Tag Archives: civil

Whistler Air at Green Lake

A trip to Green Lake, a short distance from Whistler, was a chance to see the floatplane base. We had heard a few aircraft in the area so I was keen to see what was going on. We started out at the base where a Beaver and an Otter were both just getting ready to leave. I didn’t realize the direction of the wind so I didn’t make any effort to get out to the lake. I thought that they would be long gone. In fact, they taxied down the lake to take off back in our direction. I would have had plenty of time to get out to see the departure if I had left when they headed out.

Instead, I was walking through the trees when both planes took off. I got a couple of shots through the trees but missed the main opportunity. I understand that Whistler Air is a subsidiary of Harbour Air in Vancouver. They are clearly locally branded though. There was a bit more movement before we left with planes making their approach along the lake. They tended to land a little away from us but then keep up on the step as close in as possible to minimize taxi time. This meant they were still moving well as they got to us.

Are These Globals Twins?

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Within the space of a few minutes, two Bombardier Global Expresses took off from Boeing Field. This type is a regular feature at BFI so this is not unusual. What did catch my eye was that they appeared to have the same color scheme. If they were NetJets aircraft, that would make sense. However, they didn’t look like a fleet operator I know (not that I know them all). Is this just a standard scheme that Bombardier will finish the jet in if you don’t have a preference or were they connected? If so, was a group of people taking two jets at the same time to go to the same place? Who knows?

Cathay/Atlas/Polar – Whichever!

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A 747-8 freighter came in to Portland while I was at the ANG base. I could see it on FlightRadar24 before it landed, and it was listed with a Cathay Pacific flight number. I was pleased to get a Cathay jet but, when it landed, it wasn’t in Cathay Colors. Instead, it was in Polar Air Cargo colors. I figured it was a subcontract operation by Polar. However, when it taxied closer, on the side of the fuselage was the notice that it was operated by Atlas. Atlas and Polar are related so I guess this shouldn’t be such a surprise. Finding who actually operates any jet can be a bit of an exercise these days.

Where to Park Your 747?

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Evergreen Aerospace Museum has a couple of 747s as part of the campus. They are retired freighters from the now-defunct company that provided a lot of the backing for the museum when it was established. One of the 747s is sitting out in front of the main museum building. The other one is slightly more dramatic. It is parked on top of a water park that is next to the museum. The waterslides come from within the fuselage. Getting the plane up there must have been quite something to watch. Now it is an eye-catching way to let everyone know where the water park is.

Kenmore Rush Hour

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The floatplane activity of Kenmore Air is busy on Lake Union in Seattle. The end of the day means a lot of planes are moving from Lake Union back to the home base at Kenmore. It makes for a rush hour of planes coming back in good light. I wandered out to the pier at Log Boom Park which gives a great view of the incoming planes. Then I just waited. You know they are all going to be back before sundown so it is pretty predictable.

The inbound traffic is a combination of Otters and Beavers. De Havilland Canada’s finest show up further down the lake as they come across from Lake Union and then they head up the lake. On this occasion, the wind was from the north so they made straight in approaches, landed and continued straight in to the base. On another day I was there without a camera and the wind was a southerly. They then overflew the base and made a tight turn coming back onto the lake with the evening light on the nose. I will have to try and get that before too long!

Thai Delivery

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Before the time changed, it was possible to get some evening departures from Everett in nice light after work. I saw that a delivery flight was scheduled for a Thai 787 and a Dreamlifter was due out shortly afterwards. I figured this was a good one to go for. The Thai delivery actually slipped a bit from its scheduled time and I was more than happy for it to do so as the light was getting better and better. By the time the jet started rolling, the light couldn’t have been nicer. It was also a heavy jet and rotated not far from me so I got a great angle on the takeoff and, as it climbed away, the purple in the livery seemed to glow.

Bye Bye United 747s

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The disappearance of passenger 747s from service continues. Today is the last day for the United 747 fleet. I do not have anything of their earlier versions of the jet but I have seen the 747-400s in service a lot and have flown on them a couple of times too. I won’t be doing so again. A flight from San Francisco to Honolulu will repeat the first service and was sold out a long time ago. The planes have been heading to the storage yards in recent weeks and after today, there is one more to make the trip. Now the 777s and 787s will be responsible for the long-haul services.

Off to Warsaw

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If you buy a car, you go to the dealer to pick it up. If you buy an airliner, there might not be a dealer but you will still go to pick it up. After the production test flights have been completed, the customer gets to carry out their own test flights. If all squawks have been dealt with, time to pay and take the “keys”. Then a crew from the airline will fly the plane to their home base. This 787 had been handed over to LOT and the crew were flying it back to Warsaw. Delivery flights are often obvious from the takeoff roll. Fueled up for a long trip, they use a bit more of the runway than the test flights do. In a short while, this jet will be busy plying the LOT route structure.

Sunset BA Arrival

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My friend, Mark, suggested we head to the north side of Vancouver for a couple of the heavy arrivals. The light was not on the right side for shooting there but you can get a good angle on the arriving jets and, rather than fight the light, you can embrace it. The sun is behind the planes and on the other side so it is very backlit. It is the end of the day, though, so the sky does look nice.

The British Airways A380 was on the approach when we got there so a quick run from the car got us in place. The A380 is large enough that you often think you need to hurry more than you actually do because it appears closer in. Let the heart rate settle a little and be ready to get some shots. With the backlighting, it looked pretty impressive. Once it was off the runway, it did need to taxi back to the terminal so that brought it into some better light.

HeliJet S-76s in Two Locations

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The Sikorsky S-76 is not a new design any more although it does continue to be upgraded. When I first saw the type in the 80s, I was taken with the elegance of the airframe and also the size of it. It can carry a substantial number of people. This is the reason the HeliJet chose it to operate their service from the waterfront in Vancouver to Victoria I imagine. I have seen them in service a number of times but I have never gone down to their heliport by the water to try and shoot them.

While I was at Brockton Point, a couple of their departures and arrivals came by. These were a bit far away but still worthy of a shot. This wasn’t my only chance though. When we were at Vancouver International, one of the S-76s arrived at the HeliJet facility there. It flew low and slow past where I was standing so I was able to grab a few extra shots of these sleek type. I would love to take a ride in one sometime to see whether it is as smooth as it looks.