Tag Archives: california

Finnair Visitor to SFO

Getting an unusual visitor to SFO is worth a look. In June 2017, Finnair are going to be starting regular service to SFO from Helsinki. Ahead of that, though, there was a tech event taking place in Helsinki that meant a bunch of Silicon Valley types would be heading over. Finnair ran two charter flights to SFO, one ahead of the event and one after. More interestingly for me, while the service next year will be operated with an A330, the charter used one of their A350s. Since they won’t be coming back for the foreseeable future, this was a limited chance to catch them.

I only found out after the first flight so the second was my only chance. Fortunately, the weather was more cooperative. It was clear and sunny. However, the wind was over 20mph steadily and gusting stronger than that a lot of the time which made holding a long lens just a little tricky. The timing of the arrival was just late enough to make it a reasonable time to get some shots. Winter in SFO means that morning arrivals don’t have the problems of backlighting in the same way that there is in the summer but early arrivals are still not great. However, it arrived just late enough to have a chance of some reasonable light.

The conditions were clear and you could see the jet as it came over the top and then as it came onto final near Coyote Point. Another aircraft was lining up for approach out behind it and showed up clearly as a result of the clear air. The wind had subsided a little when they made the approach but not much. Consequently, I was fighting with the sail (as the lens became known that day) to keep a steady panning motion on the jet. Plenty of light certainly helped by keeping the shutter speed up.

I wanted to get some departure shots. I waited around when the plane was due to taxi out. However, I did have an appointment to get to and it was clear that the plane was not going to head out in time. In the end, I accepted the timing was against me and headed off. I actually drove by the airport on the way to the city and the taxiing jet came past me as I drove off. No way that I would ever have been around in time for departure. Oh well, at least I got it flying when it came in.

Who Doesn’t Love the Sound of Bagpipes?

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You can’t have Highland Games without having the pipes and drums. A large array of bands had turned up to compete. There was a small arena in which they would perform their routine while a group of judges would walk around and score them on whatever is considered important in these competitions. The pipes would play, the drums would drum, they would change formation and the drummers would wave their sticks around. It was all good fun.

Teams had traveled from all over the place. Some had come from Canada. While they were waiting their turn, they would find a space nearby and run through their performance. It was often more fun to walk amongst the groups while they were doing this and see what they were up to. It is slightly more amusing to look at people dressed up in highland clothing – clothes that are designed for use in the Scottish climate – while they are in the California sun. I imagine they were roasting.

Finally Shooting an A350

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The Airbus A350 has been in service for a while. The first examples entered service in late 2015 and, indeed, I saw one at Heathrow in my last visit there. However, I hadn’t had a chance to shoot one until recently. Singapore Airlines introduced a direct flight to SFO using the A350 and the first flight used their aircraft that had been recently delivered from Airbus as the 10,000^th aircraft that Airbus delivered. I wrote a piece about it for Global Aviation Resource which you can see here. It was early arrival for the jet but it was good to finally shoot one, even if the light was not ideal.

Throwing a Stick – A Big Stick!

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A focus of the Highland Games in Pleasanton was the traditional sports thought of when you use the term Highland Games and the most famous of these is tossing the caber. The event took place on the finish straight of the horse racetrack. Everyone stood in the grandstand while the athletes did their best on the track. (This did mean that the barrier was in the way of most of the shots.)

The guys taking part were some big fellas. The goal is to flip the pole end over end. They get a run up going – no mean feat while balancing a large pole by one end – and then heave it in to the air. The pole is tapered and they hold the thinner end so the thicker end hits the ground and, if there is enough momentum, the thinner end will arc up and over. This is not easy to do and the guys were having a lot of trouble. I think we came in at the end of the competition so probably missed some of the earlier (and presumably easier) throws. The celebration when they made it was something in itself. I don’t think I would like to get on the wrong side of any of these guys.

Qantas – Late is Bad for Your Customers But Good For Me

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Qantas started flying to SFO again this year. They used to have a regularly scheduled flight but dropped it for a while. Obviously the demand had increased enough to justify starting it again. I did a post when they started up. However, I hadn’t had much luck getting any reasonable shots of the arrival. When they are running to schedule, they are due in before 9am. This is not great timing for shooting at SFO in the winter but in the summer the plane will be backlit.

Fortunately, Qantas have a habit of running late on this service. I don’t know whether this is accidental or whether they will slip this flight deliberately if they have an issue. The plane has a long layover in SFO and doesn’t depart until near midnight so any delay is not going to have a knock on effect. Either way, later arrivals are not unknown. One of them coincided with one of my visits so I was able to get some better light on the jet. It was summer though. The middle of the day means high and harsh lighting. It seems like it is hard to win. Maybe in the winter I will get a day when they are late and the sun is lower and finally get a good shot.

Orbis MD-10 – Close But So Far!

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Not all old airliners end up being broken down for parts. Some get a reprieve, at least for a while. A frequent secondary use for airliners is freighters and FedEx have an extensive fleet of old DC-10s that they use. These have gone through a cockpit upgrade program and have been renamed MD-10. However, even that is not enough to keep them going indefinitely and the fleet is gradually being reduced. One of them has got a new lease on life though.

Orbis is a charity that carries out eye surgery around the world in places where the medical facilities are limited. Cataract surgery is a simple procedure in some countries but a rarity in others yet it is a simple solution to a problem that affects thousands of people. Over the years they have had a number of airliners that are fitted out with an operating theater and they can fly into locations and carry out surgery on people who would otherwise have little hope of regaining normal sight. The current aircraft (see at the bottom) was a DC10-10 that had originally been with United. That aircraft is now being replaced with the MD-10 from FedEx.

I first saw the aircraft at LAX during its press roll out. I was landing and looked out of the window and there it was on the ramp. No camera to hand so just a memory. More recently, it spent some time at Moffett Field and I was able to grab a few shots. It was hot so, while I chose the better side for the light, it meant being a distance away and getting a fair bit of heat haze. I did also see the shady side through the fence. I imagine the jet is now off doing good work around the world. A great cause.

United 747 Flying a Display

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Air shows include a lot of planes that are regular performers. However, some shows manage to include something a little different and having a big airline with a local hub will help. The Chicago Air and Water Show would feature American Airlines jets when I lived there. San Francisco Fleet Week gets United to bring a jet. This year they brought a 747-400 to the flying display. Seeing a big jet like this thrown around the bay is really cool. Whether it is flying low over the bay or turning in near the Golden Gate Bridge, this is something you don’t get to see too often.

Carmel Day Trip

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Carmel is close enough to us to be a nice day trip. We have been there a few times in the past. Previous vacations have taken us there and it is an easy add-on when going to Monterey or enjoying 17 Mile Drive. This was the first time in a while we went just to enjoy Carmel itself. Most of the time we were wandering around the shops or finding something good to eat. It was not a photo trip per se but I did have the camera with me so here are some shots of buildings that caught my interest while we were there.

Cal Bears Travel In Style

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The college football season included a special game at the beginning of the season. The game was scheduled to take place in Sydney Australia rather than the US. Apparently, the NCAA is trying to increase interest in the sport in other countries and hosting a game in Australia was part of the plan. One of the teams was the Cal Bears. To get to Australia and back they chartered a jet for the team and support personnel. Given the number of people involved, it was cheaper than flying commercially.

They chartered a jet from Virgin Australia in each direction. The outbound leg was a jet that had made the LAX flight. Instead of flying the return, it positioned to SFO for the outbound flight. They then repeated the process in reverse after the game. I missed the departure rotation but I was there for the return journey. I may have shot Virgin Australia jets before but this was a bit different since they don’t normally appear at SFO. (Cal also has a sponsorship deal with Oakland so this was out of the way for them too!)