Tag Archives: Doc

Doc Weekend Rides

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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

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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…