Tag Archives: KBFI

F-15s Arriving for the Flyovers

Seattle was hosting two football games in one weekend. The Seahawks had their season opener on Sunday and the Huskies were playing on Saturday. The 142^nd FW from Portland sent up three jets to undertake flyovers for both games. Each flyover involved two jets so the third was a spare should one be needed. After all, these jets aren’t young. Indeed, with the wing taking delivery of F-15EX jets, it won’t be long before the Charlie models are gone.

They showed up at the end of the day which made it easier to be there to catch them. Since there were three of them, I decided to use a relatively high shutter speed for the first jet, a slower shutter speed for the second and then lower still for the last jet. That way I should get a result on the early jets and hopefully would get something more dynamic on the last one if I was lucky. Things turned out well enough and the last jet even popped the speedbrake on touchdown which was welcome. The skies were a bit red as a result of the smoke in the are from wildfires but that might have softened the light a little.

What Sensors Are Behind These Panels?

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I was working through some shots of the 777X development aircraft as it landed at Boeing Field and I noticed a couple of the front windows were blanked out. One was a conspicuous sensor of some sort but not far behind it is one blank that looks a lot more normal but also seems to have some sensor protruding from it. No idea what they are sensing but I imagine it is important.

Burning the Runway Surface

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I got a sequence of shots of the F-35B as it was taking off for its display at Seafair. I was a long way down the runway from it so the image quality is not all I would like but what caught my eye was the effect of the afterburner plume on the runway surface. From shot to shot, there was either this red glow or nothing. I was wondering whether it was a function of material on the runway like rubber that was burning in the efflux of the engine. Interesting effect, whatever the reason.

Can Even More Harriers Be Allowed on Here?

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After posting about the possible last encounter I would have with Harriers, I have since posted more shots of them coming through Seattle on their way to Alaska. Of course, they had to come back at some point and Boeing Field was the stopping off point again. Consequently, I have even more shots of them. The arrivals were pretty straightforward, and I was pleased with the results. When it came to departing, they were going early in the day and so I had to try something different for a location. As it turned out, they weren’t going home when I took these shots. They recovered back to BFI after I had left. They did eventually head east, though. Maybe that is it at this point?

Korean Air’s Unusual Dreamliner

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A Boeing 787-8 showed up at Boeing Field a while back. It is listed as operated by Korean Air, but it is not in their markings, and it is identified as being used as a corporate transport. I don’t know the details about it, but I doubt I will ever be needing to charter it, so it probably isn’t an issue. I went over by the terminal to see it arrive in the morning. I hadn’t anticipated where it would park but it did need to clear customs first and they parked it at one of the larger ramp areas near the customs pad. This meant it taxied back to where I was which was handy. Plenty of people were on hand to handle it when it taxied in. I don’t know how long it stayed for.

Marks of a Mixer Nozzle

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I was running through some images of a Dornier 328Jet that I had shot at Boeing Field. I was zoomed in close to check for image sharpness when my eye caught the inside of the nozzle of the engine nacelle. There was an interesting pattern on the inside. Judging by the layout of the staining, I think the mixer in the exhaust results in varying deposition of material on the walls. This is the sort of thing that really appeals to me and probably no one else but it is my blog!

Local Pitts Has a Good Approach to Pattern Work

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It is not a regular occurrence, but several times I have been at Boeing Field when a local Pitts Special is doing pattern work. Most times I have been a long way from it so not able to try and get any useful shots. That changed a little while back when I was near the terminal building. The pilot flies patterns with a steep climb out, a downwind leg and a steep curving descent to land followed by powering up and flying low to gain speed before repeating the process. I decided to give some low shutter speeds a good to see how things looked.

Chinese Air Ambulance Quick Visit

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You see a fair few air ambulance operators through Boeing Field. There are often flights moving people to and from the city from Alaska and other parts of the state. The ones I am used to, though, tend to be older Learjets and US or Canadian registered. We do get the occasional one from overseas, but I was quite surprised to get a G550 from China showing up as an air ambulance. It seemed worthy of a look. It was a pretty brief stop for the jet before it headed across the Pacific. The naming seemed quite amusing – Happy Air!

HondaJet Shapes Are Fascinating

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This HondaJet had come from outside the US, so it had to clear customs at BFI after landing. That put it right in front of me while I was waiting for something else (although I can’t remember what it was). I find the jet very interesting although I am frustrated by the way in which all the ones I see have the same paint scheme with only a change in what color is used. Since this one parked up near me, I got to look at it from a variety of angles and that is a good way to appreciate the unusual shapes the airframe has.

The pylons are cambered and the way in which the nacelles sit on the wing is more easily appreciated from behind. It is great to have something different. I look forward to seeing the big brother when it makes it into service. A shame that Honda seems to have given up on their own engines but not a massive surprise.

A Short Time Between Two Visions

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It doesn’t take long for the weather to change in the Pacific Northwest. One afternoon I got a couple of Cirrus Vision Jets into Boeing Field. The weather was a bit overcast for one of them and then cleared up nicely by the time the second one showed up. The result was a far nicer shot for the second jet than for the first. It is amazing how quickly conditions can change and what a difference it can make to the images.