Tag Archives: jet

Ukrainian IL-76

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The IL-76 is a beast of a transport.  It is a rugged plane and looks like it could handle anything thrown at it.  I have seen them on a variety of occasions – most recently the modernized versions used for civil freight work.  The older versions with the original engines are a great thing to see though.  The Ukrainian Air Force brought an example to RIAT this year.  It was flying overhead when the Sukhois were landing and then it came in too.  It came up to the west end where we got a good view of it.  Then it was parked up on static display for the show.  Sadly, I didn’t get to see it depart at the end of the show.

1500th EJet

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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.

Red Arrows Launch and Recover

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The Red Arrows operated from ramp space at the eastern end of the show grounds at RIAT.  I spent some time down there on one of the days.  It provided a chance to watch them brief, crew up, start and then recover after the display.  Here area. Few shots of the team in action.

My First Ever SJ30 After All These Years

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The SJ30 is a jet that always has an “almost” feel about it.  It has gone through a number of owners and the development has resulted in certification but very little production.  There just aren’t many of them around.  One of the more recent versions came to Everett.  It arrived one weekend early in the day and before I was there.  I didn’t get to see it fly but it was parked up in a convenient spot to get a photo.  The stalky undercarriage is a distinctive feature of the jet.  I wonder whether the current owners of the design will finally make it into a successful project?

Welcome to Seattle Red Arrows

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The Red Arrows have conducted a North American tour this year.  It commenced just after RIAT so, while I saw them there, I hoped to catch them at some point during the tour.  Their closest displays were in Oregon and Vancouver and I wasn’t able to go to either sadly.  They did stage through Seattle, though, so I figured I would go and see them arrive.  The twelve jets showed up on a heavily overcast day.  They did some flybys over the city and then a run in across Boeing Field.  A pair of jets landed directly while the remaining ten flew around a little more – nine ships in formation and one getting some photos.  Then it was run and and break to landing before taxiing off to parking.

Spanish EAV-8B+ Display

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The Spanish Navy Harriers have recently become the darlings of the UK air show scene.  The retirement of the UK’s Harriers left a feeling of longing for many air show attendees and the recent return of the Spanish Navy has made a lot of people happy.  They brought two of the jets to RIAT this year.  They put on a nice job of displaying with both aircraft flying giving some formation work and some faster stuff.  Plenty of hovering of course.

They seemed to be leading a charmed life with the sun seeming to appear whenever they were flying.  Given how the weather was over the weekend, this was no mean feat.  One day I spent down near the ramp when they were operating from so I was able to get some closer shots of them as they taxied out for departure and when they returned.  Harriers are still relatively accessible in the US but it won’t be too long before the F-35B consigns them to history too so it was nice to get some Harrier time again.

Dreamlifter Video

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Here is a bit of video I shot of a Dreamlifter heading out of Paine Field.  I was there with a visitor who wanted to see the large beast and, rather than shoot more stills, I figured I would go with just video.  If I had planned for it, things would have been a little better but hopefully it shares a little of the experience.

Cloudy Arrivals for the Family

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I was picking up some family members that were coming to stay.  I got to the airport a little ahead of their scheduled arrival time and, since it was some time near an airport, I figured a bit of photography wouldn’t go amiss.  They were coming in on a Virgin 787-9 so I knew I would shoot that.  The heavies come in on the inner runway, but the rest tend to go to the outer.  You can still get them, but it isn’t so close.  I figured a few shots on a cloudy day was worth time to experiment with exposing high and playing with the shots in post.

Pilatus’ New Toy

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There were lots of things I was hoping to see at RIAT but I did get a few that were very pleasant surprises.  Various air forces had business jets showing up and departing throughout the show as dignitaries (or urgent spares) needed to be moved.  The Swiss brought in several jets while I was there but one of them looked a little different.  My first encounter with a PC-24.  To say I was surprised and pleased would be to understate my response!

Falcon Freighter

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Falcon 20s are not that unusual but, if one is coming close to home on a Saturday afternoon when I don’t have anything else planned, why not?  This one was coming in to Paine Field and the sun was out and it would be approaching from the north (hopefully) in the afternoon.  Good combination.  I popped up the road to see.  It did indeed show up on schedule.  This was just as well.  A short while after landing, clouds rolled in and the wind picked up resulting in them changing runways!  This jet belongs to Alliance Air Charter and appears to be configured as a freighter.  I wonder if it is an old FedEx jet?