduled arrival time and, since it was some time near an airport, I figured a bit of photography wouldn’t go amiss. They were coming in on a Virgin 787-9 so I knew I would shoot that. The heavies come in on the inner runway, but the rest tend to go to the outer. You can still get them, but it isn’t so close. I figured a few shots on a cloudy day was worth time to experiment with exposing high and playing with the shots in post.

BOAC and the Red Arrows

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RIAT is known for special formations and British Airways has been part of them in the past. Concorde with the Red Arrows and an A380 with the Red Arrows spring to mind. For 2019 and BA’s 100^th anniversary, they wanted to do something special. The focal point was to be the BOAC liveried 747-400. I shot this jet at SeaTac and covered it in this post. To see it in formation with the Red Arrows sounded pretty good. They put together two passes.

The first was from the right and involved a gentle turn in the direction of the crowd to give a slightly topside view of things. This was nice but the distance involved did mean there was a bit of heat haze to combat. The second pass in the other direction was a more straight pass along the display axis. The sun was popping in and out during this time so the colors popped sometimes and not others. It made for some tricky shooting but it still looked pretty good and it was nice to just watch when not shooting.

Four 777Xs On the Ramp

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The 777X initial airframe has already made it on the blog when it was parked on the ramp and when it undertook some taxi trials. It has since had the dodgy engines removed and I assume some more trustworthy examples are on their way. First flight will not be this year, though, based on what I am reading in the press. While the start of flying has not been achieved, production has continued. The initial customer aircraft have also now shown up. I understand that Lufthansa will be receiving at least one of these jets. The flight line now has four jets parked up – two in house colors and two all white. Hope we will see them up and active before too long! I hear a fifth came out with Emirates’ wing tips just after I took this! I have another primer one since which is below.