I have been gathering various shots of Boeing Dreamlifters over recent months and so figured I would just combine a bunch of them into a single post. No overriding theme here and some conditions were way nice than others. It is just a selection of shots of one of the more unusual looking aircraft around. Hopefully, one day, I shall get to shoot the Airbus Belugas too.
A new airliner, fresh from the paint shop, looks splendidly clean. When you have an interesting paint color, things are better still. This Korean Air 777-300ER was making its first flight from Paine Field when I shot it. It looked great in nice light. When delivered to the customer, it will be pristine. Then, regular service will result in it looking a little bit more worn and grubby depending on how much time is available to clean it up. Airbridge dirt marks and others scuffs or leaking fluids will seek to muck it up a bit.
I have seen the Honeywell Convair at Paine Field parked up at various times but only once did I catch it flying in. This post includes shots of it which were, unfortunately, on a rather overcast day. A white airframe on a cloudy day is not a great target but its rarity meant I was still pleased to get it. It was due back in at lunchtime recently so I decided to make the quick trip up while eating my lunch. The weather had been crummy but I had seen some gaps developing in the clouds and Everett often is a little clearer than by the office. I figured it might work out.
I got there a little while before it was due in and a clear patch did briefly appear before closing in as an Ameriflight Beech 1900 landed. I looked to the distance and saw potential so waited with fingers crossed. The Convair appeared downwind and then turned on to final. It was a shady shape in a cloudy sky. Had I blown it? As the approach got close in, a burst of light appeared and the airframe jumped out from the background. I was delighted. It touched down, I packed my stuff up and I was back in the office before you knew it!
I’m not sure why but recently the 747 fin in Future of Flight at Everett made it to be a popular photo on Airliners Net. The fin sits inside the museum section and it was painted as a 747-8 fin, even though it actually came from a British Airways 747-100. The picture had it with the -8 paint finish. I have a similar shot but the fin has recently been repainted in a blue finish. Not sure what the purpose was but, since Boeing have taken over Future of Flight, they must have had a reason. If anyone knows why, let me know in the comments.
Finally, the first Boeing KC-46 Pegasus tankers were delivered to the USAF. Not one but two tankers were delivered in the ceremony, a nice effort at a joke by Boeing having left everyone thinking it would only be one. Then again, when you have that many of them sitting around, I guess it should have been even more! The ceremony took place on one day and the delivery was the following morning.
The jets left from Paine Field just after sunrise. That is sunrise if you don’t have clouds on the horizon. The sun had barely squeaked above those when the two jets took off as Medusa 1 and 2. They were preceded by a McConnell AFB KC-135R – the aircraft that they will be replacing. It got airborne in very limited light and headed for Kansas. Then the two new jets lined up in turn and departed. No flybys or wing waggles. Just gear up, switch to departure frequency and off into the steadily brightening sky. Avoid the traffic inbound to SeaTac and off you go. Lots more should be following soon while efforts continue to fix the issues with the camera system and the underwing hose and drogue pods.
Nothing special here. Just happened to get a Gulfstream G280 as it arrived at Everett so I thought I might as well share it here.
The only civilian 767s being built at the moment are for FedEx. I posted one of them on test at Paine Field in this post. I caught another one recently. I got the departure early on as it disappeared into the clouds that were pretty low. The return later had slightly better light. The approach was terminated with a go-around resulting in some vortices streaming from the wing as they climbed out. Dark skies make for an interesting background!
January 2019 brought a milestone for the USAF. They accepted their first KC-46 Pegasus. Admittedly they accepted it with a number of deferred issues that Boeing has been given a few years to resolve but that are Category 1 deficiencies. I guess this should mean we will see a lot of deliveries in the coming weeks and months.
The backlog of jets parked up is substantial. There are jets parked at Boeing Field on both the military ramp and the flight test ramp. There are more scattered around the Boeing ramp at Everett. More of them are in the conversion area at the south end of Paine Field. More still are parked up across the cross runway. It’s a lot of jets and, if you are an accountant, this is a level of Work In Progress that must make you squirm. We should see them start to head on their way before too long.
Damp and cloudy days are not always ideal for aviation photography but they can provide some interesting options. One weekend I was up at Everett when they were approaching from the south. The jets broke out of the cloud at quite low level but there was some light from the side coming under the clouds. The damp air meant that the jets were pulling some conspicuous vortices as they flared for landing. They were a long way off but it was possible to get some shots of them. The 747 produced vortices that were easier to see but the 787s didn’t do too badly either.
I went to Paine Field to get the Air Tahiti Nui 787 which I wrote about in this post. As I walked up to Future of Flight, there was an unusual looking plane sitting at the hold running up the engine. I grabbed some shots of it doing its engine run and then as it lined up and took off. I couldn’t work out what it was. I thought it might be a Bellanca but I was wrong. A search when back at home tells me it is a Harlow PJC-2.
With lovely light, I was hoping to get it when it came back in. Unfortunately, it timed its return such that it coincided with the arrival of the 787 so they went to the left runway instead of the right. Never mind.