Tag Archives: Falcon 50

Falcon 50 Through the Snow

Crappy conditions are not usually what you are after when photographing aircraft but, sometimes it is what you get and you have to make the best of it.  One upside is that, if you are somewhere with a reasonable amount of traffic, you can play around with getting shots of something you weren’t necessarily focused on.  While standing in the snow waiting for the Skycourier’s arrival, I did have a Falcon 50 on approach.  I like the Falcon 50 a lot so this would normally have my attention already.  However, crummy conditions almost left me in the car.  I decided at the last minute to try it anyway.

I was really quite pleased with the patterns that the snow made around the jet as it came in.  in such bad light, the landing lights are always going to be more dominant and their ability to light up the snow flurries ahead of them can work out well.  These pictures will probably never be gracing anyone’s walls but I got a kick out of them when I went through them back at home.

Falcon 50 From Isle Of Man

They may not count as rare yet, but Falcon 50s are far from common at this point.  They have been long out of production and the owners have progressively traded up to something newer.  Consequently, when one shows up, it is a nice thing to try and catch and, if it shows up at a good time, on a reasonable day and with a non-US registration, that is even better.  This example has an Isle of Man registration.  The Isle of Man is part of the UK but is a tax haven and decided to set up its own aircraft registration system.  I guess it has been quite popular.  This jet came in to Boeing Field following is transatlantic crossing.  I don’t know where it headed next.

Falcon 50s Are Getting Rarer

Dassault’s Falcon family has been getting larger both in the number of types and physically.  Now there are long range and wide bodied corporate jets available in their catalog.  Before the jets got wider, their first effort at a longer range version was the Falcon 50.  It introduced the three engine configuration which made it well suited to longer range missions in the days before twin operations over long distances were widespread.

The 50 is now rather long in the tooth so you don’t see them around so often.  That makes it all the better when one shows up.  I was heading home one evening from an event south of the city and the lovely evening light made me stop off at Boeing Field to see if I could get any shots.  Sadly, a cloud bank rolled in just before this Falcon 50 showed up.  Still, it was great to see one in action.  I was back the next day having taken a day off work and it happened to depart while I was there.  Certainly more light but a bit harsh in the middle of the day.