Any time at McCarran is likely to include some Janets. The use of the 737s to transport staff to the various locations in Nevada at which spooky things happen is well established and you can see the schedule online if you want. They have moved on from 737-200s to 737-600s but the service is much the same. They may be 737s but the spooky nature of the operations makes them more interesting than the average airline.
Getting repetitive here. My never ending quest to capture and demonstrate the unusual gear articulation of the Boeing 777-300ER gets another outing. Similar animation of some stills as before. This time the light was good and the distortion was limited so here we go again. I won’t bother with the technique aspects this time. Instead, here is the animation with the rotation about the rear axle pretty easy to see.
Changing the colors of an airline is usually something that happens infrequently. It always gets a lot of comment when it happens but brand continuity is often a big deal. This is where Spirit is different. They flew for a long time in their gray scheme that had a digital block pattern going on. They changed to have something that was far brighter with a white fuselage and a blue fin with some color accents. When I saw a yellow jet at Oakland, I thought it must be some special livery. It turns out that it wasn’t and that this was their new “new” scheme. I’m not sure what the problem was with the previous one but obviously it didn’t last. I wonder whether they even had time to repaint the fleet?
Qantas comes into SFO most days. They bring a 747-400ER in and, while most of the, are on the standard colors, I happened to see one that has special colors. I assume it is related to some sporting association but I don’t know what team it is. However, they have Team Australia markings on the side along with some graphics of a boxing kangaroo. It arrived early so the light was harsh but it was cool to see. Interestingly, when it was further out on the approach, the sun was reflecting off the graphics so they were impossible to see.
Embraer is a company that has made a phenomenal transformation in the last decade or so. From being a small, state owned company that met local needs, it became a power in the regional aircraft sector. Once they had become established there, they took a step into the corporate aircraft sector. They started out by making corporate versions of their regional jets but now they are designing specific jets with the Phenom and Legacy types being hugely successful.
One of the regional jet conversions was the Lineage. Based on the E195 jet, the Lineage provides a large fuselage but doesn’t provide the extreme range of other large cabin jets. However, many customers do not go that far and don’t need the extreme range. (This doesn’t stop a lot of Gulfstream and Global customers of course!). It has been reasonably successful but not a big seller and I had not seen one until recently. I was at Las Vegas when this example took off. Good to finally see one.
The local Nellis traffic gets a bit restricted by the exercise traffic when Red Flag is underway. Get a mission in during the morning or wait for the gap between the afternoon and the evening evolutions to get airborne. For those of us outside, they provide some additional aircraft to shoot. They may also give some variety in types (although given how few types there are these days, not a lot). Before the F-35 becomes ubiquitous in service and replaces the multiple F-16 units that currently participate, it is something a bit different.
The Weapons School has a bunch of F-35A jets now. The first ones to arrive at Nellis were OT jets for operational test and evaluation. Now the Weapons School is using them to develop tactics and employment. The lines of the jets are a bit different from the Marine Corp F-35Bs that I shot at a previous exercise. Without the lift fan, the back of the airframe is smoother while the canopy is blended into the spine in a different way that enhances visibility and fits with the different profile. The jets were pretty active while I was there so I managed to get a few shots. I had seen them during previous visits but, when on base we had been barred from shooting them and, while off base, I had always managed to be in the wrong place to get them. While I am currently pleased to have got some shots, I will soon be used to seeing them around all over the place.
Oakland is a big hub for FedEx and they have a lot of aircraft movements through the airport on a normal day. While its use in passenger service is pretty much done, the MD-11 is still a regular on the freight circuit and FedEx is by far the largest operator. When walking along the shore in Hayward, I saw a couple of MD-11s come in. Normally, the jets are configured for landing by the time they come over you in Hayward. However, one MD-11 seemed to be coming in with a little more urgency. As it approached me, it had flaps deployed but no gear. Then, as it came over, the gear started to travel. There is a reasonable distance to go to the airport so I am not suggesting that the approach was not stabilized at the right time but it was a little late.
Alaska Airlines makes a big deal about being an “All Boeing” airline (which I assume does not count the Horizon Q400s and the Skywest Embraers). With Boeing celebrating their 100th anniversary, Alaska put some special markings on one of their jets. I was wondering where this jet was operating so I could shoot it but I lost track of it for a while. Then, imagine my surprise when it happened to be at SFO when I was there for something else. It lined up for departure early in the day when the light was best. Thanks Alaska!
This United 747 was flying over the Bay during the Fleet Week display as I posted about in this post. One thing that was very obvious as the aircraft was put through its paces by the crew was that the number two engine seemed to be burning a lot cleaner than the other three. You wouldn’t pay much attention to the exhaust of a jet except when there is a clear discrepancy and, in this case, the number two was so obviously less smoky, I noticed. Maybe it was fresh from overhaul.
Getting an unusual visitor to SFO is worth a look. In June 2017, Finnair are going to be starting regular service to SFO from Helsinki. Ahead of that, though, there was a tech event taking place in Helsinki that meant a bunch of Silicon Valley types would be heading over. Finnair ran two charter flights to SFO, one ahead of the event and one after. More interestingly for me, while the service next year will be operated with an A330, the charter used one of their A350s. Since they won’t be coming back for the foreseeable future, this was a limited chance to catch them.
I only found out after the first flight so the second was my only chance. Fortunately, the weather was more cooperative. It was clear and sunny. However, the wind was over 20mph steadily and gusting stronger than that a lot of the time which made holding a long lens just a little tricky. The timing of the arrival was just late enough to make it a reasonable time to get some shots. Winter in SFO means that morning arrivals don’t have the problems of backlighting in the same way that there is in the summer but early arrivals are still not great. However, it arrived just late enough to have a chance of some reasonable light.
The conditions were clear and you could see the jet as it came over the top and then as it came onto final near Coyote Point. Another aircraft was lining up for approach out behind it and showed up clearly as a result of the clear air. The wind had subsided a little when they made the approach but not much. Consequently, I was fighting with the sail (as the lens became known that day) to keep a steady panning motion on the jet. Plenty of light certainly helped by keeping the shutter speed up.
I wanted to get some departure shots. I waited around when the plane was due to taxi out. However, I did have an appointment to get to and it was clear that the plane was not going to head out in time. In the end, I accepted the timing was against me and headed off. I actually drove by the airport on the way to the city and the taxiing jet came past me as I drove off. No way that I would ever have been around in time for departure. Oh well, at least I got it flying when it came in.
