Tag Archives: Embraer

A Quick Visit To LCY

I wanted to explore some parts of London that I haven’t been too much before so I headed east.  Before I started getting my real exploration underway, though, I took a visit to London City Airport.  I haven’t been there for years and things have changed a lot including the types that can access the airport.  I had seen some photos from the airport but I wasn’t sure about the options for photographing there.  I was also not timing it well with things being far busier in the early morning and late afternoon.  Still, it was worth a visit.

I headed to the east of the airfield where a road bridge crosses the water.  I was hoping that this would give a good view down the runway but the runway lights obscured things a little.  An offset helped a bit.  It also was a good location for some approach shots.

I then headed back towards the terminal and got some touchdown shots from alongside the runway as well as a few shots of jets taxiing out and departing.  It was quite something to see the Embraer E190s climbing out so quickly.  They got airborne very swiftly and climbed away like homesick angels.  The majority of traffic was British Airways Cityflyer Express so not that much variety but a few bizjets came through too.

Later in the day,when crossing the Thames in the Cable Car, I got a good view down towards the runway.  It would have been great if a jet had taken off while I was crossing but one took off just after I got back on the ground.  As I walked to the Excel center, I saw a high level footbridge that looked like it might have a good alignment with the runway.  I planned to check it out later but, having spent a long time with a friend and needing to get back, I completely forgot until it was too late.  If anyone knows whether this spot works, please let me know.

Is A Phenom As Cool As The Millennium Falcon?

While I am happy to shoot a Phenom 100 if it happens to be passing, I am not usually going to go out of my way for one.  However, if I have a cloudy Sunday afternoon with nothing much going on and one is coming to Boeing Field with Millennium Falcon paint on it, why not?  This jet was making a tour around the west and was coming to BFI from Bellingham.  I got it arriving and the side I shot had the Falcon painted on it.  Apparently the other side has an X-Wing.  The underside looked like it might be interesting and I did get a departure shot but it wasn’t as special as I had hoped.

The Curves Are So Cool

At quiet times, I browse through older shots to see what I have shot in the past that might not have been the most interesting subject of the shoot but was worth another look.  I had been photographing with a bunch of guys at O’Hare a few years back as the evening was drawing in.  We were out at the west side of O’Hare and the evening light was great.  An Embraer E175-E1 took off and turned overhead us.  The low light angles picked up the underside of the aircraft as it turned.  The bottom of a wing has a lot of complex curvatures to it and the low light angle really emphasizes that shape.  This shot really appealed to me for that reason.

Lineage Catches Us Out

My encounters with Lineages have been few and far between.  From memory, one at McCarran is the only one that I immediately can recall.  There may have been another but it would have been parked somewhere probably.  Seeing one taxi out at Boeing Field was, therefore, a pleasant surprise.  Since it would only be taking off past me, it wasn’t going to be a great shot but still better than nothing.  Then they thwarted me.  Instead of crossing over to taxi to the full length, they took the intersection departure.  7,500’ is obviously plenty but still very annoying.

Embraer Departing Paine Field

I was up at Paine Field one weekend morning awaiting a Dreamlifter movement – more of that in another post – and one of the local Embraer operations was departing while I was waiting.  Sure, an Embraer E175 is not the most exciting photo subject but I wasn’t doing anything else and the morning light was alright so why not get some shots of it as it taxied by and lined up to depart.

JetSuite X

I have been noticeably unsuccessful when shooting JetSuite X aircraft.  When we lived in the Bay Area, they were running flights out of Concord.  I did see some aircraft on the ramp but they were not convenient to shoot and I never saw them move.  I have seen them a few times at Boeing Field but the conditions have always been less them impressive.  Finally, I got to see one landing on a nice day!

Their schedules are easy to track so I knew it was going to be coming in.  It wasn’t why I was there but you will take any opportunity!  The white with red stripe livery is a slightly odd one but, on a sunny day, it looks pretty nice.  I have often pondered what they are re like to use but have not found out to date.  I don’t know whether they will survive the current crisis so maybe the opportunity is gone?

Veteran Tribute Extends to the Embraer

Alaska Airlines has a 737 flying in a special scheme as a Salute to Veterans.  I have shot that in the past and it appeared on the blog in this post.  I wasn’t aware until recently that they had painted a second jet in a similar scheme – this time from their regional fleet.  This is an Embraer E175-E1.  Here it is departing SeaTac one morning while I was awaiting my flight out.

1500th EJet

An Alaska Airlines Embraer E175-E1 might not normally get a post but this one was operating a flight from Paine Field when I shot it.  I saw there was some sort of graphic on the fuselage but I hadn’t worked out what it said at the time.  Turns out this is the 1500th E Jet that Embraer has delivered.  That is quite an achievement when you considered that Embraer was a manufacturer of niche turboprops for many years.  Congratulations.

A Little SoCal Shoot As I Head Home

Half an hour of spare time on my way back to John Wayne Airport so I figured a quick shoot of approaches was worth a shot.  It wasn’t going to be the most productive of shoots but why waste an opportunity.  There were some regional jets and some airliners while I was there but also a few biz jets showed up.  The sun was getting lower so the light was a bit more appealing.  Even so, just a few stock shots for possible future use.  Two Alaska Embraers came in but they were from different operators, Skywest and Horizon.  I know someone who has a preference there (David).

Legacy 600 and a Close Relative

When you consider the large cabin corporate jets, there is one jet that has not had as much success as it deserves.  The Legacy 600 from Embraer is a derivative of the E135 regional jet but transformed into a longer range and far more comfortable jet.  It hasn’t done much to dent the market that Gulfstream, Dassault and Bombardier have been operating in.  It doesn’t have the super long range of some of the competitor products but, given that many operators never go off the US East Coast, that range is not a big deal for many customers.  Prestige is though and the Legacy has never had the same cachet given its regional jet heritage.

This one showed up at San Jose on a sunny winters day.  The interesting thing was that something very similar was also flying that day.  The second aircraft is not a Legacy, though.  It is an E145 that is operated by Intel.  They have outfitted it as a corporate shuttle.  It runs their staff between their locations.  I don’t know what the interior is like but externally it looks a lot like a bizjet which, I guess is what it is.