Tag Archives: Douglas

Life in the Old (Mad) Dog Yet

Firefighting aircraft have often been older airframes converted for the task when their primary life is over. This has meant a lot of old piston types -both civil and military – have become tankers. Now there is a generation of jet airliners that are becoming viable candidates for conversion. I previously posted some shots of a BAe146 tanker. Erickson has been active in converting McDonnell Douglas MD-87 airframes to tankers and has a number already in service.

Dominating the flight line outside the Erickson hangars was a line of three MD-87s that had been acquired from Spain. They appeared to have come from a couple of operators and we sitting in storage. Most apertures were taped up and some panels/doors had been removed. However, these airframes are not destined to be parts donors. All of them are scheduled for conversion to tankers. Before too long they will be active supporting firefighting efforts across the country. The introduction of modern jet types to service should provide increased performance and the ability to respond faster to situations further away. They should provide a welcome boost to firefighting capability.

Is There Any Oil in This Thing?

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Parked up on the ramp at Erickson’s facility was a DC-7 tanker. It didn’t move while we were there so it became the target of a number of photographers at any one time. I shall show more of it shortly but one thing that caught my attention was the amount of oil on the engine nacelles. Old piston engines are well known for consuming oil at a prodigious rate and this beast was no exception. It seemed to have done a great job of relocating the oil from the internals of the engines to the outside of the nacelles. It made for some great patterns and this was what distracted me for a while as I walked around the aircraft.

DC-3 City of Tillamook

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The Erickson collection did not used to be based in Madras. For many years the aircraft were part of the museum at Tillamook. The old airship hangars at Tillamook were their home. While most of the planes have now moved, one of them still bears a name indicative of its past. This is the Douglas DC-3 named City of Tillamook.

The aircraft sat on the ramp outside the museum hangar for the duration of my visit. The first evening we were there we had time to stroll around the ramp as the sun set. This resulted in some lovely lighting conditions. It was fun to see the DC-3 in close proximity to some later Douglas products. They shall be the subject of a later post.

Redmond Airtanker Base

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My trip to Madras involved flying in to Redmond airport, about half an hour south of Madras. Hayman and I came in on the same flight and shared a ride to Madras. As we drove out of the airport, something interesting caught my eye on the other side of the field so we did a little exporting before heading off. Redmond has a base for Airtanker operations in support of firefighting. The aircraft that I had first seen was a DC-7 that had been converted for tanker operations and was painted up in Erickson colors. It looked immaculate and the activity suggested it might be preparing to depart. With fires in the surrounding hills, there was plenty of work.

While we waited for it to start up, a BAe146 tanker conversion landed and taxied in to the base. It was the first time I had seen one in person. Sadly the fencing around the base was rather touch to shoot through. Hayman made good use of the gap under the gates but my camera shape did not allow that. I had to make do with shooting through the fence where possible.

Shortly after the 146 came in, the DC-7 fired up and taxied out. With it gone, we figured it was time for us to continue on our way too.

Executive MD-80

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As airliners reach the end of their natural lifespan, you suddenly become aware of them disappearing. However, some have a second life converted for corporate charter use. One type I haven’t seen a lot of in private use is the McDonnell Douglas MD-80. However, one was in Boeing Field on a job recently and I was pleased to see it in use. It was parked up at the FBO when I arrived and so I assumed I would not see it move. However, I was wrong.

They taxied out and, as is the case for the larger jets, had to cross over to our side and come alongside where I was. A good close up view of the jet before it headed down to the threshold for departure. I don’t know how far it was going but it did not seem to be too heavily loaded as it got airborne quite quickly and climbed away. I don’t know how many of these jets will find a new role after retirement from airline service but hopefully there will be a few more.

DC-3 Gathering

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I have occasionally stumbled on to events that I really should have known about. One such time was a gathering of DC-3s that took place at Rock Falls in Illinois. About 90 minutes from Chicago, this was something I should have known about but didn’t. My friend Paul Filmer apparently knew because he was there. I only found out about it when I heard he had arrived. I already had plans so figured I wouldn’t go. I had arranged to shoot some motorbike riders off-roading in an area not so far away. As it happened, one of the riders was also an autogyro pilot. When we wrapped up the bike shoot, he asked if I wanted to go for a flight. Guess what my answer was.

While we were airborne, we came across one of the DC-3s flying in the local area. He asked if we wanted to follow it so we did. We had talked about heading to Rock Falls before we got airborne anyway. I had texted Paul to watch out for me arriving in a gyro and he thought I was kidding. Once we arrived in the pattern, he realized it was for real.

I got a chance to get some shots of the arrayed Douglas planes as we made our approach. Then, once on the ground, we were able to wander through the ranks of planes. They were in varying conditions with some in pristine shape and others looking like they were after someone with some time and money to bring them back. A couple of the planes were for sale.

It was a fine collection of planes and, since Rock Falls is not terribly close to a major town, it wasn’t over crowded with visitors. There were plenty of people there but you were not fighting for space. I met up with Paul for a chat and took in all there was to see before my pilot decided it was a good time to head home. A pretty fortuitous turn of events since I had not thought I was going to see any of this when I got up that morning.

Night Star Trails

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My buddy Paul was in town and we had a day of shooting and exploring planned. However, we wanted to have a go at star trails in the evening as well. Consequently, we set up at Schellville as the sun went down to shoot the trails around the Douglas DST parked on the field. I set up two cameras at different angles and with different lenses to try and maximize what I got. The sun was still going down when I started so the exposure was varying a bit more than I was prepared for but a little tweaking in post got things back together. We also did some light painting on the airframe in a couple of frames to make the scene pop a bit more.

The biggest thing I learned during this was to start when it is darker and to take mosquito protection. I got badly bitten during the early part of the shoot and the bites reacted quite severely! Also, doing this in the winter so you don’t have to wait so late for it to get dark might also be a good plan. However, it went reasonably well and I have a few things I will know to do differently next time. I might also try a trail on one camera and a time lapse on the other.

Rainbow Phantom

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In going through my archive recently for a piece for Global Aviation Resource, I was searching through old shots of F-4 Phantoms. I noticed one that I hadn’t recalled taking but that seemed pretty cool. Occasionally jets pull ‘g’ when above you and the angle of the sun makes the vapor project a rainbow. This was one of those moments.

Chasing the MD-11

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I mentioned in a previous post that one of the few remaining passenger operators of MD-11s is KLM and they are currently bringing the jet into SFO on alternating days. I had previously missed it because the day I was there was the day that the A330 was running the service. I wanted to make an effort to see the jet since you never know how long it will be before the opportunity is gone. The draw-down of the fleet is underway but they can change routes with little warning. Therefore, I decided to make the trip.

This time it was a quick visit. We were heading over to the peninsula for other reasons so I persuaded Nancy to allow me to make the diversion. Since tracking flights is now so easy, there was little element of chance in this. We knew when the jet was coming so I didn’t need to make her wait long.

Sure enough, the MD-11 came into view overhead as it made the pass before coming onto the approach. There was some limited visibility out on the bay but the light was fine for the landing shot and I was happy with the result. I got a few other shots while I was waiting and then it was back to our previously arranged schedule. Glad to have shot this aircraft before the opportunity finally disappears. At least FedEx will keep using them for a while to come.

Scooter Time Again

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For those of you that have hung around here for a while, hopefully there is more than one of you, you will know that I have spent a lot of time shooting with the Warbird Heritage Foundation up at Waukegan. If you saw my recent post on the T-6, you will know that I was up at Waukegan to see the A-4 fly again. The A-4 is a great little jet and one that I love to see in action.

The aircraft has some new stores fitted underwing. These are practice bomb carriers and they add to the options for displaying the aircraft. They certainly look good. The weather was great on the day I went up and Paul wanted to get up and flying as quickly as he could. He had other things to get to later in the day so getting the jet up and running was a priority. First it required an engine run and a leak check after the servicing and then it should be good to go.

The engine run went well and a couple of minor things were noted and fixed. Then it was time to fly. I decided it would be best to head across the field. The hangar is north of the runway and doesn’t have the best light angle for the aircraft taking off. Fortunately, the wind, while light, meant that the jet would be departing heading in to the light so, from a position by the other hangar (the maintenance hangar is called the Bunker) should provide a good view.

This worked out well, Paul certainly helped by keeping the jet relatively low as he transitioned the gear up. I got some nice close shots as he came by and then he pulled up into a steep climb out. Certainly great and worth the trip – the T-6 flight was a cherry on the top!