Tag Archives: civil

Sabreliner Testbed

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The Sabreliner is a neat little jet under normal circumstances, combining as it does the wing of the Sabre with a fuselage for passengers.  This example, that now lives in the Evergreen Aerospace Museum in McMinnville Oregon, is even better because it is a testbed.  The nose has a new radome grafted into place to allow the testing of different radar.  Meanwhile, pods can be mounted under the wings to test a variety of different sensors and electronics.  Some of these different configurations are displayed alongside the airframe.  Good to know that after years of specialized service, the aircraft will survive in the indoor comfort of the museum.

Lake Union Departures

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The floatplane activity on Lake Union is fun to check out, not just for an aviation geek like me, but for plenty of visitors to the city too.  I have previously gone down to the lakeshore to check them out but, one evening, while driving into the city to drop a friend off, I was coming down the road on the hill overlooking the lake when a plane took off giving an interesting alternative perspective on its departure.  I figured this needed to be explored further.

The question was where to go.  The road I had been on was not one on which stopping was practical.  Parallel roads exist but there are buildings along most of them so the view is obscured.  However, I did find a location that had a clear view of most of the lake (aside from one building that was right in the touchdown zone!  I wasn’t around for much of the traffic but I did get to see a few arrivals and departures.  Looking down on the flights and having some scenery behind them including the cityscape rather than the sky is a nice change.  I may have to try this out again at a busier time.

The Candid Really is Russian

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The Antonov 124 is a reasonably regular visitor to the US when outsized cargo needs to be moved.  It is often commented on as being a Russian plane but, while one of the operators is a Russian company and some of the aircraft were assembled in Russia, the design and much of the production is actually Ukrainian.  Ilyushin, on the other hand, really is a Russian company.  Their IL-76 is also operated for freight services but it doesn’t show up anything like as frequently.  Consequently, when a Volga Dnepr example was scheduled in to SeaTac on a Friday afternoon, I was pretty annoyed I would miss it.  However, it ended up being seven hours late so arrived well after dark.

Departure the following day was going to be a practical proposition for me (and many others as it happened).  The weather was not going to be ideal with low cloud and rain but, when the visitor is a rarity, you don’t get to choose whether to go based on weather.  Fortunately, the departure was a lot closer to schedule than the arrival.  I drove past the cargo ramp and saw it parked up and all closed up so did wonder whether it would go on time but things were working well and they headed out.

This aircraft was the newer variant with the PS90 engines and takeoff performance was pretty good.  I had worried it would be low on the climb out and not in a good position to photograph but it climbed well and was in a good position to get a shot.  I had a big grin once it had gone as did the rest of the people waiting for it.

Every Morning You Great Me (Well, Evening This Time)

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A bit of a crummy song reference for which I should really apologize.  Edelweiss is a Swiss airline that flies to Vancouver.  Their flight arrived while Mark and I were on the north side of the field.  Lighting is less than ideal in that location but, once the plane is passed and turning to taxi to the terminal, you get some nice angles and very good light options.  This was my first encounter with an Edelweiss jet and I was pleased that the livery is a bit more interesting than the average these days.

It’s a Long Way to Bole

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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.

Finally an Air Transat

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Air Transat is an airline that I haven’t seen much of.  I recall them flying to the UK decades ago with TriStars (if I am thinking of the right airline) but, since then I have not really come across them.  To be honest, I actually thought they were long gone but it turns out they continue to ply their trade.  As I was heading to Vancouver International, I saw one of their A330s climbing out and I was a bit annoyed to have missed it.  However, it wasn’t their only scheduled departure for that evening.  A later flight went while I was there and I managed to get my first shots of them in action.

NASA Gulfstream STA

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The Evergreen Aviation Museum has more aircraft than it has space to display.  Some of them are parked out in the parking lot including a NASA Gulfstream II.  This is no normal GII either.  It is one of the four Gulfstreams that NASA had converted to act as Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA).  They were used for the shuttle crews to practice the approach and landing phase of a mission when the shuttle was gliding (very steeply) in the atmosphere.

The main gear was deployed to increase drag, the thrust reversers were engaged in flight and the flaps could be moved up as well as down to modulate life.  One seat was set up as a shuttle pilot station while an instructor sat in the other.  Many practice landings could be carried out using the STA fleet.  They also provided a secondary transport function.

The aircraft is currently in a rather ignominious position in the parking lot and it will hopefully find a better permanent home.

Great Scot!

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Dassault make some very elegant looking jets.  The Falcon 7X is a particularly good looking one in my opinion with perhaps the only issue being the extension of the fin below the tailplane which looks a bit like a fix for something.  This example was at Boeing Field heading out.  I don’t know where it lives because it has a Manx registration which means it could be from almost anywhere.  I did like the rest of the registration, though.  I hope they are Scottish rather than just someone called Scott!

This Needs a Few More Bits

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Erickson’s facility at Medford was the home for this Skycrane while I was there.  A team were working on it and, I imagine, they were getting it ready for the coming fire season.  At this point, though, it was still in need of a few parts.  It looked a bit lacking but I suspect the process of adding the remaining elements to get it back into an airworthy condition was not going to take that long.  Hopefully by now she is back in the air and working hard.

UPS’s New 747-8F Freighter

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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.