Tag Archives: G550

Black Gulfstreams in the Rain

Previous posts have shown that I like a bizjet that isn’t painted like all of the others and being painted black is even better.  It won’t surprise regular readers, therefore, that when I got to see not one but two black Gulfstreams on one afternoon at Boeing Field, I was quite a happy chappy.  The weather was not great, though.  It was raining pretty steadily which doesn’t make for ideal conditions.  However, it isn’t all bad.  Sunny days with black jets can produce some harsh contrast conditions while overcast light is more even and soft so it might not be all bad.

Rain in the shots is still going to be an issue though.  Depending on the shutter speed you choose, you may well end up with the raindrops being visible in the images.  A bit of tweaking of the settings when processing can boost the contrast a little, but those raindrops are not disappearing.  Still, the subject is an interesting one to me and that’s what counts.

Puma G550

A bizjet with cool paint is always going to get my interest.  In this case, the paint made it pretty easy to determine who the jet belonged to.  If you know your sports equipment providers, you will recognize this logo as that of Puma.  I guess the sports business is good and a G550 is a useful thing to have.  Nike has a fleet of jets.  Does Adidas?

Avanti Taunting Me At Sunset

Given my recent Avanti posts, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I had some bad luck again.  After the arrival of the 777X, the local Avanti was showing due to arrive just before sunset.  The weather had been very overcast but, as is often the case up here, the sun was sneaking occasional appearances below the clouds as sunset approached.  The Avanti was due soon and it looked like it could either be great or crap.  About five minutes before it was due in, the sun popped out.  Things looked great for a Cessna that was on approach.

It couldn’t last, though.  The clouds took over again and then things got worse.  The Avanti, instead of turning on to approach, went off on some weird looping flightpath to the north.  I have no idea what it was up to but the time it spent meant the sun was now definitely gone.  Now I was playing “How High Can the ISO Go” as the conditions deteriorated.  At least modern camera are pretty amazing with little light to work with.

I got some shots of it as it came in and they really came out quite well.  At the north end of Paine Field, things are a bit further away so, with a smaller plane, I can make use of the 500mm and f/4 certainly helps in the low light.  Just behind the Avanti was a G550 so I figured why not wait for it to come in too.  The light was even worse but it was still worth a go.  Low light is not great but it can provide some nice shots if you are lucky and this was okay.

Jay Z Coming to Town?

Corporate jets are rarely painted in interesting schemes so, when they are, you notice them.  This one showed at at Boeing Field with a puma on the tail.  A bit of research when back home suggests it is a project between Jay Z and the sport gear manufacturer Puma.  I think it is to help out athletes that are sponsored by them.  The registration is apparently a reference to Jay Z himself.  I have no idea who was on it on this occasion.  Maybe Sean was onboard?