Tag Archives: jet

I Wish This Praetor Had the Thrive Livery

I have seen a couple of jets in the Thrive fleet and they have a really cool livery that they use for some of the planes. When most jets are rather blandly painted, a cool paint job is a great change. Thrive was bringing one of their Praetor 600s to Seattle and I was hoping that it might be in the company colors, despite previous pictures of it online being in something a little less cool. Sadly, they have not spent the funds on updating the look of the jet. The livery is not a bad looking one anyway but it would have looked better in the full paint job. Oh well…

A Vietnam Airlines 787-10 Might Catch the Sun

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The run up to the end of the year can be handy if you want to see jets on test flights because Boeing is looking to get as many sales completed as possible before the end of the financial year. While it wasn’t built at Everett, a Vietnam Airlines 787-10 was there for rework/modification and then delivery. I love Vietnam Airlines because they have an interesting livery in a time of white planes with limited color.

I was able to catch it taking off one Saturday morning. The light was great as it rotated and climbed away. Later in the afternoon, Nancy and I had been out to see the salmon run and she was fine with a small diversion to Paine Field to catch the return. The light had faded a little compared to the lovely morning conditions, but it was good to catch the returning jet. I think it was delivered not long after this.

Global 7500 Sketchy Takeoff

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For the longest time, I struggled to photograph a Bombardier Global 7500. Over time I have seen a few of them but that initial drought makes me still feel as if it is something special when I catch one. They have sold really well and there are loads in service so they really aren’t something I should be so excited about but apparently my brain hasn’t worked that out yet. I was happy to get one at Boeing Field when it was taking off.

It taxied out and headed to the north end of the field for departure. I was not expecting a lot because they have good field performance and are likely to be well airborne before they get near where I was going to be standing. Sure enough, they did get off the ground quite quickly but, as they rotated, there was quite a roll that developed. Not sure whether it was a big gust or that they weren’t anticipating the crosswind, but I imagine it must have spilt a gin and tonic or two. They quickly recovered the situation and climbed out without any further problems, but I hope there wasn’t much clean up required onboard.

A Little Time with Some LAX Arrivals

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A while back I posted some shots from a hotel at LAX that I took at night. The next day, I was also able to work from the rooftop terrace at the hotel which allowed the occasional arrival to make their way into my viewfinder. LAX is a great airport to see some different airlines and types but, like a lot of major airports, it does get a ton of movements that are the same airlines and types. Consequently, you can afford to be picky about what you shoot.

This also means you can get other stuff done most of the time and just keep an eye out for something more interesting when the opportunity presents itself. Even so, I didn’t have a lot of time there with the various other things I had going on so it was not the full selection of interesting arrivals and departures that LAX can offer. Despite that, I was happy to get a few shots of things that interested me at least.

Stored Airtankers Awaiting Their Turn

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Quite a while back, I made a trip to Abbotsford. In more recent visits I have created posts of their Q400 based airtankers out on some test flights. However, before they became tankers, these were all airliners that had been retired from passenger service. Conair buys up these older airframes when the price is right, and they come to Abbotsford to await their time in the conversion program.

A few of them were sitting on the ramp when I made my visit. Some were being worked on while others were just waiting for some attention. Various bits were missing – often the expensive bits like engines. It is possible that some of the airframes might only be acquired to provide a source of spare parts and they will never fly again. I have no idea whether that is the case for any of these. Hopefully they will have since made it back into the air and are now being used to fight wildfires somewhere.

Refueling the Hornet

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Two quite different versions of the same thing here. The Comox Air Show this year included demonstrations are aerial refueling with the RCAF Hornet. The first of these was perfectly sensible because it was the Hornet formating on the C-130 Hercules fitted with refueling pods. The Hornet took up station behind the drogue units to demonstrate how refueling would be done.

Later in the show, there was a slightly odder version of things. A USAF KC-135R Stratotanker (which was carrying Kadena tailcodes which might be a first for me) was airborne and the Hornet formated on this too. Some KC-135s do carry hose drogue units on the wings or a drogue adaptor on the end of the boom but this was not one of them. Instead, they simulated the boom refueling. The Hornet can’t refuel from the boom but, since it was just an airshow, I doubt too many people were bothered by this.

Bizjet Departures from Airside

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I was kindly given some airside access when some F-15s were operating from Boeing Field for flyovers in the city. While the fast jets were our primary interest, they took off and landed in amongst some of the more familiar movements at the airport. Business jets are a constant part of Boeing Field ops and being so close to the runway made it easy to get some interesting shots of the bizjets. Fortunately, the amount of the runway that they needed coincided well with where we were for the F-15s. Here are some of the shots.

If You Have an F-104, Wouldn’t You Mount it on the Wall?

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The California Science Center has featured quite a bit in previous months with the various aircraft and that are preserved outside. There is one I haven’t included previously and that is a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. This one is a bit more dramatic. It is mounted on a structure attached to the wall of the museum giving it a rather dynamic pose. Seems appropriate given the nature of the Starfighter. It does look like it could do with a repaint, though.

Pinal Jets

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During the Arizona trip, Mark and I swung by Pinal Airpark in Marana to see what was stored on the airfield. There are aircraft that are operational here and some come in for maintenance but there are also a lot that are stored, either indefinitely or until the demand for them returns. Lots of the older types are ones that you know will not be going anywhere again. The 777s and A330s do have a good chance of finding another use. There were a ton of American Eagle EMB145s lined up near the fence. Not sure what will happen to them. The smaller regional jets are not so popular at this point, but they could find a role at some point.

All planes cease to be of use at some point. It is a bit sad to see them when that time comes but they may well contribute parts to those that remain so that is a plus. Additionally, it is interesting to see such a wide variety of different operators represented in the collection of planes stored. Some of them have replaced the jets with something newer and better while others failed as airlines and the planes became surplus. It is a change from seeing the same operators all the time.

Isle of Man Registered Global

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I seem to be having a burst of photos from back when Seafair was on in Seattle. In a previous post I mentioned that there was a gap in the show schedule when Boeing Field opened up for movements. One such movement was a Bombardier Global 5000 that taxied out and took off. It came down the Bravo taxiway so very close to us. It took off using a decent amount of the runway so rotated in a good spot for photos. It was registered in the Isle of Man so I’ve no idea where it is from since that location has done a good job of encouraging people to register their planes there.