Tag Archives: civil

End of Eviation

A few years ago, I posted quite a bit about Eviation and their development of the Alice electric aircraft. They had a bunch of issues while I was watching them including a time that they took the plane off the runway into the grass. Eventually they took the aircraft across to Moses Lake for its long delayed first flight. That proved to be the only flight as they talked of an updated design being developed. Recently, they announced that most of the staff were being released and that the programme was being paused. I’m not surprised but it is disappointing. Here is a sunset image of the one airframe which seemed appropriate.

Lunch at Lee On Solent

Leave a Reply

I may have paid a visit to Lee on Solent to go to the Hovercraft Museum as will appear (or might already have done so) in another post but it does happen to sit on the edge of an airfield. Airfields often provide an airport café, and I was after some lunch, so I made the short walk to theirs. It was a bloody cold day so the idea of being in somewhere warm overlooking the field, even if nothing much was happening seemed like a good plan.

The hot food was good, and the windows looked out over the field. There was an AW189 sitting out on the coastguard ramp but more of that another day. Meanwhile there were a few light aircraft and helicopter movements. I did head out to the viewing area outside the café on a couple of occasions to see some of the aircraft. I didn’t get everything moving, though. It was pretty cold and being outside all of the time didn’t look like fun.

The R44 arrival occurred while I was inside but, when I saw the occupants heading back out, I thought I might get the departure. However, if I was going to make my connection home, they would have to go swiftly. That didn’t seem like it was happening, and I didn’t want to wait an hour for the next connection. Eventually I bailed and as my journey home took me by the airfield, I could see them still on the ramp, so I am glad I didn’t wait.

Sunset Ethiopian Cargo Return

Leave a Reply

Shortly before we left the Pacific Northwest, I made one of my final visits to Paine Field at the end of a day. Boeing was testing a 777F that was due to go to Ethiopian Cargo and the jet was due back at the end of the day shortly before sunset. I was hoping that I might get some stunning colours at that time of day but, by the time the jet came on to approach, the sun had slipped below the low cloud on the horizon.

Even so, the remaining light did provide some nice illumination on the jet as it was on short final and touching down. I was about to pack up and head home when I heard the sound of the engines coming back our way and, sure enough, they were taxiing back for a high-speed taxi and abort. There was a fair bit of moisture on the runway surface and, as they powered up, they were spraying clouds behind them. This time they were done and headed back to the ramp. I shall miss seeing the interesting variety of operators that you get from the factory.

My First Norseman

Leave a Reply

If you want to annoy your Canadian friends, be oblivious to famous Canadian aircraft. (We’ll, this will annoy Canadian aviation enthusiasts. I doubt it will bother Canadians that aren’t into planes.) The Norseman was built by Noorduyn (don’t ask me how that is supposed to be pronounced) and it was a rugged single engined bush plane. It is a beast of a plane and there is one on display at the BC Aviation Museum. I don’t know whether it is always stored outside or not but it was on the ramp outside the museum on the sunny day that Jim and I visited. Our guide opened it up so we could have a look at the interior. It looked very nice as it has been well maintained.

Look at the Wing on a Sovereign

Leave a Reply

I think I have posted previously about the wing on the Cessna Citation Sovereign. It is not a jet I particularly like the look of but I am amazed at the wing span of this thing. This example was on short final to SEA and I decided to shoot it head on and then from underneath as it passed overhead. It does show just how long that wingspan is. I don’t know whether the wing is that advanced but it is long!

Maersk Delivery Day

Leave a Reply

The dire situation with Boeings 777X programme means that Boeing hasn’t delivered a passenger 777 for a very long time. The only jets getting delivered from the line are freighters. The good news about freighters is that you get some different operators to the norm. Maersk is a shipping company that has taken some 777Fs and, while I missed the first one that they took, I was able to catch the next one although only just. I was there on the day it was delivered. It was heading in a northerly direction which isn’t my preference for Paine Field departures but, because it was a delivery flight, you had the advantage of it being pretty heavy with a decent fuel load to take it home. That blue paint scheme is a cool one to catch. Maybe I will see one in service at some point.

More of the Vision in Nice Light

Leave a Reply

I did include a shot of this Vision from a nice afternoon at Boeing Field when the light was really nice. As I was including it in that post, I was looking at a number of the shots I took of it and thought it was one of the better times I had shot the Vision so it might be worth a post of its own. Hence this post. The head on view of the Vision is pretty good at a distance as the distinctive V-tail configuration is shown off well.

Add to that the nice colors that Visions are often painted in and the soft and warm light, you get some good results. I don’t know whether the Vision is a good jet to own but they do seem to have sold well and are pretty common at Boeing Field. I will miss them even though I did seem to struggle getting the right conditions for them. At least I had a good encounter before I left.

I Didn’t Appreciate How Big This Was

Leave a Reply

The BC Aviation Museum has a Kamov KA-32 in its hangar. Apparently, it was in use for lifting operations but, with the war in Ukraine having put spares support out of reach, it is now stored. A slightly odd exhibit in a museum full of Canadian aircraft but an interesting one. I had seen images of this helicopter before, but I had never been close to one. What I had never appreciated was just how large it is. Given that it has a large lifting capacity, I probably should have worked that out. I hadn’t though. Standing alongside it in the museum, I was really surprised just how large it is!

Gridiron Air and Their 777s

Leave a Reply

Sports teams started acquiring their own jets a long time ago. An older, heavily depreciated jet could make a relatively cheap investment which meant the limited usage for specialist purposes – i.e. moving a sports team to events – was viable compared to chartering a jet from an airline. You could also customize the interior. Older jets have been replaced by 767s and 777s with some NFL teams buying their own jets. I’m not sure how the ownership transitioned but some of these 777s have ended up being operated by Gridiron Air. They used to have more specific liveries but now they seem to have transitioned to a neutral paint job. Even so, a private 777 is a nice change so I got this one when it was bringing a team in for a game in Seattle. I wish I had seen it with something a bit more interesting on it though.

The Firefighting Collection

Leave a Reply

Canada has a long history of aerial firefighting and the BC Aviation Museum has a row of planes that have a firefighting history. They are lined up outside the hangar and now include the museum’s most recent addition with the Martin Mars that Coulson donated heading the line. There is an S-2 although the example here is not one that was converted for firefighting. However, it does straddle the Canadian military element of the collection and the firefighting role.
Conair has extensive firefighting activities and there are two of their planes on display. An A-26 Invader is there in Conair colours. It was retired quite a while back. Next to it is a more recent acquisition. A Convair CV-580 with a large belly tank modification is an example of the more recent types used in the role. I wonder over time whether something like a Q400 or a BAe 146 will join the collection. Maybe some of the Trackers at Abbotsford could be brought across.