Tag Archives: bomber

The A-26 Makes a Long Trip in the Rain

During the holidays and just before New Year, my friend Paul was in town for a day, so we did some exploring.  The weather started out being less than ideal.  We had swung by Renton to see if there was anything of interest and the A-26, Sexy Sue, was out on the ramp looking ready to head off.  We debated which direction they would depart and which would be most suitable for shots.  In the end, we stayed where we were figuring it would be too high at the lake end of the field.  (That proved not to be the case with a very low departure!)

Our chosen location did give us a good view of start up and taxi out of the plane.  They were flight planned to Oakland CA which struck me as quite a long trip to take in an A-26.  Sure, in combat people would have done that and when they were corporate transports it would have been normal but there are more comfortable ways to travel these days.  Anyway, before long, they were lined up and powered off.  There was plenty of vortex action from the props in such a damp atmosphere but it probably looked better from other angles.  With them gone, we jumped back in the car and decided to continue our adventures elsewhere.

Re-Editing a B-2 Shot

Periodically, when I am looking through my image catalog for a specific subject for one project or another, I come across some images from a while back that look okay but might benefit from some of the more recent approaches to processing that I have adopted.  This doesn’t always help but it can be fun to start from scratch on a raw file and then see whether the final version is any better than the previous attempt.  I created a new virtual copy in Lightroom and zero out all of the sliders, upgrade to the latest processing version and give it a go.

I did this a little while ago on a shot of a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit.  I shot this jet at Palmdale many years ago on a visit with my friend, Paul.  The shots were okay, and I was happy with them at the time.  Here I shall show you the current version first and then the next one down is the previous result of my processing from when it was shot.  Do you think it is a significant change?

Different Angles on Sentimental Journey

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.

Joe Davis Airpark

I have been through Palmdale a few times but none of those previous trips coincided with a time when the Joe Davis Airpark was open.  I got to look through the fence at the aircraft on display but couldn’t go in.  This time, I was better prepared and was able to check the place out at my leisure (if you ignore having to do a Teams call halfway through while trying to find some shade and avoid noisy kids).  As it happened, they were planning on closing earlier than scheduled that day so I could have had another miss if I had waited until later in the day!

The park has a wide variety of aircraft types scattered around.  Photography is okay as things are not right on top of each other but the desert sun is still pretty harsh and so doesn’t make for the best results.  Still, I’m not going to stop shooting images just for that reason.  There are a couple of more unusual types on display and at least one of those is going to get its own post.  There are plenty of fighters and trainers.  An F-14 is always a welcome jet on display but an A-7 is also going to go down well with me as will an F-101.  The C-140 was a nice surprise as I do like a JetStar.

The larger aircraft start with a C-46 which was a bit close to the fence so made for a more busy background.  It is a small exhibit compared to the two largest items on display.  B-52s are well represented in museums around the US.  They were certainly built in large quantities.  This one has a Hound Dog missile alongside.  Next to it, though, is the most special asset.  A 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.  Retired by NASA at the end of the Shuttle program, it now resides in the sun a short distance from its old home at Edwards.

Sentimental Journey In Damper Conditions

Glorious weather had greeted the B-17, Sentimental Journey, when it came to Seattle.  The following week, it moved up to Arlington but was not so lucky.  The skies were pretty overcast and the air was more humid.  It didn’t make for great conditions to shoot a bare metal aircraft.  However, many times before, I have written here about how poorer conditions can sometimes be worthwhile.  This was one of those times.

I started off shooting from further up the field and, as the B-17 started her takeoff roll, it was clear that the props were pulling a fair bit of vapor from the air.  Consequently, I headed further down the field for the next flight.  This also provided a close look at the plane as it taxied out.  The real benefit came when the power was applied.  Vortices were streaming from the tips of the props and swirling back across the wings.  It is always a tricky call when trying to shoot in these conditions.  A good bit of prop blur is good as is a blurry background to emphasize speed but, this will result in the vortices being less defined.  A faster shutter speed helps make them stand out.  I tried to get a good balance with the speed I chose.

Sentimental Journey Comes To Town Part 1

There are a few operators of large warbirds that take their planes on tours around the country providing people with an opportunity to check out the planes or, if they are willing to splash some cash, take a flight in them.  Sentimental Journey is a B-17 that undertakes such flights and it came to the Pacific Northwest during the summer.  I was at Boeing Field for a week before moving on to Arlington (of which more another time).

Because it does much of its business at the weekends, it is relatively easy to find time to come and see it fly.  It did also do some flying later in the day so I was able to see it a few times.  It certainly helped that the weather was really nice.  I got some shots of it as it came to Boeing Field and then made some trips around the Puget Sound area.  Here are some of the shots from that time.  I did spend a little more time trying out shots from different places and those will get another post soon.

Ye Olde Pub

Erickson took their B-17, Ye Olde Pub, to the show at Klamath Falls.  However, we first got to get a look at her when we stopped at Madras where she was out on the ramp being prepared for the trip south to the show.  When she did make the transfer, we were ready for her arrival and then got a few chances to shoot her undertaking the display routine from a variety of locations both outside and inside the airfield.

She is a good looking B-17.  I like the painted aircraft more than the bare metal versions (although there is not a huge amount in it).  That makes her appeal to me a lot.  (I do get a little annoyed by cutesy words with an added “e” but will let that go for now.)

B-17 In Pieces

Erickson has a B-17 as part of its collection.  However, while Ye Olde Pub was sitting outside during my visit, there was a second B-17 on site.  This is Thunderbird and it is undergoing some major airframe work.  The fuselage was sitting on stands directly in front of you when you entered the hangar.  The wings and empennage were in racks around it.

I don’t know what the schedule is for sorting out this aircraft but people seemed to be busy working on it so I assume it will be back in the air before too long.  I did enjoy sneaking around trying to find good views of all of the parts that were stored awaiting their return to their rightful place on the airframe.  Madras is quite a hike for me but it might be good to go back when they get the plane back in the air.  It sounds like the sort of thing that Matt Booty might get down to photograph.  Maybe I can be his assistant!

Doc Weekend Rides

I have posted some photos of the arrival of Doc previously on the blog.  However, at the weekend, it did a series of flights and I went down one morning to get some shots of it before heading off to Skagit for the fly day up there.  Shooting at BFI in the morning is not ideal so I decided to head up the hill to look down on the airport.  I headed up there and met my friend Mark.  We went in to the clearing to get ready and realized we had timed it well.  It wasn’t long before several other people had arrived and things were getting rather crowded.  Early arrival meant the choice of spots.

You are shooting from quite a distance at that location but you are elevated so the heat haze is not such a problem.  Even so, not the simplest of shots to get.  The crew kept Doc really low on departure, much as they had done on the first flight I saw.  They were flying right by the Boeing ramp so you had a combination of modern Boeing planes and 1940s products!

Once they had headed out, we moved down to the approach end.  Originally, I set myself up next to the fence.  However, a Beech came in to land and I realized that the proximity to the fence, even with ladders, was not ideal.  I relocated to the other side of the road and awaited the return of Doc.  They made a pretty sporty turn from downwind.  I got shots of it but none that were a combination of sharp and as dramatic as I would have liked.  Then they were rapidly on to short final and swooping across the threshold.

It was all pretty good fun.  I was okay with the results I got, even if they weren’t amazing.  I could have hung around for more but had another place to be.  It would have been good to go back over the weekend but timing wasn’t good with the other things I had on.  I didn’t get the visit the plane itself which was a disappointment.  I do hope they come back at some time and I can have a tour of the aircraft.

Arrival Of Doc

I have only seen one flying B-29 prior to this year.  That is Fifi from the Commemorative Air Force which I got to see in DuPage IL many years back and also saw overflying Oshkosh.  A second B-29 was returned to flight about four years ago – Doc.  It is based in Wichita KS and has been on a tour which included a visit to the Pacific Northwest.  Its previous stop was in Spokane and then it came to Boeing Field for a week.

I saw when it was due in to BFI and got down there in time for the planned arrival from the other side of the state.  It was a little later than I expected but that was fine.  It was easy to track as it came across the mountains and then across the city and on to the approach for Boeing Field.  The light was pretty good on it as it came down final approach although the reflective nature of the polished aluminum fuselage meant it took on a greenish hue as it flew over the grass inside the perimeter fence.

Shortly after arrival, they crewed up to make a press trip.  Sadly, I was not part of this but it did give me a chance to get some more shots.  The winds meant they were doing a southerly departure and I didn’t anticipate them climbing too fast when babying these old engines.  They certainly didn’t climb aggressively!  They kept it nice and low while cleaning up the gear and were still very low when they came past me.  It was ideal.  They then put in a surprisingly aggressive turn downwind where they kept it low enough that they were behind the trees.

I decided to try for something different for the next return.  I headed to the end of the runway to try for some shots directly underneath the plane.  It is a tricky place to shoot with buildings in the way for a while and more power lines than is ideal.  Still, it provides a cool perspective and something a little different.  I was very pleased with the success rate of the shots because, while you are shooting at a wide angle, there is a lot of relative motion.

Once on the ground, the plane was going nowhere for a few days until the paid flights started at the end of the week.  There would be another encounter.  I got to see it one day as it flew over the city but I did make a more deliberate effort to shoot it again.  More to come…