I think this Gweduck lives locally. I posted about it before and, around that time, was also instructed on how to pronounce its name. One sunny afternoon, it was doing a lot of pattern work at Boeing Field which gave me a few chances to get some shots of it. I like the look of amphibians and the Gweduck, while not super graceful, still looks pretty good. They even did the decent thing and taxied by me to give me a chance for some closer shots!
In creating the 505 JetRanger X, Bell did not come up with the best-looking airframe. It really doesn’t look like should with the nose looking very stubby. However, it will probably sell well enough with Bell behind it. One was making an approach to BFI from the west. It wanted to land on the east side of the field but there was a lot of traffic inbound so they were made to hold on the west side for a while. I was watching them over my shoulder. Gradually they were drifting south towards me so they were almost overhead by the time that they were cleared to cross the field. It gave me plenty of time to get some shots – even with the traffic on the main runway.
When in Hawaii a few years ago I saw Mokulele Flight Services operating a Cessna Caravan. More recently, a Caravan has been flying out of BFI in Mokulele colors. I am assuming that Mokulele has sold the aircraft to another operator. I am not aware of them providing service around here but that doesn’t mean they aren’t. If it has been sold, I wonder how long before it gets repainted.
The presence of JBLM south of Tacoma means that there are plenty of military helicopters operating in the Seattle area. I got lucky late in one day when a Chinook called up on approach. They weren’t landing at the field but just flying through. I got a good view of it as it came in to the field. They then turned downwind to depart providing a background view as a local JetRanger came in to land. I am not a big fan of the sand finish used on the Chinooks these days but they do pick up the light.
I don’t think the single engined Diamond aircraft are particularly good looking but the twins are a lot more elegant looking. The DA62 is a particularly attractive aircraft. A friend of mine has one and he brought it in to BFI a while back. Sadly, he arrived in the middle of the day when the sun was high and the heat haze was harsh. I still got some shots but nothing too special. More recently, another 62 came into BFI but this time from the opposite direction when the light was a lot more favorable. Now I just need Steve to show up again on a clear winter day!
One dull Saturday morning I made a short run to BFI for a bizjet. Since I got there with a little time to spare, I shot a couple of the other arrivals. The light aircraft traffic was using the parallel runway to the one my arrival was due on which meant they were flying right over my head. I had a go at low shutter speed shots to get lots of prop blur since I wasn’t desperate to get keepers. A Civil Air Patrol Cessna 206 was one of the planes working the pattern so I got a few shots of it.
As a youth, a British Airways 737 was a regular sight. The 200 series got a ton of use by BA and, in later years, the 400 series did a lot of work at Gatwick. The A320 family gradually displaced them all. However, Comair in South Africa flies in BA colors. They even had 727s in BA colors in days gone by. IAG, the parent of BA, signed a letter of intent with Boeing for 200 737 Max aircraft but this has not been turned into a firm order that I know of. However, Comair did order the Max and one of their aircraft was on test recently. I am not sure if it is still going to Comair or has been reallocated to another customer but it is still in British Airways markings – for now.
One of the rarer small turboprops is the Mitsubishi MU-2. It is a high performance aircraft that developed a bit of a reputation for crashing. What really was the issue was that it was an higher performance plane than many pilots were used to and, once a specific training program was implemented, it was back in the same level of safety as other turboprops. My late friend, Mike, took part in a round the world trip in an MU-2 which he blogged about and is well worth searching out.
While the MU-2 is a bit of a rarity, for some reason, two of them were up our way recently at the same time. I don’t know whether this was a coincidence or not. One was operating out of Paine Field and the other was at Boeing Field. The weather wasn’t great but it was an MU-2 so, early Sunday morning, I headed down to watch it come in. We had an Air Canada Max arrive shortly beforehand to allow me to check on my exposures in the conditions and then the MU-2 showed up. A quick few shots and then back in the car and head home.
Boeing is churning out P-8s at quite a rate these days. Most go to the US Navy but a fair few are for export and the most recent export customer to have their jets delivered is Norway. The Royal Norwegian Air Force has started taking their jets – the first of which I saw on the ramp at Renton. I did recently catch one coming back from a test flight which was a bit more interesting. The Saint symbol on the fin seems to be common to the jets I have seen so far.
Bombardier’s Global 6000 has been a very successful jet for them. With the arrival of the Global 7500 at the top of their line, the next question was what to do with the 5000 and 6000. They got an upgrade put together which has moved them up a little. Some aero tweaks, an interior upgrade and the new Rolls Royce Pearl engines resulted in the new models. Visually, I wouldn’t know how to tell the old from the new but at least flight tracking information lets you know which is which.
My first encounter with one was at Boeing Field. A Spanish registered 6500 was parked over at Modern and it departed while I was there. Since it is a large jet, it has to cross over to our side of the runway to taxi for departure. The food news was that it went full length rather than departing from the intersection. This provided a good opportunity to shoot it close up. Then it headed off. Despite the range, I think it was only going to Arizona so it wasn’t taxing the capabilities of the jet.
It wasn’t long before I got a second 6500. Again, Boeing Field was the venue but, this time, it was arriving rather than departing so I was able to get it in the air. The conditions weren’t quite as nice as for the first encounter but it was still fine. I like the original Global Express, liked it when it became the Global 6000 and I still like it now. It might have been around in these various forms for a while but it is still an elegant looking jet. Where is my checkbook…
