Mark and I were on the south side of Vancouver when a Westjet plane came in. No big deal there but this flight was a charter operation so, instead of heading to the main terminal area, it came straight to us. They taxied straight to us where the passengers were quickly dropped off. The crew then turned the jet around promptly and taxied back out for departure. It was an efficient delivery and a slightly different location to see an airliner being operated.
The day I left London was a bit damp which made for a bit of vapor on departure. I was sitting almost directly over the wing. I couldn’t see in to the inlet but I could see vapor puffs in front of the inlet at lower speeds anyway. As we rotated and climbed out, there was plenty of vapor puffing over the upper surface, aided by climbing through a few patches of cloud. I had the video running the get a view of the moisture and here is what I got.
In this previous post, I mentioned the crews at Portland setting up for the arrival of some F-16s. They were coming in from Texas for a week of DACT training according to the word around the ramp. Sadly, the jets did not arrive prior to the end of the Open House. However, they weren’t the only planes coming in. The ground crews and support equipment arrived ahead of the jets courtesy of a pair of C-17s. These arrived a few minutes apart and taxied in to the adjacent section of the ramp. One jet was already unloading as the second taxied in. They were a nice compensation for the F-16s not arriving in time.
Another shot from the Portland Open House of the Redhawks and a gratuitous reference to Top Gun scripts. In this case it wasn’t really a flyby. Instead, the jets were launching off the near runway. They were all doing a nice job of keeping it low on departure and they ended up pulling up as the passed the ramp and the tower. A nice view as they pulled up with a few of them getting some vapor is they climbed out more steeply than the average departure from the airport!
There are plenty of widebody flights out of Paine Field. Since the flights are normally not very long compared to the capabilities of the aircraft, they tend to be light and get off the ground quickly. A delivery flight is a different proposition if it is for an airline based a long way away. Ethiopian was taking delivery of a 787. The flight was a direct one from Everett to Bole. Consequently, it was fueled up well. Still, it didn’t have much payload and I was surprised to see it get off the ground pretty quickly. They had a long flight ahead of them.
Despite the number of them that are now in service, I have very little experience with the Boeing P-8 Poseidon. I had only seen one flying and that was a test jet at Boeing Field. When we got to NAS Whidbey Island, the P-3s were the thing I was more interested in but I certainly wasn’t going to turn down an operational P-8 for the first time. It didn’t take long to get one. We had not long arrived when one departed past us on the shoreline.
As we moved around for the arrivals, we got a bit more P-8 traffic. Some arrivals showed up. One was lacking in anything colorful for squadron markings but another included a bit more individuality. I wonder whether we shall gradually see more color showing up on the jets or whether they shall be a fleet of bland, gray jets. Fingers crossed!
The 142FW of the Oregon ANG has operated a number of different types over the years. It was nice to see that the base has preserved some of the jets. As you come through the main gate, the grass area to your left has an F-15A mounted on a pole looking suitably dynamic and reflecting the current jets used by the unit.
A short distance away is a memorial park with two further jets. Both of these are in great condition (the F-15 looked a bit weathered from a distance). There is an F-4C Phantom which is nice but the one I liked the most is an F-101 Voodoo. The Voodoo is a jet I never saw fly. I have seen various examples on the ground over the years but there is something about the lines of the jet I just like. Oh, to have seen them in action.
The open day at the Portland ANG base included a demonstration of missile loading. A jet had been parked out on the ramp for the morning and there was a rack of missiles also on display. Towards the end of the morning, a team started to prep the jet for loading. This was an exercise that had multiple purposes. It was a demonstration for the guests, but it was also a qualification test.
Apparently, the crews are required to carry out a loading drill every 90 days when they are timed and observed in order to maintain their qualifications. Therefore, a pair of observers were there to watch the three-person team do their work. It can’t have been fun to have the public watching and the assessment team overseeing you at the same time. The crew got to it though and they seemed to be diligently following every procedure which is no bad thing when you are potentially dealing with live weapons (not that these examples were in any way live).
The missile configuration was quite a mix. They had six AMRAAMS to load, four on the fuselage and two on the stub pylons. The other two stubs were fitted with an AIM-9M and an AIM-9X. The Sidewinders were loaded by hand but the AMRAAMs are heavier and required the use of a mechanical loader. Prepping the plane before the missiles came close took a while and then the missiles were loaded in sequence with things like fins being added at different times such that some were on before the missile was attached and some were added once it was installed.
Once the whole task was completed, they reversed the process and removed the missiles. There was some choreography involved with getting the loader in place. It is not a subtle piece of machinery, but it could be placed quite accurately. Then there is adjustability in the rotation and position of the missile holders to allow things to be fine-tuned into position. Maneuvering a missile on to the rail or the launcher while not hitting anything else also requires some careful work. It was a most interesting process to watch.
Boeing breathed a big, if perhaps temporary, sigh of relief when UPS signed up for a bunch of 747-8F freighters. These jets are now starting to come off the line and, before they get allocated to the long runs across the oceans, I figured I would try and catch one at Everett. Conditions were a little gloomier than I had hoped for but the timing was driven by luck, so I had to make do with what I could get. The 747 may be disappearing from operators around the world but the freighters will continue for a long time and the 8F is the better of the most recent versions in my mind. The extended upper deck of the 8I is a little too long for my tastes. UPS colors are not bad either. Hopefully I shall see more of them in service.
NAS Whidbey Island is the home for all of the Growlers in the fleet. It is a fair chance that you will get a bit of Growler activity on a visit and we were not disappointed. What was really pleasing was to see a bunch of the CAG aircraft in action. The first glimpses were as they taxied out for departure and you could see the planes coming up the taxiway. Unfortunately, the heat haze was a bit of a problem while they were on the ground.
Naturally, if they were launching, they were likely to be coming back at some point. Sure enough, we got them come into the overhead and down the approach. Even when airborne, the heat haze was a bit of a problem. Better than on the ground but still an issue. In a time of gray jets, it is certainly welcome to get something a bit more colorful, even if for some of them that is only black and white.
